First Oil Change?
 

I bought my Z in Jul 09, currently has 1300 mi. The dealer has called me twice saying I need an oil change. I thought the point was at 3500 mi. What do you guys think?

A lot of people have decided to change their oil that early (right after or during break-in) due to various reasons:

- Their break-in period burned a noticeable amount of oil.
- To rid their oil of the metal shavings that potentially get introduced during break-in.
- To switch to a full synthetic.


None of this is gospel, just what I've read on these boards.

I did an oil change after driving home from the dealer (about 200 miles)... I did another oil change @ 1000 miles. After that I have been doing oil changes pretty much every 2k miles. But then again - I do my changes myself so dont mind doing them extra. More oil never hurt the car :) If I were you I would do it asap.

i agree with the above posts on changing early due to break-in. However, I bet they were just calling you because you are near the 6 month mark.

im a little different. Most people think im crazy, I probably am but oh well hehe.

I did my first oil change at 50 miles to get rid of the metal shavings. then at 1,000 miles. now im waiting for 2,500 then im switching to full synthetic.

I did my first oil change at about 3k. Switched to Mobil 1 at the time. I've had no issues and not had any oil burn off problems either. Checked my oil about 1k after the change and it was still just below the high dot on the dipstick just like it should be.

Better safe than sorry, huh? Then, you could even take her up to 7,500k if you use synthetic oil (yes, I did various searches, dude!). Good luck.

You answered my question
 

I was told by the dealer that I needed to change the oil at 3700 miles. The Z has 1k and I am old school so I was going to post this question today but you folks took care of it for me. I change asap. Now, one last question, considering how low the car is...will I have to put it up on ramps? I am used to changing the oil of Mazda Rx7s laying on the garage floor.

I was all excited about changing my oil until I read about how the car has to be up on ramps, the plastic shield dropped....the dealer with do it for $32.50. Since this is my first change (at 1000 miles), I'll let them take care of it but eventually I'm taking over this job.

I have a related question... I plan on doing my first oil change at 1500 miles but I'm wondering, is it important to have the dealer do the first oil change and "inspection"? Will they really be "inspecting" the car and looking for certain things I don't know about? I plan on switching to synthetic and doing all the oil changes myself but I'm wondering if they should do the first one and then I take over and switch to synthetic after that. Thoughts?

No they don't do anything special you could prolly do a better job if you got the time.

Well that's good to know. I'll make the time and agree I could probably do a better quality job although I'm not familiar with the work at this dealership yet. Haven't had to go in for anything and hope it stays that way. :superghey:

Dealership would prolly do a more extensive 100pt inspection. At the very least grab one of their sheets or look in your manual and inspect everything they call for. Btw shouldn't first change be free anyways...?

Always DIY!

EDIT: I won't argue the inspection, but now is a good time to swap out for some quality oil. Do you really think the dealership is going to use the expensive Ester oil for the free change? Skip it and put a good synthetic in there.

I agree on the change to Syn. Worst case dealerships offer Dino for free and you pay the difference for Ester or anything similar. OP check with your dealership and see what they say at least you can determine if you care to continue doing business with them. Something tells me these cars come from the factory filled with Ester. Gotta double check the manual though.

Good ideas all around, thanks guys!

I changed my oil at 200 miles. You also want to get the metal shaves out too.

Just make sure you use the factory oil filters. Your timing chain tensioner will thank you after many miles. You can run the oil 3,000 miles with no issues for the first fill. I see no issues at all for that, just wasting good oil.

That's news to me... I have been using the larger, 14610, PureOne or Bosch filters.

The larger Nissan oil filter is for the 2001 Nissan Frontier 3.3. From what I remember it is a XXXX-9E000.

Why IS the stock filter so small? My Jeep has a 3.7 V-6 too and its filter is almost twice the size of the 370z. :icon23:

You're doing it wrong... It's from a Nissan GTR!

In all seriousness, yes that is the correct OE filter number. The one I listed is the Purolator designation of the same model. I'm still confused as to why you say we should use the OE filter, instead of a high quality aftermarket part.

IMNSHO, the first oil change shouldn't be done before the engine is broken in. For older cars, I would do the first change at 500-1000 miles. For modern engines, the break in period is only 250-500 miles or so. YMMV

As others have mentioned, once the engine is broken in, it's a good idea to do a change to get rid of all the crap from assembly and break in.
If the engine comes with dino oil from the factory, I'd wait until the second change to switch to synthetic to give the engine time to fully break in - but that's probably not necessary.

I am not doing it wrong. That filter is used on several vehicles Nissan has/had. It was first used on the 2001 3.3 liter SC Frontier. I had one and that is the filter I used. Interesting to hear they use the same filter on the GTR. Most aftermarket filters don't have the over pressure bypass valving inside the filter. They tend to cause issues with the timing chain tensioners. Just my experience. Do what you like.

The XXXX-9E000 has been superseded to 15208-9E01A. Just sayin, I picked a few up today.

I use the tiny Purolator one that is the same size as the OE. I think its around $4 at walmart lol.

Well I changed my own oil at 1500 miles. It was very easy, the hardest/time consuming part was removing those 16 bolts holding that bottom engine cover in place. I bought some Rhino ramps and the front cleared easily, switched to Mobil 1 and used a FRAM Tough Guard Filter. The only thing I forgot was the crush washer on the drain plug, by the time I realized I needed one I was all ready to go so I just decided to reuse the old one. No leaks, I'll replace it next time. :tiphat:

My dealer told me that all 370Zs come with Synthetic, was that total bs?

Yup, BS.

Bastards...

lol.....

Im about 50 miles shy of hitting the 1,000 mile mark, so it is decision time!

Sticker on my window from the dealership says to come in and change the oil for the first time at the 3750 mark.

What do you suggest I do? Also should I ask them to put synthetic?

First Oil Change?
 

If your thinking about it why not just do it and sleep easy. Not that there is anything to worry about cause I'm sure the car will be fine if you don't. As for oil I would pick a good synthetic and stick to it and don't switch.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk