It's not strictly necessary in warmer climates, where a cooler is most useful anyways, but for the cost of the Nismo unit I would've expected one. The non-thermo plate always flows all of your oil through the cooler. The thermo one blocks off the cooler when the oil is cold, and gradually opens up the path to the cooler as the temps rise (should be fully open at 180 I believe on most we've seen for this car). Without a thermo plate, you really need to wait for the oil to warm up a bit before you use the engine too hard (pushing way high PSI cold oil through the cooler isn't great for it or the fittings), and it will take longer to warm up than stock because the cooler doesn't help with that. In a colder climate I'd say it's pretty essential, but I want one even here in TX so I don't have to wait forever on warmup.

:iagree: My last install was sans Thermo plate but I live in Hot NC. On cold days, the time to bring the oil up to temp was "iffy". I went with the thermostatic plate on my 370 install for that reason. It was the most expensive part in the set-up, but total stilll came to a good deal less than the kits on the market..It's easy to piece together a set-up.

Hey guys, something here has crossed my mind, especially with the previous post that is quoted above. And before I ask this question, believe me, I have kept up with this thread very closely.

So here it is, has anyone tested the accuracy of the Oil temp Gauge in the car? It seems that this gauge could be off and reporting higher temps for some and lower temps for others. The reason I ask is primarily due to people having high temps at startup, high temps when driving yet not getting the 'limp mode' and other various reasons.

If the gauge was off then it could be reporting higher temps than actual. I guess the only real way would be to run the spirited test driving, noting the Oil gauge temp, and then draining the oil (or some other way to thermo gauge the temp).

What do you all think about this? Not being a huge car expert, it just seems questionable that with all the same mechanical parts, the one thing that could be off would be the gauges.

~Matt

I brought this up a month or 2 ago since there seems to be a large variation in experiences. Either a bad batch of senders, or gauges could be a factor..

Nissan Oil Cooler Participation Interview
 

Which department/devision from Nissan (i.e. Nissan USA or Nissan Motorsports) inquiried about your 370Z oil temperature issues?

When I drove home from purchasing my 370Z from the Nissan dealership my oil temp increased to 240 degrees in a 35 mile commute. Outside temps varied from 89 - 93 degrees that day. Since then, my 370Z oil temperature during daily driving commute max's out around 220-230 degrees with the outside temperature between 87 - 93 degrees. One would think that living in Florida should be a testbed for oil temps/water temperature issues.

In order for Nissan to receive feedback on the 370Z oil temperature issue; I suggest logging your 370Z commutes by:

• Daily distance traveled
• Daily Outside temperature
• 370Z Water temperature
• 370Z Oil temperature
• Average Speed of daily commute
• Maximum speed/distance during maximum oil temperature of daily commute
• Minimum speed/distance during minimum oil temperature of daily commute
• Time(how long) duration of the maximum oil temperature
• Current odometer reading of 370Z
• Manufacture date

Anyone from Nissan is welcome to add to the bulleted list.

Love to find out if/when the dealerships will be able to order & install the oil cooler. I'd love to add it onto mine. I think it's a sure bet it will be added to next year's model.

If they add the oil cooler to next year's model they will essentially be admitting that the 2009's are flawed... and thus will likely have to retrofit all the '09s with oil coolers.

Thats why I don't expect to see the 2010 sporting an oil cooler. Though someone else on this forum mentioned a quicker, easier (though less effective) approach to cooling the oil. Something along those lines is what I would expect... not a outright admittance that the Z needs a cooler, but a slight remedy.

For all the owners who do have oil temperature problems, do you think I would be plagued by this up in Michigan? It seems like most of you live in hotter climates (i.e. Texas, Arizona, Florida).

You could be right there. I live in Ohio and had the car for three weeks now and have not experienced any overheating issues. But then I have not driven the car very hard yet. Within the next few weeks I will be going to the dealer to get synthetic oil put in, That should help providing better protection.

Spoke with Nissan NA
 

I've spoken to them a couple of times now regarding the oil temp issue. They said if I was concerned, I should buy a Nismo oil cooler kit (part # 21300-SS370). The dealer quoted a price of $700 for the kit plus about 3 hours of labor to install. When I asked Nissan what they considered normal oil operating temp, they would not give me a straight answer. Asked them if they were ok with me emailing Road and Track to get their take on this issue (or to make sure their readers were aware); they said they would have a supervisor call me back. That was earlier today. We'll see what happens. Its a great car (minus the oil temp issue). I'd read about the oil temp issue on the track; but did not believe it would be a problem for daily driving.

No flame intended but AFAIK almost no one has experienced overheating issues. I've yet to read a post or review that says that someone has experienced the dreaded "limp" mode unless the car was being tracked. Just sayin'...

No flame back at ya, but most concerned with the hi temps are less worried about hitting limp mode, but are concerned with extended time periods of 260 to 280 degree operation. To say "no one has experienced overheating issues" is to say overheating doesn't occur until limp mode and 300 degrees. There hasn't been a definitive answer from Nissan, nor another expert that I know of, as to whether running at these temps (260 to 280) for a long time period will contribute to shorter engine life.

John

But, to reinforce your point, we do have charts and information from years of experience with engine oil in general. Those charts and information say higher temps = lower viscosity = less protection, and also higher temps = quicker breakdown of your oil = shorter oil change intervals. By that kind of thinking, 260 is certainly a temp to be concerned about if it's happening regularly and/or for extended periods.

It's not necessary to get the Nissan dealer or even Corporate approval to inquire of Road and Track (unless you work for Nissan) I would just bring it up to R&T if you think they would be able to shed light on the issue. By raising publicity about it, it will pressure them to provide a resolution.

:iagree: I'm with ya 100%

John

I just got my 370 2 weeks ago.. I have put around 1200 miles on it(drove it a lot to break it in) and the other day sitting in stop and go traffic in the great state of texas my oil temps reached 260, I pulled off the highway on the access road and before noticing how hot my oil was, i decided to do some "spirited" driving. Temps just kept rising slowly until I let it cool in a parking lot it was really close to 280. I will be bringing it to my dealership on mon. or tues. but when I called i was assured that this was normal? and that the car was meant to run this hot....I DONT THINK SO. Long story short im pissed i just spend 30k+ on a car i cant drive above 4k rpms in the summer. Not okay by me.