Last night I was driving around and it was in the upper 90's and my car was at 220 the whole time. This is not exterme. One thing I do notice is the car likes running with the AC off way better than with it on. Maybe thats the sluggish feeling OP is talking about.

I don't think the size difference between the Mocal thermostatic plate and the non-thermostatic plate is a big enough difference (or any at all) to affect filter size/access. Like you, I just found that using the smaller (stock sized) filter gave me more room to maneuver/remove later.

I thought about it for a few minutes when I first got under there and realized how tight things were gonna be. I considered just running a short piece of coolant hose to loop one end to the other (input to output), but it just seemed like a bigger mess than just adding the new plate on top. In the end, if it doesn't leak (and hasn't so far...), I'm happy with the outcome. Temps dropped to 185-195 (city and highway) at 95-97 degrees outside temp, when I was operating at 210-220+ for the same drives.

I tried yesterday when installing mine. In theory, I could have gotten the longer filter in there, but it would have given me about 1/4" of clearance between the end of the filter and the front frame rail. I just chose to use the smaller (stock sized) filter. Bottom line, I think you can run the longer filter with both sandwich plates, but it takes a specific routing of the cooler lines.

With that little clearance, getting a longer filter on and off would be a pain in the ***. I'd just go oem sized. Even if there's a little clearance with the longer one installed, you've still got to thread it on.

Well, I'm not a professional mechanic or a petroleum engineer, but how the hell is 220 degrees "extremely" worrisome?? Hell, pre-cooler, I could hit that easily, and every high performance car I've had in the last 20 years could too. It's only 8 degrees above the boiling point of water, where we need oil to be to boil off h2o and other liquid contaminants......?? Not trying to sound like an a**, just can't see how that temp is freaking people out.

Yeah, I wasn't going to touch that. 220 is not an issue, and the graph in the link he posted is questionable without the source. Bob is the oil guy is full of fluids engineers, and for extremely technical analysis of oil I'll trust them. For mechanical things I'll trust a mechanic.

+1 I saw that and was wondering the source or credibility.

Third post by south ark . the coolant temp is part of the problem too . http://www.the370z.com/engine-drivet...on-timing.html

It's a Steibek Curve. You guys will actually find it on Google.

And the entire issue here has to do with the VVEL and it's extreme lubrication requirements. So unless every high-performance engine old guy has owned in the past was running a similar setup as a VQ37VHR with VVEL, I don't get the point. 220 won't kill your engine, but the oil clearly loses viscosity to where it is below the manufacturers specification.

It's the same reason Nissan markets it's Ester Oil. It is for it's friction properties specifically for lubricating the VVEL.

What does vvel have to do with anything regarding temperature vs viscosity loss?

Could be. What was the OP running? Every track I've ever raced on demanded just water or water plus water wetter ( or engine ice since I think its like WW). It does cool better than coolant and safer if you crash since water will evaporate unlike coolant will be slick. I'm going to dump half my coolant and put in a guys special race/summer only blend with water wetter. Should keep it cool and not freeze come winter.

It's in the second paragraph:

"TORQUE CUT CONTROL (AT HIGH ENGINE OIL TEMPERATURE)
The ECM receives engine oil temperature signals from engine oil temperature sensor.
To avoid VVEL performance degradation, the ECM performs the engine torque cut control at high engine oil temperatures.
If engine oil temperature is too high, engine oil viscosity will change. As a result, engine oil pressure is
decreased. This control affects the VVEL operating angle by operating the VVEL actuator sub assembly.
If this control is operated, engine performance will decrease, then maximum engine speed is reduced a bit (Various levels of Limp Mode depending on temp).

Old post from the 370Z.com--- Nissan has a white paper out on the VVEL and Ester oil patent for the particles it needs to protect VVEL system.

--The white paper on the DLC explains Nissan's quest to not only use DLC on engine surfaces, but to employ it where boundary lubrication is extreme. As you might know, when the oil film breaks down from shearing or reaction between two high load surfaces, the hydrodynamic lubrication begans to diminish and contact between the surfaces occurs under boundary lubrication. This is typically when most engine wear occurs. Conrod and Main bearings rely on oil pressure to prevent this from occuring and maintain hydrodynamic function. The VVEL system has no direct means of high pressure lubrication between the drive shaft and the Rocker Arm link which encompasses the drive shaft lobe. It makes sense that Nissan would want to employ their all-carbon nano additive with this system to prevent premature wear on such a high-load surface. Even if the drive shaft were hollow to allow oil to be pumped through it to the linkage in much the same way that oil flows through the crank to the journals, this si a small surface with high pressure. Nissan's own white paper and patent both show how a DLC nano-additive could be used to protect these surfaces.

This also explains why Nissan has the default safety-mode with high oil temperatures. An oil's ability to resist shear and sustain hydrodynamic lubrication under pressure is a function of viscosity. As pressure increases on the lubrication surface, viscosity must increase to maintain a hydrodynamic function. As the oil heats up, viscosity lowers, and boundary lubrication ensues. It makes sense that nissan would be very aware of this and th detriment it could cause to the VVEL mechanism. The new, patented ester oil is a natural safe-guard.--

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Exactly. But let's not let it devolve into a Nissan Ester vs Synthetics thread...that has happened waaay too many times in the past. :icon17: