I'm new to this, so sorry if this is a repost. I'm due for my second oil change - 7500 miles on a 2004.5 6MT - and I'm considering switching over to synthetic. I've heard in the past that it's best to wait and break the engine in for 10,000 miles before switching. What do you guys suggest? If you have switched to synthetic, have you noticed substantial shifting/performance improvements? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.



385818-sonic.gif

 

I'm kinda torn regarding this issue myself. The manual says that Infiniti recommends the use of mineral based oils. The synthetics do meet standards outlined in the owners manual, but despite that synthetics can exhibit some characteristics that are very different from conventional motor oil.

Here is a write up that will give you an idea as to what I'm talking about.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/gearoiltest.htm
This test is non-scientific, and leads me to believe that the tester is biased, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Hopefully a definitive answer will come soon. In the mean time I plan to stick with regular oil, but change it ahead of schedule at 3000 miles.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

-- Abraham Lincoln

 

You also may want to check out this forum.

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php

There is a ton of good info there.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

-- Abraham Lincoln

 

Dont switch unless you want oil consumption problems. Its a hit and miss, but most of us that have had problems with oil consumption had the problem after switching to synthetic.

 

I switched to Mobil 1 synthetic at 1250 miles and have had no problems. Have 3500 now. Not one drop of oil has been consumed. The engine is getting stronger with every mile put on it.

 

Diddo!

 

I switched over to Mobil 1 after a full break-in at 12,000 miles (19.5k Km). No problem with oil consumption either.

<font color=blue>[i]GroundingGear™ Equipped </font color=blue>

 

I switched to Amsoil at 3000 miles--that was my third oil change. I have 11,500 miles on the car now and it does not use any oil.

'04 6MT coupe

 

guys, i have heard of all the benefits of synthetic... but is there any negatives to regular oil if changed at 3k intervals?thanks

 

I had the dealer do the first oil/filter at 2200 miles. I used Mobil1 5W/30 then, and change every 7500 with it ever since. I have almost 47000 miles now and the motor is smooth as glass and runs stronger than when it was new. Not joking. This is easily a 300000 mile drivetrain if maintained properly with synthetic lubricants. I've got Amsoil Series 2000 in the diff. since 3500 miles and change it every 30K with the AT fluid flush. If I could put Amsoil synthetic ATF in there, I would, but Infiniti says its a no-no. Oh well, its a Q45 tranny, so the VQ is not even close to stressing it out.

 

If the engine is properly sealed and not leaking oil, which mine hasn't from day one, then synthetic shouldn't cause any problem.

My advice, if you're going to switch to synthetic, don't do it to lengthen the oil change intervals.

I had very positive results with Amsoil 0w30 on my Audi, not so good with Mobil 1, but that was a twin turbo car, so it should stress out the oil sooner. The engine oil temp ran cooler with the Amsoil 0w30 over Mobil 1 0w30 or 0w40.

&lt;img src="https://g35driver.com/rides/spec/pix/winw_1093819995.jpg"&gt;

 

That should be plenty of miles of break in.
If you rings haven't seated by now they will never seat.
AlanL

I am now interested in the Amsoil because of this post

 

Yeah but the Amsoil is so damn expensive. And with the quality of conventional oils nowadays, you probably won't get better protection or performance with a synth. The only thing that made synths attractive to me was the possibility of going 7500 miles between changes; if I change every 3750, I'll stick with dino.


<font color=red>chinee</font color=red>
03.5 G35s