Hello everyone,
I will be changing oil in a couple of months in my Nissan Qashqai 2.0 and I would like to ask for an advice regarding this subject.
It has a flat tappet DOHC engine (MR20DE) with valves regulated using shims. Engine specifications can be seen here: http://www.motorreviewer.com/engine/nissan_mr20de_20_qashqai.html
Owner manual recommends oils with the following specs:
"ACEA A1/B1 A3/B3, A3/B4, A5/B5, C2 or C3" SAE 5W-30 with OCI 15’000 km (9320 miles).
As you can see, the engine can use any type of oil and among the specs above I would like to find a best combination of engine wear/CAT wear protection. My OCI are usually around 12’000 km (7456 miles). The car does not consume any oil between changes. It has 63000 km (39146 miles) now.
I live in Switzerland, and fuel quality here is supposed to be very high here (10 ppm of sulpher). Nissan OD used 5W-40 oil in my car during its warranty period (ELF Evolution 900 NF 5W40, ACEA A3/B4)
As of now I am using Valvoline SynPower 5W-30 ACEA A3/B4, MB 229.5. It is good oil; however I am concerned about its sulphated ash percentage which is 1.3 % according to Valvoline. I’ve read a lot about impact of ZDDP on CATs and would like to find better oil which will not compromise engine wear protection and keep CAT healty.
My driving conditions are relaxed, but I am living in uphill area with twisty roads, so every day I climb up for 3 km (2 miles) at altitude around 800 meters (2624 feet) (on a way back home, so engine is fully warmed up). Despite that the car sees some motorway driving every day with speed ~ 120 km/h (74 mph). On very rare occasions I take the car to Germany and it sees 160-180 km/h (111 mph) (happens maybe one time per 3 years).
The car is parked in underground garages (both at home and work) so it does not experience extreme freezing conditions. Maximum cold temperature during winter in garage is 0 C (32 F).
My questions are:
- is it okay to use 5W-30 oil when car is driving in motorways and does some uphill driving every day?
- is there any chance I can switch to Low SAPS oils and keep the same level of engine wear protection and increase protection of CAT? As discussed in another threads if Low SAPS oil meets MB 229.51 it has the same wear protection as MB 229.5, so it should be fine?
- any other oil spec recommendation given my conditions?
Thanks for any input on this,
Volodymyr.
I will be changing oil in a couple of months in my Nissan Qashqai 2.0 and I would like to ask for an advice regarding this subject.
It has a flat tappet DOHC engine (MR20DE) with valves regulated using shims. Engine specifications can be seen here: http://www.motorreviewer.com/engine/nissan_mr20de_20_qashqai.html
Owner manual recommends oils with the following specs:
"ACEA A1/B1 A3/B3, A3/B4, A5/B5, C2 or C3" SAE 5W-30 with OCI 15’000 km (9320 miles).
As you can see, the engine can use any type of oil and among the specs above I would like to find a best combination of engine wear/CAT wear protection. My OCI are usually around 12’000 km (7456 miles). The car does not consume any oil between changes. It has 63000 km (39146 miles) now.
I live in Switzerland, and fuel quality here is supposed to be very high here (10 ppm of sulpher). Nissan OD used 5W-40 oil in my car during its warranty period (ELF Evolution 900 NF 5W40, ACEA A3/B4)
As of now I am using Valvoline SynPower 5W-30 ACEA A3/B4, MB 229.5. It is good oil; however I am concerned about its sulphated ash percentage which is 1.3 % according to Valvoline. I’ve read a lot about impact of ZDDP on CATs and would like to find better oil which will not compromise engine wear protection and keep CAT healty.
My driving conditions are relaxed, but I am living in uphill area with twisty roads, so every day I climb up for 3 km (2 miles) at altitude around 800 meters (2624 feet) (on a way back home, so engine is fully warmed up). Despite that the car sees some motorway driving every day with speed ~ 120 km/h (74 mph). On very rare occasions I take the car to Germany and it sees 160-180 km/h (111 mph) (happens maybe one time per 3 years).
The car is parked in underground garages (both at home and work) so it does not experience extreme freezing conditions. Maximum cold temperature during winter in garage is 0 C (32 F).
My questions are:
- is it okay to use 5W-30 oil when car is driving in motorways and does some uphill driving every day?
- is there any chance I can switch to Low SAPS oils and keep the same level of engine wear protection and increase protection of CAT? As discussed in another threads if Low SAPS oil meets MB 229.51 it has the same wear protection as MB 229.5, so it should be fine?
- any other oil spec recommendation given my conditions?
Thanks for any input on this,
Volodymyr.
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