Hi all! Nissan 1.8l recommendations

[Agent]

I've had this 2006 Nissan Sentra since it was new, now has about 80,000 miles on it. It's a 1.8l automatic car, driven primarily by my wife to and from work, 17 miles each way. Pretty smooth running 40mph traffic. We are in Florida so temps are around 60-90 during her commute, obviously winter/summer.

Looking for the best oil to work for that. No known issues, car doesn't smoke, but gets only about 24mpg. I've been using pretty much whichever oil has been on sale at Autozone, and changed it between 3,000 and 4,000 miles. Most of which have been right at 3,000. (Except break in, I changed it at 1,000 and then 3,000)

Thanks in advance! (I want some advice on my truck too, should I post that here or in a different forum?)

 

[Hokiefyd]

Welcome to BITOG! You can ask here about your truck, too, just start a new thread (as you did for the Sentra) so the recommendations don't get mixed.

In my limited experience with Nissans, they don't seem to get the economy you think they should get. I don't think oil choice will make much of a difference. Myself, I'd probably run something like Mobil 1 0W-30, and change it every 5,000 miles.

 

[Agent]

Thanks! Also, just to clarify, synthetic vs dino isn't important to me, if synthetic only means I can go longer between oil changes, I would rather just change it more often with dino oil.

 

[FL_Rob]

Synthetic vs conventional around here is like asking vanilla or French vanilla.Just my two-cents...tire pressure and driving style have much more to do with mpg's,not to mention the stop and go/heavy merging around Tampa-St.Pete-Clearwater just kills it right there.24mpg with the A/C on? I'd say not bad.BTW is there a walmart near you? The Autozone near me is pretty steep on oil.

 

[Agent]

Yup, I certainly do have a walmart near me. Actually about 3. What should I pick up there? I am going to grab some rotella for my bike actually, but with 20% off at autozonr, it's still a bit cheaper there.

 

[wn1998]

living in FL, you would be ok with just about any dino 10W30. In my 1.8, I run synthetic and just change every 6 months which is about 8k.

 

[FL_Rob]

I take the obligatory cruise down the oil isle while food shopping looking for unusual deals and such,it varies from store to store,at times though I've found Delo400le for $9.xx, 5qt Motorcraft for $10.50,last week was GTX 5qt for $12.50(I think).

 

[dparm]

Any of the namebrand conventional oils will suit you fine. I'd just tell you to get whichever is on sale at your local parts store; there's always a "5 qt + filter for X" deal.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Welcome!
#1) Keep that oil in for 5K miles - no benefit whatsoever to changing at 3K in FL.
#) any 5w-30 should do fine but I have been partial to Motorcraft SN and Mobil Super SN. No Need for a fake synthetic in this application if you dont want to stretch to 7.5K+ miles on you OCI.

Hav efun!

 

[Finklejag]

I had a 05 Sentra 1.8. I had better wear numbers running dino 5W-30 over synthetic 5W-30. It seems Nissan's 1.8, 2.0, and 2.5 normally aspirated engines run just fine on dino. I would continue what you are doing buying cheap dino on sale, but up the OCI to 5,000 miles.

 

[Agent]

Hmmmm... Yay on 5w30 huh? I've always been thinking it was better to run the 10w30 down here because of the heat, but if the consensus is 5w30, I'll go that route. I paid 24k for this heap pile (after getting screwed on a trade - wife's deal, don't ask), so I'm going to milk it for every stinking mile.

 

[dparm]

I'd just run the 5w30. For that car you won't notice any difference. And if a cold spell moves through, you'd be ready (though a 10w30 is still fine when it's chilly too).

 

[addyguy]

Watch out for the headgasket - they go on thses Nissan 1.8's.

 

[Scoot_4_20]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Watch out for the headgasket - they go on thses Nissan 1.8's.


Sentra supposedly only had the HG issues with 2000 - 2004 model years, and then it was remedied.

 

[whip]

I have a 1998 Sentra. It's been run on 5W30 Mobil Super Clean 5000, for 5,000 OCI's without problem. I have 195,000 miles on it, and the engine will outlast the car.

 

[whip]

Originally Posted By: Agent
Hmmmm... Yay on 5w30 huh? I've always been thinking it was better to run the 10w30 down here because of the heat, but if the consensus is 5w30, I'll go that route. I paid 24k for this heap pile (after getting screwed on a trade - wife's deal, don't ask), so I'm going to milk it for every stinking mile.

If your cooling system is working, the heat won't effect the oil.

 

[Finklejag]

My 05 had a blown headgasket @ 34,000 miles. I started to see a spike in Potassium and Sodium at around 22,000. I took it to the dealer, and they pressured checked it. They said it came back normal.

Well 12K later I was back at the dealer getting a new headgasket.

 

[Agent]

So even though I've been using the 10w30 for 80k, I should switch to 5w30? As long as it's safe I'll do it. Anything specific, or just whatever is on sale? I can swing by walmart on the way home.

 

[FL_Rob]

Both 30 wieght oils have the same viscosity at operating temps,the difference is the 5w has a lower cold pour point for quicker circulation at cold/extreme cold startup temps.You can use either.For oil brand choices,yes, sale pricing matters more to me than brand... given its a quality brand (Pennzoil,Mobil,Quakerstate,valvoline,even Supertech and Peak etc)You'll get a headache reading all the threads on oil preference here on Bitog so dont drive yourself nuts on this.Check out the VOA (virgin oil analysis) section from the forums main page.This will give you a reference from which to start finding out the intracacies of various oils,viscosities,anti-wear and detergency levels and general composition.The UOA section is helpfull to know how the oil breaks down under various engines,usage,time and mileage,etc.I hope this helps out.