Which 5w-30 for my 2018 Frontier Pro-4X

[cb4017]

Last fall I bought a slightly used Nissan Pro-4X. This has the 4.0 V-6. I currently have PP 5W-30 in it and I typically change oil every 5,000 miles. Hot temps are coming and this truck will see a fair amount of time off-road and towing my small
I'm thinking of switching to another 5w-30 on the thicker end of the scale, maybe with a stouter additive package. Oils I'm considering are Rotella T-6 Multi Vehicle, Rotella Gas Truck & SUV, Mobil 1 EP or QSUD.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Env1ous]

Personally I like the thickness of the RTG. The add pack isn't crazy or anything special but it looks good to me! The T6 would be a good choice too.

 

[ridgerunner]

Go with 10-30 for summer. My 4.0 Xterra liked to consume 5w-30.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Why do you think PP 5W30 is not sufficient? Do the other oils you've provided have certifications the PP doesn't? If it's been working well for you, are you just changing because you want to? If that's the case, just use any that meets Nissan's requirements. Oils that meet d1G2 are so eerily similar you're not going to find any "ringers".

FWIW, I did VOAs on all 3 weights of the RGTs a couple weeks back for the board, and filled my Impreza with 5W30 about 350 miles ago. While completely subjective, the RGT has made significantly more valvetrain clatter even when warm (not really loud, but I can hear it even with the windows up) at idle, which is something the prior PPHM did not do. As soon as it's above idle (~1200 rpm), it is as quiet as all the other oils I've tried. I've been tracking with Fuelly, so we'll see where the mileage comes out; but it doesn't seem to be anything magical. I may decide to do a UOA on it, but at this point, I probably won't personally use the oil again. It is, however, available for $13.97/5qts after the MIR, as long as your name isn't JohnnyJohnson. I guess SOPUS doesn't send him rebate checks

I haven't decided if I'm going to follow this up with Amsoil SS 10W30, or with Ravenol DXG d1G1 that came in a d1G2 bottle. I use QSUD in our church vans since it's inexpensive, and they get 6k OCIs with Napa Silver filters for basically 100% city driving with extended idling, and the oil is still slightly amber. Ford 5.4s before the cam phasers were pretty easy on oil!

 

[Env1ous]

Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
Why do you think PP 5W30 is not sufficient? Do the other oils you've provided have certifications the PP doesn't? If it's been working well for you, are you just changing because you want to? If that's the case, just use any that meets Nissan's requirements. Oils that meet d1G2 are so eerily similar you're not going to find any "ringers".

FWIW, I did VOAs on all 3 weights of the RGTs a couple weeks back for the board, and filled my Impreza with 5W30 about 350 miles ago. While completely subjective, the RGT has made significantly more valvetrain clatter even when warm (not really loud, but I can hear it even with the windows up) at idle, which is something the prior PPHM did not do. As soon as it's above idle (~1200 rpm), it is as quiet as all the other oils I've tried. I've been tracking with Fuelly, so we'll see where the mileage comes out; but it doesn't seem to be anything magical. I may decide to do a UOA on it, but at this point, I probably won't personally use the oil again. It is, however, available for $13.97/5qts after the MIR, as long as your name isn't JohnnyJohnson. I guess SOPUS doesn't send him rebate checks

I haven't decided if I'm going to follow this up with Amsoil SS 10W30, or with Ravenol DXG d1G1 that came in a d1G2 bottle. I use QSUD in our church vans since it's inexpensive, and they get 6k OCIs with Napa Silver filters for basically 100% city driving with extended idling, and the oil is still slightly amber. Ford 5.4s before the cam phasers were pretty easy on oil!


That is very interesting. The only thing that puts me off of it is how thin it is. I would feel a little better with something thicker in my f150 ecoboost.

 

[SZR48207]

Stick with the Pennzoil. I use the PUP 5W30 in my Tacoma 4.0 V6 and it works fine according to UOAs.

 

[littlehulkster]

Buy whatever synthetic is on sale, it will be fine, VQs are good, reliable engines and you will never notice a difference over the life of the vehicle. If you want to run Rotella, fine, it will work too.

 

[sgtrockjoe]

I used Kendall GT-1 Max 5w-30 with 5000 mile change intervals on my 2015 Nissan Xterra with the 4.0 V 6 with no issues. Bought a 2019 Frontier Pro 4X in December also with the 4.0 V 6. Going to give schaeffers 9000 5w-30 a try in the Frontier.

 

[burla]

It's very thin for a 30 weight, but if you don't have a di turbo (so ecoboost guy is out) mixing 0w40 PUP with any pennzoil synthetic too boost visc and moly is a very popular strategy. Most PP and PUP weights have moly counts around 60 and 70, but 0w40 PUP cSt 13.** with a moly count neat 250. Guys on the hemi forum are doing this in high numbers, like at least ten percent of the Pennzoil users and Pennzoil is the most popular oil over there as it is made for the hemi's. At least ten guys do this religiously over there, but the number is likey between ten and twenty, which when you do an oil poll is a fairly significant group. PP 5w30 is so thin it will likley shear lower then 5w20 PP at the end of an oci, don't be fearful of tossing in some PUP 0w40 make that oil your B****..

 

[burla]

Or better yet, mix qrts PUP 0w40 with PP 5w20, and the oil will even be more stable for a long oci. Of our guys that mix, about half mix 5w20/0w40 and about half 5w30/0w40, as you can tell it is very scientifical.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Originally Posted by cb4017
Oils I'm considering are Rotella T-6 Multi Vehicle, Rotella Gas Truck & SUV, Mobil 1 EP or QSUD.
Good group. I'd say Gas Truck. Its thick for Nevada towing, and it has about twice the moly most other oils have. Protection, FM all there.

 

[Bud]

Any 5w30 that suits your fancy. Look for sales and don't overthink it.

 

[cb4017]

I probably am overthinking this. I know that PP 5w-30 is at the thin end of the scale. With crawling around in the desert on 100 degree days and pulling the travel trailer I want the best protection possible. The three oils I mentioned are available at the local WM. I appreciate everyone's input.

 

[OilUzer]

Try PP Euro L 5Wx30 if you liked PP 5Wx30
I think I saw it at Wal-Mart one time. If I see it again im buying it.

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted by OilUzer
Try PP Euro L 5Wx30 if you liked PP 5Wx30
I think I saw it at Wal-Mart one time. If I see it again im buying it.



I bought the last of our PP Euro in Sept ... They no longer stock it ... just drained it ...

 

[oil_film_movies]

Good pictures. We were comparing the Frontier with the newer Ranger out now. Ranger goes for about $6,000 more, and saving that money for a proven vehicle that Nissan has long ago gotten the bugs out of works well.

Originally Posted by OilUzer
Try PP Euro L 5Wx30 if you liked PP 5Wx30.
Going euro-spec is not a bad idea. HTHS 3.5 > than the 3.0 for dexos1 xw30 oils. Walmart's euro-spec Mobil1 or Castrol 0w40 is a good choice for this port-injected V6 for extra heat resistance. Any oil listed by cb4017 in the first post would work OK though.

 

[cb4017]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Good pictures. We were comparing the Frontier with the newer Ranger out now. Ranger goes for about $6,000 more, and saving that money for a proven vehicle that Nissan has long ago gotten the bugs out of works well.

Originally Posted by OilUzer
Try PP Euro L 5Wx30 if you liked PP 5Wx30.
Going euro-spec is not a bad idea. HTHS 3.5 > than the 3.0 for dexos1 xw30 oils. Walmart's euro-spec Mobil1 or Castrol 0w40 is a good choice for this port-injected V6 for extra heat resistance. Any oil listed by cb4017 in the first post would work OK though.



I like this Frontier just fine. It was a rental vehicle. I got if for just slightly more than half of what a new Tacoma TRD would have cost. Rangers weren't out then.

I ran M1 euro-spec 0W-40 in my 3.8L Wrangler Unlimited with the same kind of use and may use it eventually in the Frontier. Figured I would stick with a 5W-30 while the Frontier was under warranty.

All the oils I mentioned are close enough in price at WM so that is not a concern. I'm leaning toward the Rotella Gas Truck& SUV. I like the higher Moly and Zinc.

 

[BLND1]

Mobil 1 seems to be the go-to in Tacoma land for their v6 with similar usage.

I've used everything on your list for my v6 Tacoma except for rotella gas truck.

If you are stuck on 5k mile OCI it won't matter which you choose, but I'd probably avoid Mobil 1 EP (or any other extended drain oil) as any normal synthetic will offer great performance for you. Your v6 is a port injected dinosaur (if I'm not mistaken) with late 90's tech, so it really doesn't matter.

Regular vanilla Mobil 1 is pretty thick also, so if a thicker oil makes you feel better I'd say that or QSUD. Really the only difference is which bottle/brand/marketing you like best. Pick the cool looking bottle because that's about all the difference you will see in the real world.

Or just go supertech/Napa and be done with it.

 

[BLND1]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Good pictures. We were comparing the Frontier with the newer Ranger out now. Ranger goes for about $6,000 more, and saving that money for a proven vehicle that Nissan has long ago gotten the bugs out of works well.

Originally Posted by OilUzer
Try PP Euro L 5Wx30 if you liked PP 5Wx30.
Going euro-spec is not a bad idea. HTHS 3.5 > than the 3.0 for dexos1 xw30 oils. Walmart's euro-spec Mobil1 or Castrol 0w40 is a good choice for this port-injected V6 for extra heat resistance. Any oil listed by cb4017 in the first post would work OK though.



The frontier is the best value going in medium sized trucks. It's a fantastic, dated, and few frills truck for those looking for a value proposition in the segment.

I say this as a second gen Tacoma owner.

 

[geekster]

I say run the QSUD. It's cheap at Wally and it is a little thicker than the PPlatinum. I am on my second oil change with it and I did a UOA sample from Blackstone at 3000 miles just to see what it looked like. It looked fantastic. If I remember it still had a TBN of over 3.x. I just dumped it at 5000 (warranty reasons) and took another sample to see where it ended up. I have no worries about using QSUD 5w30 in my 4.0 Frontier. FWIW