Car guys: motor oil guestion

[psteng19]

I just checked my oil level and it's pretty close to Low, and I'm still another 1000 miles away from my next oil change.
Side note: don't know if the mechanic didn't add enough or if my car is burning/leaking oil (no signs of oil leaking anywhere).

Anyway, I don't know which oil the mechanic added, in terms of viscosity.
I think it was Mobil 1, blue bottle <-- anyone know what viscosity this is.

My question is, can I mix oils of different viscosity, since I'm not sure what my mechanic used?
(just want to add a little to get me to proper levels before my next oil change).
What about different brands of oil?

My owners manual says to use 5W-30 for ALL temperatures, and then shows other viscosities for slightly higher temps (10W-30, etc.).

info: Nissan Sentra, 4 cylinder 1.6 liter, 61k miles

oh, and I can't ask my mechanic because he's 200 miles away and I don't have his number.
I'm at school and going home tomorrow and want to make sure my engine is properly lubed for the 200 mile trip

 

[Zenmervolt]

Do not mix viscosities. You can mix brands (but not regular and synthetic) though. Just ask the mechanic what weight he used.

ZV

 

[Atrail]

You can mix 10W30 with 10W40 or 5W30 for a 1000 miles.
It will not hurt a thing!!!

 

[Soybomb]

Mix, you'll be fine

btw: for the record you can mix regular and synthetic, thats what they do when you buy a blend....

 

[AlwaysWong]

I vote mix... it's hardly a difference, especially in the warm, spring climate. Also, be careful NOT to OVERFILL. Any brand is fine as long as it's SAE approved.

 

[Smacksmackums]

What happens when you overfill?

 

[Soybomb]

excellent link about oil over-filling

 

[Zenmervolt]

<<btw: for the record you can mix regular and synthetic, thats what they do when you buy a blend....>>

I always thought they did a little more than just pouring the two types together. I know that you don't need to completely drain regular oil in order to switch to synthetic, but I've always heard from mechanics that's it's not really a good idea to mix large amounts of the two.

<<What happens when you overfill?>>

The oil system over-pressurizes and you blow out seals.

ZV

 

[Hanover]

Try here, here and here. The FAQs there answer a lot of questions about oil.

As far as not mixing regular and synthetic oils....synthetic myths.

Some good advice in this thread already.

Cheers......

Hanover

 

[Cyberian]

<< Do not mix viscosities. >>

Why not?

Seems to me if you added a quart of 10W30 to four quarts of 5W30 that you would end up with the equivalent of 6W30.

I looked at the links that Hanover provided and still couldn't find an answer to this.
Does it have to do with the different polymers used to thin the oil at low temperatures not mixing properly?

 

[Zenmervolt]

<<

<< Do not mix viscosities. >>

Why not?

Seems to me if you added a quart of 10W30 to four quarts of 5W30 that you would end up with the equivalent of 6W30.

I looked at the links that Hanover provided and still couldn't find an answer to this.
Does it have to do with the different polymers used to thin the oil at low temperatures not mixing properly? >>

I'm not sure why, I just know that it's common practice among older mechanics to avoid mixing of different types of oil. Chances are that it's a hold-over from days gone by, but even if it's not going to hurt anything, it's not going to help things at all by mixing oils either so I try to avoid it anyway. I tend to follow "old school" mechanics and their prejudices. I've yet to have problems arise from being conservative in my maintenance.

And for the record, early formulations of Mobil 1 did eat seals, this has been fixed for many years now, but I just wanted to point out that there have been problems in the past. Also for the record, I run full synthetic (Mobil 1 actually) in both my air-cooled vehicles (1982 Honda motorcycle, 1976 Porsche 914) and I've yet to encounter problems with it, so I'm not against synthetics. I have to wonder though, why not just ask the mechanic what he uses in case something like this happens? Seems to me that it's just safer to know that.

ZV

 

[Blundar]

mobil 1 full synthetic is arguably the best oil you can easily buy to put in your car.
Mixing viscosities shouldn't be too big of a deal, particularly for only 1000 miles and PARTICULARLY if you use an oil close to the original, like 5W30 + 10W30.

Avoid 10W40.