You more I read this thread—the more I cringe. Your dealership was personally notified of the issue while you were there, and they want you to take an oil sample? I say to take it back to your dealership and have them assess the situation. Why? Nothing worse than an engine seizure/failure (they never happen when and where it is convenient), and why subject yourself, passenger, and other drivers to what might potentially become a life/safety issue? Take your receipts for the oil and oil filter you purchased along with the date and mileage you changed your oil; take along the photographs you have posted here for further evidence. Why the dealership did not request that they examine the car versus having you take an oil sample is beyond common sense. Find another dealership if necessary. Way the hell too much second-guessing going on here...it's not healthy for you or your Z.

True, SoCal, true; time's crucial in situations such as this one.

Guess so. Down here, where they distribute AMWAY, you can also get Amsoil products.
Weird...Corporate strategy??

FYI -> AMSOIL Company Information and History

The dealer never requested that I do an independent oil analysis. I went to the dealer (2 weeks ago....a few days after the oil change) to have my rear hatch lift springs replaced. While I was there, I expressed my concern for what I saw during my oil change. They said that they have never heard of such a thing. They asked if I used the right oil (one containing ester). I said, "Yes, RedLine." They also asked if still had the old oil. I said, "Yes, but it's contaminated with my wife's." Then they suggested that when I do the next oil change, to bring in the drained oil OR have them do it so they can witness it first-hand.

But I'll admit, they did seem to push me away....like they didn't express any concern over it and didn't want to be bothered by it. They probably thought that I was exaggerating or something.

So my plan of action is to do the analysis (hopefully, something will show), show the dealer the results, the receipts, and the pictures. This way they won't be able to turn me away and ignore the fact that something is wrong because I'll have solid evidence.

It almost seemed like the dealership won't spend time looking into something unless an appointment is made. That's the vibe that I got, which I don't blame them.

its not that they dont believe you its that they cannot get anything done without having an analysis done or if they are there to experience it first hand and take pictures and what not for nissan. Until they experience it nothing can be done unfortunately this is how it works :(

^^ Exactly. At that time, there would have been little to no evidence in the oil because it was only a few days old. I doubt they would have taken the engine apart to investigate something that they didn't have enough evidence of.

That's why I'm going about this the way I am.

I finally received the BS testing kit today. I must say, I was pretty impressed with the packaging. BS didn't waist any extra materials, such as a cardboard box with padding and so on. Everything was packed very tight and neat. Basically, everything came in side the black plastic container, that was also wrapped in a form-fitting cardboard cylinder (not shown in the pics).

I probably won't be able to get a sample till this weekend, due to time constraints. Plus, it's supposed to rain all week and I don't have a garage.

http://www.the370z.com/members/dlmar...-packaging.jpg
SoCal 370Z gettin some free exposure...hehe.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dlmar...9-img-0390.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/dlmar...-container.jpg

BlackStone oil testing contents:
instructions
fill-out form
next oil analysis reminder windshield sticker
clear (somewhat) plastic oil sample container
oil absorbent cloth (incase of a spill during shipment)
ziplock bag
black plastic shipping container

I finally reached over 1K miles with the new oil this past week and to managed to get a sample for testing. FYI, BlackStone required that the oil should have at least 1K prior to sending it for testing. So that's what I did. Plus, unlike recent weekends this weekend's weather was great, so I took advantage of it and got under the car and snagged some oil.

The oil wasn't as bad as when I did my last change but the oil isn't as old. However, there still seems to be some evidence of copper fragments in it. Take a look at the pic below. If you look closely, you can see little sparkles. I believe those are copper fragments.

Also, what you're looking at is the lid of the oil sample container. I managed to shake it up a bit in the container to get fragments floating around and inspect them in the lid.

I plan to send the oil sample to BS either tomorrow (Mon) or Tuesday. I'll keep ya'll posted.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...1/IMG_0397.jpg

How was the color/texture this time? Did it come out looking like half-spoiled chocolate milk again? Or was it more normal? It looks more normal from your pic, but it's hard to tell for sure.

The color/texture was much better this time around; however, the oil was no where near as old as when I did the change a month ago. There wasn't enough time accumulate as much debris and oil wear.

I called BS this morning because I had some questions regarding some of the fields to fill out on the submission form. While I had the rep on the phone, I explained to him my situation. He said that from what I explained, this sort of thing is normal to see on new cars. He said that during the manufacturing process, they can't get the copper/brass components as smooth as the metal ones. It's just the nature of the beast. So because they're a little more rougher than the metals, it is expected to see more of copper shavings than any other metal or alloy during break-in, as they're getting smoothed out. I guess my engine has some really rough copper/brass components.

But if there really is something alarming, it'll come up in the report. I told the rep that I'll be sending them the pics from the last oil change to go along with the sample to help explain my concern. For now, it seems like I shouldn't be too worried.

However, the car does drive weird at random spots on through the RPM range. It's very unresponsive at times. I hear the engine's response to the throttle input but the car itself shows no response for a second or two. It kind of bogs down. Perhaps it's fuel starvation that I'm experiencing. I thought it was a result of my internals.

What rpm range? The car is ridiculously lethargic below 3k (no torque). If you gas it up at low rpms it just won't go.

^ Yeah, it mainly seems to be at below or around 3K RPM. I'm aware of the low TQ below 3K but man it just feels odd. Like, my old 00' Civic SI seemed to have better responsiveness in that range.

Actually, sometimes the pick-up is sketchy. Sometimes it's not a sudden burst of power that kicks in once you get past 3K. It feels indecisive for the first second when I get on it. But that's not all the time.

Do you (or anyone else) experience this as well?

Below 3k, yeah, I run into that. This engine really makes no power down there so if you want to go you need to be up in the revs already.

I don't. It'd be interesting to see a dyno graph on your car, because this hesitation would show up big time. Sometimes being able to visualize a car's power curve is very helpful. Oh heck, what am I talking about? It's always helpful, not just sometimes. :rolleyes:

Well from my experience, the hesitation is all below 3k. Maybe his is a little different.

Semtex -- Could it be that you have the lighter pulleys that you don't experience such lag/hesitation? I know when you first got them installed, you said you noticed not so much a difference in power but in responsiveness.

Could be. Or maybe I'm just more used to cars with low bottom-end torque. I did once drive an S2000, after all. The Z has gobs of low-end tq compared to those anemic little monkey wagons.

I'm guessing its the latter. I come from big V8s so I'm used to putting around at 1500rpm with 300lb-ft on tap.

^ Dude, you must be hurting for more low-end TQ in this car, then?

Pretty much!

FWIW -- reset your ECU. I was poking around last night, checking the MAF sensors and everything on my Injens that *might* be causing low RPM hesitation. I didn't find anything but I decided to reset the ECU overnight.

The car definitely felt better this morning, to my surprise. The car is a dud below 3K RPM, but it's a little bit smoother. Interesting.

^^ Hmmm...interesting. So what's involved in resetting the ECU; just disconnecting the battery for a long period of time?

Pretty much. Disconnect. Pump the brakes a few times to drain any remaining charge. Wait maybe 20 mins and reconnect.

Yup!

Oh, and a quick tip. Jot down all your settings on a piece of paper before you do this so that you can set everything back afterwards. Like all your radio station presets. Your shift light rpm (if you have it set to something other than default). Your instrument panel dimming setting, vibrating massage seat settings, etc. Interestingly, the only thing that doesn't get wiped when I do a disconnect is my XM station settings.

And the results are in. Looks like things are normal. Thank God!

However, the strange thing is that no one else on these forums reported their oil looking as bad as mine. What, did mine for some reason have really unusual rough brass and bronze parts, which would mean more leftover material? Or maybe because I babied it so much during break-in those parts took longer to smooth out, and then after break-in I was a little more aggressive with the car, which produced all that copper like debris.

Oh, and this still doesn't explain why it seems like I lost about a .5 quart of oil 2 or 3 weeks after the oil change.

I don't know. Who knows. I'm just glad the car is ok.


http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...Oil-Change.jpg

BTW, Semtex, nice avatar....haha. Would be willing to help me 'Pimp My Ride'?

Fwiw I was burning oil for the first few oil changes. Now at 17k miles oil burn is not material.

?

My engine burned oil for the first several oil changes. I have 17k on the car now and it Burns an insignificant amount.

Same here very early on. Only have 2600 mi and already virtually no consumption at all.

Oh ok, thanks. Alright, I'm feeling better about this.

So, what happened?

What happened with what?

My '04's torque is uniform throughout the whole band. I don't think that's normal.

I missed the Blackstone post.

^^ It's on page 10.

regardless of what the car is supposed to tell you, you're supposed to check your oil regularly. And if a car is low on oil, by a quart or whatever, won't do any damage like a bone dry engine would.