Are you guys using torque wrenches to tighten those plugs? 25ft-lbs and I've never stripped one.

Forget about the oil plug that strips your pan. Just grab a couple of neodynium magnets from an old hard drive and slap them up agains your oil filter. Simple, effective and cheap. Way stronger than the oil plug as well.

Do not over-tighten and you cannot strip the pan.

Hand tighten and then a quarter more turn, just snug enough. Honestly I think the tech over tightened the one that stripped. The additional heat may have contributed to the plug stripping. IMO... aluminum and steel do not mate well.

Dimple STEEL magnetic drain plug

MAGNETIC DRAIN PLUGS

.

Thanks for taking the time to make this tutorial. Just did the oil change today.

First, thanks AK for your excellent post. I've changed my own oil for some 45 years (really) and while I have the FSM, and knew what to do, your photos ensured confidence and a clear understanding of the position of things, et al -big help. Thank you. Now - the good, bad & ugly of my 4/30/11 experience...

1) Removed the air deflectors and raised my 2010 Z Roadster onto the Rhino Ramps (2x4s in front for clearance insurance). No issues.

2) Open hood & loosened the oil filler cap (many forget this step). Chose to remove the four rearward bolts and lower the access flap rather than to go thru the pain of full belly pan removal. It works, but the lowered flap is a considerable hinderance to easy access, so I may follow AK's lead in the future.

3) Because of the awkward access (had to reach from below rather than from above), the drain plug removal resulted in my first significant "beyond-the-pan" spill in 45 years. Big mess, but I always place an absorbant pad under the drain pan (in this case, an old mattress pad), so no permanent concrete stains or the like. Still - big mess with inordinate clean-up time - ARGH!

4) Waited till oil had drained to a painfully slow drip, then replaced the drain plug (w/new washer) & filter. Based on others' reports of overfills with 5 quarts, I added roughly 4.8 quarts of fresh Nissan Ester to bring it to within about 1/4 inch of the 'full mark.' Perfect IMO, and still there after several drives.

Notes & Observations: 1) IMO - all the magnetic stuff (drain plug & filter attachment) is largely unnecessary snake oil. If it makes you feel better, do it (it will do no harm), but regular oil/filter changes will likely serve you well enough sans the snake oil. 2) If you must use a magnetic drain plug, buy one made of steel, as aluminum plug threads are commonly subject to failure (stripping) against the stronger steel oil pan mounts. 3) And, no offense intended to AK, whether you use an aluminum or steel drain plug, AK's stated positioning of the OEM crush washer is wrong. It may mean little, but the proper position of the copper crush washer (per Nissan) is for the dimpled side to be screwed on against the bolt seat , with the larger flat surface to mate with the oil pan surface.

Addendum - this was my ZR's first oil/filter change. Didn't trust the dealer to do it, so took the free oil & filter to do the job myself. Still, I must admit that at age 63 with some health issues, I'm getting too old for such painful obsessive-compulsive behavior. I ached for three days - Ha! Had the dealer been willing to ignore the OSHA rules and allow me to watch, I'd have let them do it in a heartbeat, but they wouldn't allow it. I have an enthusiast acquaintance who owns an independent auto repair shop, so may approach him with a similar proposition ("I'll pay a premium if you allow me under the rack to oversee the job"). I really don't want to deal with the mess anymore, but still not willing to give up on my perfectionist ways.

So I had my oil changed at the dealership at 2000km just after the break-in period. I purchased the Titek magnetic drain plug and had them install it.
I had them install Mobil 1 synthetic. I am a little suspicious that they may not have changed the oil at all. I did get the OE drain back, so maybe they did swap drain plugs. I surely hope they put a new copper crush ring on.

I was checking the oil level frequently for the first 2k and noticed some black carbon in the oil. Even after the oil change, I have this black carbon. Now I know it is a by-product of combustion, I just assumed it was under higher rpm's... Am I over thinking this?

I guess the best way to know is do your own oil change.

Repost of something I have posted before:

Personally, I think the best way to go is the FilterMag SS250 Oil Filter Magnet versus a small surface area, magnetized drain plug. Also, rather then fooling with a drain plug at all/worrying about stripping same, consider replacing your stock drain plug with a Fumoto valve..the best.... if you want to attach a hose to the Fumoto do order a Fumoto that has a nipple on it for hose attachment. (not all Fumoto's have a nipple) Futmoto's part# will have an "N" in it indicating "nipple" if it has a nipple. The Fumoto comes with a fiber gasket. Use the included gasket alone on the install.

For the '09 - '11 370Z use the F103N Fumoto valve.


http://www.fumotousa.com/images/nplug.gif

http://www.fumotousa.com/images/n_valve.jpg



Best place to buy price wise is from an eBAY vendor. They do not leak and are very well made. A terrific adjunct. 8-) I've used them on numerous vehicles over the last few years.

snipe:

Those reading this thread should look carefully at the crush washer in this pic and install your crush washer the same. The pic shows proper install/placement of the crush washer..

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/d...-274027127.jpg

That would be crush washer, not "crunch" washer.

With my oil pan spacer installed the oil pan's already hanging a bit low for me, could someone with an F103 tell me how much past the level of the bottom of the oil pan this valve sticks out (assuming the no-nipple model)? I know our drain plug hole is at an angle, is it enough of an angle to keep the F103's body from reducing my ground clearance further?

Sorry, but if you're using Nissan's copper crush washer, a quarter turn after hand-tightening won't even begin to properly crush the washer. As I recall, it's more like 1.5 turns before the plug seats.

Yup, mean't to say "crush washer" not crunch washer.

I wouldn't be comfortable with this. I work around valves and they always fail eventually.