2008 Nissan Maxima Mobil 1 0W40 12,000 miles on oil. 240,000 miles on car

I wouldn't worry about it. Pb and Fe are a bit high, but nothing catastrophic. I've read that anything over 100PPM should be a concern. You should try Redline oil and do several intervals with it. If not, try to stick with the same oil and continue to monitor. Valvoline HM full synthetic is a good oil. Again, this is a high mileage car.

Nice ride PetitFrereArmada! Glad you are the original owner. Good luck!
 
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Originally Posted by rubberchicken
" So which filter is better between these 2? Mobil 1 EP vs Fram ultra?"

My take on the M1 vs Fram Ultra: the few virgin Fram Ultra's I have cut open show some questionable QC from the assembly line, while the M1's have been uniformly good. That is why I have not jumped on the FU bandwagon. My average cost is about the same for M1 vs Fram Ultra.





I'm not a Fram user but instead a M1 user and my take on their filters is that the quality has gone down recently. I posted a while back about finding excess glue all over the baseplate which prompted me to find another one on the shelf without it. There have been several members in the past several weeks with similar findings. Some are finding glue sealant strings in their M1 filters after removing them during the oil change.

This has convinced me to look for another brand for the next change. It will be either Roki or Fram.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
" So which filter is better between these 2? Mobil 1 EP vs Fram ultra?"

My take on the M1 vs Fram Ultra: the few virgin Fram Ultra's I have cut open show some questionable QC from the assembly line, while the M1's have been uniformly good. That is why I have not jumped on the FU bandwagon. My average cost is about the same for M1 vs Fram Ultra.





I'm not a Fram user but instead a M1 user and my take on their filters is that the quality has gone down recently. I posted a while back about finding excess glue all over the baseplate which prompted me to find another one on the shelf without it. There have been several members in the past several weeks with similar findings. Some are finding glue sealant strings in their M1 filters after removing them during the oil change.

This has convinced me to look for another brand for the next change. It will be either Roki or Fram.


I never heard of a Roki, I will look into that. I think that is the nature of mass production, some small percentage is going to have quality issues, and hopefully the various QA checks find them before they get to the consumer. I have yet to find a M1 or Amsoil filter that I would call defective, but I have found a few Fram Ultra's, so it might be just a statistical anomaly. I was not aware that those phantom strings were limited to M1 filters ?
 
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
" So which filter is better between these 2? Mobil 1 EP vs Fram ultra?"

My take on the M1 vs Fram Ultra: the few virgin Fram Ultra's I have cut open show some questionable QC from the assembly line, while the M1's have been uniformly good. That is why I have not jumped on the FU bandwagon. My average cost is about the same for M1 vs Fram Ultra.


The "better" one is the one you prefer.
 
Wear numbers are too high. Use Fram Ultra as a better oil filter. Change the air filter every 12K miles instead of 20. If the engine requires 1 quart of make-up oil every 4K miles, then change the oil when it runs low at around the 8K mile mark, and no later. Forget about doing extended OCI with this car.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
I would not use the addition of oil as a reason to extend the oil change interval. I would go for a 7500 mile oci regardless of how much oil you add.

Have you considered a HM oil? Maxlife would be a good choice.



^^^^^^

I agree with PimTac here..

I have a Nissan Altima VQ 3.5 with 248k miles... No adding oil needed. Still runs really strong.
 
The OP's mentality is flawed. Running it until it's a quart low and then deciding that since he just added a quart of fresh oil, this means you can add 4,000 miles to the OCI is silly.

It's very clear that the oil still has active additives in it due to the top off oil but that doesn't change the fact that the engine has excessive wear from something.

You can keep topping off and keep on running the oil for 20,000 miles with TBN to spare probably but would that be smart, based on these wear numbers?

If the engine runs good overall, I vote for an experiment! Keep truckin' @ 12k OCIs and see how long it will last. I wouldn't be surprised if the block keeps spinning happily until 300k miles, even with the elevated metals on the oil.

35.gif
 
Originally Posted by Artem
The OP's mentality is flawed. Running it until it's a quart low and then deciding that since he just added a quart of fresh oil, this means you can add 4,000 miles to the OCI is silly.

It's very clear that the oil still has active additives in it due to the top off oil but that doesn't change the fact that the engine has excessive wear from something.

You can keep topping off and keep on running the oil for 20,000 miles with TBN to spare probably but would that be smart, based on these wear numbers?

If the engine runs good overall, I vote for an experiment! Keep truckin' @ 12k OCIs and see how long it will last. I wouldn't be surprised if the block keeps spinning happily until 300k miles, even with the elevated metals on the oil.

35.gif



You analogy about me adding a quart and then running it for 4,000 miles is not correct. This is the longest OCI I have ever ran on this car. And I really just took a risk just because I felt I was adding fresh fluid and using oil and filter that can go for 10,000 miles with no problem.

Well, talking about the car and the mileage. I honestly never thought I would keep this car till now. I am the first owner and I bought it brand new with 45 miles on it in 2008. The car has served me well for over 10 years now. I was going to get rid of it once.

The only reason I kept this car is a few years back when I went to buy my suv and wanted to trade this car in and was just shocked that dealership wanted to give me I think about $600 when the car had I think 170,000 miles on it. I was shocked because I was thinking I would get like $1,000 to $1,500. You know I turned down their offer since I knew my car still had life to take me from point A to point B. Well, as I bought my suv and left the dealership, I decided I would drive this car till it becomes irrational to pay to get it fixed. I say I will drive this car till death do us part. Well, till it dies, not me, lol.

Since then you see the car has gotten me to 240,000 miles. Today it is at 241,500 and still going. I know for sure that the car will get to 250,000 miles. As much as I would not be truly sad if the car dies any day from today, I still am glad it got this far, so I am not planning to neglect it. I will continue keeping up with maintenance and hope it runs until atleast 300,000 miles. Everything on this car is stock and I have a thread that is very detailed about all what I have done on this car.

Here is the link again...

My 2008 Nissan Maxima complete maintenance records since new...

Overall, the engine still runs good. I mean, the car is not perfect but the engine truly does a decent job. I travel often with it on road trips that are 700 miles or less round trip. If higher, I use my suv. My Maxima still got it. On the freeway it cruises very well and if I ask it for 100mph or 120mph, it gives it to me without any hiccup.
 
Originally Posted by bbhero
Originally Posted by PimTac
I would not use the addition of oil as a reason to extend the oil change interval. I would go for a 7500 mile oci regardless of how much oil you add.

Have you considered a HM oil? Maxlife would be a good choice.



^^^^^^

I agree with PimTac here..

I have a Nissan Altima VQ 3.5 with 248k miles... No adding oil needed. Still runs really strong.



Nice to see someone too with a VQ engine rocking very high miles. That is nice to hear yours does not use or leak oil. Mine leaks.

What year is your Altima? Are you the first and only owner of yours? What oil and filter do you use? What is your OCI?
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
I would Time your oil change when you have to add your second quart.


Thanks a lot for the helpful information you have shared so far on this my thread. This your suggestion makes sense. So, probably change my oil around 8,000 miles.


Originally Posted by PimTac
I'm not a Fram user but instead a M1 user and my take on their filters is that the quality has gone down recently.


If I buy my next fluid and oil from Walmart, I am sure I will still buy the Mobil 1 Extended Performance filter. I trust that it can last atleast 7,7500 miles without any issue.
 
Originally Posted by dnewton3
Highly likely there is an air intake issue; Si it too high and probably causing the elevated wear metals.
If the issue persists on the next UOA, then it will be confirmed.
I'd not wait another 12k miles to do the UOA; maybe 5k or 6k at most.


I have not had the time to look very well, but I have a hose on my intake that I cannot seem to tighten it all the way tight. So, that may be the culprit. Also, I need to order a new ari and cabin filter, which I have not done yet. as of today, the cabin and air filter in the car have over 20,000 miles on it.
 
Originally Posted by Onetor
I wouldn't worry about it. Pb and Fe are a bit high, but nothing catastrophic. I've read that anything over 100PPM should be a concern. You should try Redline oil and do several intervals with it. If not, try to stick with the same oil and continue to monitor. Valvoline HM full synthetic is a good oil. Again, this is a high mileage car.

Nice ride PetitFrereArmada! Glad you are the original owner. Good luck!


Thanks for your comment and thanks for the compliment. I have owned the car since new and I must say I am satisfied the way it has treated me till date. And now it sure has too many miles and one cannot expect it to easily get another 50,000 or 100,000 miles easy. So, I just have to do my best to maintain it as best as I can while not sweating it since it is not like my only means of transportation. But i just appreciate how the car has been faithful and reliable and so it is wise to just try to treat it right and take the miles up as high as I can take it.

To sell this car now in the market will not fetch $1,000, so if it dies today I will not be too mad that I lost a car. But till then, I want to keep on maintaining it as best as I can.

But I am hoping to get atleast 300,000 miles on this car before it goes bye-bye. Will it happen? I do not know, but I will hope I do everything necessary to keep the car running till it gets past atleast 300,000 miles.

Tomorrow, I am leaving on a 500 miles round trip road trip. Guess which car I am using? This one and not my suv.
 
Originally Posted by camryrolla
Wear numbers are too high. Use Fram Ultra as a better oil filter. Change the air filter every 12K miles instead of 20. If the engine requires 1 quart of make-up oil every 4K miles, then change the oil when it runs low at around the 8K mile mark, and no later. Forget about doing extended OCI with this car.


I am surprised to hear Fram will be better than M1 to make any noticeable difference when it comes to filtration in this instance.

As for the air and cabin filter, yes, I will need to change it earlier than 20k. I agree for sure.

Based on the suggestions here, I think it would be prudent to change the oil between 7k and 8k. But before posting this UOA, I was thinking I will have to go 10k on this oil. That is of course because I am adding 2 quarts of makeup oil along the way to 10k. That is honestly what I currently have in mind. I will see if I will change my mind and change the fluid between 7k and 8k. The car is already old. Not much damage that can be done to it now. But I am also not looking to just kill the car like that. I want it to last for as long as it can.
 
Originally Posted by Gasbuggy
Check the rubber intake tube for cracks. (assuming it has one)


I think this is where I may be having a problem. I will double check it and confirm. Also, I will see how much it cost if I want to get it replaced.
 
Originally Posted by Artem
If the engine runs good overall, I vote for an experiment! Keep truckin' @ 12k OCIs and see how long it will last. I wouldn't be surprised if the block keeps spinning happily until 300k miles, even with the elevated metals on the oil.

35.gif



You are very correct here. I never thought of thinking about this as an experiment, but when I did this oil change, I already had it in my mind that I will be sticking to 10k miles and see how long this engine would last.

As you see the car is already old and engine already has a ton of miles. So, what much harm can be done to it? I do not know if regular oil changes say every 5k will even clean all the wear metals in the engine.If it wouldn't, then why sweat it since the car will die someday anyway. But hopefully not before 300k.

I honestly believe with the way I do other maintenance on this car and changing the fluid every 10k with my 2 quarts top off, I am sure this car could make it to 300k.

Well, let me go ahead then and try a 10k run and send sample. I think I may just do that.
 
Well my Nissan Altima VQ is a 2008 3.5 two door coupe. I am the 2nd owner. First fella put 39,990 miles on it. I have put the rest of the miles on it.

I used to run 5-6500 miles on Pennzoil Ultra or Castrol gold bottle 5w30. I now have cut back on those. Now it's just 3k to 3500 miles per run. I have been using other types of oil in the car. Havoline pro D's, regular Havoline DS, Valvoline Advanced full synthetic, Valvoline white bottle, Federated Auto full synthetic, Super S, Castrol Magnatec, Castrol GTX, Valvoline Maxlife, Warren oil synthetic blend, Lubrigold made by Warren Oil, Pennzoil Gold, Royal Purple, Mobil Super. .

Out of all of those only Royal Purple ran really noisy... It could possibly have been a oil filter problem though... I have learned that a oil filter can cause the VQ motor to sound way way loud if it is not working right . So.. maybe it was that with that.. it only happened that one time though with the RP in there.

Oil filters have been many has well... Actually when that loud running sounds happened... I think it was a Mobil 1 filter on there when it happened... Could be wrong about that... I know I replaced the filter with a Fram Ultra... All quiet after that.. A older Purolator yellow filter did cause noticeable start up noise every time I started the car... Otherwise all other filters have been without issue. I have run some filters for up to 13k miles on her. The Wix on there now will be on 10k to possibly 12,500 miles... The oil is more important than the filter in my opinion... Air filter wise... Again... Usual suspects.. STP premium air filter, Purolator PureOne, Fram Extra guard, and Wix... Gasoline is either been Shell, ExxonMobil, or Sunoco.. premium 93... It is "recommended" for best performance... I think Shell does the best but that's purely a unscientific observation.

I have Mobil Super 5w30 in her now and it runs very quiet on this... I had a good score recently... Got 8 five qt containers for $2.35 a piece... Can't beat that with a stick..



IMG_20181025_210110582.jpg


IMG_20160812_195653026.jpg


IMG_20150709_015830767.jpg
 
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I agree. Stick with 10k regardless of the top off oil added. I'm willing to bet nothing will happen for a long time.

Perhaps many years down the road, once the bearings have had enough, it might start knocking or something but it may just keep chewing itself into pieces and run for many years as is.

Like I said, it would be interesting to see and perform these types of REAL WORLD tests, if the owner is willing to use the car as test bed.

thumbsup2.gif
 
Here is a thought. I would look into the air filtration system. Get that resolved and you will see 300,000 miles easy. I also like your idea of 10,000 miles oci's. I would use the fram tough guard filter . It is rated for 10,000 miles and will do a great job for less money!! The funny part in this is you will maybe see 400,000 miles! Those Maxima's are great cars and will last for many miles. I work with a gal that has one and she is going to retire next year and move to Alaska. I'm going to retire next year also and I'm going to be shameless and try to buy her car ( she keeps it in great shape!) by telling her that it might be a hard move with the car and all, why not just sell it to me!!
 
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