I am over 5700 miles and have used 10-30 as per the manual. I am considering going synthetic on the next change, about 6700. My issue is that I have read that synthetic can lead to severe engine trouble. A study of 6000 NY taxi's over years showed no difference in changing at 3000 vs 6000 intervals, but ten engines blew. Of these ten, 9 used synthetic and 1 natural petro. I know my ZR will run smoother with synth but maybe there is a good reason that the manual recomends natural petro based only. I am thinking of four quarts natural and one synth on the next change as a half measure. I can go full synth but wanted to ask if any members have had engine problems after going 100 percent synth. I appreciate any insights, ideas, opinions etc.

Thanks

 

The other issue is that engine seals, used to dino oil, may start leaking. I've been told, and I'm not sure it's true in all cases, that once you have used dino oil over a period of time, it isn't recommended to switch to synthetics.

I asked the Service Manager at the Nissan dealership I get the vehicle serviced at. He said Nissan recommends NOT using synthetics in the 3.5L engine.

I have another vehicle(5.7L <G>) that has had nothing but synthetic in it since new. It now has almost 128K miles on it and nary a leak in 10 years. So go figure.

 

There should be a bunch of posts about this you just gotta use the "search". After checking all those out it seems to be a split decision. I decided to go the synthetic route with mobil one 10w30 at 20,000 miles and I've had no leak issues or problems thusfar. It actually does feel likes its running smoother especially after intial startup and I'm even averaging 1 mpg more so bonus....

 

i've been running royal purple since 6k miles, currently i am at 21K (2 years) 10w30. no leaks, no problems. i change the oil filter (nissan brand) @ 4k and do a complete change @ 8k. This was recommended by a local shop that is a nissan specialty service station.

 

Either one should be fine. I switched to synthetic (Mobil 1) at 3000 miles and no problem now at 20+ miles.

Also, most of the commonly avaliable synthetics out there (except Mobil 1, selected grade of Castrol Syntec, Redline, Amsoil) are not even real synthetics. They are "hydocracked" highly refined Group III dino oil that are labled "synthetic."

 

I was thinking the same thing. I just had my first oil change today with regular. I'm thinking of going full synthetic at 9k though.

 

Mobil 1 since the first oil change. Now at almost at 12k and 5 track days.

I'm running the 3k oil change interval plus I change oil before any lapping session.

Just stick to recommanded interval regardless of oil type. Dot give an excuse to Nissan USA to wigle themselves out of your warranty !

 

dosen't the Z call for 5w 30? or have I read something wrong?

George

heh ok well now after checking my manual I see 10w30 is ok abouve 0. so now the question is how many ppl use 10w30 over 5w30?

 

I use 5w30

 

I use 5w30

 

5w30 synthetic 8k mi

 

a picture is worth a bunch of words we've covered many times here...



Got that back yesterday. Oil was changed when it was due to time and all city driving. Switched at 5K (first change with mineral at 1500)

 

I am going to use Mobil 1 at my next change, 6700 miles. I appreciate all the great input.

 

I just changed the oil tonight for the first time at 1,200 miles with 5w30 Mobil1

 

btw, I think the results I posted above could be achieved with mineral oil.. Just posting what my results on M1 have been. I'm only on syn because I do 95% city, short trip driving. It helps keep the flashpoint in check (from open loop running rich alot of the time).

 

5w 30 syth 5000+ miles high desert,long and short drives no problems whatsoever.

 

Either would be fine. I used to be a big fan of synthetic, running it in all my vehicles. In the past few years I've come around a bit. I don't personally think you'll ever notice a difference other than it being around twice the price. At least that has been my experience. I'll just change my dino oil every 3k and not worry about it anymore. I use 5w30 as well BTW...

 

while my wear stayed in check with mineral, I switched because of this

http://www.timware.org/pics/g/gc_oil1.jpg

Keep in mind, thats breakin (1500-4500)... but I see the same thing on our pathfinder. 90% city driving + 3000 miles and I see more fuel contamination and lower flashpoint with mineral. Lower flashpoint, *potentially* more consumption. However, I havent been consuming any on mineral or syn.