I think some commenters need an update for our 3K km per driving season Z.
I hate quoting myself, but I already conceded defeat on the two-year interval in my post #13 earlier in this thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darwins Child
Thanks for the advice.
Although I think that changing oil every two years with the extended-service oil would be fine, as I have in all my vehicles of the past, I'll continue to be overcautious and change oil once per year. For our summer-only Z, this will be at the end of the last ride of the driving season with regular-service Mobil 1.
Thanks again.
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Then, a few posts later, the logic of a 1-year change for a summer-only vehicle:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darwins Child
You know, I wasn't sure what Nissan's official "regular service" interval was, so last night I checked the maintenance manual in the glove box and, sure enough, 8K km (5K miles), or 6 months, whichever comes first.
For a summer-only, low-km vehicle, this is patently ridiculous for some very good reasons.
In Edmonton the winter's are normally at least 6 months long, and for summer-only Z drivers this means that the vehicle will not be operated for 6 months or more.
With the above in mind, let's say the owner attempts to not exceed the Nissan-mandated 6-month oil-change interval. So the owner changes the oil in say mid April and, in our case, after driving 3K km or so, 6 months later in mid October. Sounds very reasonable, right?
But what happens next April, after the car has been sitting all 6 months of winter? Just to satisfy Nissan's requirement, am I actually supposed to go out to buy (and get a dated receipt for) a new filter and new oil, then drain the "old" new oil out of the vehicle, trash the "old" new oil filter, then screw on the new new oil filter and pour in some more new new oil?
Again, for summer-only Z drivers, and there must be millions of them, Nissan's requirement is ridiculous and should be fought. IMO, the oil change requirements for mileage might remain the same, but the time interval must be changed to 1 year. That is, 8K km (5K miles) or 12 months, whichever comes first.
I'll be heading to the local Nissan dealer to buy an oil filter in the next day or two. I'll discuss the matter with the service manager and report back what he has to say. I can't believe that he's going to stand there with a straight face and tell me that it is necessary for Edmonton's summer-only, low-km Z owners to go through that ridiculous, wasteful procedure.
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If contamination of the new oil during the winter in which the car is not operated is of concern, one could in the fall drain the old oil for a few days, remove the old filter and install the new filter and plug Then just wait until the beginning of the driving season to remove the plug to drain any old oil that slowly dripped down over the months, reinstall the plug and pour in the new oil.