QuadCam

iTrader: (8)

Will,

I am impressed with this NIssan engine. within the first 5000 miles, I had a 100 shot of nitrous on this engine.....then went single turbo, and have had the greddy twin setup for almost 2 years now. That's a fair amount of abuse (although I take caRE OF HER WELL) for a stock motor. Today, I changed my plugs for a new set of copper NGKs. While I was at it, I performed a compression check.....all the cylinder registered between 170 and 180 psi...well within spec and pretty darn strong. I guess I got a good revup!!

anh3

Hello (Resolute),
I also have a G37S... In light of the new Infiniti Bulletin on the Ester oil for the HR engine, what would be other alternatives you can suggest beside from the Castrol Syntec 0w-30? All of my driving are just street and commuting, no track... And what other brands have low Moly that would have the Ester additive, or is there any available?

I have ~1400 miles on my car, going to get the oil change from Infiniti (TSB for the Ester added oil) and I will try to get a samble of my old oil for UOA. will post... I will probably change this oil early once more for the break-in and put in some Castrol 0w-30. will update...

Resolute

iTrader: (2)

Amsoil and M1 are both popular oils which use ester additives in their 30 weight blends. Really, there are a bunch of synthetic oils with esters included in their chemistry as an additive; either as a friction modifier or sometimes as a viscosity improver, or both. Most of the M1 blends use MoDTC as an additive as well, even Amsoil has some Moly in it. Finding an oil without any Moly is going to be harder than finding an oil with ester additives. Personally, I wouldn't worry about the Moly content or ester content without some UOA's to get a base reading from.

Like I told Joe, and have exhaustively posted in this sticky, don't be misled into thinking that just one aspect of an oil's chemistry is the primary determinant for good performance in your engine. It is never that simple. It is almost commonplace to see two oils with the same base stock and similar additives return very different UOA results. The overall chemistry is more complex than just the sum of its parts, and is more dynamic than the static compounds it contains.

Take esters as the first example. Esters have a lot of good qualities in an engine oil. As I posted earlier, it makes sense that Nissan would want to use an ester additive to aid lubrication of the VVEL system. Lots of oils already use esters as additives, such as M1 and Amsoil and GC, so I don't see the benefit of paying Nissan $12/qt for their conventional blend. As such, looking for a good off-the-shelf oil with similar additives and better base stocks seems like a wise move. However, esters also have issue when used in engine oil. See my first page of this thread for more info. Most of the time, when esters are used as an additive, and not the base stock, other additives may be used in sufficient quantities to offset some of the negative aspects of the ester. Which oils do this successfully? Who knows without a UOA. And who knows if the UOA you get is high or low in terms of wear without a baseline for comparison, or at least an average rate of wear determined from others' UOA using a similar oil.

Same with moly. There have been several studies about the use of DLC and hydrogen-free DLC in a wet-lubricant environment such as an engine. Moly might pose an issue in the long term for the coatings. How long term, and how big of an issue? Depends on which report or study I look at. I suspect that Nissan is not too concerned that someone using a SM-approved oil with moly will wear the DLC coating before the powertrain warranty is up. Whetehr or not an oil with moly is going to be a significant issue or not, is something only time will tell and a good history of UOA's will reveal. Right now, the VHR has neither of these benefits.

Finally, I do not believe that one common additive is going to be a "magic bullet" for whatever issues the VVEL system is having in the VHR engine. Just like I am not too concerned that one common additive is going to destroy the engine. There are certainly better formulations for the VQ35DE than others, and there are a plethora of UOA's to prove it. The only way to find out which oil is which, was to test them and get a good set of averages for each blend. The same thing will need to be done for the VHR.

When that has been done, I would not be surprised to find that there are oils without ester as an additive, like the Rotella T-Syn, which do spectacular in the VHR. Or that oils with tons of moly, like Schaeffer's, also do well. Maybe they both will be dogs in the VHR. No one really knows right now. So, start with an oil that traditionally has good results, such as the GC, and get a UOA. Keep track of the wear results and oil viscosity. If it's not as good as you'd like, or you think you can do better with another brand, then get a UOA with that oil and compare the results. Maybe some formulations will come out as consistently good, just like has happened here with the DE engines. Maybe some will come out consistently poor. Maybe, a trend will be seen in terms of additive or base stock- just like how all the ester base stock oils that have been tested in the DE have been the worst in terms of wear, maybe all the moly additive oils used in the VHR will be the worst in terms of wear. The point is, we don't know this yet, so you VHR guys will have to be guinea pigs for a while until some data is collected and more informed decisions can be made. Until then, I wouldn't guess that one oil with certain additives or not can for sure be better or worse for your engine, since the chemistry is just not that simple. Use whatever has traditionally good results in other VQ engines, regardless of specific additives, and go from there.

Will

anh3

Like some people I think I was looking for a short cut! But at the end, I would have to make my own choice of oil and get an UOA. There is no 'cheap' way around it I guess!? Thanks though, for the information on others alternative oil. As I mentioned, I'll probably change my oil early, at about ~1500 miles after this recent use and share the UOA once I have it. I was a little late on "change the oil often" during the break-in at 500, 800, and 1000 miles recomendation from earlier post; I'll do 1600 and 1500. I just had my oil changed from the dealership with that Nissan oil Ester additive.

detroitg37joe

Guys just a small update and testimonial on German Castrol. My girlfriend's 99 Civic with about 80k miles on it had some bad engine knocking. It would knock so hard that the car would vibrate a little occassionally when idling and at red lights. She has always just got those generic $16 oil changes at mom & pop shops. When I got her to switch to German Castrol 0w-30 for this winter and the knocking is GONE. The motor is idling and revving smoother. Most importantly it actually cured that bad knocking!!! Wow, this stuff is impressive. I am currently using the Nissan Ester Oil in my G37 since the VVEL needs ester additives to run at its smoothest - however I am considering one run of German Castrol at the upcoming 11,250 oil change.

detroitg37joe

Bro I am on the same boat as you. Only I have already done my 7500 oil change and it was with Nissan Ester Oil. It was free with VVEL TSB. I plan on going to a synthetic with ester additives at either 11,250 or 15k. I hear that Motul 8100 X-Cess is an ester based synthetic. However it may be hard to find and/or expensive. Check it out. My apologies for us g37 guys semi-hijacking this thread with out VHR problems.

anh3

30,000 miles oil change?! i wonder what an UOA would look like on these filters...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122451470244150281.html

Asterix

What they don't tell you is that it's not just filtering that determines how long oil lasts in your engine. Viscosity breakdown and acid neutralization set the OCI much more than filter life.

It's not a bad idea incorporating a bypass filter into the main spin-on. If they're not too much, I'd consider using one for a normal OCI.

Asterix

anh3

for all those who are curious, I have a respond from a rep. of the Microgreen oil filter... Don't know if its appropriate to post it up on this thread?! let me know. Personally, I think the question that I asked was not answered, seems like a bunch of marketing hype by the answers I received.

QuadCam

iTrader: (8)

post up.........I'm curious.

anh3

"The microGreen Extended Performance Oil Filter does an exceptional job of capturing the small, down to 2 microns, particles that remain in the oil with conventional filters. These small particles accelerate the degradation of the oil additives. Our laboratory and on road testing has shown that the oil and additive packages remain in normal operating condition well beyond 30,000 miles. (These results are very similar to the results experienced with heavy duty trucks that use by-pass filters.)"

Thanks for your interest.

Steve

Steve Kirchner
microGreen
Extended Performance Oil Filter
P 877-757-7667 x703
C 772-631-0167
www.microgreenfilter.com

From: cuong [mailto:ly_ky@hotmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2008 6:48 PM
To: info@somstech.com
Subject: product inquiry

Hello,

While your filter can clean very well, how does it protect against the degradation of the oil over time, i.e. oxicdation? Would a 30,000 miles oil change seem plausible if your filter cannot protect against such issue?

Cuong.

06CPV35

Here's another UOA on Valvoline 10w-30 Dura Blend while using Amsoil's oil and air filter.

Glycol number still present. Hopefully some kind of weird add pack as on first UOA with same oil.

Pleased with improved numbers and low fuel dilute on this revup VQ replacement.

Next UOA will be Valvoline 5w-30 SynPower. Taking that to a 5K duration.
It'll be interesting to see if that glycol number disappears with SynPower formula.
-edit- scratch that...found out SynPower has same add-pack

Resolute- comment at your convenience. Thanks.

ZeeForce

^John, I can barely read the data. Is there any way you can scan it at a higher resolution?

ZeeForce

Will, here is the 4th oil change on the freshly built 06 Rev-up. It’s the 2nd oil change interval with Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30.


****************************************
Data on the 2006 350Z freshly rebuilt engine.


Area: Curtis
Unit: 479
Nissan 2006 350Z manual transmission.
Engine: 3.5 L V-6 VQ35 300hp Rev-Up
Fuel: Shell V-Power 91 octane
Fuel additives: Yes
Air Filter: Amsoil EaA paper air filter.
Recent repairs: Swapped out OEM plugs with 35,859 miles on them for new Pulstar Plugs. (the original plugs were used with the engine swap, hence the 35k miles on them)
Mods: Nissan’ Nismo CAI and Catback exhaust system.
Driving habits: Daily driving, no track or autox. A few gradual romps up to 75% of redline. For the most part, no revs above 4000. 40/60 freeway/street.
Never overheats
Date of oil change: 11/10/08
Oil Type: Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30
Oil Filter: Amsoil Ea0
Miles on oil change interval: 3989 mi
Mileage on engine: 15,249 mi
Oil changed on regular intervals at 3750 mi.
Oil added on this interval = Zero
Oil loss = 0mm ZERO

On this oil change dated 11/10/08 the oil was swapped out for the SAME brand/weight: Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 and Amsoil Ea0 oil filter.

Follow up on the monitoring of coolant level: Zero loss at over flow reservoir.

Cheers
Curtis

06CPV35

You need glasses Fixed just for you

ZeeForce

Thx

I can see clearly now.

My age must be showing or the CRT screen is very dirty...I prefer the latter excuse....lol

uf20wop

just got one done, Mobil1 5W30...looks really good.

Biochem7

iTrader: (8)

Here are my results from a recent Blackstone oil analysis:

2005 Nissan 350Z
Vortech 3.12 pulley
Earls oil cooler

Mobil 1 OW-40
OEM Filter
AEM Dryflo air filter

Oil was used for 2,824 miles.

Thinkdiesel

iTrader: (4)

Been using Mobil1 5w-30 since 1K and switched to ELF recently. Really want to do a UOA for the ELF 5W-30. Guess Nissan been carrying it for awhile

Anyone have experience with this oil?

Rickdogg

iTrader: (234)

Thank you to Resolute and everyone that has contributed to this very informative thread. I plan to run a few samples in the future and will post them up here.