On left KN HP-1008, On right stock
http://www.the370z.com/members/storm...ight-stock.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/storm...ight-stock.jpg

BTW, guys, i believe the oil filter needs to be replaced around 3-4K miles. If you use synthetic oil which gives you up to 10K miles, that means you're driving with a really really dirty oil filter. what gives?

The garage was warm enough today for an oil change. Turns out one of my friends is an Amsoil dealer. Amsoil for Cost. Got to love that!
Added a set of wooden beams to the ramps to help me clear the nose.
Added some Amsoil to the filter first to absorb in and get things moving.
I had purchased a Magnetic drain plug from a member and added that too.

Hopefully you went with a steel magnetic drain plug and not the aluminum one from Titek which will eventually strip out the threads on the drain plug itself. Mine did.

ZForce, I do have the Titek Aluminum one with a new copper seal from the dealership. I had no issue so far. Once the copper seal compressed, i did a quarter turn further. No leaks. :)

^ After the first drain, car #1 drain plug came out stripped (which had a copper seal from dealer). Car #2 came out ok. Chalk it up to probably over tightened the Titek aluminum drain plug on car #1. The oil pan is steel and when you match it up with an aluminum drain plug it's bound to wear out after a few oil drains.

I did some research and picked up a steel magnetic drain plug that will withstand much higher temps than an aluminum drain plug, plus it pulls more iron from the oil versus aluminum. It was twice the cost as aluminum. I left the aluminum in car #2 and will obseve each type of drain plug on next oil change and see which has more iron on the plug and inspect the threads on the Titek aluminum plug for wear.

Great write up. Went shopping around for for the items and found a couple cheeper places.

FillterMag founder here and oil. AND got a FREE HAT...WOOHOO!!!:happydance: but i think i need a gun rack for the Z wearing a JEGS hat.
FilterMAG+SS250 - JEGS High Performance

Went to this place for the filter and copper washer ($.25 cheeper!!!). Note: they have the washer but its listed for the 350...checked with Nissan and its the same one. Since their shop is down the street from me it ended up being less than shipping.
370Z Source

Cant find the Purolator anywhere with that part number...even their website says its not found so i went with K&N

Personally, I think the best way to go is the FilterMag SS250 Oil Filter Magnet versus a small surface area, magnetized drain plug. Also, rather then fooling with a drain plug at all, consider replacing your stock drain plug with a Fumoto valve..the best.... if you want to attach a hose to the Fumoto do order a Fumoto that has a nipple on it for hose attachment. (not all Fumoto's have a nipple) Futmoto's part# will have an "N" in it indicating "nipple" if it has a nipple. The Fumoto comes with a fiber gasket. Use the included gasket alone on the install.

For the '09 - '11 370Z use the F103N Fumoto valve.


http://www.fumotousa.com/images/nplug.gif

http://www.fumotousa.com/images/n_valve.jpg



Best place to buy price wise is from an eBAY vendor. They do not leak and are very well made. A terrific adjunct. 8-) I've used them on numerous vehicles over the last few years.

I am still debating the filter magnet for the car. I am not sure how much value it has in the system.

Here is a link to a mail in rebate for the Purolator filters.

Purolator Oil Filter Rebate

ok time for me to change once more :) whats yalls fave oil filter?

Just getting caught up after a long hiatus. Re: larger filters, another option is the K&N HP-1010, that's what I've been using for a long time now on my 370.

The various compatible PL and K&N filters differ in length, but I'm not sure if K&N's height numbers include the little nut they put on the top for easier removal. These are the mfg spec lengths in any case:

HP-1008: 2.86in
PL14610: 2.93in
PL14612: 3.52in
HP-1010: 3.73in

whats the bennifit of a bigger filter?

More filtration area and less pressure drop. Just look for a GT-R filter (like the HP-1010). My favorites or the K&N, Mobil-1 Extended Performance, and the Purolator, all in the extended length.

iv been useing the k&n so would the K&n hp 1010? be the best

Yes. Even with an oil cooler sandwich plate it fits with ease.

:iagree:

so no modding needed ? (i got the 1010)

No mods needed for the HP-1010, or any of the other mfg's longer filters either. Like ChrisSlicks said, I run the HP-1010 on top of a thermo sandwich plate with no probs.

I run the same one on a Mocal sandwich plate -- no problemo.

do i need a plate?

No. We're just pointing out that even *with* a sandwich plate (which adds additional length), the filter still fits. It will fit by an even greater margin without one.

AK, thx for thewriteup.

I did my 1st oil chnage today at 5000 miles. Ive had the car for a year and 4 months now. First oil change done at the dealer at 2100 miles back in sept.

I use mobil one 5w30 with filter magnet and KN filter. I dont use magnetic plug i think its overkill. Imho.

I bought the rhino ramp but i think next time im going to buy the raceramp instead. Car too low for rhino ramps so i had to use some wooden boards but the ramps kept slinding.

I only put 5 qts of oil in. Manual says 5 and 1/8. I wondered if it makes any difference.

Ive never do oil change in any of my prevous cars. I just took it to the dealersip. Now that ive done my first oil change i reaaly like it im going to do all oil change at home from now on.

Sorry for typos. Typed via two finger on ipad.:hello:

Don't forget the Wix 51357 is roughly the same size as the PL14612 at 3.4in

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...tml#post654905

how much is a new oil pan apparently the magnetic nut is striping the pan

Instead of the magnetized oil pan drain plug consider going with a FilterMag SS250 Oil Filter Magnet versus that small surface area, magnetized drain plug. Also, rather then fooling with a drain plug at all/ risking oil pan plug stripping, consider replacing your stock drain plug with a Fumoto valve..the best.... if you want to attach a hose to the Fumoto do order a Fumoto that has a nipple on it for hose attachment. (not all Fumoto's have a nipple) Futmoto's part# will have an "N" in it indicating "nipple" if it has a nipple. The Fumoto comes with a fiber gasket. Use the included gasket alone on the install.

For the '09 - '11 370Z use the F103N Fumoto valve.


http://www.fumotousa.com/images/nplug.gif

http://www.fumotousa.com/images/n_valve.jpg



Best place to buy price wise is from an eBAY vendor. They do not leak and are very well made. A terrific adjunct. 8-) I've used them on numerous vehicles over the last few years.

What dimension boards did you use and how did you place them (as a riser in front of the ramps (per AK's original post), or overlaying the ramps as an extension? I already have Rhino ramps, and intend to place back-to-back 2x4's at the ramps' front to raise the Z's front (sans air deflectors) enough to approach the ramps without any contact. AK built "steps" and said they were a bit too high, so I propose to simply lay two boards side-by-side in front of the ramps, with some rubber matting beneath the ramps to prevent sliding. What think thee?

Thank you OP for the awesome writeup!

ouch...sorry to hear man. My aluminun Titek magnetic oil drain plug stripped out on the first oil drain.

Aluminum does not mix well with a steel oil pan, hence the stripping. My pan was saved as the plug was stripped.

Since then I have gone with Dimple steel magnetic drain plug, it has more magnetic strength than aluminum.


http://www.drainplugmagnets.com/

.

hmm maybe its just the plug lol

Are you guys using torque wrenches to tighten those plugs? 25ft-lbs and I've never stripped one.

Forget about the oil plug that strips your pan. Just grab a couple of neodynium magnets from an old hard drive and slap them up agains your oil filter. Simple, effective and cheap. Way stronger than the oil plug as well.

Do not over-tighten and you cannot strip the pan.

Hand tighten and then a quarter more turn, just snug enough. Honestly I think the tech over tightened the one that stripped. The additional heat may have contributed to the plug stripping. IMO... aluminum and steel do not mate well.

Dimple STEEL magnetic drain plug

MAGNETIC DRAIN PLUGS

.

Thanks for taking the time to make this tutorial. Just did the oil change today.

First, thanks AK for your excellent post. I've changed my own oil for some 45 years (really) and while I have the FSM, and knew what to do, your photos ensured confidence and a clear understanding of the position of things, et al -big help. Thank you. Now - the good, bad & ugly of my 4/30/11 experience...

1) Removed the air deflectors and raised my 2010 Z Roadster onto the Rhino Ramps (2x4s in front for clearance insurance). No issues.

2) Open hood & loosened the oil filler cap (many forget this step). Chose to remove the four rearward bolts and lower the access flap rather than to go thru the pain of full belly pan removal. It works, but the lowered flap is a considerable hinderance to easy access, so I may follow AK's lead in the future.

3) Because of the awkward access (had to reach from below rather than from above), the drain plug removal resulted in my first significant "beyond-the-pan" spill in 45 years. Big mess, but I always place an absorbant pad under the drain pan (in this case, an old mattress pad), so no permanent concrete stains or the like. Still - big mess with inordinate clean-up time - ARGH!

4) Waited till oil had drained to a painfully slow drip, then replaced the drain plug (w/new washer) & filter. Based on others' reports of overfills with 5 quarts, I added roughly 4.8 quarts of fresh Nissan Ester to bring it to within about 1/4 inch of the 'full mark.' Perfect IMO, and still there after several drives.

Notes & Observations: 1) IMO - all the magnetic stuff (drain plug & filter attachment) is largely unnecessary snake oil. If it makes you feel better, do it (it will do no harm), but regular oil/filter changes will likely serve you well enough sans the snake oil. 2) If you must use a magnetic drain plug, buy one made of steel, as aluminum plug threads are commonly subject to failure (stripping) against the stronger steel oil pan mounts. 3) And, no offense intended to AK, whether you use an aluminum or steel drain plug, AK's stated positioning of the OEM crush washer is wrong. It may mean little, but the proper position of the copper crush washer (per Nissan) is for the dimpled side to be screwed on against the bolt seat , with the larger flat surface to mate with the oil pan surface.

Addendum - this was my ZR's first oil/filter change. Didn't trust the dealer to do it, so took the free oil & filter to do the job myself. Still, I must admit that at age 63 with some health issues, I'm getting too old for such painful obsessive-compulsive behavior. I ached for three days - Ha! Had the dealer been willing to ignore the OSHA rules and allow me to watch, I'd have let them do it in a heartbeat, but they wouldn't allow it. I have an enthusiast acquaintance who owns an independent auto repair shop, so may approach him with a similar proposition ("I'll pay a premium if you allow me under the rack to oversee the job"). I really don't want to deal with the mess anymore, but still not willing to give up on my perfectionist ways.

So I had my oil changed at the dealership at 2000km just after the break-in period. I purchased the Titek magnetic drain plug and had them install it.
I had them install Mobil 1 synthetic. I am a little suspicious that they may not have changed the oil at all. I did get the OE drain back, so maybe they did swap drain plugs. I surely hope they put a new copper crush ring on.

I was checking the oil level frequently for the first 2k and noticed some black carbon in the oil. Even after the oil change, I have this black carbon. Now I know it is a by-product of combustion, I just assumed it was under higher rpm's... Am I over thinking this?

I guess the best way to know is do your own oil change.

Repost of something I have posted before:

Personally, I think the best way to go is the FilterMag SS250 Oil Filter Magnet versus a small surface area, magnetized drain plug. Also, rather then fooling with a drain plug at all/worrying about stripping same, consider replacing your stock drain plug with a Fumoto valve..the best.... if you want to attach a hose to the Fumoto do order a Fumoto that has a nipple on it for hose attachment. (not all Fumoto's have a nipple) Futmoto's part# will have an "N" in it indicating "nipple" if it has a nipple. The Fumoto comes with a fiber gasket. Use the included gasket alone on the install.

For the '09 - '11 370Z use the F103N Fumoto valve.


http://www.fumotousa.com/images/nplug.gif

http://www.fumotousa.com/images/n_valve.jpg



Best place to buy price wise is from an eBAY vendor. They do not leak and are very well made. A terrific adjunct. 8-) I've used them on numerous vehicles over the last few years.

snipe:

Those reading this thread should look carefully at the crush washer in this pic and install your crush washer the same. The pic shows proper install/placement of the crush washer..

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/d...-274027127.jpg