What's the consensus on oil?
 

I have seen so many discussion by our American friends on the subject, but I still have no idea which way to go about what oil to use. So what's the take over here in Aus about the "best" oil to use in the Z?

I use Mobil 1

5-50

...in fact Nissan put that in at the 1000km service.

Amsoil 5-w30 is what I use in My 370Z




DAN

Yeah, this is one of those very controversial subjects, as an old tv commercial once said "oils ain't oils, sol"

Last change I used a Penrite "fully synthetic" 5w-50. What constitues the definition of "fully synthetic" is not even fixed and one manufacturers' can be a lot different than anothers. There are different processes for creating synthetic oils based on different chemical approaches and the legal definition of "synthetic" has changed over the years (in relation to oils I mean) .I've read a numerous articles on this. I'll not go into details at the moment, but in summer I go up from 5w-30 to 5w-50, last Sunday (41 degrees+ in sydney) being the reason why.

check out the wikipedia entires for oil.

If you are uncertain and don't mind paying the premium go with Nissan's own until you can make an informed decision. From what I can discern from the literature they push one of the better formulations on the market.

Engines just looove fresh oil. Just be sure to change the filter when you change the oil.

Be careful of magnetic drain plugs and more so the magnetic devices you attach to the filters themselves. If they ever fall off / get disrupted you will get a huge surge of all the metal particles they have gathered being dumped in one surge....ouch! I've never used them myself but many ppl swear by them.

The oils job is to hold all that crap in suspension , hence the pitch black look after a few hundred k's , and lubricate the metal parts. Saw a post once where someone was complaining that they suspected they had a engine problem and wanted to do a rebuild becausue the oil went pitch black after a few hundred miles. Dude, chill. pitch black = the oil doing its job, especially in an older engine.

Anyway thats my $2 worth

G

Is there an oil change at 1000km? I just did mine and there was none done (none identified in the service books). However, i do find this a bit weird as i thought the 1000km was meant to flush out the oil.

I'd also like to know the answer to this? Im due for the 1000km this week sometime and was told by the knob at nissan no oil change will happen... just an inspection?

What dealer put in Mobil 1? Nissan Ester is specified by Nissan for dealer oil changes.

yeah, for me, the dealer at Nth Ryde Sydney just did an inspection for the first 'freebie', as per the manual. Except mine was close to 2000. Thats when I thought, I'd better do it myself cause I want to run this baby in properly.

the manual is pretty clear on what standards the oil should meet if u don't use Nissan's own flavour. Any of the above mentioned oils are more than adequate. There is no 'best', its more complicates than that, depends on a lot of variables.

When I contacted a dealership in regards to servicing, I was told they all use different oils, not the Nissan range as I thought they would. The one I contacted used Valvoline, and told me others local to me used Mobil 1 and Shell, so basically you toss a coin as to what you get depending upon which dealership you go too.

I originally asked the question because I was interested on what oil everyone preferred and why.

Wow, quite a crapshoot, huh?

I just bought my Z yesterday :tup: and I plan on using Nissan Ester as long as I own the vehicle.

My thought on oil is I like to use it. ;)
I use redline in my car, drained the factory oil at 2700 and threw on redline then, did another oil change around 7300 or so to redline and again and it has been good. No issues or anything.

Guys, I reckon it's just a personal preferrence when you would like the first oil change. I had my 1000km inspection (not service; waste of time in my opinion, as I still found stuff not working right) and booked an oil and filter change about a week later. Chaps at my Nissan service centre were happy to install the oil filter I chose and also use Mobil 1 as I requested (in fact, the GTR is preloaded with Mobil 1).

I waited til 2000km before the change to 'synthetic' oil and in Aus, I recommend Mobil 1. Pls refer to US thread regarding oil change and oil grades for more info.

high protection : Mobil 1 Full Syn 5w-30/ Performance: Redline 5w-30

Is there an oil change at 1000km............... No.

My dealer told me they would do it for me if I wanted it done, other wise it was just an inspection. They said the labour was free, I just had to pay for parts and recommended I do it and use Mobil 1.

Just like every oil thread on here, the consensus is there is no consensus.

Blackburn Nissan. The 1000km "service" was free including all labour, so I got them to change the oil while they were at it...whatever it was. Just cost me the oil, filter and washer.

It disturbs me that some dealers do not follow Factory recommendation. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the Mobil 1, btw. In fact, I use it exclusively in my motorcycles and my three other autos.

Prolly the German in me...I like consistency. :tup:

You know maybe they didn't use it, but I have a Mobil 1 sticker on my windscreen which lead me to believe they did. Maybe they just wanted to get rid of the stickers? :)

I love the consistency of German/swiss train timetables. When I was backpacking through Europe I had to get used to trains leaving at 10:37am and not 10:38am. Got to respect that.

Hey how much did they harge for the oil change and filter? I'm gonna do mine soon, between 4k and 5k.

When I was in Hamburg, the trains were spot on as well, the same train numbers passed eachother at the train station at the same time (going opposite ways of course) every single time..... very weird thing to see... all the time hahaha

I would imagine that when the vehicle is manufactured and they start the engine for the first time at/near the factory that they have used Nissan Ester. Well, I hope so anyway.

I'm not 100% sure but I assume they would start the engine for the first time at the factory. I am guessing that they are driven onto the truck/whatever when they start their journey to the Dealers.

If thats the case why would you not use a fully synthetic at your first change?
Maybe the factory uses a cheaper substitue to save costs? Would that be the reason the dealers dont use Nissan Ester, depending on what deal they have done for a bulk supply from a local supplier?

I've done a change at 2000, 5000, and now got 7500 up. I may do another change now and then one at 10000 and then every 5000 from then on. I just think its a good idea to do a few during the run in period up to 10000. Maybe I am just wasting $ ??

Gee

I paid around $50 for Penrite fully synthetic 5w-50 from Repco, $22 for the Nissan filter (will have to suss out the K&N version nxt time) and a few cents for the washer.

Gee