# Oil change today...highly pissed



## Echelon (Oct 27, 2005)

So I get an oil change today at the dealership. I notice it was higher than normal, I paid it was in a hurry. Looked at the receipt and they are adding Krex graphite Lubricant. It cost me $7.95! First, asking for an oil change doesn't give them the ok to add a lubricant like that, but I am most pissed because the manual clearly states no oil additives are to be used. I am going up there first of next week to tell them about this. If they are a-holes, they will be draining my truck and doing it again. Believe me. I despise everyone that works at dealerships. Sorry....:bs:


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Echelon said:


> So I get an oil change today at the dealership. I notice it was higher than normal, I paid it was in a hurry. Looked at the receipt and they are adding Krex graphite Lubricant. It cost me $7.95! First, asking for an oil change doesn't give them the ok to add a lubricant like that, but I am most pissed because the manual clearly states no oil additives are to be used. I am going up there first of next week to tell them about this. If they are a-holes, they will be draining my truck and doing it again. Believe me. I despise everyone that works at dealerships. Sorry....:bs:


You don't live in Huntsville do you?? LOL 
Sounds like the crap the dealership here would pull, only you'd also have to worry about them torqueing to specifications the oil filter and the drain plug....


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## 05 NISMO 4X4 (Jun 4, 2005)

Yet another reason why I choose to do my own oil changes!

On the up-side, hang onto that reciept! If you ever have a future engine problem that could even remotely be tied to engine oil or additives (even after the truck is out of warranty), I'd be throwing that in their face and requesting a new engine! It will be extremely hard for Nissan to deny a warranty claim if one of their dealerships could have been the contributing cause of the problem!


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

05 NISMO 4X4 said:


> Yet another reason why I choose to do my own oil changes!


I hear you on that. If it wasn't for me changing my own oil, I would have not noticed the bolt coming out of my alternator until the belt broke or it dropped out complelely.


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## scuba91ta (Aug 19, 2005)

Thats why i took the extended warrenty on my truck - cam with free oil changes for 100k


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## Centurion (Sep 5, 2002)

Echelon said:


> So I get an oil change today at the dealership. I notice it was higher than normal, I paid it was in a hurry. Looked at the receipt and they are adding Krex graphite Lubricant. It cost me $7.95! First, asking for an oil change doesn't give them the ok to add a lubricant like that, but I am most pissed because the manual clearly states no oil additives are to be used. I am going up there first of next week to tell them about this. If they are a-holes, they will be draining my truck and doing it again. Believe me. I despise everyone that works at dealerships. Sorry....:bs:


How much was the oil change total with the snake oil? And I wouldn't worry about the additive doing any damage even though it is unecessary and worthless because it is designed as an engine additive after all...


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## Echelon (Oct 27, 2005)

Man it was like $38.00. Total rip-off.... I need some help. I want to go up there and talk to the dealership manager and ask him even though my manual says no oil additives, would it be ok if I go ahead and add one anyway, would it void my warranty etc...If he says anything like "I wouldnt recommend it...etc..." I am going to pull out the receipt and proceed to choke slam him... LOL seriously, how would you go about it?


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## Pepco1 (Feb 3, 2006)

Check this link out, Krex is a superior lubricant, not an additive.

http://dealer.webmakerx.net/Images/Picture/2005/May/lg_kgrpage.gif


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

thats why i sticky'd this in the altima forums.
http://www.nissanforums.com/general-altima-stanza-discussion/97856-read-if-you-take-your-car.html


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

_"Krex is a superior lubricant, not an additive."_

That's snake-oil speak, not technical info.

Decades ago, Arco made a graphite oil ... forget what it was called. I heard that it poured a dark grey color ... and many people couldn't get used to pouring dark oil INTO their motor. 

I'm not sure if it helped (probably not) but I know of no problems associated with graphite mixed into motor oil. 

If it were me, I'd simply never go back there. Start doing your own oil changes.


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## CT_Nismo (Dec 25, 2005)

I have owned many cars and trucks. Nothing beats an oil change with plain ole oil for engine longevity. Do this on a consistent basis and the vehicle will last a long time.

Anybody that sells you a friction modifier or similar shit is stealing money from your wallet. They are taking advantage of you cuz they believe people that bring trucks into a dealership to change oil knows jack. It's the price for being ignorant.


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## Danmuzicman (Mar 15, 2006)

i like oil change time with my truck its a bonding experiance


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## Echelon (Oct 27, 2005)

Yeah I like changing my own oil too...except my step-dad is an ass about changing your own oil, even though its my truck etc....I still don't wanna even have to remotely deal with hearing that shit, but I will prolly start taking it over to my buds house and do it.


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## Echelon (Oct 27, 2005)

So what oil do you guys use most often?


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Echelon said:


> So what oil do you guys use most often?


Mobile One Full Syn


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## Echelon (Oct 27, 2005)

Once you go synthetic can you go back? Also, how much more expensive is synthetic? thank you


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Echelon said:


> Once you go synthetic can you go back? Also, how much more expensive is synthetic? thank you


I'm not sure if you can go back or not. I have gone back and forth on a couple of different occasions on another car I had. But I plan on keeping this truck for a real long time, and during this duration, will only be using what I consider to be premimum products. Sure there probably is better oil than Mobile One, but I like Mobile One. 

The big jug at Walmart for the 15,000 mile garuntee full synthetic is roughly 26 dollars. But, if you think about it, if you change the full syn once every 15,000 miles and the filter every three thousand miles, @ $5 a filter, your total will be $51 for the 15,000 mile life of the oil. If you use dino oil and change it every three thousand, then, @ lets say 1.40 per quart and 4qts equals $5.60, and throw in the oil filters, your looking at $53 dollars. Of course if you go longer between changes on dino oil, it will be cheaper. But Synthetic oil is thinner (ever so slightly better mpgs) and I believe that you get better protection with the full syn. Bror Jace is the BITOGian, and hopefully he will chime in on this and give his recommendations (he knows his oil and I'd trust his recommendations for my truck if I wasn't so stuck on Mobile One) CTNismo will probably say running oil for 15,000 miles is wrong and so on. Bror Jace is the guy to listen to on this one.

Here is thread to read for now about synthetic oil
http://www.nissanforums.com/frontier/111335-switching-synthetic.html?highlight=Mobile


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## CT_Nismo (Dec 25, 2005)

I will step up and say that 15,000 miles between changes is way too infrequent. Even if you use synthetics. I prefer to buy the highest grade (Service Class J??) dino oil with a name brand at the cheapest price. This usually means Costco or BJ Warehouse. Three thousand miles is the interval perhaps a little over. New filter is installed at each change. I do everything myself so it amounts to $10-15 per change. Oil changes are 3-4 times per year so cost is never a big thing.


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## mainerunr (Jul 30, 2005)

I used to go 5k on mobil 1 but so far I've been trying to keep to the 3750 even on synthetic at least until my warranty is done.

Wife's '06 Accord didnt want an oil change until 5000 miles (actually, the reminder comes up at 15% 'oil life'...could have gone 6k before it hit 0%). THe Honda manual says not to change it until it tells you to so I didnt. No service schedule in the manual either, everything comes up as codes on the dash.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

CT_Nismo said:


> I will step up and say that 15,000 miles between changes is way too infrequent. Even if you use synthetics. I prefer to buy the highest grade (Service Class J??) dino oil with a name brand at the cheapest price. This usually means Costco or BJ Warehouse. Three thousand miles is the interval perhaps a little over. New filter is installed at each change. I do everything myself so it amounts to $10-15 per change. Oil changes are 3-4 times per year so cost is never a big thing.


Of course you would. But hey, we all have our own opinions on things.:cheers:


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

I switch back and forth between synthetic and mineral/mineral blends seasonally ... I have for years, almost decades.

Mobil 1 is very good ... but 15,000 miles between changes? Not without doing UOAs along the way. Every engine is different ... add to that different driving habits, etc ... If you take frequent short trips in the winter, even 4,500 miles can be pushing it.

My usual brand of oil has been Schaeffer ... but I now have Chevron Supreme in my car. It's essentially the same as Havoline. Good Group II/II+ base oil with a potent additive package featuring a healthy dose of moly & boron along with the usual ZDDP.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Bror Jace said:


> I switch back and forth between synthetic and mineral/mineral blends seasonally ... I have for years, almost decades.
> 
> Mobil 1 is very good ... but 15,000 miles between changes? Not without doing UOAs along the way. Every engine is different ... add to that different driving habits, etc ... If you take frequent short trips in the winter, even 4,500 miles can be pushing it.
> 
> My usual brand of oil has been Schaeffer ... but I now have Chevron Supreme in my car. It's essentially the same as Havoline. Good Group II/II+ base oil with a potent additive package featuring a healthy dose of moly & boron along with the usual ZDDP.


Since I just started using the M1 full syn "garunteed" 15,000 miles. I've been debating on using blackstone labratories to have it analyzed. Gotta be honest with you, I've changed the oil four times now and I only have 28,000 miles on the truck. And I didn't start right away on full syn. But I can tell you that I usually went 15-20,000 miles on m1 full syn in my last car. Not one leak, never burned any oil, and always ran smooth and like new. 
Again, I have been debating using blackstone labratories regardless to see if the new stuff lives up to its gauruntee of 15,000, even though as said above I went at least 15 on the regular m1 full syn. 

Has Bob the oil guy done any test yet on the 15,000 mile full syn? I haven't been to that website in some time now, very informative, but I didn't care for the layout of the site.


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## hawaiibrew (Sep 14, 2005)

I use Castrol GTX 

I worked for a Jaguar shop and the owner raced motorcycles...he used it in all his engines.

Racing motorcycles generate some serious heat and wear and the castrol always held up great!

I've used it ever since.


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## Centurion (Sep 5, 2002)

I use Mobil1, but has anybody noticed that Wal Mart now carries their house brand of full syn oil? It's substantially less than M1, I think about $2.50 a quart for full syn...not sure if I dare use it though.


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## Denny06 (Dec 20, 2005)

I'm using the fully synthetic mobil 1 that's guaranteed for 15K miles. Although I not planining on waiting 15K to change. I'll most likely change around 7500. Afterwards I plan to go regular synthetic. Changing the oil is not the issue, it's changing that stupid filter which is in a terrible location.


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## 05 NISMO 4X4 (Jun 4, 2005)

I've started using the M1 full synthetic for SUVs and Trucks that WalMart sells, I've never seen it anywhere else, but it says it's specially formuated for Trucks, so I figure it can't be too bad! It's cheaper than the 15K mile stuff, but then I change it at 4K tops anyway!


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

*mitchell35758*, I still go to BITOG … just not as often as I used to. I’d say go there and search the used oil analysis (gas) subsection … but coming up with search criteria is a bit tough since all the obvious ones (“Mobil 1,” “Supersyn,” etc …) will bring up a boatload of hits.

I’d go 8,000-9,000 miles or so, then do a UOA. Then maybe try one at 12,000 … then finally, if they both look good, try 15,000 miles and test. Then, if all three look solid, you’re in good shape. Any sign that the oil’s giving up, I’d scale back a bit and use that for an interval as long as your car and habits don’t change substantially. 

And of course, you should _never_ try extended drains until the motor is full broken in and had at least 2-3 ‘normal’ interval changes.

The truth is _some_ motors under _some_ conditions put up with abuse/neglect and don’t seem at all the worse for it. But I’m just not into abusing my motor and taking that gamble when oil changes are fairly cheap ... and I like working on my car a handful of times each year.

Last fall, I did a UOA on my QR25DE and it came back rather [email protected] after just 4,200 miles. The reason? Fuel dilution. This motor runs rich when cold and the many 7 mile, 12 minute trips I take means the motor barely gets up to temp before I shut it down and let it cool off for 10+ hours. It took 6 months to get to 4,200 miles and the solvent effects of the fuel took a toll on the metal surfaces inside my motor. This last time I dumped the oil at 3,200 miles (after only 4.5 months).

If I was a traveling salesman again, putting 25,000 miles on my car in a year, I might be able to go 15,000 miles before an oil change, especially during the warmer seasons. The engine is almost always being brought up to temp so any fuel in the oil has plenty of time to vaporize off through the PCV valve. And moisture accumulation and sodium ingestion isn’t an issue like it is during the coldest months in most of the US.

So you see, it depends, depends, depends.

Now, even though I only out around 8,000-9,000 miles on my car each year, I still do 3 oil & filter changes each year, regardless of the type of oil. And this has also led me to use a good, mass-market oil most of the year and a synthetic (or at least synthetic blend) in the winter.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

Bror Jace said:


> *mitchell35758*, I still go to BITOG … just not as often as I used to. I’d say go there and search the used oil analysis (gas) subsection … but coming up with search criteria is a bit tough since all the obvious ones (“Mobil 1,” “Supersyn,” etc …) will bring up a boatload of hits.
> 
> I’d go 8,000-9,000 miles or so, then do a UOA. Then maybe try one at 12,000 … then finally, if they both look good, try 15,000 miles and test. Then, if all three look solid, you’re in good shape. Any sign that the oil’s giving up, I’d scale back a bit and use that for an interval as long as your car and habits don’t change substantially.
> 
> ...


The famous two words in economics, IT DEPENDS. Always easy to get out of a tight spot when the econ professor would ask a tough question, just answer " it depends" haha. 

Anyway, sounds like a pretty good plan, sure beats the heck out of my orginal idea of going every 3,000 and doing a UOA. 

Back to what you were saying, I'm going to have to track my mileage and the time for each trip for a while. This is a little concerning to me since when I stopped taking live classroom classes and taking the internet classes, I don't drive the 60 mile interstate round trip everday anymore. Now there are short 10 minute trips to work and home. 

Thanks for pointing that out. You really got me thinking now that I'm not driving as much as I used to.


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

_"I don't drive the 60 mile interstate round trip everday anymore. Now there are short 10 minute trips to work and home ... You really got me thinking now that I'm not driving as much as I used to."_

I think this is where the over-simplified rule of changing oil every 3 months or 3,000 miles came from. 

The short trips are the key. Merely leaving the car sit in the driveay for weeks or even months is OK, but frequent short runs can really make a mess of things in a hurry.


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## Danmuzicman (Mar 15, 2006)

mobile one and a pure oil filter


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