What's the factory Engine Oil?
 

Did you notice that the oil that came from the factory when your car was new is very light colored, almost clear? Nothing at all like the golden stuff we put in our engines. I wonder what oil they put in...

I wonder what the manual says.

Is that the polite version of RTFM? :)

:icon18:

Nope that's the correct response;)

Hey you guys just read the title and didn't read the post... I know what the manual says about engine oil and oil specs, pretty much the same stuff for most new cars (except maybe those with a rotary engine). But what I mean is did you notice that the oil that came from the factory when your car was brand new is almost clear in color and not golden like any of the oils out there? Regardless of what you've put in or what your dealership puts in, you can never get that near colorless color. So I'm wondering what's the stuff they put in.

I think Nissan/infiniti USA using Nissan Ester oil 5w30 , my UAE Nissan/infiniti dealer in UAE they use ELF oil 10w40 , but i am using Castrol 10w40 for 4 years with no issues .

When the engine is new of course the oil will be clear .

My dealership told me that when I purchased the car originally, the car comes with a semi-synthetic in it. They don't wanna cheap out completely but they aren't gonna put in the ester oil unless told so. When i purchased my maintenance plan for the Z, they told me that they only cover conventional oil changes since that's technically all that is required. Semi-synthetic and up is "recommended" and that's how the dealerships see it too. They aren't going to put the most expensive oil in it and not make any money off of it. They do what they can get away with.

The color change is due to heat,all cars are filled with Nissan 5w30 ester oil from the factory.

not that this couldnt be true, but how do you know its not just something along the lines of a mobil1 5W30?

Then why would Nissan write in their manuals that you need to use Ester oil and then use Mobil1 that doesn't have Ester oil in it.

reread that section buddy. it doesnt say need.....


ester is "recomended" not nessesary. and nissan wanting to save money here and there, i wouldnt be surprised if they put regular dino in there. unless you know one of the engine install guys at nissan we wont know.

maybe blackstone labs can take a sample and possible figure it out.

My guess is that the initial factory oil charge is some kind of break-in lube and not "regular" dino/syn. The unopened Nissan ester I have is a light blueish color.


Edit: It could be ester oil without the colorant.

Did you read the factory repair manual?
Let me know when you find it since you want to be jerky about I will let you find it on your own.:hello:

I took the liberty of looking in the repair manual, this is what it said.

It clearly says it recommends it.

Recommends and needs are the same,if your doctor recommends that you stop eating fried food don't you think there is reasoning behind it.
I know the difference between recommend and need but if the manufacture says it recommend and you don't listen well it the same as someone not listening to the doctor.

i wasnt trying to be a jerk Baer...... just stating clear facts

no, your cars engine is still covered under warranty as long as you use an oil listed from nissan. the ester coats the diamond polished components better than conventional oils. which in turn makes our motor run a lil quieter and a tad cooler.

Read post 17

I disagree, if it was needed they would have specifically said required. If that's the case using something other than Ester Oil would void your warranty through Nissan.

run whatever oil you want! i used redline for the first 25k miles. ive been using mobil1 5w30 since then. zero issues, zero performance problems.

I love the Internet the only place on the planet where you can right all the time.

:tup:

Hi guys, I decided to read further into the fluid recommendations since I didn't see the bit about Ester for people like me who are not in North America.

Nissan is not very precise about their oil recommendation. They seem to have printed different specs for the North American market and the rest of the world (Except For North America MA-15). There is specific mention of "Genuine Nissan Ester Engine Oil" in footnote 2 under the Fluid Recommendations for North America, but there is no mention of Ester oil for the rest of the world. In fact, in the Fluids Recommendation for "Except For North America", instead of Genuine Nissan Ester Engine Oil, it just says "Genuine Nissan Engine Oil". Strangely, 5W-30 is recommended for the whole of North America regardless of whether you're in Death Valley, CA or up in glacier country. And for the rest of the world, they recommend 10W-30 but there is a footnote that brings you to MA-16 where there is some sort of a contradiction. "10W-30 is Preferable... 5W-30 is ALSO Preferable and will improve fuel economy". And to confuse things further, immediately under that, it says "If 10W-30 and 5W-30 are not availabe, select the viscosity from the chart, that is suitable for your outside temperature range". And there's a SAE Viscosity Chart where you may select one that meets your outside temp.

Moral of the story, just use what suits your ambient temperature and your driving conditions. I'm in Singapore and the dealership uses mineral oil for the first 3 free oil changes. When I asked to upgrade to a fully-synthetic oil, they recommened Shogun and said that its the same stuff they put in their GTRs.

Intersting... Now that you mentioned, I did notice a very slight tinge of blue in my oil when it was new. Is this Nissan Ester oil fully synthetic? Wish we had this Nissan Ester oil here. Our dealership doesn't import it.

I think it's urine

smurf urine to be exact.

That would explain the blue tinge.