Hi.

I drive a 2004 coupe that has 110k miles, and I recently swapped to European formula Mobil1 0W-40 and had great results. I don't believe in high mileage formulas, so I go with thicker viscosity.

Then, I saw this:


Pause @ 5:20 for the used oil analysis chart. Mobil1 0w-40 seems fine, but since Castrol European formula 0w-40 isn't on the chart, I was wondering what people thought about it. Intuitively, I figure it's probably similar to the 0w-30 Castrol Syntec that made the list, though. And since Mobil1 isn't the most reputable brand, I was wondering if the supposed "made in Germany" Castrol 0w-40 was legit, or if it's made with higher quality materials. I figured there must be some drivers out there that use it. Based on the chart, it seems like Castrol is way more legit since it produces better readings in the oils that were surveyed.

Thanks in advance for the insight.

NB. 1. Not interested in Purple Ribbon or Penzoil. 2. I'm only interested in 0w-40 blends.

 

Read your owners manual from page 10-5 'Infiniti recommends mineral based oils'.

I don't get people trying to outsmart the engineers who designed the engine by going with a completely different viscosity than what is recommended.

 

I get it!

They like to waste money on expensive oils and think they can impress others to waste their money also.

Telcoman

 

You didn't read the instructions I provided..

1. Those manuals contain data from engineers, but they're printed and distributed by salesmen.
2. The tests they ran aren't <100k miles.

 

Also keep in mind that is an INCREDIBLY limited sample size, only that a total of 86 different reports were used to create that sheet and many types of oil had only A SINGLE SAMPLE...

If someone had a motor with issues like worn bearing or rings it won't matter WHAT kind of oil goes into the thing, those two parts will continue to degrade and will show high mineral values. Also keep in mind that the conditions the motor was driven in plays a pretty huge part in your UOA, if you don't allow the vehicle to warm up, but instead hop in and drive the **** out of the motor you will have excessive wear. High rpm work like tracking the vehicle, constant redlines, etc will contribute to more wear and less favorable UOA.

There's just too many variables and so few samples, personally I would put zero faith in that video or the corresponding spreadsheet which is posted on my350z.

 

Those same engineers whose VQ block\piston design and recommendations have resulted in enough fried rings to make one think they were a chef at Arby's? There's clearly enough evidence of flaws in that design to seek a better solution.

A quality synthetic oil does literally everything better than a non-synthetic as long as the proper weight oil is used. German Castrol 0W30 for me is working out great. I'd use it in all of my cars and trucks if it wasn't so expensive.

 

The only concern with non-factory viscosity is the bearing tolerances, oil pump, rings, etc, are designed with a certain viscosity in mind. A zero winter oil is thinner than 10 winter, the parts in the engine will hold (retain) oil to fill bearing clearance gaps. Modern German vehicles have exceptionally low cold engine tolerances (alloys with different expansion rates) thus the necessity for zero winter oil, it's mostly part of a practice designed to "build the motor around the oil" because it is ever so slightly more efficient and has higher longevity and lower emissions through the life of the motor.

Our motors were built with greater tolerances and thus need the oil to retain in the clearances properly. Of course this is only at COLD temperatures, at operating temp both vehicles have the same tolerances due to expansion of different materials used.

If you allow proper warmup it will probably never be an issue and the zero winter oils you listed are very high quality oils to begin with (it's not magic, it's SCIENCE!) and sourced with fully synthetic materials which have more consistent and longer breakdown intervals. The most important contributing factors are the same regardless of oil used:

-Oil change interval, 3k for conventional and synth-blend. Otherwise 5k for full synthetic.

-Proper warmup times.

-Load placed on the engine.

-Average rpm, cycles create heat, heat breaks down oil. We assume a certain level of heat generated based on miles driven but everyone knows highway miles (lower and consistent rpm per mile traveled) is easier on the motor than city driving (frequent high rpm and torque demand = more heat).

Many people have had good results with a variety of oils, if you want to see how YOUR MOTOR runs on them just get the oil analysis done, it's easy and pretty cheap and is a great indicator of how well your motor is handling it.
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Does it really matter what brand oil you use if you change it frequently along with the filter? I totally believe in synthetics, living in a warm (hot) state I've run 10W30 for years using AMSOIL or Mobil1 which I'm currently using! I average 6k miles a year so I change oil/WIX filter twice a year. Costco had Mobil1 on sale $10 off a case, I'm currently sitting on a two year supply!
Gary

 

The short answer is yes, it does matter what oil you use even if you change the oil regularly. Does it matter enough to justify the extra expense of synthetic oil?... that depends on how the vehicle is driven and how good the owner is about adhering strictly to each oil's designed service intervals since synthetics break down more gradually than conventional oils and if the owner really wants to eek every last bit of life out of their drivetrain.

 

Accumulated mileage during an oil change interval actually means very little when it comes to oil changes on motor oil.... it's just the easiest thing for most people to keep track of.

The most true singular measuring stick of likely oil condition (if you had to pick just one to go by) would be accumulated engine revolutions during the oil change interval. 300 miles of super high RPM track racing around a small track in mostly 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear with lots of heat and maximum pressure on the internals the entire time are going to result in approximately the same amount of oil wear as a car that has floated through 3000 miles of 6th gear highway cruising. Or maybe a better example would be a car that has driven 1300 miles of many short distance (3 to 6 mile each way) city-trips consisting of daily cold-starts and warmups and almost purely stop-and-go traffic in the low gears with the A/C on, and lots of sitting/idling time vs a car that has driven 3000 miles of mostly 6th gear highway cruising in long trips per day (50+ mile commutes each way for example).

I'll occasionally vary my oil change intervals a bit in the lower mileage direction based on the types of driving I have been doing in the event that my driving style for an oil change interval varies drastically from my norm.

 

I don't know what you're talking about with your 'fried rings' nonsense. Sure, some VQ's HR's had issues and service bulletins were created. This engine was on Ward's ten best list for over 20 years and was used in nearly every Nissan product for 20 years. Most have run hundreds of thousands of miles reliably with little issue. To question the engineering of this engine is a bit much.

Reality is early VQ's were not designed around synthetics, the tolerances were not as tight and the sealing is a lot better today. Local Infiniti dealer does not recommend it on these VQ's and neither does my own mechanic. The molecular structure is much smaller and consistent with synthetics and using them in engines not designed with tight tolerances may result in more oil usage and leaks.

 

If you fail to acknowledge the VQ oil burning trend then you haven't been paying attention very well. This is pretty widespread on VQ35's, particularly the rev-up motors and these boards have been littered now for almost 12 years with tons of people posting about the problem on their older VQ35-powered vehicles. I see VQ-powered cars and SUVs driving around in my neighborhood all the time with huge plumes of smoke coming out the tailpipe every time they take off from stop lights and it always makes me chuckle a bit while at the same time feeling a bit uneasy since I have one myself and worry that this could be in my future.

The VQ35 is specifically what we're talking about here...not the whole line of VQ engines that you're referring to, so let's stop saying that this particular engine has been on anyone's list for 20 years... the VQ35 hasn't even existed for 20 years yet. The fact that any engine in particular has been on the Ward's top 10 engines list means nothing with regard to this specific issue since it didn't rear it's head as an immediate problem when the vehicle was new. Those lists come out when the vehicles are brand new and are almost entirely based off of initial performance of new motors within the first year or so of ownership and don't factor in much for durability and reliability over an 8-10 year ownership period. Those lists are also financially and business-motivated to get viewers\readers and internet clicks and draw people to buying new vehicles.

Take a look back at the history of the Ward's top 10 motors from years past. Those lists are full of terrible motors such as the Mazda Renesis 1.3 rotary for example.

 

You're also not accounting for how many 100's of thousands of miles are on those older vehicles, worn rings/guides is expected at that point and every motor smokes when that happens.

However the oil consumption issues you talk about pertaining to motors like the rev-up weren't from worn parts but instead the design allowing higher rpms. High reving motors cause the oil to turn into a fine mist that gets consumed through the pcv valve and this happens on nearly every motor to some degree.

Infiniti did have a piston rings recall on some years due to faulty design that they owned up to but this doesn't affect the majority. Certainly not enough to call the whole lineup "bad engines".

 

I'll assume you're exaggerating to make your point concerning oil burning on old VQ's, I still see many rolling here in Montreal from the late 90's, I certainly can't see visible oil smoke from them.

Every engine driven as hard as a typical VQ usually is will burn some oil. How much is open to debate and it's probably more running the older ones with synthetic instead of the recommended mineral oil. My reply to your post was your sarcasm of engineers not designing the engine properly. Sure, there was some HR with bad rings, I still think they know what oil the engine, both type and viscosity, was designed around and what to use.

Notwithstanding OP is already going against what is specified but he's going with a totally different viscosity a 0W weight which will drop his oil pressure quite a bit over a 5w-10w/30 affecting the life of his timing chain/guides/tensioners which is run off of oil pressure. Synthetics also drop your oil pressure by a significant amount over a conventional of the same viscosity in very hot operating temps due to their much thinner structure. What I am certain of is that no VQ from 2003 was designed around a 0W oil because it didn't exist at that time.

 

Slightly derailing the topic but if you want to see a vehicle that REALLY consumes oil then check out a Maserati GranCabriole or GranTurismo. My buddies 2015 GC drinks 2qt every 3k miles, this is completely normal btw and customers are advised to service their vehicles at dealership monthly because of it. Maserati monthly checkup services are provided free if charge for 5 years from the date of purchase which is cool.