Recommend Oil For 2012 Nissan Frontier

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Hey everyone, sold my car and got back into a Nissan Frontier.
This time around it's a 2012 V6, automatic trans 4x4. The first time I had a 2010 Frontier I went to quick lube places and didn't pay much attention to the maintenance of the truck. This time around I'm older, wiser, and more active in the maintenance of my vehicle.

Nissan recommends 5w30 and a Nissan genuine filter or equivalent.

Driving:
I live in southern NJ. I live .9 miles from work and live in a small town. I do a lot of small trips throughout the week with a lot of cold starts. I try to do a longer drive (30-40 minutes) once a week or so. I drive about 7k miles a year.
The weather is mild throughout most of the year but can get down to 0*F in the winter occasionally and over 100*F in the summer.
I'm not too concerned with lengthy oil change intervals because I do the changes myself and I really don't do that many miles.

I need help choosing what oil to run, what filter, and when to change.

After doing some reasearch I'm leaning towards a Castrol product (not sure which one yet) full synthetic with oil changes in November and March. Not going by mileage necessarily.

Any advice for me?
 
Since you're not dropping below zero in the Winter, I don't think you need 5W-30.

As far as the filter goes, see if a Fram XG is available for your truck.
 
given the short trips and primarily single occupancy, I'd use any conventional motor oil and change it every 5K or so.

You can go fancy with all sorts of syns, but frankly, I don't see such need.

of course, it's your mullah so it's up to you.

Q.
 
I came here a few months ago with the same issues...a short tripper car, 8K per year, northeast winters down to 0-20 deg F, all to see if I could do it better.

I came up with sticking with 2 oil changes per year. At only 3500 miles per oil change you can use most any decent brand conventional oil or even a synthetic. The synthetics on sale a couple of times per year will still only cost you $3 quart or less if you do it yourself. Lots of good choices in the $2-$4/quart range. Paper oil filters seem to be under attack for tearing and other issues. Paying $2-$3 extra for a Fram ultra guard synthetic filter ($8-$9 before $2 rebates) makes sense to me. I can afford the extra $6 per year for peace of mind.

With a 2X per year interval you almost can't go wrong with whatever oil/filter combo you choose. I would consider your frequent 0.9 miles trips to be severe duty, especially in winter. What has your oil life monitor been at on your previous oil changes with the 2010 Frontier? What happened to that where you sold it fairly soon?
 
They do make a Fram Ultra for your truck, XG7317.
I'd run the Ultra and some Castrol Edge 5W30 and change it every 5k. Wouldnt hurt to get an oil analysis either
 
Originally Posted By: holdorf333
Fram TG XG and 5w-30 10W-30 syn ST from wally world. Change once every year.


You almost had it.
grin2.gif
 
If you want a thicker oil, there are thicker options that aren't a silly ILSAC 10w-30. If you're looking to follow warranty requirements, note that they call for an SM or newer 5w-30, not even an SM/GF-4 or newer 5w-30.
 
Short trips in the cold without proper warm up potentially cause varnish and sludge. This is especially true with dino oils. That being said, I would recommend a good synthetic oil. I personally like Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5w30 or Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 in my Nissan Xterra. (Same VQ40 as you have) I like Fram Ultra XG7317 and Wix 57356 filters. I currently use the Wix filters because I do 5k OCI's and don't need the more expensive Fram filter. But, I would use them if I didn't have a stash of Wix filters.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
If you want a thicker oil, there are thicker options that aren't a silly ILSAC 10w-30. If you're looking to follow warranty requirements, note that they call for an SM or newer 5w-30, not even an SM/GF-4 or newer 5w-30.


Wants a Castrol product.

Spec'd 30 grade..

7k a year...

Edge 0w-30 or 5w-30 with a decent filter, change it every spring. Fram TG or Ultra or decent napa/wix.
 
I have that same truck and plan on sticking to the schedule 1 OCI (3750mi) while in the factory warranty.

I think a good dino oil would be sufficient for your application. I like PYB.
 
I will for sure get a Blackstone Labs UOA after my first change. I've got a few kits laying around.
The reason I'm leaning towards Castrol is because I bought the car from Carsense and they have an engine life guarantee if you use Castrol products for the life of the engine. Now, I don't expect to have any issues (these engines do have occasional timing chain whine) but other than that they're pretty robust. I figure "why not" if they're going to cover the engine forever for me to use Castrol I might as well.
On second thought... it'll probably be near impossible to get them to cover any catastrophic damage if I do the changes myself anyway.

I'm surprised to hear people recommend Fram filters as I thought people in the know used the F.R.A.M as an acronym for something negative. I'll give them a try though.

Do you guys think the full synthetic will help combat sludge build up from my short trips?

How long do you think it would take for the engine oil to reach proper temperature in the 4.0L V6 VQ40? I can go "the long way" to work is needed, I'd rather spare the engine some damage if I can.
 
There are several Castrol 5w-30 grades, depending upon your location, ILSAC and otherwise.

05LGTLtd: The point I was trying to make is that some poo-poo 5w-30 and talk about 10w-30 as being thicker or more appropriate, without even considering what 5w-30 options are available or acceptable under Nissan/Infiniti manuals, particularly if one is stuck on a synthetic Castrol product.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
There are several Castrol 5w-30 grades, depending upon your location, ILSAC and otherwise.

05LGTLtd: The point I was trying to make is that some poo-poo 5w-30 and talk about 10w-30 as being thicker or more appropriate, without even considering what 5w-30 options are available or acceptable under Nissan/Infiniti manuals, particularly if one is stuck on a synthetic Castrol product.


Point I was making (not directly) is the HTHS on the edge 0w30 is better than most 10w-30's. It's all good.
 
If it were my vehicle and I was going to use Castrol products, I'd use Castrol 0w-30 with a Fram Ultra filter and change it once a year. However it sounds like you want to change it twice a year, so you can just use conventional oil and be fine.

If you're dead set on using Castrol, then use their conventional GTX. But if you decide to use other oils, than any name brand oil should be fine (Mobil, Pennzoil, Valvoline, Havoline, Kendall, Super Tech, etc.).
 
I have the same 2012 truck in the 4X2 flavor. I am doing 6mo / 3750 mile OCI. I have used PYB, PUP, and Kendall full syn all 5W30. I have used OEM, Bosch, Fram Ultra, and Wix XP filters, The Nissan 4.0 has timing chain rattle upon start up when cold. Using the combination of Kendall full syn 5W30 with Wix XP results in the least amount of chatter - just the blink of an eye of chatter after setting over night. Not married to Kendall but it appears to be very good based on UOAs posted here and the price is right in my opinion.
 
Originally Posted By: 05LGTLtd
Point I was making (not directly) is the HTHS on the edge 0w30 is better than most 10w-30's. It's all good.

Absolutely. It's technically not an SM or SN rated 5w-30 synthetic, if that's what one really wants. Castrol has Elixion 5w-30, but that's not SN either. A thicker, SN rated 5w-30 Castrol would be 5w-30 C3, if available. But, given Nissan's intervals, anything will work.
 
Let's get away from Castrol for a moment as it seems you guys have some other recommendations from other brands.

Assuming the dealership is going to fight me on any engine failure claim anyway... Let's say I use another brand, what would be a decent choice?

Could I get away with a 1 year OCI with Mobil 1 EP?
Or what about a 1 year OCI with Pennzoil Ultra Platinum?
 
If you're under any Nissan warranty,you definitely need to stick with the 3750 mileage range and/or time Nissan suggests.
 
Originally Posted By: JettyLife
Let's get away from Castrol for a moment as it seems you guys have some other recommendations from other brands.

...

Could I get away with a 1 year OCI with Mobil 1 EP?
Or what about a 1 year OCI with Pennzoil Ultra Platinum?


Yes, any synthetic name brand or SuperTech will go 7k/1yr in a healthy non-turbo engine. Assuming normal (non-severe) service conditions. Napa house brand is re-labeled Synpower and would be fine. Actually a Semi synthetic blend like MC or Pennz Gold Bottle would most likely get you there too.

If you want to run the 3750 oci, just go with GTX or PYB. If it makes you feel better, run the 10w30 in the summer. (I think it would be cheaper/easier to catch the Edge deal at AAP and get 5 quarts of Castrol Edge plus a FU filter for 29.99 and be done with it for a year. If you have a OLM, and you don't exceed that it would be hard for nissan to deny much. just keep good records.)

Search you engine/model for UOA's via google to get a better idea of results.

Oh, M1 EP is kinda a waste at 7k, regular M1 will due.
 
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