Oil temp questions

nis350

You need thinner oil in the Winter so it flows better....

And I am sure Nissan knows which oil is better for the motors.

Rusty

Too thick of an oil will rob you of horse power. Most of us here run oil weights of 5w-40 and in between. The high HP guys run something like 5w-30. 5w-50 is for engines that have loose clearances.

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Ghost116

Anything below 180 car shouldn’t be pushed above 3000rpm. Our race cars don’t move till 180. Generally oil starts breaking down over 260ish. So between 200-245 is right where I want to be. And don’t be a cheap *** get a cooler with a thermo plate lol


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Zyonara91

I know there are individuals who use the M1 0w40, that's fine however I feel the 40 weight is not for our engines as Nissan recommends a max weight of 30. However, don't get me wrong the M1 ow40 is some excellent stuff my buddies all use it in the Mercedes engines and the UOA comes back great.

I would recommend (in warmer climates) Redline, Amosoil, Penzoil Ultra, or Motul (e-xcess) 5w30 oil. Those are all fantastic oils which will give your car a prolonged life if you stick to the (5000 or 6000 KM) oil change intervals. For what it's worth I use Motul X-cess for my Z. You can also for a 0w30 oil from those brands ( who ever offers it) if you drive your Z in fall and the winter in much cooler climates.

Onto oil temperatures. You need a oil cooler for this car, like it or not. I have a 19 row Z1 oil cooler with the setrab core and thermostatic plate. On hot days here in Toronto (30 degrees plus), while stuck in traffic my oil gauge will not pass 95 C. When I do some spirited driving it will not pas 100, at all, and that's a 19 row cooler. If you want to take the car to the track I would recommend 25 or 35 row oil coolers. Also, get the thermostatic plate, don't be cheap, you will not regret it.

Rusty

The reason the car companies spec a 30 weight or less oil is because of fuel economy. And they took some chemicals out of the oil for emissions and to be O2 sensor friendly.

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Erob

I definitely don't want to start an oil cooler debate so PLEASE take this post as my experience only.

After reading and researching for weeks I decided to buy the 25 row Z1 oil cooler with thermostat sandwich plate. I live in the most Eastern tip of TN. So far this year the temps have been in the high 80's to low 90's. I DO NOT ever plan on tracking my car and as long as I own it will remain normally aspirated. After installing the oil cooler my temps barely made it to 180, I ended up duct taping over approximately 6 rows in the middle of the oil cooler and it now runs around 180 and just above while doing some spirited driving. IMO, and this applies to my driving conditions only, I think the 19 row would have worked fine. If you want to lower you oil temps the oil cooler does work great and is easy to install. I hope that helps.

Tractionless

Same experience with a 25 row Thermostatic plated cooler in South Florida, barely get a whisper over 180*. Haven't seen 190* yet.

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Rusty

I have a 34 row cooler. With the hood vents. DDing at about 60 mph. I see 175F. Which is fine. My water temp is 180F. Once oil temps temps get over 140F. I wouldn't worry about it.

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ghotnit

Cold engine oil causes excessive frictional drag on the bearings and cylinder walls. A quality conventional motor oil will tolerate oil sump temperatures of up to 250 degrees, but starts breaking down over 275 degrees. The traditional approach is to try to hold oil temperatures between 230 and 260 degrees.Aug 29, 2013

What Is The Optimum Engine Oil Temperature? - Hot Rod Network

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Rusty

Before I retired. I was the SME on oil systems. And I'm not even going to get into this. I've posted a lot on this before.

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Spooler

You know what we find on the interwebs is cold hard facts, RIGHT. LOL

Rusty

Guess all of my engineering degrees is about worthless then.

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Tractionless

Ok but the Z's ecu starts pulling timing (i.e. Power reduction) prior to oil breaking down. Cooler oil = more timing = more power.

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Rusty

The ECU starts pulling timing around 240F.

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cv129

Not to revive this discussion, but don't forget the location of the oil temp reading. Our cars read oil temp right before oil enters back into the engine (coolest, especially after flowing through oil cooler), whereas some other cars read it right after oil flows out of their engines (hottest).

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