2012 Infiniti QX56/80 Castrol 0W40 5,060 miles

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I have been visiting this forum for ages and finally became a member today. This is my first time to send a oil sample to Blackstone for analysis. I got the results today and would like to share here to maybe see what you guys think and I may learn something new from you guys.

Vehicle: 2012 Infiniti QX56/80
Oil used: German Castrol 0W40 with Mobil 1 Extended Performance filter
No make up oil was added during this run
Miles on oil: 5,060 miles
Current miles on vehicle: 131,000 miles
Additional Info: This run saw a mixed of long highway trips, stop and go traffic, dusty offraoding in Utah and serious mountain climbing using 4Lo in a lot of the mountains in Colorado. A lot of high engine revs and some high speeds too.

The oil recommended for the car by Infniti/Nissan is 5W30. But I had done some research and decided to start using 0W40. This is my first time using 0W40 in this vehicle. And at my current oil change when I took the sample, I am still using German Castrol 0W40 with Mobil EP filter.

This is a pic of the car when I was doing Blackbear Pass in Colorado last month.

Black Bear Pass 12,840ft. A badger decided to pose too in my pic.
WDQJmxi.jpg


And a link to my build thread and maintenance thread on clubarmada...

Build Thread...


And now my maintenance thread. Detailing everything I do on my car since I bought it 2 and a half years ago.

Detailed maintenance on my Infiniti QX56/80
 
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Thanks for the compliment.

As for the copper, no idea.

What coolers are you referring to? If I have aftermarket oil coolers? I don't have any. Car is bone stock.
 
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Originally Posted By: Onetor
Copper probably from oil cooler? Nice SUV. Rather unique.


Thanks for the compliment.

As for the copper, no idea.

What coolers are you referring to? If I have aftermarket oil coolers? I don't have any. Car is bone stock.
 
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Viscosity held up nicely.


I was expecting the oil will hold nicely since it is one of the top tier oils that can easily last more than 7,000 miles. You see TBN is still good at 4.2. So, I am not too surprised viscosity is holding up great.
 
How is viscosity holding up great?

Its 1.4 points away from shearing out of grade @ 210 and .38 from it at 100 with only 5K on it - not towing.

I would say this is pretty typical of what I see in VK56's.

The VK56 with feet of chains and multiple sprockets is a shear machine and this sample is typical of what you see in an SUV and a bit better than what you'd get with a titan towing heavy loads.

UD
 
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Report looks good. I would get a UOA next oil change (do the same 5k miles) to see if copper has gone up or down. Could just be a one-off thing.
 
This SUV has the VK56VD which is Direct Injected. The VK56DE is Port Injected. Maybe something to consider so they don't compare wear trends to other VK56DE engines.
 
Originally Posted by PetitFrereArmada
Black Bear Pass 12,840ft. A badger decided to pose too in my pic.

That's not a Badger; it's a Marmot. If it was a Badger, half your leg would be missing right now. Not kidding.
Marmots are woossies though.

Your insolubles were amazingly low for that kind of duty. Your air filter and pathway is sealed very nicely.
I would still consider a change to a Fram Ultra XG7317 oil filter though. It filters better and is wire-backed. Cheap at walmart too.

Copper is a little concerning. Nothing you can do about it.
You're already using one of the best possible oils to use. Smart to use a 0w40 here, even if it did shear down to a 0w30 now (at 12 cSt KV100). It could continue shearing down to KV100 9.0 and you'd do fine, so you have plenty of margin left.
 
Originally Posted by 1JZ_E46
Report looks good. I would get a UOA next oil change (do the same 5k miles) to see if copper has gone up or down. Could just be a one-off thing.


Thanks. I will probably try to do another UOA when the car gets to 5 or 6k miles on this current oil, though I am not driving the car much so it may take a while.
 
Originally Posted by Anthony
This SUV has the VK56VD which is Direct Injected. The VK56DE is Port Injected. Maybe something to consider so they don't compare wear trends to other VK56DE engines.


Good observation. But I wonder if that matters how it affects the oil compared to other VK56DE engines.
 
Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Originally Posted by PetitFrereArmada
Black Bear Pass 12,840ft. A badger decided to pose too in my pic.

That's not a Badger; it's a Marmot. If it was a Badger, half your leg would be missing right now. Not kidding.
Marmots are woossies though.

Your insolubles were amazingly low for that kind of duty. Your air filter and pathway is sealed very nicely.
I would still consider a change to a Fram Ultra XG7317 oil filter though. It filters better and is wire-backed. Cheap at walmart too.

Copper is a little concerning. Nothing you can do about it.
You're already using one of the best possible oils to use. Smart to use a 0w40 here, even if it did shear down to a 0w30 now (at 12 cSt KV100). It could continue shearing down to KV100 9.0 and you'd do fine, so you have plenty of margin left.


You are correct. Someone else on another forum pointed it out to me too that the animal in my picture beside my car was a Marmot, not a Badger.

I looked into that Fram and it does not seem it is really cheaper to Mobil 1 Extended Performance filter that i use, nor did I see a lot of great reviews about it. So, I may just stick to Mobil 1.

I also own a 2008 Nissan Maxima which is my daily driver. It currently has Mobil 1 0W40 in it with 9,100 miles on the oil already, BUT I have already put 2 quarts of make up oil on this run, so I am not sending a sample until 10,000 miles or I was even thinking of pushing the Maxima to 12,000 miles on the oil before sending a sample. Why? because I feel since I have added up to 2 quarts already. hey, I am guessing the report ,ay be good, so why send sample at only 10,000 miles? Well, i will see how I feel when the car hits 10,000 miles on this current oil. I will decide if to send sample or wait till I push it to 12,000 miles.

My next oil change on my Maxima will not be with 0W40 anymore, I will go back to oem recommendation of 5W30. Valvoline high mileage full synthetic is on sale now and I may just get that and think I will just be buying the best synthetic on sale at Advance auto parts or Autozone each time I need to do an oil change on the Maxima.
 
Originally Posted by PetitFrereArmada
I looked into that Fram and it does not seem it is really cheaper to Mobil 1 Extended Performance filter that i use, nor did I see a lot of great reviews about it. So, I may just stick to Mobil 1..
Fram Ultra filter is best for 4548-12 efficiency/holding ability.
#2. Royal Purple oil filter;
#3. Amsoil EaO oil filter;
#4. Mobil1 oil filterr #5 Purolator Boss oil filter....
all ranked by efficiency/holding while all are built sturdy enough. I think the way the Ultra beats everybody else is with the unique double-layer full syn media. All the good filters have silicone ADBVs, so that's not a difference. Mobil1 filter does lack any wire-backing or even the plastic mesh backing like the Boss has.

Originally Posted by PetitFrereArmada
Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Originally Posted by PetitFrereArmada
Black Bear Pass 12,840ft. A badger decided to pose too in my pic.

That's not a Badger; it's a Marmot. If it was a Badger, half your leg would be missing right now. Not kidding. Marmots are woossies though.
You are correct. Someone else on another forum pointed it out to me too that the animal in my picture beside my car was a Marmot, not a Badger.

Badgers are bad-arse for sure. If you haven't seen this past-viral video yet, its funneeeeee:
 
Originally Posted by UncleDave
How is viscosity holding up great? Its 1.4 points away from shearing out of grade @ 210 and .38 from it at 100 with only 5K on it - not towing. I would say this is pretty typical of what I see in VK56's. The VK56 with feet of chains and multiple sprockets is a shear machine and this sample is typical of what you see in an SUV and a bit better than what you'd get with a titan towing heavy loads. UD
I agree with you. For only 5K on the oil, the viscosity should have been closer to the middle of the range and not the bottom--had the OCI been about 6 or 7K, the oil would have likely sheared out of grade. I switched from M1 Euro in my AMG to Castrol Euro to see how it holds up on the viscosity.
 
Thanks to all those who have said one or 2 things on here to make me understand my oil analysis very well.

Well, I have one more coming upo and I am hoping it really is veruy interesting. It is for my 2008 Nissan Maxima.
 
A little history about this car. I bought the car brand new on July 4th, 2008. I started keeping a detailed log of all maintenance on it as from 60,000 miles. I have done various kinds of oil change intervals on this car with this run being my longest ever at exactly 11,895 miles on the oil. This was my first and only time ever using and running 0W40 on this Maxima. I have a detailed thread about this car and here is the link...

Detailed maintenance thread on my 2008 Nissan Maxima since brand new...

Vehicle: 2008 Nissan Maxima
Oil: Mobil 1 0W40 with Mobil 1 Extended performance filter. This is my first time ever using 0W40 on this car and my last. Just wanting to go back to Nissan recommendation of 5W30.
Make up oil: 2 quarts
Miles on Oil: 11,895 miles (I am rounding it up and saying I used the oil for 12,000 miles since it was short of exactly 115 miles to make it 12,000 miles done with this oil).
Current miles on vehicle: 240,000 miles on car. All stock and all original parts since new.

Why did I go so long? Because I had used 2 quarts of makeup oil, so why not push the car to the limit? Also, now that my car has 240,000 miles on odometer, I plan to be changing my oil every 10,000 miles. My car leaks oil so I do see myself using 2 quarts make up oil and so why not run it till 10,000 miles? Plus, it will also depend on my used oil analysis from Blackstone.

I sent the sample to Blackstone 2 days ago. So, when I get the results, I will make a thread for the Nissan Maxima.

This time, when I changed my oil I decided to go back to what Nissan recommends for our car which is 5W30. I used Valvoline High mileage 5W30 with a K&N oil filter. I will stick with this for some time and will also change my QX back to 5W30.

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