Oil Change Issues! Help/Advise Needed!
 

So I went to get my first oil change done hitting just about 2,000 miles at the shop. The shop I went to had Mobil 1 Synthetic and Amsoil European Synthetic Blend 5W-30. They told me Amsoil was a better oil and they put it in high end Porsches, BMW's, etc. Mind you I'm not an oil expert but I figured the Amsoil is better and I've heard fairly good things about them but now I'm concerned that this specific blend and grade is not optimal for our VQ engines being the European formula.
Here's the link to the Amsoil put in my car.

Reason I say this since I've gotten my oil change I've noticed my oil temps have increased about a good 20 degrees than it was before the oil change. It has hit and been near 220 degrees which I've never seen in this cold 30-40 degree weather in NY. Also I am not beating the car or even redlining it. I am just doing casual driving in Auto mode. I am seriously considering changing this ASAP. I was reading about it and it says its recommend for European cars, Diesel, and turbo engines. Also I read it's a low SAPS oil. Please any advise would help, am I paranoid or should I get this stuff out of my car before it does any damage or causes knocking issues. Thank you

i dont know, but im hitting 220 with nissnas ester oil in california. I think we are at like 60 degrees temp

I can get near 220 in the summer with PU in my car...each Z is a bit different. Sure there is not coincidental plastic bag blocking the radiator a tad?

Amsoil is a good product. Euro-formulation is low SAPs and meets a bunch of euro specs. I can't find any API data on that product which is the only odd if they did pay the API ransom (they may not have for these blends).

I'd not hesitate to run a euro-spec provided it also meets API specs (for warranty purposes). Example: M1 0/40 Euro here in the US is a darn fine product and not just for P cars.

FYI: while in warranty I simply bring my 5qt jug of PU to the dealership and let them change my oil. Its easy, its recorded in their system and done using the oil I want to use (and documented as full synthetic oil change). If I was running a fleet/commuter and wanted to do 10-20K OCI's, Amsoil would be the fill.

- b

I work as a service advisor at a BMW dealership. And I don't know what is the specific formula for "BMW" engines but the BMW big wig engineers are strict on only using 5w30 synthetic formulated for BMW. I can tell you what we use is a full synthetic 5w30 made by Castrol for BMW. And the M cars use a Castrol Motorsports full synthetic 10w60. We aren't aloud to use anything else as per BMW (I'm sure this is also due to some type of contract obligation but you get the idea). I imagine what you got is an equivelant to what we use formula wise. I can say whatever the formula is its great for extended oil changes. BMW has free conditioned based maintenace for 4yrs/50k miles and the cars go an average of 12-17k miles or one year before they get an oil change.(it's also not uncommon to have to add a qt in between oil changes either) Off of the free maintenance we recommend 10k miles or 1 year. It's obvious BMW pushes the limit while its on there dime. So the oil is good. But BMWs use cartridge type filters and have much larger oil pans. Most of the smaller engines still take 7 qts, that by itself promotes longer oil life and most of them have factory oil coolers. Bottom line BMW engines are very different from ours though. Manufactures recommend different oils for a reason. They know their engines best bc they designed them clearances/tolerances/pressures/running temps can be very different between engines. Does that mean every BMW owner buys oil from the dealer I doubt it haha but BMW still recommends 5w30 full synthetic by Castrol if you buy off the shelf.

That being said I would drain that oil and get yourself what Nissan recommends and that is Ester oil for the 370. I use Redline personally. Or use the Nissan Ester oil.

Use Redline.

For Red6spd and Redline727.
How is the performance of the Redline? Any significant change you felt when u switched to Redline?

Oil Changes
 

Change it again

Yes. Engine was much quieter and I noticed a decrease in engine temps, not huge like an oil cooler which is why I know have an oil cooler but a decrease.

From what I reading here its probably my best bet to get this drained out and put some Redline oil in. I should be using Redline 5W-30 correct? Also how soon should I change it again. I literally change my oil last week. Is it harmful to the engine as far as causing excess wear and tear. I understand 220 degrees temps are fairly normal but not in the current NY weather of 30-40 degrees F and also driving casually.

There is alot of "special" oil blends for the European makes. I know from working with the Motul reps and speaking with them that companies like VW/Audi have some insane requirements for them to meet.

I personally recommend Nissan Ester or Motul. Motul is the manufacturer of all Nissan performance fluids and has a very close working relationship with Nissan in nearly all forms of motorsports. 5w30 Eco-nergy has actually been recommended by the Motul USA reps over the specified Motul Eco-Clean that is listed.

Like most have said and I hate to beat a dead horse but USE whatever ester based oil like a redline motul rp product

The ester based synthetic oil is recommended to keep the vvl a little quieter from what I understand but again Im going off what I've heard.

I did notice a slight drop in temps when I switched over to redline a month after first owning my Z in may of 09

I haven't had any issues and I change mine every 5k, And you won't hurt anything if you change it out so soon as long you change the filter also.

I wouldn't be too worried about it if temps are a little higher since you need to keep in mind that you need to live in a stale environment

to truly asses this oil performance.

I have noticed it keeps the VVEL quieter for sure. I can't say I really noticed anything about the temps. I have been using Redline ever since my first oil change after buying my car used from Carmax with 10k on it. I noticed the quietness right away and Redline seems to stay much cleaner compared other oils in my previous cars also with hardly any burn off. However I still change at Nissans recommended 3750 interval or sooner depending on time since I don't drive far and the miles I do drive are in the city and more stop and go. I use it based off that its formula is recommended by Nissan and seems to work well so far.

I only use Nissan's Ester oil... I notice THE lowest temps with my car, I only hit past 220 once in Texas on a 100 degree day... (Without the oil cooler)

That's most likely what your car was broken in with too...


Make sure you oil levels are correct too... half a quart short (about half way between E and F or whatever on the dipstick) is about 10% of the oil the car holds, and theoretically would make your temps go up 10%

I think I will definitely switch to Redline as it similar to the Nissan Ester but also being Synthetic. I actually was driving my car last night and it was quite scary as my car was having trouble shifting and wouldn't hold it's RPMs. I have a 7AT and it was just a nightmare. Very sluggish shifts I haven't seen before and also with the paddle shifters it wouldn't hold RPMs in any gear.

For example I would be in 3rd gear at around 3.5k RPMs and I would lightly let off the throttle and the RPMs would just dip under 2k rapidly as if I held the clutch down in a manual car and if I hit the throttle again it had a hard time getting back up. Really quite strange and scared me a bit. Same scenario for the other gears as well.

Try to reset the ecu

sounds like a glitch unrelated to the oil concern