I'm just gathering info here and getting ready to do my first oil change now... have some questions:

1) This copper crush washer... Is it just some standard crush washer I can pick up a bag of at the hardware store? Do anyone know the size so I don't have to pull it before I run down there?

2) I'm still baffled by the whole Nissan Ester Oil thing for the VVEL, and all of the conflicting recommendations about using synthetics. I'm not tracking the car, but I drive pretty hard for street driving. My last car I was using Mobil 1 and changing at 3k every time (this was an LS1 engine), and I was pretty happy with how the engine turned out at the 100k mile mark. My 370Z is closing in on 2K miles now and I'm overdue if anything for getting the factory break-in oil out of there. Am I going to get ugly valvetrain noise if I use a quality synthetic? Does the Nissan ESTER stuff matter for engine wear purposes or is it just noise-related?

You should be able to pick up some new crush washers at any AutoZone type of store. They'll probably ask you what kind of car it is, so just tell them that it's a Nissan and they should be able to pull the right size (all Nissan's use the same sized drain plug and washer, I've been told).

The Ester oil thing. Ester does matter for wear, IMO. The thing about Ester is that it bonds to metal, thereby increasing the lubricity of the components especially at startup. My understanding is that Mobil1 Extended Performance has ester, but the regular stuff doesn't. I've also been told by my tuning mechanic that I shouldn't switch from conventional oil to synthetic until after at least 5000 miles. (I'm not necessarily vouching for his position on this, I'm just telling you what I've been told. You can draw your own conclusions.)

So from what I read, the Nissan Ester stuff is conventional-based? So I should probably go pick up some Nissan Ester stuff at least for this first oil change I'm thinking.

That's also my understanding -- the Nissan Ester oil is a conventional oil with an ester additive. I'm not aware of any other brand of conventional oil that has ester. There may be some, I'm just not aware of which ones (if any). I also plan to pick up 6 qts of Nissan Ester oil to do my first oil change later this week. I also plan to drain my MT and diff oil and switch them over to Redline, btw.

Which gear oils are you going to use in particular?

For the MT, I plan to use Redline MT-90.
Red Line Oil: Gear Lubricants

For the LSD, Redline 75W-90.
Red Line Oil: Gear Lubricants

If you do this, you'll need to pick up new gaskets for the trans and diff plugs. (They use little rubber gaskets instead of crush washers.) Each of these has a separate drain plug and fill plug, so you'll need four gaskets total.

Semtex,

I have already purchased my Red Line for just this purpose. Are you also going to add Red Line's Limited-Slip Differential Friction-Modifier / Break-In Additive? I bought that too.

I wasn't planning on it. This sentence in their description makes me a little nervous: "Limited slip or positraction units will often chatter without use of this product or a gear oil with a similar modifier, so add only enough to eliminate the chatter and avoid making the plates or clutches too slippery." Well, I don't have any chatter, so I'd be afraid that if I add it, it'll make the plates too slippery.

I think their standard 75w90 already contains friction modifiers so you shouldn't need this. You should only need the friction modifier if you were to use the NS oil to try and "tighten" the diff up and then use a reduced amount of modifier.

I just went and picked up some Nissan Ester Oil from the dealership. That stuff is freakin' expensive -- $11.99 a quart. Oh well. I only plan to use it to about 5000 miles, then I'll switch over to Motul 300V. Mind you, Motul is even more expensive ($30 per 2 quart container. But with Motul I don't mind the price so much, as it's an ester-based synthetic, whereas the Nissan stuff is just a conventional oil with an ester additive.

...and anyway, who cares how much it costs & what's in it, Motul smells good enough to drink. :drama:

I just did my first oil change today. I went to a dealer and picked up 6 qts 5W-30 Nissan Ester oil. I went ahead and bought a filter and a crush washer from them too while I was there, I figure I may as well go all factory for this first change, and then I'll sort out what I really want to use later.

Removing the plastic cover under the front of the car is a little annoying for something as simple as an oil change, but not too bad. The old crush washer was kinda stuck on the drain bolt, but I was able to lift it off with an exacto knife.

The factory oil filter was on there *way* too tight (this seems to be a running theme, the factory doing everything too tight). I have one of those metal band oil filter wrenches, and it just slipped and never got it. What eventually worked was putting a piece of old 3/8" vacuum hose I had laying around between the filter and the band wrench to give it more grip. It stayed super-tight and required the wrench+hose trick for a bit more than a full revolution before I could spin it off by hand.

Also, I got lazy and just did this on the rhino ramps, so the vehicle was not level. It took 5.25 quarts to do the refill though, so I don't think much was left behind because of it. (of course I did drop back down level to check the dipstick after filling, etc).

That's about it, otherwise it was pretty uneventful and easy.

Hey wstar, you didn't by chance do this with the engine cold, did you? Because you're supposed to do oil changes with the engine warm, otherwise it can be nearly impossible to get the oil filter off. Also, not sure if you did this or not, but when you put a new filter on, you're supposed to smear a thin film of oil around the seal -- that helps make it easier to get it off when it's time for your next oil change.

If you're going to keep doing your own oil changes you might want to by one of the special filter removal tools. They are made from high density plastic and fit over the end of the filter. They allow you to attach a wrench to make removal easy, not that it should really be on there super tight anyway.

Semtex is right on with his points as well. Just don't get the oil too hot, it will burn your hand if it splashes on you when your taking out the drain plug. If the engine is cold I just start it up and let it idle a few minutes to get the oil between 100-130F.

Nope, this was done pretty hot actually. I came back from a fully-warmed-up drive and let it sit turned off for about 15 minutes to make it tolerable. And yes I oiled the seal on the filter, I'm not a total idiot ;)