oil change
 

not searching through hundreds of pages to find a quick answer... At 7,000 miles, called the dealership and they want 95 for an oil change. Does our car have to have the ester? Why not go to a trusted shop and watch as they put something like castrol, mobil 1 etc for 20 bucks. Also, does it matter what kind of oil is in the car now (for example if the car had ester in it now vs something else). What would you guys do in my situation...aka low on money and dont want to do it yourself

service guy just called me back and said he will not service my car unless they use ester..all Z cars have ester. Now to rephrase the question...has anyone gone from ester to non ester after their 3,500-7,000 oil change. I cant afford 100 dollars

very few people on here use the ester oil. the dealer saying that's the only oil they will put in the car is very dumb. i would avoid them. i use mobil 1 and it works great.

Did you research maintenance costs before you bought the car?

There are a number of people here who have used non-ester synthetic oils that seem to be ok.

"The Ester oil is a required oil for that engine. Failure to use it could void engine warranty. Nissan only allows 2 types of oils. Ester oil and Mobil 1. They are both bonding type of synthetic oils. Using those 2 types of oils will keep the warranty from being voided"

found this on google...its from a 19 year tech at Nissan

recommended, not required. you can use oreilly branded oil if you'd like. so long as it's 5w30.

yah, once you're past the initial break-in just use M1 silver cap and change the oil yourself. there's nothing SPECIAL about this engine, i dont think. just treat it well.

That's a totally BS statement.....If that were the case it would be spelled out in the Owners manual. Nissan Ester is "Recommended" but hardly required.

I'm at 8k miles and I've yet to change from Ester oil. I don't think there are any advantages or disadvantages (other than price) to running it other than maybe a slightly less noisy valvetrain. I will be switching over to Redline 5w30 for my next oil change and then back to Nissan Ester oil after that (because its already paid for + I want them to keep records that I go back for regular maintenance)

^ lol... hey you should do a compro - please note your peak oil temps w/ each RCZ - think it would be helpful

With the ester oil I usually hover around 190 when cruising. When driving faster or in traffic it goes to 200. Then when I hammer on it or when its really hot out and im in traffic, then probably goes to 220-230.

I'll let you guys know when I switch over, but that wont be for a while.

RCZ has an oil cooler, so logging his temps with different oils may not be directly comparable to those of us not running a cooler.

I can tell you that the car sounds identical with ester oil and Redline.

That's a load - and totaly contrary to the Owner's Manual. I have my mechanic do my oil changes (for warranty documentation pourposes - do the oil changes myself on the other Z's) although that's not required. I have no idea where he got the idea of Mobil 1 as being the "other" acceptable oil since it doesn't have any Ester at all in it (Class III only).

I talked to my dealership and they said in all the G37's (our VQ37HR engine) the only time they've used the Ester oil is for the TSBs - never had a single client do an Ester oil change in the last two years.

Mobil 1 jumped to a Class 4 a lil while back AFIK

have to - no...

Keep the reciepts if you must for warranty, and DIY.

They can't hold you responsible for DIY oil changes short of it being obvious, such as not putting in a drain plug or too much oil.

Also, Ester is not a requirement.

Find another service guy or DIY. In any case, as long as you use oil that meets the API requirement listed in the manual...you're fine. They can't void the warranty for using oil that isn't Nissan's oil.

That *is* in direct conflict with the Fergusson-Moss Act, and it's intended use...to prevent dealer tie-in sales and requirements to keep a warranty.

Ford Truck requries Ford Oil, and must be performed at a Ford Dealership to maintain warranty.....for example

"Seem to be ok".. That is the issue. How do these people know if all is ok without tearing down the engine ans using a micrometer etc to determine if all is truly ok. I think Ester oils have a higher heat stability than other synth oils and that iswhy nissan specs them.
BTW, you buy approx 35,000 dollar car and $100 is going to break you? that is stretching the budget?

I use an iPhone app called GasCubby to keep track of all of my maintenance. easy to use, exportable to Excel, etc etc etc.

I'll make a thread about it tomorrow or something.

Oil Change
 

Redline ester base oil change on tommorow's to do list. I ordered a case of Redline oil from Carquest. See AK oil change for details on ester base oil. If your interested on how to do a oil change, diff fluid change PM back.:tup:

P.S. How's does your Kenwood HU sound?

No, Nissan spec's *their* special oil, which has esters added, and some nano-carbon particles that they think makes it work better with the coatings on the eccentric shafts, and charges $11-$14/qt for it. Actually, they don't spec it, they recommend but do not require it. Just like Ford will recommend you put in Ford oil (if they still have it)...

Mobil1 is good up to 400F. Our cars are well beyond limp mode at 400F.

Well, if it wasn't OK Nissan would explicitly state in the owner's manual to only use approved Ester oils. It doesn't, and to my knowledge there are no TSBs recommending only Ester oils.

There is one regarding replacement of the VVEL system components...or maybe it was the ECU - or something to that effect. It requires the techs to remove the customer oil and replace it with Nissan's oil.

That, I'm sure is related to their testing, and establishing a very common foundation between their test environment, and what the mechanic will do - in otherwords, if they don't do it, they can't guarantee the results simply because they haven't tested it with other oils.

Makes sense...from a scientific standpoint.

if nissan would have installed or at least offered an oil cooler i dont think they would be on this ester oil BS:mad:

Huh? How did you dream that up? And they do now offer an oil cooler...

There is a Nissan TSB that says to use Nissan's Ester oil when a customer is complaining about excessive valvetrain noise. Nissan also has a bunch of marketing verbiage as to why everyone should be using their Ester oil, but the only real practical reason that they seem to have is to reduce valvetrain noise, not to reduce oil temps or eliminate the need for an oil cooler if you're tracking your car.

The service writer at the dealer said that they were getting complaints about oil temps and that the Nissan recommended ester oil should make it run cooler so i changed the oil, my oil temps are between 220-240 never been on the track, dont know what was in the Z originally but started using their ester oil at 700 miles and change it at every 1500 miles after that. have 5k on it now, oil temps are still the same, is the cooler made by nissan?

These service writers NEVER cease to amaze me with their "new lines" :shakes head:. This ester oil has NOTHING to do with the engine oil temp. As per Nissan, the valvetrain noise is reduced when this oil is used. Though, a good synthetic oil will always have Superior high temperature stability and may even let you run a little cooler. But Nissan's "magic oil" isn't even synthetic. If I recall correctly, it's regular oil with ESTER additives :rolleyes:

:iagree: ester oil not only costs more, but is a 3k mile oil :shakes head:

Redline is good for more than 3k.

all synthetics (class 3 and 4) are good for more than 3. 7500 seems to be an average.

Try changing your oil more frequently and see if those temps come down.

Haha, yah and make sure you use crushed ice, cubes just don't give that edge.

Wow - next time you're at the dealer, ask your service writer how Nissan's ester oil lowers oil temp! I'd sure like to hear that explanation...

And you probably don't have to change your oil every 1500 miles - look at the Z's Owners Manual and pick the service interval that matches your driving conditions (most likely 3750 miles).

The oil cooler is a Nissan Motorsports accessory (link to thread on Nissan's oil cooler, link to thread comparing Nissan's oil cooler to Stillen's).

my tech told me Ester oil is good for 5,000 mile intervals. Which luckally im only at 3,000. I started this thread upset because I was due for an oil change but i ca hold off now for at least another 1,000 miles. BTW, the top tech at my dealership said what i was origiannly told to be wrong, that other oil can be used. The only difference is that he has heard is other oil besides the ester making our cars "louder". Anyways, hopefully I will figure out what to do over the next few months. Maybe I will just stick with ester for the life of the vehicle....Who knows :tup:

thanks for the info, i'll give them the part # for the cooler and see what their response is but i think its time to find another service dept.:shakes head:

:roflpuke2:

:inoutroflpuke: freggin ballbuster :inoutroflpuke:

After going thru' many threads here, I gather that 370s need the ester bit, but 350s don't. Keep searching this issue, guy, 'cause it's quite an investment--your 370, that is--and you should make a little investment now, in order to avoid wear and tear in that sweet engine with time. Good searching!

I just had my oil changed at my dealer and he used Mobile 1. He said he only uses Ester if you ask for it but that it's a bunch of crap about the warranty being void.

So take that for what it's worth.

Ain't it the truth. More rumor and innuendo in this thread, what was that about changing oil more frequently than 1500 miles to lower temps? Wut?