FYI,

A lot of my friends told me you have to break in your engine but you don't have to for switching to sythetic oil. I changed to mobile1 sythetic at 1400 miles. The car comes stock with synthetic blend anyways. Check out this page.

http://www.mobil1.com/why/myths.jsp

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by MakGee35 on 08/03/04 01:35 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

Thanks for the link, but I have two problems here.

1. Mobile 1 is trying to sell their product, so take all of their "marketing information" with a grain of salt.
2. I don't care what other car companies do, they don't build the G35.

Note that I'm not saying they are wrong, but I don't see them as an authority on the subject. I prefer a more independent analysis.

Dave

2004.5 DG/G 5AT Coupe with all options
Sidemarker turnsignal mod
GroundingGear™
2003 Yamaha YZF600R

 

i started useing fully synth from the first oil change.. never looked back.. i also change my oil every 5k-6k.. along with filter.. what i have been told is, you can run the oil long that 5k, but you must change the filter every 5-6k... meaning, run 10k oil, change filter at 5.. i still dont do that.. i change both at 5-6k..

 

as someone who routinely pays $20 for blackstone reports on my used oil *and* shares them, I can point you to real tangible information that exists regarding the VQ and extended drains, early changes, dino and syn. Using oil reports on other VQ35 based Nissans, there is quite a bit of data available. Based on *your* climate and driving conditions, you can draw some conclusions that might be helpful. Everything else is conjecture.

I can tell you whats out there, high wear to almost 10K on all VQs. There's a very long breakin. Its in the reports. Syn doesnt appear to change this wear *that* much. There was concern that syn too early *may* have contributed to oil consumption on a VQ (maxima.org oil forums), however subsequent reports from others have not proven it (ie no direct link).

for instance

 

tpware -

you sound very knowledgeable about oil, break-in, and the G.... can you answer two questions for me?

1. at what mileage do you suggest the first oil change and why? i'm almost at 1000 and was thinking of changing oil already.

2. you stated that the VQ has an extended break-in.... almost to 10K miles. what does this change ....in respect with how i drive and maintain my car thru this period?

thanks in advance.

 

When running synthetic, while the oil will maintain integrity 7500+ miles, the problem is dirt and other polutants getting into the system that the filter does remove.

Is it possible to remove the filter and not drain all the oil? I havent' crawled under my G yet to see the orientation of the filter.

==============================
2004 G35 Coupe 6MT, Desert Platinum
1968 Chevy C10, never ending hobby

 

I have been using synthetic oil in all of my past and present vehicles since Mobil-One appeared on the market back in the 70's. It's a great oil but by it's own design, it tends to be more slipery then dyno oil. That's great in an engine that is already broke in on dyno oil, but using synthetic oil before the piston rings are properly seated to the cylinder walls can result in an engine that will always consume oil between changes.

I know this fact from my own experiance with a brand new Chevy 4.2 litre Astrovan. The 4.2 chevy 6 is a great engine that I have had in several Chevy trucks over the years and none ever used a drop of oil between changes except for this van that I made the sad mistake of switching over to synthetic at the recomended 500 mile first oil change. Never again. I would advise everyone to wait until you have at least 5000 miles on a new engine before making the switch from dyno oil to a good synthetic oil.

As I recall, the manual in my son's G35 recomends oil & filter changes every 3500 miles. Synthetic oil will not break down viscosity levels nearly as quickly as dyno oil, so yes, it will run much farther then the recomended 3500 miles, (but for a $30k car why would you want to penney pinch over a few bucks for an extra oil change now and then).

 

well, I try not to speak as an authority. There are plenty of more knowledgeable members here and on bobistheoilguy.com

There's a blackstone report floating around here on a first 1000 mile oil change. The oil showed to be equivalent to oil with 3000 miles on it already. Based on that alone, I would *personally* do an early change. Again, some break-in wear is good, so an early change may account for my longer breakin.

Honestly, I cannot say full breakin by 5K or 10K is better. The VQ is a 200K engine regardless. You will make the most HP and attain the highest MPG after a its fully broken in. The reality is that with stop and go traffic and driving habits, its hard to compare whats best for one another's cars.

I went syn at 4500. It seemed like a compromise. People who seem to know Nissan engines say 10K is best. However, the VQ35 isn't exactly the same as VGs or earlier VQs. The VGs used to have a TON of plating on the rings. I'm not sure Nissan is doing this anymore.

 

How was the car driven tpware? From the research I have done, most of the break-in occurs a short period of time after the first time it is started.

 

1. One expert said to change it within 50 miles. Most will say 500 at the latest for the first change.

2. 10K seems quite long for any motor.

A couple break-in sites:

http://www.stealth316.com/2-breakin.htm
http://mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
http://www.ntnoa.org/enginebreakin.htm

 

I dont know any VQ experts.. I know plenty of people who know certain engines, but not any VQ experts. So, I just base my opinion on the VQ oil reports.

I did the 1200 mile breakin as suggested, then changed the oil at 1500 or so.

5-10K is still the norm for Nissan engines. Honda and Toyota seem to settle in before 1K.

Not to confuse "breakin", you've got the recommended 1200 when new... but you also have several thousand miles were metal wear will be high. (at least with Nissans). After that settles down, you'll be making the most HP and mpg you'll probably ever have.

 

I'm with timware... and what I can add is this:

Every engine is different, even the same engine in different cars, with different drivers, can exhibit very different wear trends. My OCI is typically 7.5K with M1 10W30, and I think my wear levels are on the high end in comparison to other UOAs I've seen. I switched to synth @ 7.5K, and extended my oci to 7.5K, not to pinch pennies, but to reduce the number of changes I did each year with 2 cars doing 30-36K miles a year. Some will say my wear still looks like breakin wear... even at 30K, and attributes this to switching to synth before 12K. But who really knows?

My commute recently changed so that the majority of my miles are now city miles, which means relatively higher wear on the engine and higher stress on the oil. I'm at 5800 miles and will be pulling a sample this weekend for analysis... will post results as it comes in.

I think I saw someone compare oil discussions as being akin to religious discussions... lots of stories and myths, with not a whole lot of hard data available, everybody's got their own opinion,... so do your own research, form your own beliefs and do whatever you're comfortable doing.

I say switch at 5K... neither you, nor your VQ, will notice a difference.

My VQ UOAs:



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