Friend of mine has recommend synthetic motor oil. He says it will cost more but gives the engine better protection, longer life, etc. He said that if I do convert there is no going back to regular oil. Is that true? Also can I just buy some synthetic and take it to the dealership when I get a change? (Yes I'm lazy). What is the best brand of synthetic? What type should I use? (I live in Cali). Like most of us here I drive my car hard but it's also my daily commuter. Suggestions? Thanks.

-Jason
Laser Red '03 6MT

Yeah, synthetic is great. The manual recommends regular oil so you would be fine either way, but synthetic is the way to go if you don't get free oil changes at the dealer. hehe

Actually the manual recommends mineral-based oils.

Why PAO-based oils is not recommends? Got no clue.

Since Nissan/Infiniti recommends mineral-based oils, consider using Castrol Syntec.

I'll be using Castrol Syntec when I change mine. For some reason Nissan says to use mineral based oils in the Coupe.
I've read synthetic is worth a couple ponies and gives better, and longer protection. My 2 cents. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]


<font color=red>GSM</font color=red>

thanks guys. Sounds like there is no reason why I should change over the Castrol Syntec. One question: Some of your dealerships offer free oil changes? Do I need to open a can on mine? He He thanks again.

-Jason
Laser Red '03 6MT

I've heard nothing but good things about synthetics, but for some reason the Coupe manual advises against it. The Sedan manual, however, says either mineral or synthethic is fine. I do not remotely have the expertise necessary to tell you why this is, but I don't intend to defy the manual until I see some convincing explanation on how it couldn't possibly be bad for the Coupe to go synthetic.

-Jack

Black obsidian / graphite '03 Coupe premium nav

How much per quart are paying? Should I just buy a box?

-Jason
Laser Red '03 6MT

rumors were that synthetic oil swells up seals that cause minor leaks, if it is true or not, that's a good question, but i think it is a personal preference. for example i change my oil every 3K miles so i use regular, because it would be a waste of money for synthetic, now as for my girlfriend's jetta, i use a sythetic blend and change it every 5 or 6K miles if i remember!

I've heard of some synthetics that gel inside of the engine.....infact we got a recall letter on our lex rx300 saying that the synthetic oil may gel inside the engine and mess things up (is covered under their warranty now for 100,000 miles) if you dont get your oil changed every 5,000-7,500 and not a mile more.

<font color=green>-Ramb0</font color=green>

from my esm..
what nissan recommends.....

Oil specification and viscosity:
- API Certification Mark
- API grade SG/SH, Energy Conserving I & II or API grade SJ or SL, Energy Conserving
- ILSAC grade GF-I, GF-II & GF-III


can anyone tell me what these mean??

<font color=green>-Ramb0</font color=green><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by RamboRami on 03/31/03 09:26 PM.</EM></FONT></P>