# synth oil for 1999 Altima GXE



## fondoo (May 2, 2002)

I own a Nissan Altima GXE. Can anyone recommend the best synth oil for my Altima? It already have 85K miles. And how much oil would I need? 

Thanks!


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## Vandy-1 (Apr 14, 2006)

The 2.4 motor in the GXE takes exactly 3.2 qts of oil. I use Mobil 1 full synthetic with no
problems and a Napa Gold filter. Made the switch over from conventional oil at 65,000.
I also hear Amsoil is another good synthetic oil.


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## dappa1 (Dec 25, 2004)

Vandy-1 said:


> The 2.4 motor in the GXE takes exactly 3.2 qts of oil. I use Mobil 1 full synthetic with no
> problems and a Napa Gold filter. Made the switch over from conventional oil at 65,000.
> I also hear Amsoil is another good synthetic oil.


3.2qt in a 2.4l?? to my knowledge the 1.6 in the sentra takes 3.2qt.. so how can the 2.4 be the same


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## dappa1 (Dec 25, 2004)

fondoo said:


> I own a Nissan Altima GXE. Can anyone recommend the best synth oil for my Altima? It already have 85K miles. And how much oil would I need?
> 
> Thanks!


mobil 1 is the best syn oil for the price ..


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## Vandy-1 (Apr 14, 2006)

dappa1 said:


> 3.2qt in a 2.4l?? to my knowledge the 1.6 in the sentra takes 3.2qt.. so how can the 2.4 be the same


Good question I agree it doesn't sound right however 
the 2.4 motor calls for a 4.0 quart capacity to include the oil filter.
After having someone else change the oil on my 2000 GXE a few times and every
time it being overfilled by approx a quart, I have carefully measured and found that
3.2 qts is the perfect amount to not go over the full mark on the dipstick.
This is after draining out the old oil to the point it is dripping very slowly into a catch pan.
Also remember that some oil remains up in the valve areas and never drains out completely.
The motor is completely stock with factory oil pan and dipstick.
I read another post where a person found that 3.3 qts of oil was just right for his 2.4 Altima.

I also forgot to mention that in addition to the 3.2 quarts you need to add approx
another 1/8 quart for the oil filter capacity.
It cannot be 4.3 quarts as per the post below as the 4qts for the 2.4 is noting the
motor is COMPLETELY void of oil.


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## Divo25 (Jan 3, 2007)

its about 4.3 quarts for 2.4 alti ... i use penzoil full synthetic on both my mothers alti and my sentra and its good as far as i know !


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## dappa1 (Dec 25, 2004)

Vandy-1 said:


> Good question I agree it doesn't sound right however
> the 2.4 motor calls for a 4.0 quart capacity to include the oil filter.
> After having someone else change the oil on my 2000 GXE a few times and every
> time it being overfilled by approx a quart, I have carefully measured and found that
> ...


interesting.. i will look into that


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## Kraut-n-Rice (Jan 10, 2007)

Factory shop manual shows 3.2 US qt if changed without doing filter , 3 5/8 qt if oil and filter are changed .


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## tremer88 (Aug 18, 2006)

the booklet calls for 3 5/8 quarts. thats 3.625 quarts. I always put in about 3.7 or 3.8 quarts just to be sure


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## Kraut-n-Rice (Jan 10, 2007)

Just changed oil to synthetic Havoline european grade 5w-40 and what a difference . The engine starts with lots less noise . The valve train could be heard with only 39k on my engine but now its smooth . Its of very high quality and meets Porsche ,MB , VW and BMW specs that dino oils don't and even some synthetics don't meet these specifications.


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

One of the reasons that your engine is clanking might be because of the timing chain wearing into the guides.


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## Kraut-n-Rice (Jan 10, 2007)

Not really clanking ,just normal cold valve noise . I've worked in dealerships 20+ yrs and its upper end noise just on cold start. We just bought the car and I'm sure the dealer used 5w-30 oil for the change before we bought it . It would only make noise 10-30 seconds after start ,but it was evident that the thinner oil wasn't doing its job. The car has only 39,000 miles and is in great shape ,but I'm not taking chances . This is really my kids first car and I doing all the good things to it. Changing fuel filter soon ,its sitting on shelf in garage. Put strut bar and new Yokohamas H-rated tires on it and equipt trunk with jumpers ,umbrella, gloves and first aid kit ,etc. My last car went 170k fairly trouble free miles and never used oil because of my maintenance overkill. It died when the guy I sold it to 4 years ago put it under and 18 wheeler in December in the snow. I'm aware some of these cars have chain and guide problems ,but I'm sure this car isn't having those problems . I am however concerned with some power steering noise ,thinking about adding some Lucas PS treatment to see if the noise stops there also.All the brakes are new and it has new air filter , but I think the dealer skipped new plugs ,the fuel filter is orig and pcv old ,so I have a couple more things to do before I'm satified.


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

Can never be to careful with kids. So correct me if I'm wrong, but you have an Altima with 39K on it? What year is the car? You are correct the guides do wear out over time, but that depends on how the car was maintained throughout its life. I have 214K on my 96 Altima and I have yet to replace them. There good engines, but my car will probably dissolve before the engine dies.


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## tremer88 (Aug 18, 2006)

Ive noticed this. I think these engines are prone to getting problems when driven to hard when cold. Ive heard some other peoples altimas make a slight ringing sound, almost sounds like the rods. my car makes this noise about the first 3 seconds of a cold start. It used to be longer before i Started using full synthetic oil.

These engines have valve train noise naturally, but too loud is a problem.


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## Kraut-n-Rice (Jan 10, 2007)

LONDONDERRY said:


> Can never be to careful with kids. So correct me if I'm wrong, but you have an Altima with 39K on it? What year is the car? You are correct the guides do wear out over time, but that depends on how the car was maintained throughout its life. I have 214K on my 96 Altima and I have yet to replace them. There good engines, but my car will probably dissolve before the engine dies.



Yes . One of my friends is sales manager at a local Nissan dealership and through him was able to get a 38k mile 2000 Altima for my daughter in January ,it turned over to 40k today . It was one owner , second car of a local couple who decided to trade for a newer model for the wife. The bonus was all service was at this same dealer . Its had correct interval oil changes and maintenance. Only thing replaced ever was frt pads earlier and new Nissan exhaust 1 yr ago.The dealer did all fresh brakes again and other stuff after the trade in . We all the service history on a car , Carfax and another title scan revealed nothing . Its never had paintwork , but small scratches on panels like it sat in garage alot and had stuff dragged past it and rear license pocket area has had clear coat come off a 4 " area. My friend also sold me my Audi when he worked at the dealership where I'm still at. Got the Altima to last my kid through her senior year and then college . In its short life and with service I'm certain the guides are good and I wanted to change to synthetic to make things wear less in the future . I'm prepared if it should ever happen to fix the intake gasket or distributor which seem to be the main problems with this generation 2.4 , but I'm optimistic about how trouble free this purchase will be.


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

A few Nissan experts on this forum, both worked for Nissan, concluded that the reason the intake manifold gasket leaks is because the EGR pipe is mounted to close to the cylinder wall, thus as hot gas passses along the pipe it cooks the gasket which over time causes a leak. The oil in the dist problem is the PVC gets clogged and pressure builds up and pass through the oil seal on the dist and fouls up the electronics inside.


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## Kraut-n-Rice (Jan 10, 2007)

LONDONDERRY said:


> A few Nissan experts on this forum, both worked for Nissan, concluded that the reason the intake manifold gasket leaks is because the EGR pipe is mounted to close to the cylinder wall, thus as hot gas passses along the pipe it cooks the gasket which over time causes a leak. The oil in the dist problem is the PVC gets clogged and pressure builds up and pass through the oil seal on the dist and fouls up the electronics inside.



So you're saying that with time the intake gasket can fail with even the best preventative maintenance due to the long term heat exposure but I may be able to prevent distributor failure by keeping a clean PCV in the car . Thats one of the things that wasn't changed ,. I've bought the fuel filter but no PCV yet , so another trip to the store is due . Thanks for the tips .


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## Brianz01Altima (Jan 17, 2007)

......................


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

Kraut-n-Rice said:


> So you're saying that with time the intake gasket can fail with even the best preventative maintenance due to the long term heat exposure but I may be able to prevent distributor failure by keeping a clean PCV in the car . Thats one of the things that wasn't changed ,. I've bought the fuel filter but no PCV yet , so another trip to the store is due . Thanks for the tips .



Yes over time it will fail "not a matter if but when" Actually a good test is to spray carb cleaner around the intake manifold with the car running it the idle quiets down there is a leak. Changing the PVC is never a bad thing, but I heard its a 2-3 hour job because its buried in under the intake manifold. That and sit are two prone areas of failure.

Frank


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## jaski (Nov 23, 2015)

hi i have 1999 nissan altima gxe with 152000 miles on it . i put full sysnthetic oil almost 4qrts. when i turned the engine on the indicator SERVICE ENGINE SOON has come on. can it be because of more oil or something else how to fix it.


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## acx4 (Dec 30, 2015)

It's U.S. 3 5/8 quarts as the Owners manual and full service manual state, which is about 3.6 quarts.


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