'03 Infiniti FX45 - Valvoline 5w-30

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I'm new to oil analysis so I just wanted to post the results I have so far for people to hopefully help me understand how to read these.

This first report on my VK45DE motor in my FX45 was with the Valvoline 5w-30 oil I have been using religiously since I bought my FX over 9yrs ago. I was typically changing the oil every 3,750 miles as it has been well documented how harsh these Nissan engines can be on oil. You'll see in the remarks that I had made a note to Blackstone about checking the oil level before I replaced the oil an found it to be low, which was normally the case. From other Infiniti FX forums it has been concluded that this is normally attributed to blow by at the piston rings as the design on these aren't the best and tend to get clogged up. Most of this info comes from people who had smoking and decided to pull the motor for a rebuild at higher mileage.

At this oil change I have switched over to Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 as a lot of people have had good results and noticed they had very little oil loss at 5k OCI and beyond. I am planning on pulling a sample to send in for analysis at 5K miles to start making a determination on the best OCI for my higher mileage FX. I will also pay attention to oil loss up to the 5K interval (it takes a while as I don't drive this during the winter).

Thats the back story, and here is the first oil analysis at about 127.5K miles. Probably one of the BEST vehicles I have ever owned! I'm debating on whether I will sell her, but only because I'm looking at restoring a muscle car. Need another hobby.......
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03FX457-17-13IDremovedreport_zps8e82bd23.jpg
 
Looks good. It probably has tons of life left. Frankly I would've stuck with the 5w30, or *maybe* a HM 5w30.
 
I guess the big question is how much oil did it consume? One quart down to the lower hatch mark or only a quart drains out of it. That's the question esp after such a short interval.
 
Have you done a compression check to confirm the blowby? How many miles/qt. is this engine using? Wear matals look very good for an engine at 127K miles IMO.

Oldtommy
 
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
I guess the big question is how much oil did it consume? One quart down to the lower hatch mark or only a quart drains out of it. That's the question esp after such a short interval.


I'm going off memory but I don't believe it was a full qt low. I know the intervals were short and from the FX forums if I was going to use a dino oil it was better to keep them shorter due to the build up on the piston rings. This is also why I switched over to the Rotella T6 this oil change and I want to take a sample at 5K and I'm hoping I can at least stretch out the OCI to 7.5K. Just depends on how well it holds up.
 
Originally Posted By: 2oldtommy
Have you done a compression check to confirm the blowby? How many miles/qt. is this engine using? Wear matals look very good for an engine at 127K miles IMO.

Oldtommy


I haven't done a compression check. Depending upon whether I am still losing the same amount of oil with the 5w-40 Rotella T6 I may consider that as my next step. With the Valvoline 5w-30 in 3,750 miles OCI I wasn't quite down a full qt. I added to FX a little at a time before changing, just to get an idea on how much was being lost. Like I said, this has probably been one of the best cars I've ever owned and even at 130k+ it runs extremely strong. My plan was to keep it forever, which still may/may not happen. I want to work on building a muscle car and so I may need to free up funds, so that would be the only way I would consider getting rid of it. If I can, I'll keep her cause she's still great to drive and looks good!!
 
Single digit wear numbers are great. You've got a keeper there as long as the rest of the car is in decent shape.
Thanks for posting.
 
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