Oil Colour

[bordhead]

After reading the post about the oil changes...
I had posted this years ago.

My oil is dirty, not black by any means, but,certainly not honey clear after as little as 500kms. This is since we drove it, brand new, off the lot.
I've had several other vehicles which would maintain that nice, contaminant free oil look for several thousand klicks - a jetta that still looked clean after 5000kms - every time. I have always used high quality oils and filters - so let's not make this a debate about that.

Does the 3.3 run a little dirtier than other engines? How does your oil look?

[Jayman]

I've noticed the same thing about mine actually.

My previous car was a Nissa Sentra S-SER Spec V, and even after 5 or 6K kms, the oil still looked pretty good in it. Was the same thing on my Honda Civic before the Spec V.

Not the Xterra though. For whatever reason, no matter how often I change it, it always looks considerably darker then I think that it should.

My thoughts, and I have nothing to back it up, are that it's because the 3.3 doesn't hold as much oil, and also because the filter is TINY.

Now, I haven't had any problems with my vehicle so far that would relate back to oil, but it's always something that bothered me a bit.

So much so that I've got a dual oil filter relocation kit sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. Just have to find the time in between my little guy's hockey and soccer, my own hockey, and various other family related duties to do it.

[bordhead]

Thanks Jay..
Same here - no probs whatsoever. Just something that has been bugging me as well. Why so much crap so fast. Never even close to missing an oil change and always used the good stuff. I drive it like a cream puff too.

Are they all like that?

[Simon]

My Pathy is like that, as was my old one, and they have bigger filters than the Xterras. Pezzy's pathy is the same way, and it has the same motor and filter as the X. I think it's just the way they run.

[Bender]

Yeah, hot!

[amplifire]

Do you have a K&N air filter by chance? I was reading somewhere about K&N air filters letting in more dirt into the intake (as the price for better airflow i guess), has me wondering about mine... I've noticed the same phenomenon with mine, I use mobil one and the nissan oil filter with a K&N drop-in air filter.

[Bender]

Do you have a K&N air filter by chance? I was reading somewhere about K&N air filters letting in more dirt into the intake (as the price for better airflow i guess), has me wondering about mine... I've noticed the same phenomenon with mine, I use mobil one and the nissan oil filter with a K&N drop-in air filter.

You and I are running the exact set up ( I do run over a bit, hence why I run synthetic ). I still say its cause our engines run really hot.

[amplifire]

I'm thinking of getting an oil analysis done, just to see what's going on in there... for $30 or so, why not? maybe I'm too curious for my own good. I agree it runs hot as hell though

[Scotto]

I dunno. I have the K&N, but I also have the big chevy oil filter set-up. I can't blame the K&N, as my Jeep uses the same company filter (not style) and the Jeep stays pretty clean. The X is always looking a little too dark for my liking. I can't even blame the heat, really, as a Chevy 350 (in the Jeep) runs anything but cold.

I'm not worried. I just change the filter more. It''s a nice trip out of the house to CT, and costs me about $4.50.


Scott

[amplifire]

Scott, are you changing the filter without changing the oil, or just doing the whole deal more often?

[Scotto]

Change the filter and top it up most of the time.

Full change every 4-6 mos or so.


Scott

[Snafu]

I never really noticed the colour. I always try to change the oil and filter every 5,000km if I use regular oil. This may be overkill cause most of these are highway miles. If I happen to use synthetic and a decent filter I change it at about 10,000km.

I think I am going to start looking for a bigger filter.

[sandor]

Do you have a K&N air filter by chance? I was reading somewhere about K&N air filters letting in more dirt into the intake (as the price for better airflow i guess), has me wondering about mine... I've noticed the same phenomenon with mine, I use mobil one and the nissan oil filter with a K&N drop-in air filter.

I don't think it is K&N either. I run the same setup on my maxima with the VQ30DE (mobil1, nissan oil filter, K&N), and the oil after 3 - 4 months/5000km doesn't look much different than when it went in, and that engine gets a workout when shifting at over 7k, and plenty of city driving. It is definitely something about the design of the VG that contributes to the colour of the oil.

[bordhead]

I just have the stock air cleaner(regularly changed).
I guess it's just the way it is.

An oil analysis would be a great way to find out what's going on in there...

[weerd 1]

it is just the heat and the fact the engine only holds 3.5 I run synthetic oil(royal purple) K&N (cone) and a purolator pure one oil filter and it is dirty as so as I drive out of the driveway after I change the oil I use to change the filter in the middle or after about 2-3k but did not notice a difference so I stopped and just change everything by 5000