First Oil Change, change to synthetic?

JungleZ

Hi guys i just hit 3100 miles on the Z, is it time for first oil change right? Should i stick with regular or switch to synthetic? Thanks

gurneyeagle

My first two were dealer changes with dino oil, but I just did my third change at 8,500 with Mobil 1.

Get ready for a hundred different opinions on this one.

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KiwiNismo

I just did my first (3050 miles) with factory filter and pennzoil platinum full synthetic oil 5w-30. Oil is oil to me but since I plan to run at least 5k miles and possibly a year till my next change I decided to use synthetic oil.

I don't drive hard or track/race the car.

370Z Purist

Run what you like. A common choice is Redline.

Some things to remember, generally speaking:

If you plan to run low miles but longer periods of time, like me, you want to at least invest in a good filter. I personally do Redline with K&N filters. Purolator PureOne is a good choice too, since it has a larger volume (and more filtering media, although not necessarily better, although it definitely can't be that bad). I drive less than 5000 miles a year and I've owned my zed for three years and have 13000 miles. It works for me so I've kept at it. Always used K&N filters but ran Nissan Ester Oil, Royal Purple, and Redline, with Redline being run the most. A friend of mine does mass spectroscopy and he can do basic oil analysis for me. I have never bothered to analyze my oil, though. I drive my zed like I stole it and do a good amount of both highway and city miles. I've yet to track the car, so it's never seen the kind of destructive wear that a track does on a car.

Likewise I've seen someone's oil analysis from this forum some time ago and they ran 5xxx miles over a 13 month period. No idea where their car was located, if the miles were mostly highway or city, or if it ever saw blazing heat, winter temperatures, or just mild weather. The analysis actually told them to run the oil for a longer period of time before doing a change. Don't remember what oil they used, or what filter they used.

Here's a popular place to do oil analysis: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

Like I said, do what you like. Oil threads are one of the most dreaded threads on this forum and I've seen them come and go for four years now. There's never a single consensus and the OP generally just ends up going with whatever opinion sounded most informed or they gave up and did whatever.

Also, if you end up being unable to form an opinion, just use Nissan's Ester Oil and call it a day.

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-Phil

"Since one of my brake light bulbs just went out, the forum told me that my piston rings are about to blow."

JungleZ

Nice, I think im going to stick with regular for the first couple. what kind of oil would the dealer use? should i even go to the dealer? i cant do it myself im in my last year with roomates...

Dallaz

I have changed mine with Redline fully synthetic and pure one purolator filter and they're working great.

Shot of the purolator filter and filtermag oil filter magnet which I highly recommend as well for catching small particles passing through your oil filter and the iPhone for size reference. I think you should refer to AK's oil change thread for a lot of answers to your questions in the DIY section, very informative and helpful.

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370Z Purist

The dealer uses a basic oil, probably some generic drum they get. Everyone calls it dino but I'm pretty damn sure actual pure dino does not exist anymore. The stuff is way too crude to use in modern engines.

The dealer will shaft you hard. They quoted me 105 dollars for a change with Ester Oil and their regular Nissan rebranded filter (I believe most rebrands are similar to old FRAMs, which use terrible paper media with plastic reinforcement: not suitable for any car. may have changed, though).

I really think you should be able to do an oil change. Buy six quarts of your favorite oil and a decent filter like Purolator. It takes all of 30 minutes and maybe 70 dollars for your first change. Maybe get a magnetic oil drain plug and a filter magnet, if you're really paranoid. Hopefully you're not like some people I know who live in areas where you actually cannot work on your car unless it is in a closed garage or if you're in a parking complex that does not allow any loitering.

Z1 Motorsports sells oil change kits at reasonable, sane prices.

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-Phil

"Since one of my brake light bulbs just went out, the forum told me that my piston rings are about to blow."

bvl

Dealer will buy in bulk. Havoline or Quaker State 5/30 for example. Nothing wrong with it, good for 3-5K intervals which most cars will do if they are using Nissan recommended short intervals.

As others have noted: this is a huge topic with no consensus. One general fact is oil can go a lot longer then you think for most conditions based on UOA's performed at labs.

If you want to go synthetic, go for it. I run it as cheap insurance myself and have done so for the last 18 years on all my cars. While under warranty I will be using dealers for the Z and the wife's car (Cayman) until I go back to doing it myself.

I use 6mo changes on the Z to keep it within warranty spec otherwise I would do 7500mi-10K (based on UOA's with Blackstone) or 1y intervals whichever first. uring.

I take a 5 qt jug of Pennzoil Ultra (Walmart, $27) and put it in the passenger seat. I pay the dealer to change the oil and use Nissan filter. They take $8 or so off the cost of an oil change for my effort. My local dealer service advisors have no idea about Ester oil yet my method is still less expensive then an Ester change, and it uses a product I personally want in the car. Win Win.

Don't be afraid to BYO oil. Just needs to meet S rating and weight specs as per Nissan and your owners manual so you can use just about any quality 5/30 out on the market.

If you run low miles and just want to change it every 3 months personally stick with dealer 5/30 as 3K miles on oil is nothing.

- b

DLSTR

You can go 8,000 or more. I just did 8000 on Mobile 1, no track time but fun spirited driving and its a daily driver as well. UOA via Blackstone Labs said I could go to 9000 easy. Synthetic oil is strong. No need to have wasted oil or down time with 3-5,000mile changes for non heavy track use type driving.

In Germany the 370Z oil interval is 15000km or 1 year. They use Castrol 5-30 synthetic here.

The US public has a lot to learn. The crap oil change centers keep filling people's heads with lies, ie Jiffy lube etc.
My VW is on a 30,000km change interval here. THe VW dealer does NOT have a yard full of blown engines either.

SS66

I just got back from the dealership for a 1200 mile break in oil change. The dealership actually used Mobil 1 oil for the oil change. I told them I was expecting them or thought they would put Ester oil back in the car. They advised that if I do not specify the oil desired they use Mobil 1. The regular Mobil 1 oil service charge was 33.28. I don't think they were completely happy but said they would pull the car back in and change it to Ester oil. In the end the Ester oil change cost me 86.00 dollars.

I figured if I keep the car going forward I will switch to another synthetic brand.

nmjaxx9

I use royal purple 5w-30 and it works good so far, thought of switching to redline, but I think ill stick with it for a while. Keeps the engine nice and clean, and if I need to I can go up to 6k in between oil changes.

Mannysrt8

Go with synthetic,I just had my first oil change,called my local Nissan dealer and they wanted $170,I went to walmart bought a gallon of Mobil 1 synthetic for $25 and went to my local Honda dealer where a good friend of mine is a mechanic,paid him $30 including filter,moral of the story is go with synthetic,buy your own oil and filter,take it to a reputable shop where you will get a proper reciept and documentation if you are worried about warranty issues

NBZ34

I took my 6 quarts of redline and puro oil filter to the dealer. They charged me only $13 for labor.

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hadokenuh

Wow, my local dealer only charges $70 for Nissan Ester Oil. I think it's pretty good deal.

Otherwise I'd go with Penzoil Ultra ($28 for 5qts + $6 for Bosche filter + $30 labor). Comes out about the same.

Dwight Frye

I did my first change at about 1250 miles. I used the Nissan ester oil and a Mobil 1 #110 filter. The Nissan ester oil isn't that great and was almost $14 a quart at the dealer after tax. At the 5,000 mark I switched to Redline 5W-30 and a new Mobil 1 filter and have run that exclusively ever since. I now have about 27K miles on the car and it is 3 years old this week so I'm not piling a lot of miles on it. I only go 5K oil change intervals, probably overkill but I like to err on the side of caution. I have had 3 Blackstone analysis' done and the Redline oil has trended nicely in the VQ37 engine.
You can get a case of Redline delivered to your door, no tax & free shipping from Amazon for a just under $11 per quart. If you don't want to go to a boutique oil, the Pennzoil Ultra has an outstanding reputation and can often be found on sale. Either way these engines run hot and are hard on oil so I wouldn't recommend pushing OCI's much past 5000 miles. It's a pretty exotic sports car and you shouldn't expect the cost of ownership to be the same as a new Altima. And learn to do your own changes. It's not rocket surgery.