:wtf2:

I just spoke to the local dealership Service Manager. He said they use Mobil 1 in the Z. He also said they charge around $80 for the change. I'm sure I can do it myself for a lot cheaper, but it's gonna be a pain in the butt with everything you have to take off to get to the oil pan.

It really isn't that bad. It takes a few minutes to get all of the bolts out if you want to remove the entire tray, but you don't have to.

You can access the oil filter and drain plug by removing the four rearmost bolts. You'll see that the rear quarter of the tray is designed to fold down for access.

You obviously have less space to work with, but if you want to do it quickly you can do it this way. Be advised that the tray will not stay folded down on it's own, so you need some cord to run through the bolt holes and tie it down somewhere.

You could probably just remove the whole thing in the time it takes you to tie it down. :tup:

No one has commented on this yet so I just want to make it known that I was being sarcastic. I am not a moron.

maybe not on THAT subject :stirthepot: lol

pretty sure its only 15 bolts and 4 clips took me about 2 minutes to get it off :)

I have to say, given the amount of noob-drivel that we have to sort through on a near daily basis, I take pride in the fact that I am not a moron!

With good ramps it's a really quick job. Maybe 30 minutes including prep and cleanup. If Rachel Ray can do it, so can you!

rofls.

i did mine by jacking up the passenger side of the car using the factory jack. the floor jack and stands were in storage. it was a tight fit, but doable. took maybe an hour, but i had a hard time getting the stock filter off.

Um, I hate rachel ray. Her mindless drivel is like nails on a chalk board to my ears.

Anyway.........................

I don't have ramps, but I do have a good floor jack and a set of jack stands, so I think I'll be good. Any recommendations on when I should do my first change? The car just hit 1,700 miles.

most are doing theirs by the standard 3k mark. some earlier. up to you really. the car does not come with synthetic oil

Interesting.

Nissan: "We recommend using synthetic oil in this car". Then they ship it out with regular oil.

A case of: Do as I say, not as I do.

Check to make sure your floor jack is low enough to get under the front of the car. Mine isn't, so my quick fix was to buy ramps instead of spending $200+ for a real nice low profile jack (which I will do eventually).

As far as the first change... do it whenever. I'd check your oil levels now to see what the burn rate is like and also check the condition of the oil. You may want to change it sooner rather than later.

You'll probably have a bit of oil burn for the first several thousand miles. I think I stabilized at little to no burn per 1,000 miles after my second oil change.

:stirthepot:

Check out this thread:

Nissan Ester Oils? - Bob Is The Oil Guy

i went through all that with the financing guy at the dealership. "would you like to buy our service plan?" i ask what it consists of.. "oil changes, tire rotations, etc." i ask if it covers synthetic oil or ester oil. "nope." then i ask if they'll unmount the tires to switch them side to side (didn't know the tires had an outside and inside at the time.) "nope."

kinda funny. they should put a disclaimer on the Z stating not to offer that service.