Well, my memory is going early in life. My wife helped me recall that I changed the oil at the 35,000 mile mark after all. So I only missed the 15,000 and the 25,000 mile changes. Still not good, but at least I only went 10,000 between oil changes twice instead of three times. I will stay on it better from now on.
40,000 mile report
My 2014 Nissan Frontier has now crossed the 40,000 mile mark since purchasing new in August of 2014 with 33 original miles on it. It is still completely stock. I wanted to give a report on it for anyone interested. I can't cover every detail here, but a few things are on my mind I do want to mention.
I have read a lot on the stock tires, BF Goodrich Radial Long Trails, both good and bad. My experience has been good, but my truck nearly never sees any off roading. I have enough wear left in them for at least another 5000 or more miles and if they hold up until next summer then I will be content to say I got the wear from them they were capable of. The rear tires did wear in the center more than on the edges, even though I don't haul loads often at all, or tow anything besides a 4x8 Harbor Freight trailer with a 8' plastic boat on it. I attributed this wear to the recommended 35 psi of each tire and have since dropped my pressure to the 32 psi that I always kept tires at before. That was last year, or maybe 10,000 miles ago, and have not had any further issues. I also rotated the tires once, front to back, at that time and the same has not happened to the new rears yet, but again, it's only been 10,000 miles. I'll have a new set by time it would repeat. As far as I can see my alignment is still dead on with even wear on front tire edges.
Otherwise, my truck is running fine and doing everything I want it to and seems to have no performance issues at all.
I do admit I have not performed maintenance as recommended, not even oil changes at 5000 miles. I did the first two changes on schedule. The last three oil changes went about 10,000 miles between, which resulted in the truck using about a quart of oil each time. So it's had five of the eight changes it should have had. I know this is my fault, and I should not have done this. Life and weather got in the way a few times but I know I could have found time to do it and will in the future. I use full synthetic 5w-30 Pennzoil. I hope I have not done damage, but the truck seems to run strong, same as always. I changed it yesterday and will stay on top of it from now on. Also, I believe the transmission and rear end lubricants are due for a change as well, based on things I have read on this site. Correct? These are things I have never done on any vehicle ever, so I don't know what to expect, but I am interested in doing it myself if it's not hard.
I also noticed that the battery posts tend to build up corrosion, a bluish white chalky powder. I have twice removed the connections and scrubbed this away, the second time just yesterday. This time I got some corrosion preventative and coated the terminals. They're now a pretty red and nice and clean. Hopefully this will solve that. The truck had never even hesitated to start, however, even in bitter cold. But I know a corroded battery will start to fail eventually, not to mention dissolve my connections to nothing.
I welcome any comments and suggestions, and would appreciate any offered, even if it is a stern scolding for my lack of oil changes or other things.
I have read a lot on the stock tires, BF Goodrich Radial Long Trails, both good and bad. My experience has been good, but my truck nearly never sees any off roading. I have enough wear left in them for at least another 5000 or more miles and if they hold up until next summer then I will be content to say I got the wear from them they were capable of. The rear tires did wear in the center more than on the edges, even though I don't haul loads often at all, or tow anything besides a 4x8 Harbor Freight trailer with a 8' plastic boat on it. I attributed this wear to the recommended 35 psi of each tire and have since dropped my pressure to the 32 psi that I always kept tires at before. That was last year, or maybe 10,000 miles ago, and have not had any further issues. I also rotated the tires once, front to back, at that time and the same has not happened to the new rears yet, but again, it's only been 10,000 miles. I'll have a new set by time it would repeat. As far as I can see my alignment is still dead on with even wear on front tire edges.
Otherwise, my truck is running fine and doing everything I want it to and seems to have no performance issues at all.
I do admit I have not performed maintenance as recommended, not even oil changes at 5000 miles. I did the first two changes on schedule. The last three oil changes went about 10,000 miles between, which resulted in the truck using about a quart of oil each time. So it's had five of the eight changes it should have had. I know this is my fault, and I should not have done this. Life and weather got in the way a few times but I know I could have found time to do it and will in the future. I use full synthetic 5w-30 Pennzoil. I hope I have not done damage, but the truck seems to run strong, same as always. I changed it yesterday and will stay on top of it from now on. Also, I believe the transmission and rear end lubricants are due for a change as well, based on things I have read on this site. Correct? These are things I have never done on any vehicle ever, so I don't know what to expect, but I am interested in doing it myself if it's not hard.
I also noticed that the battery posts tend to build up corrosion, a bluish white chalky powder. I have twice removed the connections and scrubbed this away, the second time just yesterday. This time I got some corrosion preventative and coated the terminals. They're now a pretty red and nice and clean. Hopefully this will solve that. The truck had never even hesitated to start, however, even in bitter cold. But I know a corroded battery will start to fail eventually, not to mention dissolve my connections to nothing.
I welcome any comments and suggestions, and would appreciate any offered, even if it is a stern scolding for my lack of oil changes or other things.
1 - 8 of 25 Posts
Wonder what happened to the missing quart of oil? I put 5 in and only got 4 back out when I drained it. Did it truly burn a quart? I know there is a residual amount still in the engine and pan. I didn't wait until it stopped drizzling completely before putting the plug back in. But it was just a thin stringy stream pouring out when I plugged it. I drained it into a pan, oil filter also, and then poured all of that back into the jug that the new oil came out of to take to the auto parts store for recycling. It showed 4 quarts exactly on the indicating line on the side of the jug. As mentioned, the engine contained a residual amount and the old filter did, too, and so did the pan after I dumped it. But I doubt that would amount to more than half a quart total, but that is just a rough guess. So is it normal for the truck to burn half a quart or more? Can used motor oil lose viscosity and take up less volume or is that even possible?
Oh, I'm happy with the truck. Ecstatic actually. It is so well designed and does literally everything I want a truck to do, but the best part is, every time I go to do something with it, not only does it do it but it seems to have been made to do that very thing.
I most certainly will get on schedule for the maintenance and stay regular on it.
I most certainly will get on schedule for the maintenance and stay regular on it.
Original poster here, back with another report. It’s been a full year since the last one. Truck now has 52,700 miles on it, and yesterday, 12-30-17, it finally got the stock tires replaced. They were due, maybe even a little overdue, but not horribly. I had originally rotated them front to back and back to front at about 30K miles. At that time I had noticed the rears had worn a slick stripe in the middle (not completely bare but the tread detail was gone). I had deflated the tires from 35 psi to 32 psi to try to solve this, but it didn’t help much. At some point I ended up going back to 35 psi (don’t remember just why) and ultimately ended up with all four tires having a slick middle row of tread with only the outline of it left. The other tread rows all still had detail in them at the time of replacement. There were zero signs of any misalignment and my steering wheel is still dead straight even after 52K miles of bumps and potholes.
For replacements, I had planned on going to the Pro-4X size of 265/75R16. As luck would have it, I need tires now, and have the time off to get them, but Walmart is the only place open in the area through 1-2-18. Two problems with that. First the only tires they have in that size looked like car tires concerning the tread pattern, and second, they refused to put any size on the truck except stock. I was determined to wait a few days to go elsewhere until I saw they had some Goodyear Wrangler RT/S in the original size of 265/70R16 for a good price. I loved the look of the tread and had them installed, figuring I’m already used to the size of the tires and how it affects my speed (speedometer says 60 but it’s closer to 56-57).
Concerning oil changes, I got back on track and change my oil at 5000 mile intervals. Truck still runs and drives like new. It does seem to use close to a quart between changes though but I always find half of that when I take the filter off. LOL.
For replacements, I had planned on going to the Pro-4X size of 265/75R16. As luck would have it, I need tires now, and have the time off to get them, but Walmart is the only place open in the area through 1-2-18. Two problems with that. First the only tires they have in that size looked like car tires concerning the tread pattern, and second, they refused to put any size on the truck except stock. I was determined to wait a few days to go elsewhere until I saw they had some Goodyear Wrangler RT/S in the original size of 265/70R16 for a good price. I loved the look of the tread and had them installed, figuring I’m already used to the size of the tires and how it affects my speed (speedometer says 60 but it’s closer to 56-57).
Concerning oil changes, I got back on track and change my oil at 5000 mile intervals. Truck still runs and drives like new. It does seem to use close to a quart between changes though but I always find half of that when I take the filter off. LOL.
I haven’t done my transmission fluid yet. I’m kind of worried about that but mostly because of just thinking “what if”. It hasn’t had any problems at all. But at 52,700 miles I don’t want to wait anymore. Unfortunately I will be waiting until spring, which will mean another 5000 miles. I want to do it myself though. Is it hard to do? I’ve never done a transmission fluid and filter change in my life.
How many quarts does it take to refill it and what kind do you use? Mine is automatic.
Does having a 4x4 make any difference compared to rear drive only? Can it really be this simple to drain and fill with less than a gallon of fluid? Heck, I once had a Chevy 1500 rear drive only that had the 700R4 transmission and it took 2 gallons plus a quart or two when I had it changed.
1 - 8 of 25 Posts
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