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  #1  
Old 02-21-2009, 12:15 AM
youzi
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Default first oil change

Hi. I just recently purchased a 2009 altima coupe (i know this is the sedan thread, but this forum is more active than the coupe one), and so far i am loving it! It has already been 3 months since i got the car but i am just a bit shy of 2000k, and i thought i should do an oil change (get rid of the metal filings from the break in). I dont want to go back to dealer for oil and filter change just yet. There is a castrol oil change near my house, would bringing my car there for oil change reduce my performance/potentially damage my car because it is not using authentic nissan oil filter? And how good is castrol engine oil? Thanks!
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  #2  
Old 02-21-2009, 05:27 AM
Bama334
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To me I like Nissan filters, enginnered to your cars specs, by nissan engineers, for your car. Those jiffy lube guys always want to sell you everything under the sun too. But hey, those guy change alot of oil and they have insurance should somthing go wrong. Castrol(BP) is good oil also, been in the market place for years. Congrads on the coupe, those are sweet!!!
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  #3  
Old 02-21-2009, 08:04 AM
Altima SSS Altima SSS is offline
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Originally Posted by Bama334 View Post
To me I like Nissan filters, enginnered to your cars specs, by nissan engineers, for your car.
True, but there is some negative talk about Nissan oil filters going around because they use cardboard end pieces ... going FRAM style on us. All though, I believe the expensive FRAM filters are probably very good also.

Nissan OEM Oil Filter Sucks?

There are many oil filters that are just as good if not better than the OEM Nissan oil filters. Wix, NAPA Gold, Mobil 1, Purolator PureOne, Amsoil are all top notch.

If you have a Jiffy Lube do it, make sure they are using a top tier oil filter and oil of the right viscosity.
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  #4  
Old 02-21-2009, 12:46 PM
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sergey85 sergey85 is offline
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naw i wouldnt use castrol, if anything only castrol gtx is good but thats synthetic and i wouldnt put that in just yet. and i dont suggest u going to any jiffy lube places or quick oil places, if u do make sure u watch them while they are doing your oil change, read alot of horrible stories about engine blowing cause they didnt tightened the plug correctly or not enough oil. i would do nissan changes till the engine breaks in so they cant say nothing, if anything. another moderator on infinitihelp was telling me mobile 1 actually just changed the formula for the 5w30 oil so i would try something else, amsoil is good from i heard. change the filter and the oil dont just change the oil and keep the same filter. if u have a mechanic have him do it, some sites have amsoil vendors that sell for good prices.
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Last edited by sergey85; 02-21-2009 at 12:48 PM.
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  #5  
Old 02-21-2009, 03:05 PM
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Originally Posted by sergey85 View Post
naw i wouldnt use castrol, if anything only castrol gtx is good but thats synthetic and i wouldnt put that in just yet. and i dont suggest u going to any jiffy lube places or quick oil places, if u do make sure u watch them while they are doing your oil change, read alot of horrible stories about engine blowing cause they didnt tightened the plug correctly or not enough oil. i would do nissan changes till the engine breaks in so they cant say nothing, if anything. another moderator on infinitihelp was telling me mobile 1 actually just changed the formula for the 5w30 oil so i would try something else, amsoil is good from i heard. change the filter and the oil dont just change the oil and keep the same filter. if u have a mechanic have him do it, some sites have amsoil vendors that sell for good prices.
Castrol GTX is not synthectic, where did you get this information from? Castrol HD is only in 30 weight and 40 weight (straight weights). Most peoples view on oil is here say, for the most part any name brand oil is good to go. Please check out the Castrol website on these products.
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  #6  
Old 02-21-2009, 03:23 PM
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Oil is pretty much oil. All the name brands are about the same quality. I would stay away from the quick lube places. They use the absolute cheapest filters they can find.They also use the cheapest labor they can find. I see a lot of cars come through the shop with those filters. The housings are very thin and they puncture easy. Also some of them have very poor gaskets on them and they leak. I have had some of the valvoline filters cause buzzing noises that sound like internal engine noises or oil pump noises. No one has ever provided any proof that using cardboard end caps on the filters is a problem. After all ,the filter itself is made of paper on most if not all oil filters.
The dealer charges about the same or sometimes less than the quick lube places and they keep all the records on file. If you ever have an engine issue it is easier to go to the dealer who has been doing the oil changes and have them fix it. They won't have any reason to request maintenance records because they will already have them.
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  #7  
Old 02-21-2009, 07:28 PM
youzi
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Hi. I finished with my first oil change at Castrol, the guy put in 4.5 litres of Castrol GTX (5W-30) and a wick oil filter. I asked him if there were differnt oil filters that i can choose from, he said they only have wick (or wicks). and I was charted 42 CDN. Then i asked the dealership that i bought my altima from, their quote was 50....When my car hits 6000KM i will go back to a dealship to do the first sheduled maintenace, i only did it at castrol because i am almost done with the break in (1800KM, 2000KM for break in), and i want to get rid of the shavings from the engine. Speaking of scheduled maintenance, they will charge me 75 for oil, oil filter, and a bunch of inspections when i go in
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  #8  
Old 02-21-2009, 07:37 PM
Altima SSS Altima SSS is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by youzi View Post
Hi. I finished with my first oil change at Castrol, the guy put in 4.5 litres of Castrol GTX (5W-30) and a wick oil filter. I asked him if there were differnt oil filters that i can choose from, he said they only have wick (or wicks). and I was charted 42 CDN. Then i asked the dealership that i bought my altima from, their quote was 50....When my car hits 6000KM i will go back to a dealship to do the first sheduled maintenace, i only did it at castrol because i am almost done with the break in (1800KM, 2000KM for break in), and i want to get rid of the shavings from the engine. Speaking of scheduled maintenance, they will charge me 75 for oil, oil filter, and a bunch of inspections when i go in
The filter is "WIX" (not wicks) ... and is a very good oil filter.

http://www.wixfilters.com/
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  #9  
Old 02-21-2009, 07:42 PM
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sergey85 sergey85 is offline
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hey altima sss did u try doing your oil change, how that go for you?
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  #10  
Old 02-21-2009, 07:48 PM
Bama334
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mpe235 View Post
Oil is pretty much oil. All the name brands are about the same quality. I would stay away from the quick lube places. They use the absolute cheapest filters they can find.They also use the cheapest labor they can find. I see a lot of cars come through the shop with those filters. The housings are very thin and they puncture easy. Also some of them have very poor gaskets on them and they leak. I have had some of the valvoline filters cause buzzing noises that sound like internal engine noises or oil pump noises. No one has ever provided any proof that using cardboard end caps on the filters is a problem. After all ,the filter itself is made of paper on most if not all oil filters.
The dealer charges about the same or sometimes less than the quick lube places and they keep all the records on file. If you ever have an engine issue it is easier to go to the dealer who has been doing the oil changes and have them fix it. They won't have any reason to request maintenance records because they will already have them.
I agree totally. For the cardbord end caps, if it is made to Nissan specs, and QC'ed by Nissan it's a approved part. I may be wrong here but for the Nissan oil filter what's the differnce with cardboard end cap and cardboard media? This is something I can't explain. You can however do a visual inspection of the filter to determine quality. Look at the gasket, how the gaskets held in,the media, do I see a fold every __ cm's, or is the media packed tight and the pleats close together, the number of holes in the end cap for oil flow. Examine any quality filter with a fram and you can see the differnce, plain and simple. Now for the flow, particle size..etc it's all lab stuff.

Last edited by Bama334; 02-21-2009 at 07:50 PM.
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  #11  
Old 02-21-2009, 08:38 PM
Altima SSS Altima SSS is offline
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Originally Posted by sergey85 View Post
hey altima sss did u try doing your oil change, how that go for you?
Not yet ... have about 800 miles until it's due. I'm trying to research oil filters a bit to decide which one to use. Leaning towards the Purolator PureONE (PL14610) which has a long case on it, which I like for more filtration and less pressure drop.
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  #12  
Old 02-22-2009, 09:38 AM
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mpe235 mpe235 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama334 View Post
I agree totally. For the cardbord end caps, if it is made to Nissan specs, and QC'ed by Nissan it's a approved part. I may be wrong here but for the Nissan oil filter what's the differnce with cardboard end cap and cardboard media? This is something I can't explain. You can however do a visual inspection of the filter to determine quality. Look at the gasket, how the gaskets held in,the media, do I see a fold every __ cm's, or is the media packed tight and the pleats close together, the number of holes in the end cap for oil flow. Examine any quality filter with a fram and you can see the differnce, plain and simple. Now for the flow, particle size..etc it's all lab stuff.
Note: some of the very expensive oil filters have been known to restrict oil flow due to too many pleats. So a greater # of pleats is not necessarily better. The oem filters are designed specifically for your engine.

Filters that I have personally used and feel are good quality filters are: Nissan oem, Wix (also NAPA brand is the same filter) and Purolator .
I recommend staying away from Valvoline and Fram filters.
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  #13  
Old 02-22-2009, 12:50 PM
Altima SSS Altima SSS is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mpe235 View Post
Note some of the very expensive oil filters have been known to restrict oil flow due to too many pleats. So a greater # of pleats is not necessarily better. The oem filters are designed specifically for your engine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mpe235 View Post
Filters that I have personally used and feel are good quality filters are: Nissan oem, Wix (also NAPA brand is the same filter) and Purolator. I recommend staying away from Valvoline and Fram filters.
Speaking of Purolator ... do you think their PureONE filter is much more restrictive than their regular Purolator filters? They claim 99%+ filtering capability on the PureONE filters, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are much more restrictive to flow if they design it correctly.

Also, I've been looking at the Wix / NAPA Gold line (same filters) and noticed the one called out for the 2.5L 4 cylinder is actually longer than the one called out for the 3.5L V6. The 6 cyl one is Wix 51365 (Napa Gold 1365) which is 2.6 inches long and the one called out for the 4 cyl is Wix 51356 (NAPA Gold 1356) which is 3.4 inches long. All the other parameters between the two are identical. Also, Purolator shows the same filter number for both the 4 and 6 cylinder (PureONE PL14610), so I'm wondering why Wix/NAPA show two different filters .. the difference only being the length.

I'd think the longer filter would be better due to more flow area which mean less restriction. I think Nissan also has a short and long filter that can be interchanged ... maybe the Nissan filter for the 4 cyl is also longer than the one for the 6 cyl for some reason (space where it's located)?

Last edited by Altima SSS; 02-22-2009 at 12:56 PM.
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  #14  
Old 08-27-2009, 03:06 PM
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whitco whitco is offline
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Default Oil and filters

I have a dodge / (made by)mitzubitsi Stratus sxt, and used Fram , Purulator and castro gtx, or pennsoil, or Mobil . And it has 116000 miles on it. No problems with any of these products. Changed every 3000 to 7000 miles. My son has it now I got a Altima Coupe too. Love it. My first oil change will be with the dealer, only $30+/- here in PA Concordville Nissan. After that I'll do it myself, I'll ask the service desk what they recommend even if they push Nissan filters I may use Purulator. Always worked for me. The oil change looks pretty simple from the right side of the car.

Last edited by whitco; 08-30-2009 at 07:35 AM.
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  #15  
Old 08-31-2009, 02:55 PM
Aaltima
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In my humble opinion, there are two types of oil: new and used. The differences in the brands are what bases and additive package they put in for the market segment/price point they are trying to hit. Some hold up better than others, but if you use the right type and change it often, you will do ok with most of what's out there.

I cut a nissan filter open last weekend. They do have cardboard endcaps. The primary concern here is that the endcaps are an integral part of the bypass valve system. The bypass valve is there to prevent the engine from starving from oil if the filter cannot flow fast enough because it is dirty or the oil is too cold. I would be afraid the encap would rupture or not seal well.
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