Hey Green
Just do it man!
Today's conventional oils are so darned good it's amazing.
Me? I'm a Havoline or Chevron fan. I have enough UOA data sheets from my own truck showing just how good these oils perform at 5K drain intervals. There is enough supporting data from others to confirm few folks actually NEED synthetic oil.

IMO:
Today's conventional oils are a DEAL.
Today's synthetic oils are a STEAL.

 

Go ahead, it your money to waist on a new engine. Mater a fact bring that baby up to ND this January when the temp will likely dip into the -20*F to -30*F bleow 0. You'll be lucky if that 20w50 will even come out of the bottle. At -18*F you have to squeeze a bottle of SAE30 to even get some to come out.

My dad was curious how the oil was effected by cool temps so he placed 7 bottels of oil outside when temp was -18*F last winter. I don't remember all of them but I know we had MC 5w20 (Syn Blend), Mobile 5w30 (Dino), Mobile 10w30 (Dino), Castrol 5w30 (Syn. Blend), A bottle trany fluid (I think Dexron V), Havoline SEA 30 (Dino), and I don't remember the last one. We did a "by the eye" flow test of these oils at -18*F (just pour a little out of each into a bucket), the MC 5w20 and Castrol 5w30 flowed by far the best, not quite like water but more like warm honey, the mobile dino 5w30 wasn't to bad but after that they continually got extremly thick. The 10w30s were slow but poured out alright, the SAE 30 had to be squeezed to get it out of the bottle, the powersteering fluid looked like cold honey, while the Dexron V trany Fluid poured out like water.

After seeing this you wouldn't be able to get me to use anything thicker than 5w30 in the winter and the synthetics definitly flowed quicker than there Dino counterpart. Since the most damage to an engine is done at start up I'd say the best thing to have is something that'll flow relatively good. They guys that say its to warm down in texas to run light oils like 5w20 really haven't thought that statement through; an engines internal temp when running doesn't vary by more than 10* weather its -40*F or 120*F so what are they gaining with a heavier oil, nothing but more wear at startup!!! Think about that one for a while.

I think oil weight and OCIs make more of a difference than oil brand so use what ever your comfortable with and follow the manufatures specified weights adn change the crap every 5k or less. When 5w20 became fords standards everyone said the motors would never last, well now that the mod engines have been out for some time the common teardown isn't untill after over 200k miles, what that tell you. Heck the police and cabs are running these thing far past 200k (well the police unit usually become city cars at around 100k), many cabs have 300k+ on them and they use nothing more than recomended viscosities and cheapest oil they can find, do you really think they're using Mobile 1, I think not.

To all their own but I'll stick with whats recomended untill I see proof that soemthing else will make a substantial difference and stick with my low mile OCIs.

 

we actually were not talking about you. just poking fun at a few of the other members who think thicker is better.lol

 

DVigeant, first the Nissan. If you will check your owners manual it should state that Nissan does not recommend synthetic oils for their Q series engine.Typically, we see higher copper levels using any PAO basestock synthetic. For this engine I would recommend a blend. For the 4.6 I would recommend a blend as well. Because you have run the engine for ,I assume, somewhere around 50,000 miles using a 5w-30, I would stay with a 5w-30. Reason is the main bearings do not go around in a perfect circle with the crank. Their is a little room there for the oil wedge to build for lubrication. You engine has wore in to the 30 oil at temp viscosity. Going to a 5w-20 now may result in an oil pressure drop at the main bearings which may not show up on the gauge because it reads pressure at the filter. The Jeep 4.0 is a spiffy engine. Hard to destroy one of those. I would use a blend in it as well in 5w-30.

There is nothing wrong with using the M1 and if it makes you feel more comfy using it- use it. If you want to go back to a dino- pick one. There is hardly a bad oil out there anymore. If it were me, they all would be having Havoline in them including the equipment in a straight 30 oil. It's pretty hard to chose a bad oil now a days. Even the Phillips synthetic blend at Dollar Tree stores is a great oil for a buck a quart and I wouldn't hesitiate to use it. Your money and my .02

 

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Oh yeah, I forgot about that! Even better. However, with the SAE 90 HD, don't forget to add a 15 oz. bottle of STP Oil Treatment in the blue labeling! Andy Granatelli will be happy! ED (who used to use STP all the time in the 70s - what was I thinking!!?? ...

 

With as many vehicles in nice condition as you have it would be hard to move away from the Mobil oil since you can run it in everything you have and just keep one type oil around for top-offs ect and not wind up with 1/2 quarts of this n that with no use for .

The pricing on those 5 quart jugs is very appealing as well .

 

flash is right those engines should not run syn at all.

 

Exactly why is that so ? Please elaborate on this pertaining to each individual engine that is listed .

 

Nissan does not recommend synthetic oils for their Q series engine

it has to do with it will cause more harm then good in them. lots of copper and AL.

 

Perhaps I am the only person on the planet where Mobil1 makes sense: As in $ in my pocket...Or completely out to lunch-

03 6.0 PSD 66,200 miles: Ran dino until about 35,000 then switched to M1 5w40 Truck & Suv. In towing the exact same 360 mile route many, many times, dino mileage was 11.5-12.0, never higher or lower. With M1 12.5-13.0, never higher or lower. Avg mpg for unloaded city/hwy driving has been consistantly 1-1.5 mpg higher. Do the math at $3 per gallon diesel on 5,000 OCI and a $30 M1 premium yields about $40 net savings. Now, do the math figuring 3,000 mile (dealer recommended) dino OCI vs 5,000 mile M1 OCI and in 15,000 miles the savings are about $210...or $350 per year in my pocket with 25,000 miles ($200 in my pocket w/5k dino OCI).

Let's talk viscosity: There isn't any dino CI-4 rated 5w40 and I am in a climate where it can be 85 degrees one day and 10 degrees in the mountains a few days later (see avatar). I'll wait to post my other vehicles M1 experiences after someone can factually flame me on the PSD- Fire away

 

Your statements about the Nissan VQ engines is a controversial one to say the least. Just like I visit the FTE website because I own a Ford, I also visit Nissan, Infinity, Maxima, and Altima websites because they share the same V6 engine. I'd have to say that the majority of the users use a synthetic motor oil and I believe the majority of those users use Mobil 1 5w-30. So either we should be seeing some more problems or there really isn't a significant problem with using syns on these engines. Don't get me wrong though, I have seen many posts about elevated copper when using syns but they are comparing something like the difference between 9ppm and 11ppm which is probably negligable.(just using those #'s as an example).

My real world experience is that after switching to Syn - My push mower stopped blowing black smoke on the first startup. I don't have to top off the oil in either my rider or my push mower during the entire season and the oil looks almost new when I change it(which I find remarkable). My Snow Blower is 10x easier to start in the winter after I switched it over to M1. My explorer goes thru about 1/2 quart in 5k mile OCI's which I'm told isn't bad. My Nissan doesn't seem to go through more than 1/4 quart if any with 5k OCI's.

I'll admit I am going to research Havoline a little more. And someone said it all ready, it's not really hurting my wallet but I would hate to think I got caught up in M1 hype and not facts. I do buy the 5 quart jugs at Wal-Mart for I believe $20, so that's $4 per quart which doesn't seem that bad.

Oh ya... Flash - you never dissapoint, I like the fact that you back up your opinions with real observations and logic. Main Bearing explaination is perfect. And I agree that the jeep 4.0 is a great engine, I've been told I could use baby oil and still get 200k miles from that engine. I think I use M1 on that only because it's what I use on everything else like DOHC pointed out, and I wouldn't want it to get jealous.

 

Actually there is , it's called Shell Rotella 5w-40

I'm with ya on all the virtues of using good synthetics but arguing these points on the net are usually fruitless .

Some engine's don't deserve a good synthetic anyways

 

There have been lot of arguments in this thread for using dino oil, instead of synthetic, which is what you were looking for in your original post. After all of that, you are still justifying in your own mind to continue using synthetic.
I can say that black smoke on the start up of your lawn mower is not due to the oil you are using. Black smoke is usually due to an overly rich mixture.
I say if you feel good using synthetic, continue to use it!!

 

Rotella 5w40 is synthetic- Thus I stand by my original statement.
http://www.rotella.com/products/index.php

I am genuinely trying to diplomatically offer my dissenting view which includes firsthand experience and believe this particular forum at the FTE probably has the knowledgable members. When I see a topic that I feel I can add commentary, I do- Even if it is contrary to the general consensus of the thread.

 

Utah....I used Rotella t Synthetic in my 03 F250 CC SWB 2WD 6.0L PSD. I saw gains of 1 to 1.5 mpg. I had to switch back to conventional due to china-mart being out. I swtiched back and saw a decrease in mileage of the same ammount. When I switched back I saw the same increase as the first switch. This is the only reason that I am using it in my 05 F250 CC SWB FX4 6.0L PSD, mileage. I currently have 7500 miles on my 05 and am getting a consistant 16 mpg. I drive the same route every day, and my speed averages from 25 to 60 mph. I have several stops and several stoplights that are always red in the morning. I guess you would call it it mixed driving. On the interstate driving 70 it got a solid 18 mpg. So if you are basing your type of oil on mileage alone, as I am (diesel being 3.24 per gal) I would stick with it.


Ryan