Towing what to look for?

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2012 Nissan Pathfinder 4.0 V6 VQ40de what to look for is a solid 30 weight oil for lots of summer towing? The manual recommends 5w30 although I have run 10w30 in the summer. So looking for a solid stout 5 or 10w30 for high heat and lots of RPM. My camper is 5,000 pounds loaded.
 
You can select any name brand synthetic 5w-30. Watch for a sale and stock up. Also select one of the better filters. Try a UOA at 5K miles to get an idea of the condition of the oil and filter performance to establish an oil change interval to suit your needs. The UOA will help take the guess work out of the process.
 
Originally Posted By: userfriendly
How cold does it get in MA during the summer that would necessitate 5w or 10w cold start protection?


Neither 5Wxx nor 10Wxx are the proper viscosity for an engine at cold start-up in a warm climate. The basics are covered in Motor Oil 101 on this website.
 
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Either Mobil 1, or Castrol 0w-40.
 
How cold does it get in Boston during the summer that would necessitate 0W cold start protection?
How hot does it get that would require SAE40 protection?
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Originally Posted By: userfriendly
How cold does it get in MA during the summer that would necessitate 5w or 10w cold start protection?


Neither 5Wxx nor 10Wxx are the proper viscosity for an engine at cold start-up in a warm climate. The basics are covered in Motor Oil 101 on this website.
Really !!! How do you what you read is actual fact of some what of a joke on all those that read the series? I'll bet the author gets side cramps from laughing everythine some one quotes his articles.
 
Originally Posted By: Camprunner
2012 Nissan Pathfinder 4.0 V6 VQ40de what to look for is a solid 30 weight oil for lots of summer towing? The manual recommends 5w30 although I have run 10w30 in the summer. So looking for a solid stout 5 or 10w30 for high heat and lots of RPM. My camper is 5,000 pounds loaded.


Look at the owners manual for temp compensated oil viscosity recommendations. Follow those.

Maybe some synthetic ATF?
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: Camprunner
2012 Nissan Pathfinder 4.0 V6 VQ40de what to look for is a solid 30 weight oil for lots of summer towing? The manual recommends 5w30 although I have run 10w30 in the summer. So looking for a solid stout 5 or 10w30 for high heat and lots of RPM. My camper is 5,000 pounds loaded.


Look at the owners manual for temp compensated oil viscosity recommendations. Follow those.

Maybe some synthetic ATF?
Differential fluids!
 
10w30 is a fine choice and much easier to find. Like the others I would worry more about transmission temperatures. As long as your vehicle came from the factory with towing and you didn't just add a hitch it should have a transmission cooler. These people who think 5w and 10w or even 15w is too thick for cold weather apparently never started a car below 0 before. It's just rediculas. I am old enough to remember when first seeing 0 at oil. It was at a Polaris dealer. It was for four stroke snowmobiles. I thought that's a gimmick then and I do now. I've started many engines below 0 with 15w40 oil and straight 40wt. Contrary to popular belief, dont believe what the manuals tell you, it doesn't become a solid at 32 degrees.
 
Towing 5K will have the sump temps up pretty high. And he'll be spinning the motor down a gear, or two, on any grade at all. Plus the 'Finder has a small'ish sump to start with. Not the best combo for robustness.

1st I'd find an oversized WIX/Napa Gold filter if it uses a common spin-on (?), to add a bit of total capacity to the lube system.

Then I'd look for Chevron Delo 15W-30 Severe Duty (SD) oil. At least you have a 15 grade as a minimum as all Hades breaks loose (heat) on a long up hill pull. Very stable and durable multy.

I'd also add a tranny cooler and make sure you have fresh tranny fluid as the summer starts.

Change to all-metal, all -season coolant and make sure the hoses are in good shape.

Have fun, but be sensible about long uphills. Don't try to keep up with everybody ...
 
Originally Posted By: GeorgeKaplan
Delo 400 LE 5W-30. Free shipping from Amazon.

This is a perfectly acceptable solution, with a higher HTHS within the 5w-30 grade, and within the manual requirements for Nissan and Infiniti.
 
Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Towing 5K will have the sump temps up pretty high. And he'll be spinning the motor down a gear, or two, on any grade at all. Plus the 'Finder has a small'ish sump to start with. Not the best combo for robustness.

1st I'd find an oversized WIX/Napa Gold filter if it uses a common spin-on (?), to add a bit of total capacity to the lube system.

Then I'd look for Chevron Delo 15W-30 Severe Duty (SD) oil. At least you have a 15 grade as a minimum as all Hades breaks loose (heat) on a long up hill pull. Very stable and durable multy.

I'd also add a tranny cooler and make sure you have fresh tranny fluid as the summer starts.

Change to all-metal, all -season coolant and make sure the hoses are in good shape.

Have fun, but be sensible about long uphills. Don't try to keep up with everybody ...


An oversize oil filter will add almost nothing to the total oil capacity in %. Maybe it adds 4 oz to a 5 QT system? Not worth mentioning.
 
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