What oil for a nissan titan 5.6 with scratched cylinder

[The Goat]

Picking up a used 2017 Titan for a very very good price. I had the cylinders scoped, and cylinder 7 had the notorious vertical scratches in it from the factory.

The engine itself has 130,000 mi, runs perfectly, and has excellent maintenance records all the way back so original in-service date.

It is also very likely going to start knocking sooner rather than later. The truck will not see any heavy towing, it will mainly be used as a daily Highway commuter and spend most of its life at 2300 RPM.

I already have the money set aside for the replacement engine and installation since I never have time to do anything fun anymore, but I'm curious which oil would be the choice given the situation.

Nissan originally spec'd a 5W30 for this bottom end, and it has slowly gotten thinner with time to 0w-20

In my vq40 setup, I have always run 0w 40 or 5w40 at 10,000 miles intervals. With 307,000 Mi on the clock, it pulls just as hard to redline as it always has. And it's run to Red Line countless times a day.

 

[vpr5703]

I don't know that any oil would be of use here if you're looking to prolong the life of that engine. If the engine is doomed, I'd just keep running it with whatever you want to put it in and when the failure shows signs of getting worse, change the engine out.

 

[RooflessVW]

15W-40 and the most efficient filter available. If metal starts going into the oil it's going to end up everywhere. Lifters, ring packs, etc.

If you're not going to rebuild this engine I guess it's not a huge deal.

 

[The Goat]

I would add there is no smoke, sound, or anything external to alert you that anything is wrong.

And, once the noise does begin, people have run them 40k+ thousand miles without a failure.

No intention of a rebuild. The later engines have the tissue corrected in the shortblock. And they are cheaper than the short block.

 

[vpr5703]

Personally I'd just change the engine out. If you know the engine is doomed to failure, and you've got the money right now - Why risk possible shortages of parts when the engine does eventually fail? Make the truck reliable now and in the future, and eliminate any question.

 

[The Goat]

Because even when it finally starts making noise, it will take 18 months minimum to develop into an issue?

 

[JohnnyG]

Yeah, those scratches were an expensive option when that truck was sold.

 

[JavierH19]

Being in Louisiana 15w-40 or 15w-50. The engine may sound doomed but i bet it'll still run for way longer. The only thing you'll have with 1 scored liner is oil consumption. But if the heads, timing components, and rotating assembly are all good it'll run way longer. Hold off on the engine replacement until it actually begins to fail.

 

[The Goat]

Yeah, those scratches were an expensive option when that truck was sold.

Hard to believe one machine on one line caused so many issues. 95% flawless. 5%... Not so much. Lol

Oh well. Good deals to be had.

 

[dogememe]

You got the pickup truck version of Big Altima Energy! But seriously, just run the cheapest oil that meets the spec at a reasonable OCI.

 

[Hall]

People here like 0W-40 in Nissan's VQ engines. I've ran 0W-40 in my VQ35 but found that Castrol Edge was "noisier" than Magnatec 5W-30. No complaints otherwise though....

and cylinder 7 had the notorious vertical scratches in it from the factory.

The engine itself has 130,000 mi, runs perfectly

Why don't problems from that show up earlier ? Dumb question - could it actually be fine and never have any related issues ? I guess oil could get the pistons (or rings ??) through these scratches ?

 

[RooflessVW]

Personally I'd just change the engine out. If you know the engine is doomed to failure, and you've got the money right now - Why risk possible shortages of parts when the engine does eventually fail? Make the truck reliable now and in the future, and eliminate any question.

You could do that and then some one rear ends out at a red light.

Why not get another 2 or 3 or 4 years? Maybe he trades the truck before it quits?

 

[The Goat]

People here like 0W-40 in Nissan's VQ engines. I've ran 0W-40 in my VQ35 but found that Castrol Edge was "noisier" than Magnatec 5W-30. No complaints otherwise though....


Why don't problems from that show up earlier ? Dumb question - could it actually be fine and never have any related issues ? I guess oil could get the pistons (or rings ??) through these scratches ?

My theory is the sportier the driver the longer they lasted. Most showed the problem in 20 or less thousand miles.

My vq will run 6k rpm all day long and not bat an eye.

 

[vpr5703]

You could do that and then some one rear ends out at a red light.

Why not get another 2 or 3 or 4 years? Maybe he trades the truck before it quits?

That's fair. My concern would be availability of the shortblocks in that time.

 

[The Goat]

I forgot that so many people here have the reading comprehension skills of my lab.

 

[rumcapital23]

Delo 15W-40

 

[kschachn]

I forgot that so many people here have the reading comprehension skills of my lab.

If it's such an awful place why do you come back?

 

[The Goat]

It isn't an awful place. People are simply so quick to type they forget to read first.


As for your comment before it was edited. Yes. I have another name with the word goat in it and couldn't login to it with any possible password nor do a recovery.

 

[Cujet]

If it's not burning oil, simply use a synthetic 5W-40, like Rotella T6 or Mobil 1, 5W-40 TDT. Adequate MOFT/HTHS for protection of an engine with a few flaws.

As a general rule, a few scores in a cylinder can sometimes be a non issue and cause no problems. In fact, there are engines with deliberate grooves to reduce compression for easier starting.

 

[The Goat]

If it's not burning oil, simply use a synthetic 5W-40, like Rotella T6 or Mobil 1, 5W-40 TDT. Adequate MOFT/HTHS for protection of an engine with a few flaws.

As a general rule, a few scores in a cylinder can sometimes be a non issue and cause no problems. In fact, there are engines with deliberate grooves to reduce compression for easier starting.

Intereating and good news given it have about 40 gallons of the m1.