My dealer said they like to use synthetic but I would like to add a little before I need to change it so does factory use real or synthetic oil?

For some reason, I am reluctant to use synthetic as changing it every 3700 miles will get expensive!

Bob

 

I asked the very same question many moons ago, and the answer is no.

Synthetic gets changed every 15k, doing it 37xx would be ridiculous. I don't even do that with dino juice. Those who don't feel comfortable with 15k usually do it at 7.5k. What's $90 extra a year on a 50k car anyway?

If it were me, G35 doesn't come with synth, so I wouldn't bother. I'd do dino every 5k. my .02.

 

I plan on going with Mobil1 Synthetic, at pickup the car will have standard oil, I plan on doing oil changes at 100 miles, 1000, and then at 3000 will be the first synthectic, then my next change will be at 6000 miles, during the transition it's recommended that the first change only go as long as the original oil because there will still be about 1/2qt. of standard oil remaining in the system, when mixed with Synthetic the overall oil properties will be reduced to standard oil. plus at 6000 miles there's nothing wrong with a second change of oil. After that I would recommend every 7500-10,000 miles you get an oil change. I'm going to do it every 5K just for the fact that my dealer covers all oil changes free of charge.

Go with a high-flow oil filter is always a good move, never hurts to have the better filter. I also picked up a filtermag, just as a preventative advantage. I personally plan on keeping the car for 10 years, maybe longer if it's still going strong, so longevity is very important to me.

I know standard oil is of such good quality you can get 7500-10,000 out of it no problem, and Synthetic is good for 25,000 miles.

 

It's an interesting process you describe. Why an oil change at 100?

Anyway, assuming that what you describe is the proper way to go from dino to synth, it's too expensive imho (3 add'l oil changes, 2 of which are full synth) to have to waste that much synth to do the switch. I dunno what the long-term benefit will be because even Infiniti did not fill the motor with synth from the factory. My thing is since Infiniti doesn't do synth as a given, unless you do all the changes yourself, somewhere along the line there will be a goof and the car will be filled with dino juice by the dealer. If you knew about it, you'd have to start again with your transition process.

I'm actually confused by your numbers as you said you're recommending 7.5 to 10? But you will do 5 because the dealer includes it, but the oil is in fact good for 25?

 

the first 100 miles will produce the most metal into the oil as it breaks in, might as well get it out of there rather then cycle it through the engine.

The transition is recommended, if your running 5qt of synthetic to 1/2qt of standard, you should run that first oil change with the properties of the lower durability.

Synthetic oil it's self is good for 25K miles, however there develops metal shavings and other contaminants that i'd rather didn't cycle around the engine, there for in my case, if it's free, I'm going to get the oil changed every 5K miles and also why I use a filtermag. BWM's service interval is 15K miles, if you show up at 14K miles you'll need to pay for the oil change yourself, this is the case with most European vehicle recomendations.

Personally If there's no real downside to changing it more often, the why would I let the contaminants cycle around the engine, and for resale purposes, not many people are going to buy a car when you tell them you did an oil change every 15K miles, people expect 3K, 5K is even pushing it for most people.

 

Spot on, with BMW, 15k or 1 yr. is included. I've found that some choose to pay $90 (depending on area some are $120) to have the oil changed in-between, where the dealer will not reset the computer. Thing is, here you don't have to worry if they accidentally (and unintentionally) put in dino juice and charged you for synth. With the Infiniti, mistakes happen. They change most with dino, so your wanting other oil is the exception. So short of DIY, why go through extra effort to ask for synth? My Maxima motor is smooth as silk at 137k, and it's never had anything but dino juice and OEM filters. Is there any real world benefit had I had done the 100, 3000, 5000 synth oil changes? The car's already 9 yrs. old and motor is fine.

Japanese mfgs will put synth in if needed. Take the Acura RDX for example, it comes filled with full synthetic. Possibly due to the turbocharging...

 

That may have been true 35 years ago, but the technology that is used to build these engines results in a very precise fit. While the engine will definitely shave a bit of metal away during the seating of the rings, the oil filter is there to catch it. In older engines the debris from the manufacturing was the problem. IMO skip the 100 mile and 1000 mile oil changes. Also it's not a bad idea to wait a bit longer before switching to a full synthetic, given that the engine will not be completely broken in by 3000 miles, there's a reason why they but dino in to start with. I'm just going to follow the maintenence schedule for oil changes (it's good enough to warranty) and I'm considering switching to full synthetic at the second oil change.

 

What happens to your warranty coverage if you have an engine problem and tell them you have been changing the oil every 10000 or 15000 mi since you have been using synthetic. I didnt see any changes to maintenance schedule based on oil type.

 

+1

You can change it every 100 miles if you want, but there will still be debris as the rings seat. You nailed it why they recommend changing it when they do (mfr's that is). Changing before that is just a waste of $. As far as intervals go after the 1st oil change......send samples to Blackstone instead of spewing rhetoric

 

i use synthetic and change every 7500-8000.

 

Good advice, but if youre talking about the G, it doesnt cost $50k.

 

Good point. Keep the same schedule for synthetic oil changes as dino to maintain your warranty.....

I also have not seen it written anywhere in our owner's manuals that you can extend your change interval by using synthetic.

Be careful.

C.

 

imho it's the Jiffy Lube people that invented the wasteful 3k oil change rule. Even under severe service I believe Nissan says 3750 for the Maxima. The BMW dealership told me no need to change the oil at 1k, but BMWCCA does recommend such. A guy at e90 post did the oil change himself, said he has a PhD in ChemE (which he admitted means nothing), and felt pretty sure that tossing the oil at 1k was a waste of money. At the same time, he said he was willing to spend around $60 (since he DIY) for peace of mind. From simply looking at his used oil, he said it looked clean.

I wonder if my 1998 VQ is really any different from an oil requirement standpoint than a 2k7 G35 motor? Probably not. If Infiniti doesn't think the motor needs synth, why bother? Like I said, my Maxima has 137k and the motor is smooth as silk. What benefit would I see today, had I have started using full synth 9 years ago? Besides a dent in my pocketbook?

Again, if a car comes filled from the factory with the stuff, I'd keep using it. But I see no need to switch. I think every 5k with dino juice and new OEM filter is even mild overkill, but it's what I would do with a G35 or Maxima.

 

Well Synthetic oil sustains heat better, therefore protects a little better.
For myself I'm not real worried about that though as the newer dino juices do the job fine enough. I use synthetic so I don't have to change the oil as frequently. In the end I save $ and time. In my S2000, I change the oil every December, only once a year, and make sure I do a filter swap at the same time, and an additional filter swap in the summer, and top off whatever I lose. I've done this with my last 3 cars, about 12k miles per year. I use Mobil1 Synthetic or Amsoil, and Blackstone gets a sample everytime, and everytime they say I changed it right before it was about time to change it. So even at 12k miles, Blackstone says I'm changing it a bit early, lol!

 

I agree about the skipping the 100 and 1000 changes. The filter will catch just about everything that the motor pukes out, unless some catastrophic (i.e. won't matter how fresh the oil is) failure happens.