'08 Nissan Pathfinder V6 - Oil choice

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JettyLife

JettyLife

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Apr 24, 2015
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New Jersey
Hey everyone trying to help my father out with his OCI's.

1. Vehicle: 2008 Nissan Pathfinder V6
2. Manual calls for: 5.5 quarts of 5w30
3. Location: South Jersey (Atlantic City area)
4. Driving style: Light acceleration, driving for MPG. 90% highway miles (50+ mph) no towing.
5. Driving Route: 120 miles a day, 4-5 days a week, 60 miles to work, 8 hours of work, 60 miles home.
6. No known problems

Preferences:
Longer OCI's - he's changing every 3500-4500 miles and using dino juice and unknown filter.
He's having a local shop (not a quick change place) change the oil every 5-6 weeks and it's annoying and costly.
128k miles on the truck.

What do you guys recommend? Should he just use a high mileage full synthetic 5w30? I'd like something he can use year round through the NJ winters.
 
Yes high mileage 5w30 is great like Mobil 1 or Maxlife. Also those engines like heavier oils you can even use Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula or Shell Rotella T6 5w40 if you want a heavy duty engine oil.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
With all that highway, i would think mobil 1 ep and change twice a year. As long as its not using oil.

He's not burning any oil at all between changes. Thanks for the info!
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Yes high mileage 5w30 is great like Mobil 1 or Maxlife. Also those engines like heavier oils you can even use Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula or Shell Rotella T6 5w40 if you want a heavy duty engine oil.

OK, that's good news! I think I'll have him use one of my UOA containers from BSL for his change when he uses the new oil.

So I guess I'll have him switch to something more robust, run it 5000-6000 miles and see how the UOA comes back.
 
Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula would be about perfect for this situation since it's a LL01 long drain type oil with good cold weather performance, I think 6000 miles would he cake, possibly try 7500 on Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula and run the UOA
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula would be about perfect for this situation since it's a LL01 long drain type oil with good cold weather performance, I think 6000 miles would he cake, possibly try 7500 on Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula and run the UOA

He's a little hesitant about using a weight other than what the manufacturer recommends I think. He's going to try the M1 5w30 EP for 7k OCI and we'll run a sample and see how it comes back. I'd like to see him use the 0w40, the family is planning a trip to Canada this winter, and I think he'd benefit from that formula for a long trip in cold temps.

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Here's an 8000 mile run on Mobil 1 EP with 2.6 TBN left, plenty to have gone further.

This guy has other issues with wear but you get the idea of what's possible.


http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1003985

Thanks for the link, I didn't come across that thread while searching.
I'm still trying to understand the TBN number, about how many miles are left on the oil with a TBN of 2.6?
 
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I have a Frontier with the same motor, and my driving characteristics are very similar. For about the first 100k, I did 7,500 mile OCI with 5w30 penzoil platinum. I sent in some samples to Blackstone on occasion, everything came back fine.

For the last 50k, I decided to follow the advice on this forum and have been doing 5k OCIs with whatever conventional 5w30 is on sale at the moment. I don't see any oil burning, lubrication issues, etc.

IMHO, if 5w30 has performed well in WI winters you should be in good shape in NJ winters. I'd buy whatever 5w30 is on sale and call it a day. If a synthetic makes you feel better about cold start lubrication, then I can understand that too.
 
Originally Posted By: TWG1572
I have a Frontier with the same motor, and my driving characteristics are very similar. For about the first 100k, I did 7,500 mile OCI with 5w30 penzoil platinum. I sent in some samples to Blackstone on occasion, everything came back fine.

For the last 50k, I decided to follow the advice on this forum and have been doing 5k OCIs with whatever conventional 5w30 is on sale at the moment. I don't see any oil burning, lubrication issues, etc.

IMHO, if 5w30 has performed well in WI winters you should be in good shape in NJ winters. I'd buy whatever 5w30 is on sale and call it a day. If a synthetic makes you feel better about cold start lubrication, then I can understand that too.


Why did you shorten the OCI's if everything came back fine?
 
I switched from Penzoil Platinum to conventional. I was comfortable with the PP at 7.5k based on what I read, and the 5k is a commonly utilized benchmark for conventional. I figured I could save a few bucks with the strategy, and perhaps catch any issues sooner as my engine aged.

I'll be changing my 150,000 mile fill in the next couple weeks. I may send it in for analysis just because it's a good round number milestone and I'm curious how the engine is doing, Valvoline was what was on sale when I filled it.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula would be about perfect for this situation since it's a LL01 long drain type oil with good cold weather performance, I think 6000 miles would he cake, possibly try 7500 on Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula and run the UOA

Lots of good advice from 901Memphis, you can bank on what he says.

If you don't want to change from a 5W30 oil, then any name brand, full synthetic. For extended OCI then the oils designed to do that are Euro rated ACEA A3/B4 with BMW LL 01 or MB 229.5 specs. They could probably go 10k miles, if not much further. Some cars go 20k miles and two years on these oils. I'm too conservative to push it that far on the first go without oil analysis, but I would sleep easy with 6 months and 8k miles, if not a bit more if most of it is gentle highway travel. Over here Castrol Edge make a 5W30 that meets the above specs., but I'm sure there are others as well.

BTW I like Nissan Pathfinders, strong cars and just the right size for me. Good V6 engines from what I hear. If you keep any rust under control, it should last a long time.
 
Guessing remaining life by TBN alone is hard. TBN starts out high around something like 10.0 depending on the oil and can drop pretty quickly to less than 5.0 within just a few thousand miles but starts to drop more slowly as it gets lower .

Based on going down to a TBN of 2.6 after 8,000 miles I'd probably not want to add more than 2,000 miles to it...

The faster you rack up the miles the slower TBN drops. Short trips and hot cold cycles drop it quick. Based on Blackstone's scale of TBN measurement 1.0 or less is too low for service.

Another indicator to look at along side TBN is viscosity, as the oil ages it tends to thicken due to oxidation, which by itself is harmless but it's an early sign to not push too much further.

Some oils like Mobil 1 EP or Castrol Edge are loaded with extra additives like detergents for higher starting TBN and retention as well as higher quality base oils to help resist the oxidation thickening

I think Mobil 1 5w30 EP is a good choice and running it up to 8,000 miles before the UOA will prove a solid start. That should push your father's oci out to at least 3 months and as fast as he's racking up miles I wouldn't be surprised if there's TBN to spare after 8,000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: TWG1572
I have a Frontier with the same motor, and my driving characteristics are very similar. For about the first 100k, I did 7,500 mile OCI with 5w30 penzoil platinum. I sent in some samples to Blackstone on occasion, everything came back fine.

For the last 50k, I decided to follow the advice on this forum and have been doing 5k OCIs with whatever conventional 5w30 is on sale at the moment. I don't see any oil burning, lubrication issues, etc.

IMHO, if 5w30 has performed well in WI winters you should be in good shape in NJ winters. I'd buy whatever 5w30 is on sale and call it a day. If a synthetic makes you feel better about cold start lubrication, then I can understand that too.



I think the point he was getting to was that the frequency of changes was getting to be tiresome. And although buying cheap oil and changing every 5k may be cheaper than name brand synthetic every 7.5, it's still more expensive than a high quality oil changed every 15-20k.
 
You guys are really awesome, thanks so much.
Yeah he is racking up miles very quickly, and with the way Nissan changed the newer Pathfinders into rounder, more cross-over looking vehicles, he's trying to hold on to the '08 as long as possible.

They're pretty solid body-on-frame trucks, aside from transmission contamination (radiator replaced before failure) and timing chain guide whine, they're really bullet proof. Also they don't have the same rear axle problems the Frontier and the Xterra have.
I had a '10 Frontier so I'm familiar with the platform in a sense.

Interesting about TBN. Is it safe to say the TBN is related to fuel dilution then since short trips are worse for the oil life than long trips?
 
If he is wanting the least amount of oil changes possible, I would do Mobil 1 Extended Performance & a FRAM Ultra Synthetic filter. Change oil & filter every 6 months. But I would have a UOA done after the first run.

EDIT
Stick with 5W-30 also, since that is what is recommended.
 
Last edited:
TBN is Total Base Number and is a measure of the additive in the oil that fights acid build up. I was looking at some Valvoline data the other day. Their Dino oils have a TBN of about 7, their semi-synthetics about 8 and their full synthetic SynPower have a TBN of about 10. That trend is typical for most manufacturers, as you go up in oil quality, not only do you get better base stock oils you also get a better additive package. The Euro spec ACEA A3/B4 requires a min TBN of 10 to qualify. While A3/B3 and A5/B5 is a min TBN of 8. (The TBN unit is mgKOH/g if you remember high school chemistry.)

Fuel dilution is a different issue. Most common with GDI cars. I'm pretty sure your engine is not GDI.

Yes the new Pathfinders have moved away from the body-on-rails design and are now a monocoque design I believe. I don't like the new ones for serious off road work. You have a good one.
 
Interesting, I'll have to dig deeper into the specific ratings. I have a lot to learn. Thanks again guys, I'll update you when he changes the M1 EP and we get our UOA back.
 
Originally Posted By: JettyLife
Hey everyone trying to help my father out with his OCI's.

1. Vehicle: 2008 Nissan Pathfinder V6
2. Manual calls for: 5.5 quarts of 5w30
3. Location: South Jersey (Atlantic City area)
4. Driving style: Light acceleration, driving for MPG. 90% highway miles (50+ mph) no towing.
5. Driving Route: 120 miles a day, 4-5 days a week, 60 miles to work, 8 hours of work, 60 miles home.
6. No known problems

Preferences:
Longer OCI's - he's changing every 3500-4500 miles and using dino juice and unknown filter.
He's having a local shop (not a quick change place) change the oil every 5-6 weeks and it's annoying and costly.
128k miles on the truck.

What do you guys recommend? Should he just use a high mileage full synthetic 5w30? I'd like something he can use year round through the NJ winters.


We agree with you, Jettylife! A good choice for your father’s 2008 Nissan Pathfinder would be Pennzoil Platinum High Mileage Full Synthetic 5W-30. It’s our first of its kind full synthetic high mileage motor oil made from natural gas and is specifically designed to deliver less oil burn off than other high mileage oils in older engines. It has also been shown to keep pistons up to 40% cleaner than the toughest industry standards. Hope this info helps! – The Pennzoil Team
 
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