With respect to sodium, did you ever have it serviced at the Nissan/Infiniti dealer? The Canadian ones use Mobil products as service fill, and if they used Mobil Super 1000 for you in the reasonably recent past, that could account for it, since that should be a sodium additive package.
High copper in UOA - 2013 Nissan VQ35DE
- Thread starter KGMtech
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If it were mine, I wouldn't wait and would bump the visc.
Or, hope that YOU broke the engine in and cu drops drastically.
Winter is here so leaving the 5w30 for a run to see what happens should be interesting.
Or, hope that YOU broke the engine in and cu drops drastically.
Winter is here so leaving the 5w30 for a run to see what happens should be interesting.
Originally Posted By: Garak
With respect to sodium, did you ever have it serviced at the Nissan/Infiniti dealer? The Canadian ones use Mobil products as service fill, and if they used Mobil Super 1000 for you in the reasonably recent past, that could account for it, since that should be a sodium additive package.
OP mentioned the dealer used Mobil 1000 before driving it off the lot, so we know where the sodium came from.
A thicker, more shear resistant 30 weight might be in order. Does the manual allow for a 40 weight, if so M1 0w40 might be a good choice (It'll shear a point or two).
PU could be doing a lot of cleaning if the oil change history is unknown on this engine. Did you cut the oil filter open?
With respect to sodium, did you ever have it serviced at the Nissan/Infiniti dealer? The Canadian ones use Mobil products as service fill, and if they used Mobil Super 1000 for you in the reasonably recent past, that could account for it, since that should be a sodium additive package.
OP mentioned the dealer used Mobil 1000 before driving it off the lot, so we know where the sodium came from.
A thicker, more shear resistant 30 weight might be in order. Does the manual allow for a 40 weight, if so M1 0w40 might be a good choice (It'll shear a point or two).
PU could be doing a lot of cleaning if the oil change history is unknown on this engine. Did you cut the oil filter open?
Originally Posted By: webfors
OP mentioned the dealer used Mobil 1000 before driving it off the lot, so we know where the sodium came from.
Yep, and that serves me right for just skimming things other than the UOA itself.
As for warranty, I suspect it'll be calling for a current ILSAC rated 5w-30 only. As you can see, that didn't bother me, though I was fairly close to the end of my warranty when I switched over.
I suppose if one is worried about shear, perhaps the 3750 mile severe service interval with a conventional 5w-30 might be in order, at least from a financial standpoint. Of course, this OCI wasn't long as it was, but it might be best to stick to one choice of oil and monitor.
OP mentioned the dealer used Mobil 1000 before driving it off the lot, so we know where the sodium came from.
Yep, and that serves me right for just skimming things other than the UOA itself.
I suppose if one is worried about shear, perhaps the 3750 mile severe service interval with a conventional 5w-30 might be in order, at least from a financial standpoint. Of course, this OCI wasn't long as it was, but it might be best to stick to one choice of oil and monitor.
Blackstone responded to my e-mail, I asked if PU should have sheared so much in 5760 km ? They say that some engines do shear the oil more than others. FWIW, I've heard this about the VQ35DE on other forums.
My other question was if Cu was coming from bearings, would I see elevated Pb, Ni, or Tin at the same time? They agreed, and as my UOA does not show this, it is not so clear where the Cu is originating.
We must wait for next sampling in March 2015 or maybe sooner if the suspense is too hard to cope with!
My other question was if Cu was coming from bearings, would I see elevated Pb, Ni, or Tin at the same time? They agreed, and as my UOA does not show this, it is not so clear where the Cu is originating.
We must wait for next sampling in March 2015 or maybe sooner if the suspense is too hard to cope with!
Just for comparison purposes, I have a 2012 maxima with 30000 miles on it. My copper is still a little high as well but well below yours. My first UOA was in your copper range but I only had 12500 miles at that time.
My latest OCI was 7500 and my PU stayed within the specs. Sounds like you may have an issue of some sort, but I would wait to see the next UOA.
My latest OCI was 7500 and my PU stayed within the specs. Sounds like you may have an issue of some sort, but I would wait to see the next UOA.
MolaKule
Staff member
Originally Posted By: KGMtech
Originally Posted By: Greasymechtech
Oil is thin.
9.3cst is the lower limit of a 30 grade.
And 25-50% 0w40 or 5w40 and see what happens.
Would it be valid to leave the freshly changed oil alone (Pennzoil Plat 5W30) until next sampling @ changing, have it tested and then see the Cu levels before introducing 5W40?
Yes that is what I would do.
I have that same engine in an '03 and it does better with a 10W30 or a 5W40.
But in all of my analyses, I have never seen copper over 10 ppm for severe oil changes of 3,750 miles.
Originally Posted By: Greasymechtech
Oil is thin.
9.3cst is the lower limit of a 30 grade.
And 25-50% 0w40 or 5w40 and see what happens.
Would it be valid to leave the freshly changed oil alone (Pennzoil Plat 5W30) until next sampling @ changing, have it tested and then see the Cu levels before introducing 5W40?
Yes that is what I would do.
I have that same engine in an '03 and it does better with a 10W30 or a 5W40.
But in all of my analyses, I have never seen copper over 10 ppm for severe oil changes of 3,750 miles.
Last edited:
Here is my 2014 VQ35DE report with 11k miles on the ODO and OCI was about 4400 miles. Copper was slightly elevated and this was with PP 5w30. Most likely break in residule, but I didn't like the fact that it sheared down so much, so this run I went with M1 0w40 and will follow up when my next OCI comes up.
Oil PP5w30
Miles in use 4400
Miles 11k
Sample Taken 11/16/14
Aluminum 10
Chromium 0
Iron 15
Copper 16
Lead 2
Tin 0
Molybendium 64
Nickel 1
Manganese 2
Silver 0
Titanium 1
Potassium 2
Boron 19
Silicon 19
Sodium 12
Calcium 2425
Magnesium 15
Phosphorus 715
Zinc 825
Barium 1
SUS Viscosity @210f 56.1
cSt Viscosity@ 100c 9.10
Flashpoint 420
Fuel Antifreeze 0.0
Water 0.0
Insolubles 0.3
TBN 4.0
Oil PP5w30
Miles in use 4400
Miles 11k
Sample Taken 11/16/14
Aluminum 10
Chromium 0
Iron 15
Copper 16
Lead 2
Tin 0
Molybendium 64
Nickel 1
Manganese 2
Silver 0
Titanium 1
Potassium 2
Boron 19
Silicon 19
Sodium 12
Calcium 2425
Magnesium 15
Phosphorus 715
Zinc 825
Barium 1
SUS Viscosity @210f 56.1
cSt Viscosity@ 100c 9.10
Flashpoint 420
Fuel Antifreeze 0.0
Water 0.0
Insolubles 0.3
TBN 4.0
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