When recommended oil spec goes thinner

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AZjeff

AZjeff

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When I bought the '18 Titan I was surprised to find the oil spec is 0W-20 for the 5.6 DI motor. I was aware that Nissan spec'd 5W-30 for this engine before the '17 new design and DI was added. Would manufacturers change tolerances in the engine when they spec a thinner oil? I'm not afraid of 0W-20 and run it in the RAV on 10k OCIs but have read this 5.6 can be hard on oil. I don't drive hard and not towing right now but it's hot here and it's BITOG...
 
Check the part numbers for things like bearings, the oil pump, etc. and see if they changed from one model year to the next. Sometimes the parts changed, other times they remained the same and only the spec of the oil changed.
 
Originally Posted by AZjeff
When I bought the '18 Titan I was surprised to find the oil spec is 0W-20 for the 5.6 DI motor. I was aware that Nissan spec'd 5W-30 for this engine before the '17 new design and DI was added. Would manufacturers change tolerances in the engine when they spec a thinner oil? I'm not afraid of 0W-20 and run it in the RAV on 10k OCIs but have read this 5.6 can be hard on oil. I don't drive hard and not towing right now but it's hot here and it's BITOG...


I don't believe the clearances have changed.

What has changed is the factory OCI under normal service from 7500 to 5K.

UD
 
Wifey's 2006 TSX with the mighty K24 calls for 5w30. A couple of years ago I asked the dealership what they were using; they responded with 5w20.
Other 2006 Hondas with the K24 spec'ed 5w20.
I used 5w20 for awhile; once I accidentally dumped in a jug of Idemitsu 0w20. Dang thing ran great.
We live in sunny CA; no need for 0 weight oil
The car has over 190K; I never check the oil.

It is almost time to service the TSX again; that oil ain't gonna change itself!
Will use 5w20 or 5w30; dunno for sure.
 
Originally Posted by AZjeff
No need for 0 here either. Been thinking a 5W-20 might be a good choice for better shear stability?

Perhaps call the dealer and ask the service guys what they are using.
This assumes they may have updated mfg information and/or regional experience.
Otherwise, I would run what was called for.

Good luck.
 
Originally Posted by AZjeff
No need for 0 here either. Been thinking a 5W-20 might be a good choice for better shear stability?

I think the opposite is true. Many of the 0w-20's have to use a better base stock and often have lower NOACK values to show for it.

If it were my truck? I would find a good 5w-30. If I were in AZ? I wouldn't hesitate to use a 10w-30 since a lot of them are close to a SAE30 for shear stability.
 
Honda changed from 5w-30 to 5w-20 with my Accord, except there were no changes at all to the engine.
 
any reputable brand 0w-20 is stout oil. the engine will outlast the rest of the car with a steady diet of 0w-20. My leadfoot wifes (ask the kids) V6 sienna runs 10K OCIs in texas. I'm a little shame to dump the oil with it looks the color of dark pancake syrup in the dip stick. just a translucent amber tent no "pigment" to it. I used to be chicken and change it every 5K but the oil looked barely touched after 5K.

This is with QSUD, PP or M1AFE 0w-20 in the sump and a standard $5 Toyota oil filter.

Look for an find substantiated claims of anyone that ran 0w-20 and changed at the proper OCI in an engine that speced it and wore out before 200K miles because of poor lubrication. You will be looking for a while.
 
Originally Posted by danez_yoda
any reputable brand 0w-20 is stout oil. the engine will outlast the rest of the car with a steady diet of 0w-20. My leadfoot wifes (ask the kids) V6 sienna runs 10K OCIs in texas. I'm a little shame to dump the oil with it looks the color of dark pancake syrup in the dip stick. just a translucent amber tent no "pigment" to it. I used to be chicken and change it every 5K but the oil looked barely touched after 5K.

This is with QSUD, PP or M1AFE 0w-20 in the sump and a standard $5 Toyota oil filter.

Look for an find substantiated claims of anyone that ran 0w-20 and changed at the proper OCI in an engine that speced it and wore out before 200K miles because of poor lubrication. You will be looking for a while.







My wife's RAV4's engine is wearing out. The transmission, too. But the rest of the car is in great shape. Pretty sure the rings are leaky and it's losing compression.

So, if you want your engine to last past 400,000 miles, I'd pay extra attention to the oil. Even so, don't know if using better oil would have helped my Rav4. Engines don't last forever.
 
i wont run 0 any thing. my 2016 Nissan 4 cyl and V6 calls out a 5W- 30. i run a 10W-30. JMHO.
 
You know what I would do in this situation...

Run a Dexos Gen 2 5w30 in it. .

HTHS 3-3.2.

The 0w20 oils are only being run for saving 0.1mpg of gas....

I'm not saying 0w20s are bad. Not at all. It's just annoying and strange that the exact same motor the generation before ran a 5w30.... Your circumstance is just like mine except my circumstance is the opposite of yours. My generation of VQ motor specs 5w30... Generation after mine 0w20... Exact same motor.

If there ever ever happened to be an issue with the motor they would obviously check to see IF there was even oil in the truck to begin with. As well as you take care of your vehicles AZ that would obviously not be a problem. If they were to take a sample and send it off for analysis and the viscosity was upper end of a 20 or low end thirty... I don't believe there would be any issue raised by them.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by LotI
Originally Posted by AZjeff
No need for 0 here either. Been thinking a 5W-20 might be a good choice for better shear stability?

I think the opposite is true. Many of the 0w-20's have to use a better base stock and often have lower NOACK values to show for it.

If it were my truck? I would find a good 5w-30. If I were in AZ? I wouldn't hesitate to use a 10w-30 since a lot of them are close to a SAE30 for shear stability.



He is at elevation his climate isn't what you think of Arizona. Also Nissan's proving grounds is down the road from were I live and Nissan tortures their vehicles on recommended oils. There is nothing to worry about using a quality 0W20 unless it spends hours at WOT.
 
So if an engine is perfectly happy and healthy running on 0/20 instead of 5/30 what does that tell us?

Dave1251, is that Nissan proving grounds to the south of Maricopa or to the east? We see lots of camo'd vehicles making the run to Flagstaff, I work in Camp Verde, they stop there a lot.
 
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