what is the best oil ?

[tIgHtLiLbOx]

Originally Posted by cullyisgully

will my deal put synthetic oil in my moms 2005 altma.. and now she needs a new eniger because thay were not serpose to use that ....

Not gonna have a pissing match but clearly the altima had problems prior to the synthetic oil going in it as there's no way it would have damaged the engine. Sorry not buying it. As I said before. Research and education is what will provide honest truths not stories.

[bigguy]

I agree, it's not the oil that damaged the engine. If I had to change my oil (dealer has included all service including oil for 100,000 miles) I would use Shell Rotella 15W40 in my sub-tropical area. I own a scooter dealership and since we switched to the Rotella a few years ago, engine failures and excessive wear are a thing of the past. Yes, it's formulated for big trucks, but really it's for hard working engines, like the 1.8 - the viscosity does not break down.

The, "My favorite oil is" or, "The best oil is" argument has been going on for as long as cars have been around, but really there are only two things that make a difference on a daily driver. The way you break in or seal the rings in the first 30 miles and how often you change the oil, the latter of the two being most important.

My son has a Nissan Frontier with 290,000 problem free miles on it. Timing chain and water pump are the only two times a wrench has been put to the engine other than regular maintenance. He has been using Rotella since it was new and changes the oil every 2,000 miles, filter every 4,000.

So, what type of oil should you use? Whatever you want, but frequent oil changes will be the best answer to your question...

[egor0305]

Nothing but Royal Purple in my Cube!! 5W20 synthetic $8+ a quart but the NASCAR drivers use it. I have a friend that drivers NASCAR (not to mention his name) but he swears by it, so it goes in my Cube. 20,000+ miles and no oil use and runs fine. Stillen cold air induction and Stillen cat back exhaust. Runs like a scalded dog!!!!!!!! You get what you pay for........

[chucksnee]

Hello all,

New to the Nissan style/type 4 cyl ENG.

I bought the Cube for my wife, and ready to change the oil.

Now, I have always been a Mobil 1 fan...I always change the oil in my truck (GMC 4.8/Chevy Avalanche/Dodge Hemi) and just want to make sure that Synthetic is o.k., even the dealer said not to use synthetic....then he sad read the owners manual...and I could find nothing that says do not use synthetic...just SAE motor oil in the right weight....

For the people using synthetic, still happy, no problems?

Also, for the guy who talked about registering your oil changes on line...do you have a link?

Thanks all....

[bigguy]

Hi Chuck,

Regular Dinosaur oil is fine. Like I said in my post above, the frequency of your oil change is what really matters. Any oil that meets API standard specifications can be used. If you change your oil regularly, say 3-4K miles, and run up your miles within about 6 months or so, you'll get absolutely zero benefit from a synthetic oil other than thinning out your wallet.

Synthetic oil is designed to work for vehicles that run in extremely hot conditions, or extremely high RPMs, or for long periods between oil changes, driven or not. It won't breakdown under these abusive conditions like regular oil.

I stand by my last post for my area and the conditions I drive under, but generally, you would only use a syn oil in a Cube if you drive it like a race car (hard to do), put very low miles on it (don't do at least 4K/6mos), spend most of your time in stop and go traffic in a hot climate or high altitude, or drive your car less than 20 miles/run on a regular basis.

Keep in mind that Nissan does not recommend synthetic oil in the Cube. My Cube now has a little over 30K miles and the oil has been changed by the dealer every 4K. My oil changes were included in the deal and while I don't know what type of oil they're using, since it comes out of a hose and is dialed in, I do know it is a 5W30 dyno oil.

If you DO decide to go synthetic for whatever reason, I would go full syn, and not a blend. If you go with the cheaper blend, who knows whether it's a 1% of 50/50 blend? In either case, you'll defeat the purpose by way of "the blend" and be wasting your money.

I'm probably a little older than most Cube owners and I have been through a lot of cars in my day, but I can tell you, I have always been the, "by the book" kind of guy and kept records on every car. With all the cars I have owned over the years, I have always changed my oil every 2K miles and filter every 4K. I can also tell you I used the cheapest oil on the shelf, and I have never once had a single oil related engine problem... ever.

To answer your question in two words, "regular maintenance" would be my answer, type of oil doesn't matter.

[chucksnee]

Thanks Big,

I try to change my oil (synthetic) every 6,000 miles in my truck.

I stand by my last post for my area and the conditions I drive under, but generally, you would only use a syn oil in a Cube if you drive it like a race car (hard to do), put very low miles on it (don't do at least 4K/6mos), spend most of your time in stop and go traffic in a hot climate or high altitude, or drive your car less than 20 miles/run on a regular basis.

This is my wife, to the "T"....we live in Alabama, she does a lot of stop and go driving in HOT weather....and will not put 4k in 6 months....not a chance...

Weekly, I would say she drives 20 -30 miles....just to take our son to school...

So....it looks like I'll just go with synthetic...

Thanks again...

[bigguy]

In your case Chuck, I probably would go Shell Rotella 15W40, but you might not have the experience with it like I do, or done the research like I have, so just go full syn... 20-30 miles a week is well outside the scope of what an engine is designed to do. 20+ miles per run is really optimum for any engine and is how they're designed to run carbon free. That alone is good rationale for the syn.

Pick a good one though - Mobile-1 and Royal Purple full syn are probably the only two oils I might choose if I were to use a syn myself. But you know the old saying about opinions!

Regardless of what you pick, just stay away from the synthetic blends. While a lot of folks talk about how the blend homogenizes, the homogenization breaks down over time/temp/driving conditions (rapidly), so while it might be somewhat better than dyno oil, you'll still have the negative effects of the dyno blend... just go FULL synthetic. I would still do an annual oil change though and forget about the mileage in your case.

-Rich