I spoke with my product development and testing engineer, who has gone so far as to calculate total bearing surface area/sheer index and flow rate to deduce the best compromise between mileage/performance and protection.
Thicker dino oil will give you more "cushion" between moving parts, but will be harder to flow into the tiny orfices of the variable valve timing system, slowing response and thus performance.(significantly, dependent on HOW thick)
With the pressure additives in synthetics you'll get the "cushion" without the poor flow properties of a thicker dino oil. 5w30 synth is my reccomendation and is less affected by climate in terms of flow rate on a cold engine/cold day.

INFINITI
Service Consultant

 

learn2turn, Thanks for going the extra 'mile'. I appreciate your help[img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Gsedanman's Coupe

 

Hate to keep beating a dead horse, but....

since the policies of Infiniti service dealerships will vary....

and Infiniti's recommendation of mineral based oils,

if a customer were to have complications from using a PAO based oil, say Mobil 1, Redline, or Amsoil (and using a API SJ 5w30), is that dealership allowed to void a powertrain warranty as the customer did not follow the manufacturer's recommendations?

 

although you might extend your engine life somewhat by using sythetic oils, in my opinion theres really no need to use it unless you modify the engine... It costs 3 times more for sythetics, and I think its a waste on a factory engine... now add a turbo or supercharger, then it makes more sense using it..

In my opinion anyways

 

The process of voiding a warrant is extremely difficult. The manufacturer would have to prove that what you did directly caused damage to the car. Most people think that having your warranty is a simple process when it is actually very difficult to prove a case. Plain and simple synthetics outperform conventional oils every time period!

TMaxG

 

how about sythetic blend? It costs about the same as regular oil.

BS G35C 6spd navi/aero/prem

 

I read the owner's manual and found no restriction from synthetics. There is no conflict with warranty at my dealership when using synthetics. I drive my personal cars with enthusiasm, so I rely on oils engineered to keep metal, microns away from contacting, metal, at all pionts of interest, at sustained high RPM operation. The engineers who run the engines on mounts in lab/dyno rooms know that synthetics offer superior formulation. You can run what you want, but the facts are there, after spinning the VQ to 8500 RPM for a given time to determine the race motors powerband, "regular" oil is not what pours from the drain plug.

I will modify anything I drive. If you turbo/supercharge your Infinti or if you like to live in the upper end of the tach on your stock engine, get the best oil. It's cheap insurance and this is a real driver's car so why have any reason to hold back?

Be proud of your SKYLINE and treat it accordingly! What's @ $25 every 3500 or so? If it's too much, then you know not what you've purchased.

INFINITI
Service Consultant

 

I guess you didn't read the same owners manual I did for the coupe.

edit:
Note in the other thread.....Syntec is a hydrocracked mineral oil.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by VNT on 01/26/03 02:59 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

18664-10-5.JPG

 

Don't worry about the manufacturers trying to prove warranties...Ford has easily done this through oil analysis testing last summer when many engine failures were caused by using the incorrect oil.

Let's see...for a turbo car like the WRX, a simple addition of a boost controller can, and will void both the powertrain and drivetrain warrany. Reason why? More boost = more power = more load on drivetrain and powertrain.

THe infamous HOnda & Toyota misshift.

Another way of voiding a warranty? Racing, participating in SCCA sanctioned activities, etc. Abuse will void the warranty. Trends and info from the ECU allows the service dealership to determine if the car was abused.....

Manufacturers are wising up by by sending bulletins to their dealerships on what to look for when it comes to mods, from the obvious to looking for things like spliced wiring....

Manufacturers aren't stupid. They are employed by people who also mod their own cars, as well as being weekend racers themselves.

As far as using synthetics, this car, it's your choice, but as Infiniti recommends mineral based....you can't really say who didn't know (sometimes claiming ignorance works).

As for my own personal car?
The above is the oil in my crankcase



18670-Delvec.gif

 

If I might say one more thing, at the risk of being upsetting again(present company excluded):
There seems to be a general paranoia about being clumped into the same group as ppl that actually do abuse their cars and expect warranty. I think Nissan/Infiniti or any other manufacturer would be hard pressed to prove negligence of any kind with a lot of guys like us who care enough to change their oil frequently and put what seems to be a very good quality oil and filter back in their cars.
I would say their business would take a severe downturn if they denied repairs because of someone else's stupidty. We all know of some that don't care a 'Rats' about any kind of maintenance.
I appreciate the Engineering, as well as the Tech/Consultant input from all you guys. It's been an interesting and informative thread from a few different perspectives and we've all learned something, but, IMHO, when it comes to car maintenance and dealing with manufacturer's warranties, I'll continue to rely on common sense. It's worked for so long for me.[img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Once again, thanks for your perspective and insight. I bow to your engineering expertise.


Gsedanman's Coupe

 

I just changed my oil today. hit 1500 miles and just needed to get out any kind of metal debree that came off during break in.

I put in the valvoline half sythetic 5w-30 and put on a Fram filter. The only thing I could find was the orange Fram one, not the double guard or tripple guard. If I can't find those I think I'll just go to nissan and pick up a stock one.

the stock filter is a little bit bigger and the internals look nicer.

Anyways, I couldn't find Castro half sytec 5w-30 anywhere. I don't know if they stopped making it. Valvoline seems just as good or better.

I went with half sytec for now cause I know the engine could use some more breaking in. 1400 was for semi baby driving, now its time for the hard break in. After I hit 3k I'll go over to full synthetic. with the half syntec alone I could feel a difference. the car is smoother and excellerates better.

BS G35C 6spd navi/aero/prem

 

Semi-Synthetic isn't 50% synthetic.....

it's only 10-20% synthetic

Fram doesn't have the triple guard.....they got the gray canister toughgard.

Since you mentioned Fram.....before people jump into conclusions and say all Fram filters suck, and try to point a certain study.....

http://minimopar.net/oilfilterstudy.html

Note it says Fram Extra & Double guards do suck. The Toughguards are actually one of the recommended filters

 

I see the reccomendation, but unless they say NO to synthetics there will be no conflict.

INFINITI
Service Consultant

 

Actually, my manual says you can use synthetics.





18812-Oil Rec.JPG

 

I know theres no tripple guard, just couldn't think of the name. I just know they have the orange one, the gray one, then the dupont one that comes in the black box.

I usually get the gray one, they just didn't have it in 6607. I've never had problems with Fram.

BS G35C 6spd navi/aero/prem