4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999) Visit the 4th Generation forum to ask specific questions or find out more about the 4th Generation Maxima.

oil change intervals

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 10-28-2006, 09:37 PM
  #1  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Tryonetic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 95
oil change intervals

Hi, this is the first time I used full synthetics. I thought the oil drain interval should be longer, like 5000 miles, but the dealer still gave me a 3000 mile sticker. My question is, is it their common practice and should I just ignore the sticker and get my next oil change after 5000 miles?
Tryonetic is offline  
Old 10-28-2006, 09:41 PM
  #2  
I support for what?
iTrader: (8)
 
Mxrider52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Seymour, TN
Posts: 1,949
Yea you can go up to 5000 if you want. Some do it. I do it.
Mxrider52 is offline  
Old 10-28-2006, 09:45 PM
  #3  
Supporting Maxima.org Member
iTrader: (54)
 
matty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Northern Jersey
Posts: 10,166
Its probably to make more money. Many guys go to 10-15K with Synthetic with a 5000 mile oil filter change. I do 2500 with synthetic cause of my supercharger. Its totally up to. I would recommend just going out and getting the oil at walmart and doing it yourself.

-matt
matty is offline  
Old 10-28-2006, 09:53 PM
  #4  
Junior Member
 
djengr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 61
I use synthetic in a car that has an oil life monitor. It goes about 10K miles before it will register that I need to change oil. I do change the filter at around 50% oil life left. Seems you should be ok at 5K miles.
djengr is offline  
Old 10-28-2006, 10:08 PM
  #5  
Senior Member
 
Nissan 6's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Bartlett, IL
Posts: 3,595
Dealer wants you to change it that much so you go there more often.
Nissan 6 is offline  
Old 10-28-2006, 11:06 PM
  #6  
Member
 
Jagger2001's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: San Marcos, TX
Posts: 47
I agree 5000 should be fine.

different question, similar topic:
I bought my car 2 months ago and got the oil changed 3ish weeks ago, and I had regular 10w-40 put in, and I'm pretty sure thats what was used previously, but if I wanted to switch to synthetic, would it be alright? Or should I just start using mobil 5000? I have approx. 117k on the motor.
Jagger2001 is offline  
Old 10-28-2006, 11:50 PM
  #7  
Senior Member
iTrader: (18)
 
jxkim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: bergen county, nj
Posts: 949
Originally Posted by Jagger2001
I agree 5000 should be fine.

different question, similar topic:
I bought my car 2 months ago and got the oil changed 3ish weeks ago, and I had regular 10w-40 put in, and I'm pretty sure thats what was used previously, but if I wanted to switch to synthetic, would it be alright? Or should I just start using mobil 5000? I have approx. 117k on the motor.
check the previous posts. dpeneds who u talk to. but u will get for reposting this issue. i think most would agree with so many miles just keep getting coventional oil and synthetic wont help u much, esp this late. save ur money and time, along with possible headaches. spend ur money elsewhere
jxkim is offline  
Old 10-29-2006, 12:07 AM
  #8  
Need A Light?
iTrader: (28)
 
steven88's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: SoCal, CA
Posts: 8,649
Stick with a good quality oil like Castrol GTX and a good quality filter like NAPA GOLD/WIX, Puralator, STP...and your good to go for 5k miles
steven88 is offline  
Old 10-29-2006, 01:56 AM
  #9  
Member
 
__Kevin__'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 82
I just went 4700 on Mobil 1 oil and Filter and it did fine. When I changed it it was barely black(as opposed when I used Mobil Drive Clean and it was really black after 3000 miles). I'd say you'll be fine at 5000.
__Kevin__ is offline  
Old 10-29-2006, 02:00 AM
  #10  
Member
 
__Kevin__'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 82
Originally Posted by Jagger2001
I agree 5000 should be fine.

different question, similar topic:
I bought my car 2 months ago and got the oil changed 3ish weeks ago, and I had regular 10w-40 put in, and I'm pretty sure thats what was used previously, but if I wanted to switch to synthetic, would it be alright? Or should I just start using mobil 5000? I have approx. 117k on the motor.
I started using Mobil 1 at about 80,000 miles(bought car with ~42,000 miles on it) and it was fine. I use 5-30 though, As stated on the oil cap.
__Kevin__ is offline  
Old 10-29-2006, 02:01 PM
  #11  
Senior Member
iTrader: (3)
 
global_threat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Taylor County, Texas
Posts: 1,740
i've got mobil 1 5-30 in my silverado and it's over 9000 miles right now bout time for a filter change, but the oil is fine.
global_threat is offline  
Old 10-29-2006, 04:53 PM
  #12  
Senior Member
iTrader: (11)
 
99grnmaxgxe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 5,716
Originally Posted by matty
Its probably to make more money. Many guys go to 10-15K with Synthetic with a 5000 mile oil filter change. I do 2500 with synthetic cause of my supercharger. Its totally up to. I would recommend just going out and getting the oil at walmart and doing it yourself.

-matt
Firestone told my aunt the same thing when she got synthetic oil put in, Wal-Mart has the cheapest oil!
99grnmaxgxe is offline  
Old 10-29-2006, 05:13 PM
  #13  
Maxima Owner
iTrader: (8)
 
MaximaSE96's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,062
places use the 3000 mile sticker to cover their but....i think the actual milage in the owners manual is 3500 miles.......
MaximaSE96 is offline  
Old 10-29-2006, 07:53 PM
  #14  
Supporting Maxima.org Member
iTrader: (1)
 
ManualMaxFan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 111
I think you can go twice as long on synthetic as you can with conventional oil whether you've used it from day one or not. Synthetic costs about 2X as much, so money-wise it's a wash, but it's convenient not to have to change it as often.

I go 10K between synthetic oil changes on 1 filter and the oil always comes out looking like new (not black). I've got 100K on my '97 max and I still go 10K between changes. Your interval depends on how you use the car and where you live (read the duty cycle info in your owner's manual).

I found out that new cars have 6 quart oil systems so they can extend the intervals even further. My 06 Mazda owner's manual suggests oil changes every 5K on regular oil becuase of that.
ManualMaxFan is offline  
Old 10-30-2006, 06:27 PM
  #15  
Supporting Maxima.org Member
iTrader: (2)
 
2DMax's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 1,185
I use old fashion oil, and go 5,000 between changes. Synthetic is suppose to be able to go 10,000.

Look at your owners manual, regular oil, and changed at 7,500 miles under "normal" conditions.
2DMax is offline  
Old 10-30-2006, 08:52 PM
  #16  
Supporting Maxima.org Member
iTrader: (2)
 
PLUMMAXSE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 707
I do lots of stop and go driving. Thus I change mine every 3500 with dino oil. If you do extended long trip mileage then use dino oil(5k) or synthetic(10K). Stop and go or short trips really beat up the oil, so frequent changes are better for your VQ. BTW, I use 10W-30 Castrol. 129k miles so far and counting
PLUMMAXSE is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
JoshG
4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999)
51
09-21-2015 10:41 PM
f.matejaiii
7th Generation Maxima (2009-2015)
10
09-21-2015 12:09 PM
97_GXE
4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999)
20
09-17-2015 08:12 PM
ag90fox
7th Generation Maxima (2009-2015)
6
09-09-2015 12:22 PM
sdotcarter
6th Generation Maxima (2004-2008)
2
09-02-2015 09:53 PM



Quick Reply: oil change intervals



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 06:16 AM.