We own a pristine 03 altima 2.5 and a great mystique 6cyl 24 valve.they both have 100,000 miles and run great would synthetic oil give us any benefit?I have the oil changed every 2500 now.
There is no magic oil. There are oils that will flow better when cold …endure heat longer …or last longer in service. They do not “lubricate” any better, per se~.
That is, outside of some extreme or severe operational condition, you will need to make the use of synthetic pay in longevity in usage. 2500, unless that is totally comprised of ultra short trip usage, is too often for even a conventional oil. One situation would be an exception. It would be where 2500 miles isn’t really 2500 miles. Like if you did hours of urban driving where the engine was running and up to temp. There the fuel passing through the engine would be a good indication of oil “use”. That’s why a taxi isn’t really hard on oil. It’s just that an odometer is a poor judge where usage and mileage are somewhat divorced from each other.
Just to bolster the concept, virtually no commercial fleet uses synthetic oil only due to the time line to pay back. They’re usually on annual budgets. The pay back is NOT in longer times between overhauls …but longer times between service points. If truly “magic oil” existed that resulted in any significant reduction in engine wear, then it would be widely adopted regardless of what it cost. It’s advantages are in terms of durability.
Thanx,No that is all around driving,I use a good brand of oil.How many miles should I be getting before a change is needed?
How long, time-wise, does it take to accumulate 2500? Are you in a 4 season climate? What’s your annual mileage?
Most people can manage 6months/6000 with most engines/oils/services. Some cannot. People also tend to like to fall into evenly distributed numbers of annual services. That means (typically) 2, 3, or 4 service points a year. They often choose a mileage that falls around that method whether they realize it or not. ;^)
Rereading things, you appear to be doing something like 12k-13k year. No shorter trip usage to that profile. Well, short trip, maybe …but not COLD START short trip usage.
You should be able to manage a 6 month oil change interval. Use a synthetic if it gives you the confidence to do so.
Thanx again.I was under the impression that the more you changed oil the better,You know cleaner newer oil is better.I was wondering about the syn. because of the hype of more power,cleaner engine,better mileage and so on.
Change your oil when it looks dark tan colored on the dip stick. Don’t let it turn black…On my cars, that’s 3000-5000 miles, depending…2500 miles certainly will not hurt anything but you are spending more money on oil changes than you have to. At this point, synthetic oil has nothing to offer you except added expense…
Ok,thanx,I certainly learned something today.I will try this out thax again.
There are many folks in this forum that will say that there’s no benefit to the extra cost of synthetic oil as long as you perform regular oil changes. For the most part, I think they’re right.
But I can say that it’s recommended in engines prone to sluding, and many turbocharged engines require it for the manufacturer to honor the warranty. Plus, racers swear by it. And I can relate my own experiences with it: Upon switching to full-synthetic (Mobil-1 for the record), my engine immediately seemed smoother and quieter. Instead of going through about a quart every 1,000 miles with dino oil, I use about 1/2 a quart per 6,000 mile oil change interval. The oil also seems to stay much cleaner longer. And living in the rust belt, where temps get below zero, my engine seems happier on that first start of the day. I bought the car used at just under 100,000 miles and am at 250,000 miles now. When the valve covers were pulled to change the gaskets about 15,000 miles ago, there was no sludge whatsoever evident under either cover. Both looked pristine. I can’t conclusively say that synthetic vs. conventional oil would have made a difference here, not having another engine to compare it to, but I feel that it has.
Of course if you’re only going to keep the cars another couple of years, it probably doesn’t matter what you use. I personally feel the extra cost is worth it though. As the saying goes, “YMMV”
Factors that may cause reduced life includes oil. All else being equal ther is very little of any thing to gain by additional oil changes or synthetic oil.
The primary problem for oil is not chaning it as often as that is recommended in the car’s owner’s manual. new oil and better oil might extend the life of the engine by a very small amount.
Back in the old days there low quality oils and they could damage you engine, but engines and oils have changes and oil is seldom a problem, unless you let it go far too long or just don’t check the level or don’t change it at all.
You will not find many cars in the junk yard due to oil problems and you would have to look hard to find one that the failure was due to oil.
Note: If you want to protect you engine, keep it away from any quick oil change place.