Response from Nissan about Oil Cooler
 

I emailed Nissan asking if they would provide the older 09-11 370Z's with an oil cooler since it obviously impacts our cars and causes high oil temps. I got an email today back from them and this is what it says:

"Thank you for contacting Nissan North America, Inc. and allowing us the opportunity to be of assistance. We would like to apologize for the delay in providing you this information regarding the oil coolers of the 370Z.



We would like to inform you that the reason the 2011 370Zs have the oil cooler and the 2012 models don’t is that it not necessary or needed for normal operation of the vehicle. The change was to enhance the engine performance, as we continually do each year with our vehicles, the oil cooler was added but not to address a problem for normal driving. As a feature, it does assist in enhancing performance when the vehicle is used for extreme “spirited” driving such as a track. It’s just a feature improvement similar to what we make in other vehicles for new model enhancements – such as making bluetooth standard or adding sun visor extensions. Nissan does not go back and add those to previous year and models, but owners have the choice to add or modify parts of their vehicle, but with the risk of affecting the terms and conditions of your warranty.



We hope this addresses your inquiry.



If you have additonal questions or comments Please feel free to contact us at 1 800 647 7261 (Nissan Consumer Affairs).



Sincerely,



Nissan North America, Inc."

Pretty much what was expected.

And I agree with Nissan's explanation.

Well i think its a load of sh*t...

2011 and 2012 are listed backwards.

Explanation makes sense, but it's a little self indulgent, as if they did it all on their own just to be nice. If they hadn't gotten so many complaints from people and magazines, they would have never added it.

Of course I'm glad they did since mine is a 2012. ;) Sometimes it pays to wait.

That's a load of crap! It's not an "enhancement", its a flaw. Adding bluetooth has ZERO effect on drivability and a very poor analogy. An oil cooler shouldn't be an "optional feature" on the sports car prone to high oil temperature. Some of Nissan's logic is valid to a small degree and I don't think Nissan needs to hand out free oil coolers for everyone. All I really want is for Nissan to recognize the addition of an oil cooler as something that "enhances performance when the vehicle is used for extreme spirited driving such as a track," without conflicting with the factory warranty. They certainly recognize it as an approved & essential upgrade for spirited driving, why not recognize it as an accessory you can purchase at a Nissan dealership and be covered under warranty. Just make it a Genuine Nissan Accessory dammit!!

im just glad my oil temp doesnt get high, even with continuous driving over 120mph

This is not surprising. Can anyone think of examples of product enhacements that are made retroactively? I think I may bring my 71 240z into a Nissan dealer this weekend and ask if they would mind installing power wndows, a/c and heated seats. Later model Z's got this stuff.

On second thought, maybe not. Some of the Nissan guys would not know what I was driving. A few years back, I was idling through a dealer parking lot -- in one of my 240's -- scoping out 350's and a salesman approached. He told me "nice car, who makes it?".

:facepalm:

Oh, and I agree with your post.

Yes, but the question is, is the oil cooler an "enhancement" or a necessary upgrade. It's basically Nissan saying "just drive it like an Altima and you'll be fine. What's that? You thought you bought a high performance car that could be driven spiritedly on occasion? hahahaha" :(

Nissan's been pretty good about my options, so I can get the upgrade if I want. I dunno why I have to change the badge though...

:icon17:


They hooked me up in the same way. They must just love red z owners:tiphat:

:rofl2:

In all seriousness, Nissan may appear to have their thumbs jammed up their arse, but the response they give is just about what is expected. The general community will not push the Z to the point where oil coolers become necessary. We have debated this time and again, and the break point for Nissan in the cost of the car just means that those seeking to really get on the throttle and push it on the track will need to seek alternative sources of cooling. So it's not worth the money for Nissan to go back and retrofit the 2009-2011 model year cars, as it is not classified as a catastrophic failure mode.

I'm calling Nissan and demanding a VR38DETT in my 2009 370Z. :tup:

adding an oil cooler won't void your warranty or conflict with it. it's just that warranty won't cover any engine damage that may be caused by the oil cooler failure, such as a leaking oil line leading to the engine seizing. Also, not all accessories you buy from nissan and with a nissan logo have a warranty. Parts from nissan motorsports division such as the 34 row oil cooler do not carry a warranty. R-tune parts for the 350z like camshafts did not carry any warranty either.

The Z CAN be driven spiritedly. You can even get a couple of hot laps on a track before hitting limp mode. It's a high performance road car, not a factory race car ready to compete in 24 hours of le mans. If you drive it like it's meant to, on the road a bit spiritedly, or down the mountain roads, 99% of the time you will be fine. Hard to argue an oil cooler is a "necessary upgrade". Limp mode is almost exclusively a track occurrence that happens after 3-4 minutes of hard lapping.

Too bad there aren't any limp modes to protect the engine from grenading its pistons :roflpuke2::bowrofl:

Okay the question is can you PAY for the new oil cooler and put it in your z without voiding the warranty. I'm not trying to get a free retrofit. That's just silly.

i swear those are fixed on everything 09+ :rofl2:

with that said, my passenger side blinker has gone berserk already. stoopid harness.

oop here i go talking about the subie again. never mind!

Rosh - i bet it will affect warranty.

wow, I work for them but...wow

Yup.

x2.

Long fixed, and mostly due to superlean high boost tunes.

What, no free upgrade for the sunvisor extensions?

Bastids!

I received the exact same email from them today.

They must have had a lot of people calling or emailing them about this.

Pretty much what I expected. I love my car, but if you live in a hot climate the oil does get to hot quickly. If I get on it a couple of times, the temp shoots up fast!

I know, I've actually hit limp mode on spirited drive. Just the one time though. My point is, it shouldn't happen at all, no matter how hard you drive it. Wording it as an "enhancement" by Nissan is just used to downplay its importance. Bottom line, they don't want to loose money and admit it was an oversight.

Hmm. How long you been waiting? I don't think the lack of oil cooler is make or break issue with the purchase of a Z. I don't have oil temp issues but if I did, adding an aftermarket oil cooler isn't a big deal.

Eh... they should still make it availabe as a warrantied part.

If they do that and charge their inflated prices -- fine. If not, it's kind of crap.

Same question.

HEY FANBOYS!!! GET SOME HISTORY ON THESE TYPES OF PROBLEMS BEFORE AGGREEING WITH NISSAN ON THERE REASONS. HERE'S A THREAD FROM BIMMERFEST 4 YEARS AGO. CARFIFF33 and DESERTDRIVER are examples of WHY THE 335I DOESN'T HAVE A LIMP MODE ISSUE ANYMORE!

The official 335i oil cooler thread - Page 20 - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums


The oil cooler I will be installing in April is gonna kick 20 asses on the 12 Z's stock cooler but there's principle to making them at minimum add warrantied part.

IF YOU ARE COMPARING POWER WINDOWS ANDSUN VISORS OR POWER SEATS TO A F*****N OIL COOLER THAT CAN ACTUALLY SAVE PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN/DESERT STATES FROM BEING STALLED OR TAKING 100 YEARS TO GET HOME FROM LIMP MODE IS BUGGIN OUT OR ON CRACK OR SOMETHIN???
I truly don't get people. Slaves to corporate america. Non-free thinkers? People who are easily swayed by commercials and speeches without going thru a proposal or contract with a fine toothed comb? People who are just so happy to be in their favorite car and embellish in fanboism so deeply that they want to compare an engineering flaw with RETRO BLUETOOTH???
Hahahahahahahaaaaaaaa... what is this the F*****N Kia Forté forums????. Lol. Right now this thread is making Kia forum members sound like hardcore enthusiasts and us like the posers if you can't decifer the difference beteween a damn visor and an oil cooler issue. WOW! Yeah ok... hey I have a bridge to sell to everyone that agrees with Nissan.:gtfo2::icon18:

PS here's a link down the line of people getting there free retrofits and discussions of warranteed parts for non sport pkg parts. Its done when a company cares abouut there reputation in motorsports. Not bad for a company without a dedicated sports car.
The official 335i oil cooler thread - Page 27 - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

Feeling ok bro?

I bought the 370Z as a fun road car for occasional "spirited driving", not as a track car. It wasn't advertised as a track car, and it would be my expectation that if I ran it a lot on the track, I'd have to cough up for appropriate track mods, oil cooler included. That expense would be relatively minor compared to the price increase that the additional insurance coverage would cost me.

In my daily driving, oil temps have never been even close to limp mode, or anything else that would cause me alarm. It's fine with me that Nissan elected to add an oil cooler for 2012. On my 2011, I don't need it and for my use can't envision it possibly being worth the chance that Nissan could use an aftermarket version installation as an excuse to void the warranty.

It just bother the hell out of me that anyone would compare sun visors and power windows to an overheating issue where limp mode IS NOT an appropriate fix for a dedicated sports car, plain and simple. May I repeat the words dedicated sports car. Its just ridiculous. As us being true enthusiasts we should care about things like this... but then again this is the same forum that wants there production sports car that is already in legendary status to be cancelled for more exclusivity... anyway, I'm done dude. Wow.

Dude that's your own personal experience. How bout the forum brothers living on the deep southern end that can see heat indexes as high as 130? I had one Z without the issue and one Z with. You DO NOT have to be on a track to get close or see limp mode. A lot of you are letting that part go over your head. But anyway.

I mean hey, I went through my period of complaining about it, but you can't expect Nissan to go back and fix it. The cars were sold with the issue well known.

You also really can't call the z a dedicated sports car. It's not sold as such, and most owners don't treat it as such. Enjoy it for what it is. Limp mode probably won't be a problem, and even if it is, you are only gonna hit the 5.5k limit....


And if you're really unhappy, there are other ways to let Nissan know.

damn, i need to modify sunvisor extensionator.

oh wait, that's already a performance feature of my 09... :icon17: (doesnt work all well either).

I am impressed it took them only 1 day to respond... makes sense what they wrote, they cant agree to replace it because it would become a nationwide recall...

and we are all ssaying its only 30 bucks, but 30 bucks times an hour labor x all the 370zs = a nice chunk of change

You'll hit limp mode no matter how you drive when it gets that hot? Damn that sux

Wait what's 30 bucks? The oil cooler..?

Oh and any news on these brake ducts?

I live in NJ so we dont see temps quite as high as the south but it gets darn hot. It was in the high 90s for weeks this past summer. During that time I pushed my Z many times on the backroads. I never even came close to limp mode. I personally think its pretty hard to get it into limp mode on the street unless you are driving like a total azzhat. I can see how indexes of 130 could lead to it though I suppose.

LMFAO! You gotta luv Kenchan!:icon18: