obsessed with fluid changing

[Peninsula]

Originally Posted by wareagle

OH NO!! I HAVEN'T CHANGED MY BLINKER FLUID IN OVER 5000 MILES...ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO REVERSE THE DAMAGE

Drain your master blinker reservoir, let soak with chicken soup for three days, and use hand signals (remember them?) while turning.

[05 T_I_T_A_N]

I don't have my Titan yet. But plan on getting one real soon as soon as I finish up school this Fall. I have a question. In my 2001 f-150, I use 5W-30 Valvoline Durablend semi-synthetic oil in my engine. It's the equivelant of the Motorcraft semi-synthetic the manual calls for. In my manual it says to change my oil every 3000 miles for very rough conditions (ie. towing frequently, or driving in dusty dirty areas, which I do not do), and every 5000 under light duty conditions. My question is, would it be ok to use the Valvoline Durablend in my Titan and change it every 5000 miles? My Ford hasn't had any problems so far and I change my oil every 5000 miles. I am currently at 47,000 using this oil change schedule without any problems. Thanks for any feedback. Btw, this site is great!

[TYTAIN]

I'm not an engineer either, but the factory recommendations are based on factual data. And they have tested their product in every type situation. If you stick with factory recommendations(weights) you can't go wrong. I believe that Nissan has two intervals for oil changes one being 3750 miles and the other at about 7500 miles based on your driving styles. And by all means changing oil early isn't going to hurt a thing, but the quality of oil is much better than 20 years ago. I change mine at 3500 miles, use a good quality filter and a good oil and you will be good to go!
With all the oil company buyouts Chevron owns Texaco, Shell owns Pennzoil and Quaker State, Exxon owns Mobil and BP owns Castrol. It's just what you perfer.

[calgary_redneck]

Originally Posted by smoothTitan

most trannys do not go bad due to lack of fluid change. some are weak and things wear out or break. no fluid change will help things like that.

Acually the 2 biggest causes of tranny failures are excessive heat and lack of fluid changes. Trans fluid needs to be changed regularly as it is subjected to extreme heat, fricton material from clutch packs and metal filings. Clean fluid will help keep seals soft and plyable which is especially important as failed seals are a magor problem far more than hard parts failing (although that does sometimes happen). Another problem with dirty fluid is that is can cause shift valves and governors(older trans) to stick and solinod problems with newer trannies. Another thing to keep in mind is that slushbox fluids life span goes down very fast and auto trannies can get very very hot when worked hard.

[smoothTitan]

juma, my data comes from my dad who bought a new tahoe and within 5,000 miles it was in the garage for a new tranny. so in that case it is logical to say that the AT fluid was not bad. many things can fail in a tranny. New AT fluid will not keep these things from happening. the planetary and sun gears were bad in my dads tahoe, sometimes they break just like anything else.

The fluid life expectancy is directly related to the operating temperature of the transmission. Normal operating temperature is about 215 degrees Fahrenheit, but the cooling efficiency of you vehicle's cooling system and the type of driving you do will be the real determinate of it's life expectancy. At 215 degrees, it should go for 100,000 miles, but for each additional 20 degrees, the mileage is cut in half.

[pciley]

I'm with Juma and most everyone else on this one, CHANGE your fluids at least as much as it is recommended if not WAY MORE often during heavy duty usage.
My truck is just shy of 10k miles and I am contemplating cracking the tranni pan just to see what kind of metal has been caught by the magnets and screen.
I won't even have this truck for very long, will probably trade in for an '06, but who ever gets my truck is going to get a VERY well maintained truck. Its just a anal retentive kind of thing. Just go with it.

[juma]

Originally Posted by smoothTitan

juma, my data comes from my dad who bought a new tahoe and within 5,000 miles it was in the garage for a new tranny. so in that case it is logical to say that the AT fluid was not bad. many things can fail in a tranny. New AT fluid will not keep these things from happening. the planetary and sun gears were bad in my dads tahoe, sometimes they break just like anything else.

The fluid life expectancy is directly related to the operating temperature of the transmission. Normal operating temperature is about 215 degrees Fahrenheit, but the cooling efficiency of you vehicle's cooling system and the type of driving you do will be the real determinate of it's life expectancy. At 215 degrees, it should go for 100,000 miles, but for each additional 20 degrees, the mileage is cut in half.

I gotta tell you smooth, this seems a little thin for evidence trannies don't fail because of lubricants. juma

[wareagle]

according to the manual, not changing your oil every 3750 miles will void your warranty so I would at least do that especially if you have the extended warranty.

[bestatchess]

My neighbor used to laugh at seeing me out changing oil & filters & sharpening blades on my push mower & lawn tractor, until I told him that they were still running perfectly w/o blue smoke after 15 years of cutting my 1 acre lawn. I think he has been getting 3 or 4 years out of his, with his non-maintenance program.

[Blizzard]

Originally Posted by bestatchess

My neighbor used to laugh at seeing me out changing oil & filters & sharpening blades on my push mower & lawn tractor, until I told him that they were still running perfectly w/o blue smoke after 15 years of cutting my 1 acre lawn. I think he has been getting 3 or 4 years out of his, with his non-maintenance program.

I'm with you all the way, Bestatchess, as an engineer, I am pretty anal about maintaining my tools and toys. My wife laughs at me when I do things like tear open the case of my electric razor and clean it out every so often, but she doesn't say a word when I'm lying on the floor cleaning off the coils on her refrigerator!

You want to see carbon build up on a cylinder head - take a look inside your push mower, you'd be surprised how fast it builds up.

[smoothTitan]

JUMA, gosh i didnt say that they never failed because of lube,. i said that most fail due to the mechanical parts, breakage and etc. this is really evident on new designed trannys, this usually occurs with 10,000 miles so there.

i gave you mine, so where is your evidence that they tear up more because of lack of fluid change. i really want to hear this. dont want to hear no crap about the seals will be softer and keep them from leaking, 10,000 mile AT fluid will keep them as soft as new AT fluid.

[KenedyTXTitan]

Ok. here is my two cents. I change my fluids frequently because I average 30 to 40k a year driving and frequent service DOES greatly extend the life of any vehicle; I tend to drive my vehicles to 200k.

If I were leasing a vehicle or only was going to use it for 100k miles, I would not worry about frequent fluid changes.

[Titan_TX]

Originally Posted by gtbigup01

Some people are just paranoid about putting the best in their vehicles, which I can't blame them. However changing the oil(synthetic every 3000 miles is just a waste of money if you ask me. This is my third nissan and I don't even do what the dealer says (3,000 miles). I do what the book says at every 3750 miles. Guess it couldn't hurt to change oil earler.

I used Amsoil in my G35. I changed it every 6k. I also had it tested to see if its okay. It was fine and they said I could have run much longer. I plan to do the same after break in.

[Titan_TX]

Originally Posted by 05 T_I_T_A_N

I don't have my Titan yet. But plan on getting one real soon as soon as I finish up school this Fall. I have a question. In my 2001 f-150, I use 5W-30 Valvoline Durablend semi-synthetic oil in my engine. It's the equivelant of the Motorcraft semi-synthetic the manual calls for. In my manual it says to change my oil every 3000 miles for very rough conditions (ie. towing frequently, or driving in dusty dirty areas, which I do not do), and every 5000 under light duty conditions. My question is, would it be ok to use the Valvoline Durablend in my Titan and change it every 5000 miles? My Ford hasn't had any problems so far and I change my oil every 5000 miles. I am currently at 47,000 using this oil change schedule without any problems. Thanks for any feedback. Btw, this site is great!

FYI, either go non-synthetic or go full synthetic. That Valvoline Durablend had some of the worst tests from blackstone labs I have seen. I had my father switch from it when I showed him the test. Now he is a die hard Amsoil fan after his 2001 Altima gets 31 mpg in the city! Yes in the CITY. The way he drives is unreal. LOL.

Castrol GTX is the best regular oil in tests. It actually works better than its Syntec counterpart. Castrol GTX works better than Valvolines Synthetic side.

If you go Synthetic, go with Mobil 1, Amsoil. Nothing else compares.

[Brons2]

Chevron Supreme is far superior to GTX in all the UOA's I've seen.

I got better results with the Supreme than with Mobil 1 on my F150 I just traded in. 4ppm iron, 0ppm lead on my last 5000 mile oci before I traded it. This was at 83,000 miles.