The Cube crossed 164,106 miles and it was time for an oil change.
This is the second fill of Valvoline Restore & Protect Full Synthetic 5W-30 in the Cube - I switched over on the last oil change. From what I've read, this stuff doesn't clean everything up in one shot; it works on piston and ring groove deposits gradually across the first handful of oil changes rather than all at once. Made sense to me once I thought about it - all that gunk it's loosening off the pistons has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is the filter.
So partway through this interval, about 500 miles back, I swapped in a fresh Mobil 1 filter on its own - no oil change, just the filter. Cheap insurance against the filter loading up faster than expected while the new oil does its scrubbing.
By the time I got around to the actual oil change, I'd grabbed a Nissan Genuine filter out of habit before remembering I'd already freshened the one in there. The Mobil 1 was still plenty fresh, so it stayed put and I just handled the oil.
Four quarts of Valvoline 5W-30 later and the Cube's set for another interval, and the Nissan filter goes back on the shelf for next time.
