2005 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE, S2K 0W30, 7500 miles

[il_signore97]

Hi everyone,

Here is another analysis on my Altima using Amsoil's 0W30 S2K. Here are the particulars:

Vehicle: 2005 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE 5-speed M/T
Driving: Mostly high speed highway driving (3000-3500 RPM for 2 hours everyday --> 2 x 1-hour trips in each direction), also, 2-3 short trips (less than 10 minutes) each day


Most RECENT UOA (LEFT-most numbers):
Oil: Amsoil S2K 0W30
Oil Filter: Amsoil EaO12
Air Filter: Amsoil EaA in stock airbox
OCI: 7500 miles
Total Miles on vehicle: 37,500 miles
Time on oil: 4 1/2 months
Climate: Mostly below freezing, with last month or so starting to warm up outside (Toronto spring weather)

PREVIOUS UOA (RIGHT-most numbers):
Oil: Amsoil S2K 0W30
Oil Filter: Amsoil EaO12
Air Filter: stock Nissan paper element
OCI: 7500 miles
Total Miles on vehicle: 30,000 miles
Time on oil: 5 months
Climate: Some hot summer weather for the first 2 months, cooler temps for the next 2 months, and below freezing temps for the last month


Iron 10 / 13
Chromium 2 / 2
Lead 4 / 3
Copper 8 / 11
Tin 0 / 0
Aluminium 10 / 9
Nickel 0 / 0
Silver 0 / 0
Silicon 19 / 24
Boron 9 / 12
Sodium 1 / 7
Magnesium 21 / 29
Calcium 3760 / 3269
Barium 0 / 3
Phosphorus 1083 / 1059
Zinc 1186 / 1161
Molybdenum 1 / 0
Titanium 0 / 0
Vanadium 0 / 0
Potassium 0 / 0

Fuel Vis (100 C) 10.80 / 11.12
Water 0 / 0
Coolant NO / NO

TBN 3.19 / 3.65
Oxidation N/A / 23.0
Nitration N/A / 2.0


I'm still wondering about the slightly highish silicon numbers. The Amsoil EaA has improved it slightly, but not a whole bunch. Any thoughts? I'm pretty sure the airbox and tubes are all sealed up nicely from when I installed this filter. I do drive through construction everyday (high dust areas), but I'd assume the filter should be doing it's job if it's properly sealed. It's always very dirty every 14,000-15,000 miles when I go to change it (or clean it in the case of Amsoil's EaA). Any thoughts???

BTW, I've been extremely interested in trying out Amsoil's SM 5W40 formulation in this application. So I've filled her up with some for the next 7,500 mile OCI and I'll post up the results when they are ready.

Cheers

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

It looks good. You're still in the engine's early life, so silicon could be a little bit leftover. The amount that is in there does not appear to be accelerating wear. Viscosity and TBN are both holding well. I'm sure you could easily get 10,000 miles out of this fill as well. Post back with the 5w-40 results.

 

[Pablo]

Which lab did you use? The reason I ask is the P and Zn look a bit high, for the latest TSO formulation. When was the oil purchased?

The analysis looks pretty good. From my understanding this engine is a bit hard on oil. The viscosity is near perfect, wear metals pretty low. The Si is probably a combination. Native there is about 8ppm in the oil, there is some gasket/engine leaching, and some smaller amount dirt ingress. With Na and Si going in the right direction, I wouldn't sweat it. Basically this oil could have gone further.

I'd love to see how the AFL will hold up in the engine.

 

[buster]

Nice report. Wear is low. I also am curious about the P and Zn. These labs show such huge variances between numbers. Annoying.

 

[ryansride2017]

Mostly high speed highway driving (3000-3500 RPM for 2 hours everyday).

3500 RPM in this car must be 90-100 mph, 2 hours a day??

 

[unDummy]

A simple Si test would be to use a different air filter for 1 UOA run. If the numbers don't drop considerably, wash and continue to use the EAA filter. I'd also consider washing the EAA earlier at 10k or at every OCI.

7.5k is the typical Nissan OCI. With this oil, there is no reason not to go further, unless you fear the warranty police.

Numbers look excellent and consistent. 6 month OCIs would also be another easy choice. 6 months with your driving would fall between 9-10k miles and shouldn't be a problem.
If there is room, a larger EA0 can also be considered if you want longer OCI's.

Any oil consumption?

 

[il_signore97]

Thanks for all the responses. I'll try to answer everyone's questions below by name... Here goes:


ConfederateTyrant: Yes, I am eventually looking to extend to 10,000 mile OCI's. That is what I would like to work up to, but I'd like to be sure everything is well before I actually get there. I'm hoping the Si numbers are just from gasket leaching (mostly anyway) and that there's no dirt issues to worry about. Thanks.


Pablo: I use Oil Analyzers Inc to do the UOA's. The latest fill of 0W30 was purchased in December of 2006. I'm glad to see the numbers working their way down. The Na may be more evident in the winter due to the ridiculous amounts of road salt used up here. But then again, both fills of oil listed above saw roughly equal amounts of winter, so there's definitely an improvement. The only difference was the first fill had a regular air filter, and the latest fill had the Amsoil EaA, which seems to be working well. I'm very curious about the 5W40 AFL results - I will most definitely post them in a couple of months when they become available. Thanks.


Buster, I think I answered your question in my response to Pablo

ryansride2017: 3000 RPM works out to about 80 mph in this car. 3500 RPM is just over 90 mph. It's a very short 5th gear and final drive combination that keeps this engine revving quite high. The 6th gear might have been nice for all of the higher speed highway cruising I do... The one toll highway we have up here really moves quickly

(the speed limit is 62.5 mph to be exact)


unDummy: The first UOA was done on a regular Nissan air filter. The second UOA was done on the EaA air filter. Nothing else was different between the two OCI's. The numbers dropped a bit after the EaA drop-in filter was installed. As for OCI, I'm not too concerned with warranty. With the mileage I do, the bumper to bumper is already gone, and the car is barely 2 years old. The powertrain warranty will be long gone as well, so that won't hold me back. I'd like to try 10k OCI's if everything looks okay with the 7.5k OCI. For this next OCI, I have installed the larger EaO filter (EaO13 instead of EaO12). I'll probably just use those from now on regardless for not even $1 more. With the 0W30, oil consumption was very minimal (about 1/3 of a qt in 7500 miles). So far with the slightly thicker AFL, no measurable consumption after ~2000 miles.


Just some notes about my thoughts on the AFL so far... The engine runs great as always. No discernible difference in power or fuel economy in comparison to the 0W30. No noise on startup with either oil (the VQ engine tends to make timing chain rattle on startup while the hydraulic chain tensioner gets up to operating pressure - mine does not make any sound on Amsoil 0W30 or 5W40). There is no measurable consumption either. Results to follow when they are available (in a new thread of course!)

Thanks again.

 

[Pablo]

Thanks il_signore97 - the more I look at this UOA, the better it looks! I mean compare it to other 3.5's as well.

 

[98LSC32V]

Nice setup with the Amsoil oil, oil filter and air filter... very nicely wearing engine... may I ask how did you break the car in?

 

[il_signore97]

Pablo, no problem. I have been poking around lately looking at other 3.5L VQ UOA's, and I guess mine does look pretty good given the comments here (especially considering the fact that I do drive the car quite hard -- AFTER it's fully warmed up of course!)


98LSC32V: Thanks for the comments. In terms of break-in, I tried my best to follow the recommended break-in procedure along with typical break-in practices. For the first 2,000 KM or so, I was very careful to avoid constant speeds, I made sure to not accelerate very hard at all, I avoided periods of idling, and made sure to work the engine at many different RPM's (without exceeding 3,500). After 2,000 KM, I still tried to be gentle with it, but added in some short bursts of random downshifts/acceleration every now and then to start working the higher end. Eventually, after another thousand KM or so, I just started driving normally. I kept the main fill of factory oil for 1,500 km, then I switched to synthetic. The first fill of syn was changed out at 6,000 km, and then I did a few more 6,000 km OCI's. After that, I went upwards to the 12,000 km OCI's that I'm currently at (I will eventually hit 15,000 km or more once my UOA's are consistantly good).