Nissan Sentras

[Peakboy91]

I've been reading through a lot of your guys posts and it seems you go way longer in between oil changes than I do so it made me wonder, am I wasting my money changing oil so much? I have a 2004 nissan sentra 1.8S with 201,xxx miles and an 05 sentra SE-R Spec-V with 155,xxx and I run M1 5W-30 full synthetic with the M1 filters on both. I change oil every 3,750 as per manufacturers recommendations. This winds up being every 2-3 months changing oil. I do a lot of stop and go traffic in both through rush hour. Am I just wasting money changing this often? Also, would I see any benefit switching to high mileage, or is there any harm in the fact I use regular full synthetic in these high mileage motors? Also have a 2012 Mazda 3 2.0 non sky active which I use M1 0W-20 full synthetic which I change every 5,000 miles per manufacturers specs. This car is mostly highway and this averages out to about every 4 months, is this good? Thanks guys.

 

[xshoex]

I wouldnt use HM unless your leaking.

If it were my car I would do both for 7500mi regardless if its stop and go.

 

[Peakboy91]

Neither car burns or leaks. Oil level doesn't change at all in between changes

 

[Noey]

Yes, you are wasting money. And resources.

Modern oils can easily go 7500+ miles in "Normal" driving. Even if you're nervous, you can go 5000. But 3750? Let me ask you: What other vital fluids do you change that often?

I personally wouldn't use a "High mileage" oil either. You're over thinking all of this, use what you have been using, just extend the OCI's. And consider a UOA to confirm that your oil is still OK after the extended drain.

 

[4D-56]

If you want to continue with that short change interval, any inexpensive conventional oil and a basic filter (I'd suggest a ProSelect from NAPA) will work well.

 

[Bgallagher]

M1 filters are good for 15k. That combined with a synthetic oil I wouldn't bother changing it for 7,500-10k easily. Save yourself some scratch.

 

[EA82]

I would stick with 5K on synthetic oil, you can run a good quality filter like mobil 1 for 2 intervals. 2.9 quart sump, theres a reason the manufacturer set the interval at 3750.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Stick with Nissan's 3750 and keep using the same M1 oil you've been using.

 

[KzMitch]

Go 5,000 miles.
No wait, 7,500.
Ok, maybe 10K.
Definitely 7,500.
Or 3750.

Glad we could clear that up for you.

 

[FCD]

I think you could go 4 to 5k

 

[Burt]

It's pretty well documented on Bitog that you can buy a new car and drive it 40k before the engine seizes. Top off the oil and it will make it 70k. All the changes you do get it from 70 k to 250k and beyond by which time the car is junked for other reasons.

 

[tig1]

I have used M1 oils for 38 years at 10K OCIs. Some engines have had 200-350K on them before I sold the vehicles. All of them still performed very well when sold. Like you, I have used M1 0-20AFE now for several years in my present engines, and see no need to use a HM oil. In fact, I have never had a need for HM oils as I use M1 exclusively from day one in all my engines.

 

[Peakboy91]

Originally Posted By: KzMitch
Go 5,000 miles.
No wait, 7,500.
Ok, maybe 10K.
Definitely 7,500.
Or 3750.

Glad we could clear that up for you.


LOL no kidding kzmitch, you all made this about clear as mud. I think I'll try letting 1 go to 5,000 and see if I see any noticeable difference in oil level or clarity. I've also heard from people that it's not the oil that goes bad but the filter. As such these people told me they would change the filter per manufacturer recommendation for the oil, but not the oil, and then just add the oil back to operating level, and do this 3 times (effectively making 15,000 miles between full oil changes) but filters changed every 3,750. Anyone else use this practice? Also I was considering changing to royal purple, but with a normal driving car is there any point? Would it increase the motor life significantly, or at all, specifically enough to justify the cost difference?

 

[bbhero]

I believe the member from South Texas has it right. Keep doing what you are doing. The Mobil one and filter combination has served very well. No need to change that. The oil filter choice obviously would dictate when it gets changed.

 

[fdcg27]

You could go to a nice round 5K on the Sentras with no risk using M1 and you could probably go much farther. Still, these engines do have absurdly small sumps.
The Mazda could probably go 7K since it sees mostly highway use and could almost certainly go farther.
What I'm trying to express is that you can save yourself a little coin and a little time laying on your back under these cars without in any way compromising the life of their engines.
Bear in mind, also, that it's well documented that wear rates are higher for the first several hundred miles on fresh oil than it is later in a run so you aren't necessarily doing your engines a favor by using short drain intervals.

 

[gallydif]

Originally Posted By: Noey
Yes, you are wasting money. And resources.

Modern oils can easily go 7500+ miles in "Normal" driving. Even if you're nervous, you can go 5000. But 3750? Let me ask you: What other vital fluids do you change that often?

I personally wouldn't use a "High mileage" oil either. You're over thinking all of this, use what you have been using, just extend the OCI's. And consider a UOA to confirm that your oil is still OK after the extended drain.

+1

 

[csavko]

I can't speak to the Spec-V, but my wife has a 2006 Sentra with the 1.8. I had done a few UOA's with Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 and we were finding that there were issues after 4,000 miles. I'd have to dig up the reports. I've since switched to M1 HM and kept the intervals to 4 - 4.5k. I've got a change coming up on it, so maybe I'll send it in. It's been a few years.

I'm guessing it had not changed from 2004 to 2006 on the 1.8, but the key thing to remember is that the sump only holds 2.7 qts on this engine.

 

[yesthatsteve]

That 3750-mile manufacturer OCI is for conventional oil.

Mobil1 can easily handle a longer interval than that. IIRC, many Nissans of that era have a fairly small sump, so I wouldn't take it to 10k. 7500 is probably good, though.

 

[tojo1968]

Originally Posted By: Peakboy91
I've been reading through a lot of your guys posts and it seems you go way longer in between oil changes than I do so it made me wonder, am I wasting my money changing oil so much? I have a 2004 nissan sentra 1.8S with 201,xxx miles and an 05 sentra SE-R Spec-V with 155,xxx and I run M1 5W-30 full synthetic with the M1 filters on both. I change oil every 3,750 as per manufacturers recommendations. This winds up being every 2-3 months changing oil. I do a lot of stop and go traffic in both through rush hour. Am I just wasting money changing this often? Also, would I see any benefit switching to high mileage, or is there any harm in the fact I use regular full synthetic in these high mileage motors? Also have a 2012 Mazda 3 2.0 non sky active which I use M1 0W-20 full synthetic which I change every 5,000 miles per manufacturers specs. This car is mostly highway and this averages out to about every 4 months, is this good? Thanks guys.

Do not listen to the 7.5k OCI people. Your 04 only holds a tad under THREE quarts of oil. That will not stay in grade for 7.5k miles. You will be fine going 4k. My son has an 09 2.0 Sentra FE+ (4.125 qt sump) that has 297k miles on it! Runs like a dream and uses no oil. OCI are 6 months or 5k miles, whichever comes first. It survived its early years on bulk oil and shop filters.
I use OEM filters and whatever I have in my stash of oil, which includes Castrol Magnatec, Havoline DS Pro and M1.
I would not use a HM unless you start to see oil usage, especially if the PVC has been changed.

 

[tojo1968]

Quote:
That 3750-mile manufacturer OCI is for conventional oil.

The 2004 owners manual does not state oil type. Just time in service. BTW the 1.8 only has a 2 7/8 qt sump, I wouldnt stretch it much further than 4k with a quality syn oil. My son's Sentra hold just over 4 qts.