Even with a thermostatic plate, you may need an oil cooler block off plate in cooler months or your oil might have trouble getting up to the 180 threshold for ideal operating temperature.

I'm in Killeen so I got hot temps just like El Paso. 100-105F in the summer times. Last summer I was crusing down I-35 bout 75-80mph and my oil temps were at like 240F. I was like man that sucks. BUT, since then with a few oil changes (nissan oem dino oil), my oil temp hasn't cracked over 230F. On a normal 75-80F day my oil temps don't go past 225F. For normal street driving I think we pay too much attention to the oil temp if the gauge wasn't there we wouldn't even notice anything. I thought oil temps of 180-220F are normal anyway? What I have noticed though it seems like the higher temps are more prevalent in the 6MT and not the 7AT. Not sure why.

Stock 2012 here. Normal freeway cruising in 75*F weather so far I am running 195-200*F. This is at 85mph.

Just a datapoint.

Doing on-ramp acceleration, romping on it in 3rd gear on the freeway, etc. just enjoying a few WOT blasts, I have yet to break 220*F.

This is about how my 2009 runs as well.

At the track last weekend it was 65° and I made 4 1/4 passes in a row (hot lapping) and the gauge never went over 220.

I've yet to see it crack 200 on the road riding around as of yet. We'll see how it does over the summer.

My 2011 hit 225 last Sunday with mixed city/highway driving and no WOT driving. It was 65 degrees out. This was after 45 minutes.

Stop-go traffic at 20-55mph for about 15 minutes will get my car to 215*F. Then I get on the freeway at 80 and it cools down to about 195-200*F.

75* Ambient.

You guys are making me wonder if mine may have an oil cooler hidden in it somewhere. I need to crawl under there and look.

I bought the car from Nissan lat month, but it was a 2009. Never been titled but Nissan corporate had used it for something. Corporate is local to me. I assume for execs to drive when in town but who knows. Had 2900 miles on it when I drove it off the lot.

I agree with you. A car that is $30 grand + should not go limp in regular driving.

I'm wondering if the .2 liters of displacement caused too much heat to be produced by the engine (compared to the VQ35DE/HR)? I've read that the Variable Valve Event and Lift (VVEL) intake system could be responsible for this...
If so, why didn't they take time to get it right the first time & install a simple oil cooler like the one on 2012 models (?)..

What are you comparing the interior of the 370z to?
Most people will look at the previous generation Z and say that the 370 has a very nice interior. The 350z was like a matchbox car interior; although, everything fit well like the seats, steering wheel, shifter, etc.

The problem with the oil cooler on the 2012 models is that it is still not enough for track use so you still end up paying for aftermarket oil cooler if you are going to track the car. Not sure what happened with OP's car since I drove my 09 to El Paso and back from Dallas during a summer with 100+ degree temperatures and the car barely got to 230 regular driving.

I think a majority of Z owners prob don't take their car to the track so the 1012 cooler should be just fine for them. It is definitely needs to be replaced if you do go though.

:iagree:

This is what I'm seeing too. Mid 80's ambient, 7/11 build 2011 MT w/ 3,500 miles on the factory oil (yes, yes, changing soon @ 3,750)

The highest temp I've seen is about 219 (just below the 220 tick) after a couple miles of enthusiastically driven twisties. ;)

I have noticed that the temps fluctuate between about 200 and 210+ in mixed driving with the A/C off. If I turn the A/C on, temps seem to hold very steady at about 200. I'd assume from the cooling fans that kick in when the A/C is on.

This exact same discussion happens every single spring/summer. Just use the advanced google search in the forum and you'll find all the oil temp threads. Save yourselves the trouble of continued discussion and just read through the old ones.

In short summary: oil temps go high in high ambient temps (can go as high as ~250F with street driving). Limp mode will kick in if they go to 280F but this is very uncommon unless you're tracking the car or really beating the piss out of it. If you don't like the temps, buy an oil cooler. It's not a matter of oil levels...just the poor engine cooling when the car is in stock form. Yes, a cooler will void your warranty if it causes a problem. No it won't void your warranty if you have a problem unrelated to the oil cooler.

Yep, that about sums it all up.