Oil Changes

Engine oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid and coolant are the lifeblood of your Nissan, lubricating, cooling, providing pressure for stopping and transmitting power for driving.

What are the Benefits of Oil & Fluid Changes?

• Using the oil your engine was designed for extends the life of your vehicle.
• The right oil minimizes friction and improves gas mileage while helping prevent overheating.
• Regular coolant changes keep the cooling system working at peak efficiency.
• Following the recommended replacement schedule for transmission fluid helps avoids expensive problems.
• Braking systems work better and last longer when the fluid is changed at the recommended intervals.

Make Your Appointment

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Types of Motor Oil

The life of your engine depends largely on the type and quality of the oil you put in it. If your engine is operating correctly, there is almost no metal to metal contact – everything is riding on a thin film of oil. Engine oil also absorbs and contains the resultant by-products of combustion and minimizes component oxidation all under tremendous heat and pressure.

One of the most important qualities of motor its thickness and its resistance to motion. This is known as viscosity. The viscosity depends on the chemical composition of the oil which determines the oil’s resistance to heat. As oil temperature rises, the viscosity level lowers. The better the oil is at retaining its viscosity at high temperatures, the higher the viscosity index.

There are numerous types of motor oils available but the main categories are Fully Synthetic, Semi-Synthetic and Mineral or Natural. However, not all of them are appropriate for your vehicle. When you look at a motor oil container, you’ll see a rating like “5W40”, for example.

The number before the “W” is the “cold” viscosity rating of the oil. The lower the “winter” number the more easily the engine will turn over in cold temperatures. The number after the “W” is the “hot” viscosity rating indicating at what point the oil will start to thin out as it heats up.

Here’s a basic overview of what you can expect from the three types of oil:

Fully Synthetic:

• Fuel economy savings
• Enhances engine performance and power
• Ensures engine is protected from wear and deposit build-up
• Ensures good cold starting and quick circulation in freezing temperatures
• Gets to moving parts of the engine quickly

Semi-synthetic:

• Better protection
• Good protection within the first 10 minutes after starting out
• Roughly three times better at reducing engine wear
• Increased oil change intervals – don’t need to change it quite so often

Mineral:

• Basic protection for a variety of engines
• Oil needs to be changed more often

When Should I Get an Oil Change?

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Coolant Keeps Your Engine From Overheating

Coolant, as the name suggests, regulates the internal temperature of your vehicle’s engine and is something your engine cannot do without. The coolant reservoir generally looks like a white semi-transparent bottle with “low” and “high” markings on it and is usually attached to the side of the engine bay. The level of coolant should always be between the two indicator markers. Checking the coolant level is easy but must be done when the engine has cooled down and never immediately after the vehicle has been operated.

Transmission Fluid Keeps Gears Shifting Smoothly

Transmission fluid is essential to the smooth operation of your vehicle’s automatic transmission. Most transmission fluids are red, which is useful when trying to find a leak. To keep your fluid clean, your transmission has a filter to catch any residue. If your car doesn’t run smoothly, the first thing to check is the transmission fluid level. Low fluid levels can result in poor shifting and even transmission damage which could lead to costly repair bills.

Brake Fluid Keeps Stopping Simple

Finally, there’s the brake fluid, which is essential to the safe operation of your vehicle. Brake fluid provides an incompressible medium to convey the driver’s foot pressure on the brake pedal through the master cylinder(s) to the calipers in order to clamp the friction material against the discs. When fresh, all brake fluids are virtually incompressible and the system works extremely well. However, overheated brake fluid can boil, producing gas bubbles and gas is compressible so boiling brake fluid leads to a “soft” brake pedal. This can lead to the necessity of “pumping the brake pedal” in order to brake. Therefore it’s important to constantly check your brake fluid levels and at South Colorado Springs Nissan Service we’re happy to assist you in any way we can.

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Service Hours

• Monday – Saturday: 7:00am to 6:00pm
• Sunday: Closed

Parts Hours

• Monday – Saturday: 7:00am to 6:00pm
• Sunday: Closed

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