I've searched the forums for the answer to this, but i still come up short. First off, the dealer told me to get my first oil change at 1000 miles, was just curious what the reason for that would be. Second, should i go with synthetic oil for my g35 coupe, or just regular grade? I would appreciate any help u guys have to offer, thanks

 

When my car had around 300 miles on it, I had to bring it in for a wheel problem. I told the service rep that I would be switching to Moblile 1 at my first oil change. He told me to change the oil there and then. I told him to go ahead and change the oil. 11,000 miles and 3 oil changes later I have never had any problems with the engine. A lot of performance cars come with synthetic from the factory. I don't see how changing your oil can ever hurt.

 

A modern car engine finishes its manufacturing processes in the first 500-1000 miles or so. Even with today's tight tolerances out of the factory (or even because of them), your rings wear to the exact profile of the cylinder walls, your valves seat themselves...etc. This is the break in period. This process can cause small metal pieces and shavings to come off the new parts and into the oil. As small as these pieces are, you generally do not wan them floating around in the oil.

Putting fresh oil in as soon as possible after the break in period will minimize any undue wear caused by this extra metal in the oil.

As far as synthetic goes, BMW and Porsche both put synthetic in at the factory (Mobil 1 IIRC), race teams use it, and a lot of other manufactures recommend it. The G owners manual recommends mineral/conventional oil, but I put Mobil 1 in, and since it meets or exceeds the specifications in the owners manual, it doesn't void my warranty.

Plus my gas mileage went up about 2 mpg in city driving.

 

You did a search and couldn't find anything? hmm, try harder.

Most people on this forum recommend waiting until 7 to 10,000 miles before switching to synthetic because of oil burning problems. Change your oil around 1000 or 1500 miles to get the metal shavings out. and you can get an oil analysis done if you want.

 

Wow, thanks a lot guys, really appreciate the help, and yea diddy, i attempted a half assed search. I'm at work right now, my minds not working at full speed

 

My dealer didn't mention this. Why would switching to synthetic too early cause your engine to burn oil? I thought cars burned oil because of worn piston rings. What am I not understanding here?

 

The VQ is one of the few engines left that do require quite a bit of break in. The oil analysis reports show wear up to 5k. Not coincidently, youre making more HP and better mpg at 5K.

In the past, switching early on the VQ3.0 would simply make the process take longer, perhaps taking 10-15K to break in. But, doing no harm.

When the VQ35 came out in the Pathfinder and Maxima, changing to syn on the first change gave some unexpected results. Oil consumption *seemed* to be one of them. People here have had consumption with and without syn.. early changes and regular intervals. There is no definate trend yet. Until we know for sure, its probably best to wait til 5K or even 10K to go with syn. New rings and seals may have something to do with it. I would only consider reports from the VQ35, other engine manufacturers and even the VQ3.0 dont really apply to us it seems.

 

I'm just not buying your argument here. Modern engines are machined with such precision, that some folks believe break in is not needed period.

Oil is the lifes blood (so to speak) of any internal combustion engine. As such, dirt and viscosity breakdown are the two biggest concerns. The only problem with changing your oil too often is simply one of (perhaps) waisting money.

 

Buy what you want, I put my money where my mouth is.. which is Blackstone Oil reports. I *know* whats in my oil. And I share my reports with the community.

Here's my oil report on my car at 4500 miles.
http://www.g-owners.com/pic_display.asp?id=330

and at 10500
http://www.g-owners.com/pic_display.asp?id=694

Mine trends right along with all the other G35 reports. Now tell me again about your theory of the VQ not breaking in? Want some Dynos? those trend the same way.

If you want to start talking Honda or Toyota engines, its not exactly the same. They do breakin much sooner than a VQ.

As far as my arguement, its not "my arguement", it's actually a ton of oil reports on maximas (for the Vq30) from all over the country using all sorts of intervals, oils and filtration. I invite you to check it out.
http://forums.maxima.org/forumdisplay.php?&f=70
However, you should only consider information from VQ3.5 (2002+) maximas, as I was saying earlier, the VQ35 doesnt appear to have the exact same charactistics of the VQ30. g-owners is thankfully hosting our reports in one place so you can see some examples and draw your own conclusions about our engines, not some general, often incorrect, information.,
http://www.g-owners.com/pic_showall....lackstone+Labs

 

I got my first oil change at right around 1200 miles and then my 2nd at a little over 3000 (using whatever oil Infiniti uses). I'm now at 7600 and just called to schedule an appointment. My first two were free and now they're saying its $39.99. I have no idea, but this sounds kind of high to me. Is this standard? Also, does anyone recommend the 7500 mile service thing?

Thanks,

Peter

 

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Is that the difference in price between synthetic and dino?
If it's for dino, how long did they offer free o/changes. Perhaps you've come to the end of the free term.
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Some believe that changing to synthetic early is cool. (I changed early too), and some believe that waiting until a few thousand miles has accumulated is best.
It seems to be a matter of preference.

 

TimW,

l think I understand now why using synth early will slow the break in process. Too little friction will slow the process of properly seating the piston rings. Is this correct?

 

alot would depend on driving habits, but it does appear to trend that way. I switched at 4500 and my metals took alittle longer to settle down. Appears at 11K, mine was where alot of people are at around 7500. Thing is, some of that wear is really beneficial. Exactly where the sweet spot is isnt exactly predictable. So, the after 5K recommendation is pretty good from what the reports show. Some more oil knowledgeable people than I would even recommend 10K. I got impatient and my mileage was all city, I probably had the same hours on the engine as someone with 7500 or more.