Originally Posted by BLM

I had read on here about different dealers having different views on the oils. Redline 5w30 synthetic is approved for use in the VQ37. This particular dealer was just towing the company line and pretty much refused to use anything other than the Nissan ester oil.

I checked the level this AM. It was fine. Drove to work, mostly highway, very little stop and go. When I parked the car it was just a hair under 220 degrees, which is a good 15 degrees higher than normal. It's about 65 degrees out here today, and recently has been 15-20 degrees colder. It could just be the ambient temp change, but if this is what it's going to be in 65 degrees, idk how it's going to be in the summer. I was planning on an oil cooler anyway. I'll probably go with a 25 row since a 34 would be too cold to drive up here in the fall/winter months. I know you can cover the cooler to make it whatever row you want, but I'd rather just get the 25 and be done with it. Also, I called the dealer and they said they used the ester, and it shouldn't be running hot from just the oil change. They of course said it was just a weather change, but we've had some days in past weeks where it was mid 70's and I drove the car hard and never went past 210 degrees. Even when cruising on the highway it sits at 210 now when it was always previosuly pegged at 200. It just seems odd that a mild temp change could do it, especially since I took it out on a previous warm weekend and drove it very hard for about an hour and didnt reach the temps I'm getting now from normal driving.

Question...If they in fact did not use ester and just used some non-synthetic 5w30, could this account for the temp changes? I mean I watched the guy write "Ester" on the work order in big capital letters and then went over it with a yellow highlighter.