No one should have to sit in traffic keeping an eye on the temperate gauge waiting for traffic to start moving! Even if it's for a "few minutes"! That overheating will catch up with you sooner or later!

Rep Point!

Test cars that are provided to reviewers, car and driver, motor trend etc. had oil coolers provided to improve performance for testing reasons. Therefore the reviews are not accurate. If the oil temperature issues would have been presented I would have purchased another vehicle. I was also very honest with the dealership that I do participate in DE events and there response was that there would be no issues in regards to performance.

Interesting....thanks!

Well when I had my Eclipse 4G, I had to deal with a LOT of warranty issues, and since I modded my car immediately they always give me a hard time. I learn how to talk to the dealers and at the same time keep my warranty. I will go to the dealer where I purchased the car, cause they treat me better there, I just went to a diff Nissan because it was closer. I first are going to have a conversation with the manager and if he need proof I think I can get enough information from here.

Hi,
I'm a new member to this site. I just purchased a 370z, and after reading the oil temp issues, I demanded the dealer install a "nissan approved" oil cooler for free (assuming they actually come out with one) in the future on my car, if I paid for the part. I might never have an issue since the temps in Pa. are not as high as other areas and I dont drive in heavy traffic. They were real jerks about it, and refused to even admit that Nissan might be having some problems with this car. I have a signed paper from them, without that I would have walked up the street and purchased a Mustang!

Stick with the Z of the GT-R as the designs are good and have lots of potential for styling changes in the future. The Mustang is unfortunately at a design crossroad with very little design wiggle-room to get itself out of the corner it has been painted into. The Mustang design is starting to look tired and ordinary and out of style for this day and age. I thought I would never see it or say it that way but unfortunately it is true.

You are not serious, are you? Thinking about oil cooler for daily driving in PA? Even if you did drive in heavy traffic, you'll never hit ANYWHERE close to limp mode. Stop stressing over a issue that doesn't pertain to you and ENJOY driving your Z.

As for buying a Mustang comment, drive your 370Z for a month then go test drive a Mustang. See if you still want one ;).

On the drive home in 75 degree weather, it ran over 220 almost the whole way. And yes I have driven the Mustang, thats why I bought the Z. I had a 300zx, for 11 years so I know a little about Nissan service.(around here it stinks). I could see if I did drive in heavy traffic that it could EASILY hit 260+. Yes I may never need it (once the car is broken in it will probably run cooler) but if I do they are going to pay to put it on.

After reading my first post again, I might have given the impression that I was definatly going to have the oil cooler installed. What I should have said, is that I might want it in the future if I thought it (high oil temps) was going to be a problem. In my area (pa.) I also do not think I will need it, BUT if I do...free install.

Well just had my first oil change at a Nissan dealer using the ester oil, $73 w/ tax. I am anal and have always change the oil around the 1,000 mile mark on all my cars, the 370Z had 981 miles.

Was a bit surprised how dark the oil was, next to Blackstone for an analysis.

what oil are you using? plans on sticking with that oil forever?

Good luck with that.

Nisan's 5W30 ester synthetic oil.

Hey guys,

I was planning on getting a 370Z some time this month and I just got through the 50+ pages and am pretty disappointed. There's literally no other car out there right now that appeals to me price/performance/aesthetics-wise as the 370Z so naturally reading about this problem basically felt like getting kicked in the crotch.

I'm basically on the fence after reading all of this. It seems like a lot of you have issues while a lot haven't. I wouldn't be taking the car to the track but spirited driving will definitely occur somewhat often. So far it doesn't seem like they're addressing this issue for the 2010 models so it seems like now is as good a time as any to get one.

I just had a couple quick questions regarding this issue...

1) This is my first car and I've had my fair share of unreliable cars (used to be a big DSM guy) but I really don't want to have to constantly keep my eye on the oil temp gauge every time I decide to pass someone on the highway. I live in Illinois so I hope this won't be a huge issue but still has me concerned. How serious is the oil temp problem for someone who will be using the car as a daily driver and will not see track time?

2) Has Nissan in fact released an oil cooler available for purchase yet?

3) If so, what are the odds of me negotiating the cooler being worked into the price for free before buying?

4) Finally, and this isn't oil temp related, any ballparks on how long it would take to get the car if I ordered one? I'm looking to get a black 6spd with the sport package. Like I said, this is my first time snagging a new car so I won't settle. I'll wait if I have to, just wondering how long I could expect.

Sorry for the noob questions, any replies are appreciated.

Based on my experience, with my car having ~5300mi on it, and having driven it hard all day for the Bullrun rally, an oil cooler is not necessary for everyday driving. The first day of Bullrun driving from Monticello, NY to Pittsburgh, PA I did actually cause the ECU to cut my max revs back to 6k on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. So an extended drive of 5+ hours while pushing past 100mph most of the time can cause a slight overheating problem. However normal driving over the same time will not.

That said, temps do get in the 220-240 range easily under normal long-haul highway conditions, so an oil cooler could be considered a good investment anyways to keep the engine in better shape over time and allow you to safely lengthen the amount of time between oil changes
I do believe Nismo has an oil cooler, and I know Stillen does as well.
Maybe. Possibly. When I bought my Z back in April, they drove it down from NY (I live in NJ) for no charge and threw in the Touring package for a discount because it was the only car they had in the area that met my needs (black 6sp). With dealers and manufacturers so desperate to sell vehicles these days, you could haggle something out.

....

I am wondering since i live in germany if I should get an oil cooler. The temps don't get as hot in germany as they do in the states. But 100mph is like normal driving on the autobahns for me there. Since the Z just released in germany I wonder if there will be more problems over there as you can drive whatever speed you want during most autobahn driving.

In my experience, sustained high speeds aren't going to cause oil temp problems in the way that more track-like driving does. When you're sustaining high highway speeds (I regularly do so here, but at more legal risk than you :)), you tend to drop off to a reasonable gearing/RPM, and the extra airflow from the speed helps as well. It's the other end of the spectrum you have to worry about (low airflow due to low speeds, combined with lots of time spent in the upper RPM ranges, which is what you expect more at a track). Especially given German weather, I don't think cruising on the autobahn is going to give you any issues.

According to the link you gave me, it doesn't look like I'd be able to negotiate the oil cooler into the price because they wouldn't install it there.

So essentially I'd just try to haggle them down just so I can spend more money on an aftermarket part just so my brand new car will run properly. I don't know f it's worth the hassle...

Review the facts, not the hysteria. Your car will run just fine on the street without a cooler. There are 10,000 Z's out there now. If this was REALLY an issue, Nissan would not have come out with the statement that they did. (saying it's OK, but if you track the car consider a cooler)

It's tough to read through 50+ pages though of people claiming daily driving is doing the same to their cars.

Would the rising temps be noticeable if I did a bit of spirited driving during a test drive?

Yes it's tough to read through all the posts about this "issue" but did you start out your first post in this thread by saying you had just read through all 50 pages???

"People" can make a lot of claims about a lot of things; don't give "claims" more weight than they deserve.

If you are going to track your car; get an oil cooler (just like you would need with any car you are going to put on a race track).

If you are going to drive on the street as if you are on a track; get an oil cooler.

Otherwise, you "need" for an oil cooler is minimal but if you are really that worried about it, get an oil cooler.


Only if your test drive is a couple of hours long on a 100+ degree day and your "spirited driving" is constant throughout.

to summarize the 50+ pages, there were initially 2 complaints

1) the car is a sports car that should have been created to be able to handle being driven in the track with out going to limp mode
2) during stop and go traffic (or some cases of "normal driving) on hot weather, the oil would go up to temps above 250 degrees, which led to engine longevity concerns and such

it was communicated to AK370z by nissan USA that if the car is being tracked then they would recommend an oil cooler... if not, then you dont need it.... also that the nissan motorsport oil cooler if installed by dealerships..would not necessary void the warranty...

in my opinion... and as evident by many who have already change their oil to syntetic... it has become extremely harder to get the oil pass 240 degrees in normal driving (even in stop and go traffic)... so a lot of us have concluded that the issue of oil temps is because of either the engine break in period or the ester oil that everybody change to on the first oil change... if i have mistated something please let me know... :tup:

Thanks guys. I don't want to come across as a bastard, it's just that my luck with car reliability seems to be...well, I have none. So I just assume that if there's any kind of problem with the vehicle from the factory then I'm 100% certain I'll encounter it.

Granted, every car has its problems but this being the first brand new car I've ever gotten, I'd like it to last a while.

This is why every new car has a warranty to protect you against Manufacturers defects. If 3 years isn't enough you can buy extended coverage to put your mind at rest. Don't overthink it. Nissan is a respected manufacturer. They do not sell junk..

I thought I remembered reading a 3-year bumper to bumper and 5 year on the drivetrain. Is this correct?

Honestly I don't know. That might be right. Check the Nissan site. I don't care much about warranty coverage. I only had to use it once or twice in 40 years of car purchases. Things generally don't break in my care..and the small stuff I fix myself.

i concur
i just switch to redline synthetic oil last thursday drove her hard on saturday and first thing i notice is that the oil temp takes a lot longer to heat up compared to when i was running on nissan ester
on normal driving condition i am now running cooler(no shifting past 4k)
i am at about 210-215 instead on the normal 220-225
but mind you i still saw 240 when i was redlining and "riding" 3rd and forth
but as mentioned it did took a while to get there than usual
as soon as i start crusing again temps went down

im still planning to get an oil cooler just for the peace of mind but at this point i dont think it is really necessary for a daily driven car:tup:

just curious, whats the spec of the redline oil you're using now? and wht was the previous spec oil u were using?

you mean weight? its 5w30 for redline same with the nissan ester oil

Of course 5W-30 is just the default recommendation (and not a bad one). You can (and perhaps should in some cases, but do your homework first) pick other weights to protect the engine better depending on your ambient conditions and driving style. Going thinner (lower numbers) protects you a little better from cold-start wear, so it's a good idea in very cold weather, or if you're doing lots of engine starts per mile (many short trips turning the car off between), whereas going thicker will maintain viscosity at high engine oil temps better for when you're racing. It's all a tradeoff, there's no universal answer that's best for all scenarios.

I changed over to Pennzoil Platinum 5W30 and it seems like the temps have been reduced. From what I can tell the Nissan Ester Oil is possibly based on the Pennzoil but I haven't found conformation of that yet.

I have seen other threads floating around on this issue, but not with 59 pages since the thread opened in March.

This brings back bad memories of my 1.5 yrs on a thread over on my350 with the oil consumption (OC) issue with the 2006 350z rev-up engine. Some may know me on that thread as ZeeForce. What a drawn out miserable ordeal with Nissan North Amercia (NNA).

Here we go again, I sold both the 05 and 06 350Z's for two of the 370Z's.

Got some reading to catch up on this thread. I read the first ten post and the OP has the same thoughts I did with the OC on the rev-ups - its the principle.

One word to Nissan North America always gets them to sit up and listen and the word is "FRAUD".

In the next few weeks I am having an oil cooler (third party) installed and will jion in here and contribute to this thread based on my previous experience with NNA - Goliath.

Cheers
Curtis

You and I spent way more thime in that thread than I am sure we wanted too :tiphat:

John

You got that right!

I am digging this 370Z, even with this oil temp issue.

Just as a comparison I finally got around to installing my Oil and water temp gauges. Well it does seem the HR is a cooler motor.

It was 102 degree's out, and the car's oil temp was reading a steady 190 degree's. I got it as high as 205 when I shifted to 4th at 70 and left it there for a little bit. Water stayed around 180. Will have to see what it does on the track now. :)

Engine blew out
 

there is deff something wrong with the 370z oil temps my engine had actually blow out and one of the reasons is because the temp reachers to high nissan has given me a new engine and its not the same ... I am fighting to get my money back anybody else who has had this problem yet???

You're good with english. Please post pics and records pdf'd please. I don't buy your story with this being your first post.

What?