Oil Change
 

i wanna do the oil change today. what oil is recommended for the 370z? Im gonna go to auto zone but i wanna know what to get before i go there. Does it say in the car manual?

My thoughts:

If you want to baby your car...
Nissan Ester Oil available from Infiniti dealership when your breaking in the car (12,000 mi). RLI Bio-Syn afterwards. Renewable Lubricants, Inc.

Otherwise...
Castrol GTX break-in (12,000 mi), Mobil 1 Extended Performance afterwards.

i do wanna baby the car :tup: but thats just me lol ill call the nissan dealer ship and see how much its gonna cost me. If its wAYYYYY to much then ill just go with Castrol i guess

Royal Purple 5W30 for me.

Is that not the same stuff they use at Nissan dealers?

As long as you use the API service rating (API Engine Oil Guide) prescribed by Nissan in the 370Z Owners Manual, then you can use any brand you wish (ester or no ester):

http://www.the370z.com/members/socal...mmendation.png

I chose to do my first change (at ~1700 miles) with the Nissan Ester Oil (5W30). I'm probably going to use it again on my next change (planned at about 4K miles) just to help make sure the break-in goes well. My next change after that will be at about 7K (and about every 3K after that, +/- depending on how hard I work the oil), and I'll be switching to a quality synthetic that is known to have the Esters, just to be on the safe side (so far I've heard Mobil 1 Extended Performance and Motul 300V placed in that category, but there are probably others).

That Nissan oil is about $12/qt btw :)

I went to my local dealer, not the one I purchased the car from, and they didn't have a clue about any special oil for the car. They told me I could bring my own oil as long as it met the API spec in the manual.

I'm doing mine at 2000 miles with Castrol Edge 5w30. I may add 1/2 bottle of Red Line ZDDP to the mix. 'Better Living Through Chemistry.' Can't remember if that was a corporate slogan or the lifestyle of the 60's

My dealer here don't have the Nissan Esters oil,anybody got a picture of the container,so that i can show it to the dealer.?

Are you changing your oil yourself, or are you having the Nissan dealer change it? Nissan dealers get their oil in 55 gallon drums.

Nissan dealerships aren't really aware of the Nissan Oil.

It's the Inifiniti dealerships that have a clue because the G37 used that oil for an issue they had with the earlier VQ37 engines.

anyone heard of "Motul" oil?

Yes.

well is it good? cuz this guy told me its better then royal purple. i dont know if its true.

It's good, but is it better than Royal Purple? That's sooooo subjective I have no l no clue where to start. You can join Bob is the Oil Guy's Forum and discuss that with those who have a more in-depth knowledge.

should i just say *%$# it and go with mobile one or something?

I am not a fan of moving swiftly into a synthetic oil as I subscribe the notion of letting the engine part get to know one another a bit longer with some miles put between them. That being said these engines are built at much higher tolerances than their old school predecessors. Personally, I am waiting until 5,000 miles to switch to synthetics, changing the initial oil at the 1,500 miles; I will be using either Mobil1 Extended or Castrol Edge (I haven't decided yet). The reason for the ester based oils that you are seeking is that others with a G37 had top-end noises supposedly resulting from the oil not clinging, hence, the ester. However, I say that is result of improper engine oil circulation and galley design, and the ester is a workaround. :twocents:

so i want a oil change. right now im at 1050 miles but by the time im ready to do it i guess it will be around 1500 so u recomend mobil1 extended or castrol edge?

Neither, as I (maybe not you) will be going with a dino that meets Nissan API ratings. It will either be a Mobile dino or a Castrol dino. When I hit 5,000 miles I am switching to the synthetic.

so mobile dino or castrol dino? does autozone have it?

I believe the claims about the VVEL needing something special (such as the recommended Esters in the G37, or perhaps other equivalent methods of getting a good lube film of some kind to really stick on them). Even though I'm using the Nissan Ester stuff for break-in, what I hear on cold starts makes me cringe. It takes a solid 15+ seconds after cold startup before the tell-tale change in cylinder head noises that indicates full lubrication up there (which reminds me to make a point about allowing an overnight-cold car to properly lube itself before driving to extend engine life).

Good oil is worth the investment in my opinion, and something with esters in it is staying in mine, at least until I feel like I've researched this enough to have a firm grasp on the issue.

I'll just let my dealer change it for free.

Cant really go wrong with either Mobil or Castrol though.

Well all I can say is never trust the dealership.

I took my 370z in to the dealership at 1500 miles and I specifically told him not to put in synthetic. Then the maintenance supervisor enthusiastically tells me the car has been serviced with synethetic oil when I pick up the car. I started complaining and he tells me all Z, even the 350's come synthetic from factory. Yarrrr

Ever thought of having a pre-oiler installed?

I hadn't considered it for the Z yet, no. There are ways to go crazy and get the perfect oil system. There's another system I've seen that acts as both a pre-oiler and a pressure reservoir (in case the oil pump's pickup tube goes dry in a high-G corner) that was really slick, but I can't seem to remember the name or find it right now.

On the other hand, even the thought of an external oil cooler has me slightly paranoid about eventually having an oil line or connection blowout. I'm not sure how many oil accessories I want to daisy chain into the system.

ok now im confused llol what are my options for the first oil change?

It's a very complicated topic :)

The oil manufacturers all have their own best interests at heart (how can I sell more of whatever I'm selling at a decent profit margin). The car manufacturers are primarily concerned with preventing warranty repairs (and thus primarily focused on making your engine last until the warranty expires and no further). The manufacturer also has to take environmental ******** concerns into what they recommend in the manual. You'll notice the Service Manual's recommendation for oil changes between North America and the rest of the world. It's because we have different emissions and fuel economy standards (which IMHO should be your very last concern when considering your oil). The dealership is pretty much in the same boat as the car mfg, and also trying to increase the cost of oil changes to you, while decreasing their own service costs.

There's probably a handful of guys who work in oil research labs and at Nissan who know *exactly* what the best oil formulation is for this engine for the best cooling and engine wear characteristics, but they don't get to say it publicly.

The only person on our side is us, and most of us don't really have the knowledge to make a completely scientific decision.

So go read bobistheoilguy, get even more confused, and do the best you can. For the first few thousand miles, conventional wisdom plus random smatterings of info about the VQ37VHR says the safest bet is to pay $12/qt for Nissan Ester 5W30. Odds are higher there are superior and cheaper solutions, but good luck getting a definitive answer that isn't full of (possibly mis-/under- informed) opinions (like mine :p).

I don't know who your dealer is but call them and tell you bought a new car from them, but have not received any flyers with coupons from them; they should send one right out to you. If not go the dealership and request a flyer. In your case I would simply have the dealer do your first oil change using a coupon, if they have one for oil changes.

Synthetics oil are superior to dino when you get around to changing the oil yourself. Synthetics stand-up to heat far better than dino, and since owners are having heat issues with the 370Z—when run hard—synthetics are your best bet.

shouldnt i use ester tho for the first 5000 miles? or regular oil? or synthetic?

Use conventional oil with an ester additive for the first 5000 -- that's what the Nissan Ester Oil is. Then switch over to an ester-based synthetic, like Motul 300V. That's what I'm doing anyway.

Edit: Just to be 100% clear, I'm not saying wait until 5000 miles to do your first oil change. Do your first oil change at 1500 miles, and replace the drain plug with a magnetic one if you can. For that first oil change, refill it with Nissan Ester Oil. Then at 5000 miles, do your second oil change and switch over to synthetic, preferably one that is ester-based as ester bonds to the metal, which is what enhances lubricity at start-up.

How you got a magnetic plug for you 370?

Hooked on Phonics didn't quite work for you, huh? :icon14: (I'm just kidding around with ya. ;))

I ordered it from Evasive -> Kics Project Magnetic Drain Plug: Evasive Motorsports

LOL you funny!

Can you explain why people needs to get a magnetic oil plug? Or at least why it's a good idea to get one! Purpose and point!

Magnetic drain plug, what is the purpose and function of that?

It's just an additional line of defense against small metallic debris. Your oil filter is supposed to catch debris -- that's what it's for. But sometimes things may get past your filter as no filter is 100% foolproof 100% of the time. As those particles circulate, eventually they'll end up in the oil pan where they'll stick to the magnetized drain plug instead of circulate back into the engine. So when you change your oil, you can clean off any debris stuck to the tip of the plug before you put it back in.

You will most likely find factory installed magnets in the automatic transmission oil pan too. I always switch out to a magnetic oil drain plug as it captures metal debris as the engine wears. Semtex, I like the quality of the ones in the link you pointed out, thanks! Which one did you order?

Ah spank you.:ugh2:

Sounds very good to me. I'll need to find out what size I need.

M12 x P1.25 is the one for Nissans. (They include a fitment chart on the web page.) It's the red one, in case you're wondering about color. I just did my first oil change this past Saturday and can confirm that it fits perfectly.

Btw, I also discovered that Courtesy is selling magnetic plugs -> CourtesyParts :: Magnetic Oil Pan Plug (But they're not a pretty color like the Kics ones. ;))