[vincev]

I have used Mobil 1 in my other cars and we all know it is great stuff but I find it interesting that there are people using it before the car is broken in!! My understanding is that this is a NO NO and mobil 1 should not be used for the first 3000 miles or so. Has everyone on the board that uses Mobil 1 (most) put the stuff in after 3000 miles? I have 1400 miles on mine now so I am not ready yet. Speaking of oil changes, it appears to me this is a difficult car to change the oil filter on without ramps, am I correct in this or do you guys know an easier way. Lately I have found that by changing oil yourself you know everything is RIGHT and not half **S.

 

[stealthb14]

About waiting to drop in Mobil One, I would probably give it 6k miles with the QR25, so you know everything has set, and you can make sure you're not losing oil. Other than that, I run Mobil One on my GA16DE Sentra with no problems.

Regarding the oil changes, I'm not sure, because I have not had the opportunity to actually get underneath a Spec-V. (part of it being that I don't actually own one -- shhh! Don't tell the Admins ). A set of ramps would be a great investment, especially if you are very good with your hands. Hope I was some help.

-Sam

 

[KSipmann]

Unless you have a 5 ft rubber gumby arm, you'll need to put the car on jack stands to change the oil filter . It's located in the lower right rear section of the engine bay.

 

[jpalm]

I changed mine last weekend, but I have ramps. If you have ramps it is quite simple to change. The hardest part was getting the damn oil filter off, the dealership did my last change and put it on a little too tight. I had to puncture it with a screwdriver and twist it off. Anyway, its easy. Refilled with my Mobil 1 Synthetic and put on the new Nissan filter in about 30 minutes. BTW, it held 4 quarts exactly.

 

[Fitz2002SE-R]

I took my SE-R for the first oil change at 3,000 miles to the NISSAN dealer, and asked for advice about synthetic oil. The Technician said to stick with mineral oil especially during the break in, and he suggested "babying" the engine for the first 10,000 miles, and strongly suggested I don't race the car like many new SE-R and Spec V owners are doing (and blowing engines).

I have asked 10 people the same question about mineral vs. synthetic and I get 10 different answers, so I will follow Nissan's advice and stick with mineral oil for now.

Fitz

 

[BlackoutSpecV]

Regular Oil is best for the break in period. There is a 'window' for switching to Synthetic somewhere between 5,000 and 25,000 miles. I would suggest after 10,000 and before 20,000 miles.

 

[vincev]

Regarding when to switch, that is what I thought but it seems I keep reading where some have started using Mobil 1 too soon so I thought I would run it by. I have also read somewhere to use Nissan Oil Filters because they are better. I will let a dealer so the first change.

 

[jpalm]

The reason the Nissan filter is good is that it has an anti-drainback valve. What this does is keep some oil in the filter when the car is turned off. This way not all the oil is in the pan when you start the car....quicker lubrication. The Mobil 1 and the K&N oil filters also have this feature.

 

[jvcampbell]

I am a newbie on this forum, but an oldie in age, I have a 2002 SE-R and changed to Mobil 1 at 2900, car felt better, and went from average of 26.5 mpg to 28.5 mpg. You might want to look at www.mobil1.com/index.jsp
under subject: What auto experts say.
sub-subject: Factory Fill. If it is good enough for corvette and porsche ect. it should be good enough for nissan.
I imagine their engineers are fairly sharp also.

 

[red SE-R]

I asked a friend of mine who is a chemical engeneer for shell about this and he said that the only thing that will happen if you put synthetic in before 5K is it will reduce the initial wear on the motor ( during breakin) leaving the tolerances closer. since the engine is micro-polished from the factory he said it was a good idea to do put it in as soon as you want. I put synthetic in as soon as i bought it drove around the corner to the lube station and had them change the oil. and then again at 500 miles and have changed it every 1500 miles till 5K. and no oil consumtion.

and I called several of the top (exotic) car dealer service centers and they all said that the cars come with mobil1 from the factory.

Porsche, bmw, bently, ferarri etc.. all said the same thing.

 

[BlackoutSpecV]

I am a newbie on this forum, but an oldie in age, I have a 2002 SE-R and changed to Mobil 1 at 2900, car felt better, and went from average of 26.5 mpg to 28.5 mpg. You might want to look at www.mobil1.com/index.jsp
under subject: What auto experts say.
sub-subject: Factory Fill. If it is good enough for corvette and porsche ect. it should be good enough for nissan.
I imagine their engineers are fairly sharp also.

this is very true in SOME motors, the problem is unlike Porshce and BMW the sentra motor is not run for the equivelent of 5k before it leaves the factory. Also the engine is designed to burn off a little oil as the seals develop. Its been my experiance that synthetic is to thin (slick by design) to be safe to use in an engine that has not fully tightened up and expanded to close the gaps. Obviously I'm speaking in terms of factions of mm but the point is the engine is not fully sealed or expanded if you will. Synthetic has burned off to fast and thus leave you low on oil... which is bad for a new engine. <--- these are observations from years (5+) of working on engines, they are in no way applicable to every motor out there.

EDIT: (just to clarify) I'm not saying you can't break in a motor with Syntetic, i just think that it might take longer, and i know that you have to keep a closer eye on oil levels.

 

[red SE-R]

well i change mine every 1500 or so miles anyway ( i get a huge discount 75% off oil changes) so the engine never has a chance to run low. and it only costs me about 14 bucks with tax too

 

[TX_RedSE-R]

Mine is done for free, but that's becuase I got the hookup...hush hush. I'm a dumbass when it comes to engine oil. Does synthetic oil really improve the performance compared to the normal stuff? I'm about to pass 10 grand on this SE-R, and, what you guys are saying, 10grand is the best time to switch to Mobil 1. What else needs to be done? Install a Mobil 1 oil filter???

 

[97sentragxe]

OK, everyone seems to be talking a lot about switching to synthetic early in the engines life. What about me? I've got 71000 miles on my car, and am due for an oil change soon. I was thinking of switching to synthetic like I use in my other car. There's no negative effect to switching with that level of mileage, is there?

 

[stealthb14]

OK, everyone seems to be talking a lot about switching to synthetic early in the engines life. What about me? I've got 71000 miles on my car, and am due for an oil change soon. I was thinking of switching to synthetic like I use in my other car. There's no negative effect to switching with that level of mileage, is there?

Nope, thats perfectly fine. I would be sure to use the OEM Nissan oil filter. Go for it.

 

[red SE-R]

no switching over will not hurt your engine just remember to use a higher weight.

 

[CatmanSE-R]

Why would the you change weights. IMO oil weight rating should not change when you switch to synthetic since the are all set on standard ratings from SAE. And unless you have over 50,000 miles you should stay with the OEM rated oil.

 

[red SE-R]

the reason is that the more miles an engine has the more wear it has internally thus the tolerences are greater. so as an engine wears you increase the oil weight thus helping keep the oil pressure in its normal range. ensureing adequite protection to all the internal parts.

 

[TX_RedSE-R]

Doesn't the weight of the oil depend on how you drive and where you drive? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you guys up north...where it gets cold use like 40w, where us southerners use 5 or 10 during the summer?

 

[JMotorsprt]

So what Nissan Filter Part # do we need to use?