got my 5 quarts of royal purple from jegs, and now I gotta change it!

I havent changed oil on a car since like 6 or 7 years ago, freshman year of HS. and even then we had a lift.

so I figure I put the car up on jack stands.

I gotta take the under body protection off for ease of access.

then buy a oil collection bowl? they sell these for somewhat cheap at pepboys Id imagine? or what...

what size wrench will I need for the drain plug?

what size oil filter is needed, and is there a specific brand I should look for(or that I need to get online)?

I think thats all Im confused about, I know after that just put new filter on, put plug in, then fill er up from up top.

thanks.

 

The oil plug is 14MM.......the filter can be had just about anywhere.......many people have a favorite brand, but just tell the guy behind the counter what kind of car you have and he'll look it up and give you the correct filter. Car does take 5 qts. You may not have to remove the "Skid Plate".......if you can get your arm up the little cutout. Good Luck. Where are you located that has a JEGS........MidWest?

 

ALSO, DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE THE COPPER WASHER!!
You have to get the copper washer from a dealer.........they are only .70 cents, so I bought 5 and I'll be good for a year at least. They are kind of a special washer that compresses down into shape once you tighten the oil plug. I wonder how many people didn't replace their washers and will develop a slow drip...................

 

ok, Ill get that, I wonder what the chances are that the meineke that changed my oil put that in.

I ordered it from jegs online, 5.79 a quart or something, and 9$ shipping. not too bad, it came very quickly atleast. better than the 60$ I paid for a synthetic oil change last time.

 

I got a magnetic drain plug:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=46098

Haven't put it on yet, but quality seems good.

 

Anyone have a part number for that plug washer? I bought a Suredrain SD3 so I guess I'll only need 1.
TIA.

 

Get the oil filter from the dealer. I've always gotten the filter from the dealer with all my cars. I used to use fram all the time until someone told me it wasn't very good. Not sure if anyone's using any other brand.

Hey 350ed, how well does that "Sure Drain" plug work. I was kindy skeptic when I saw it. How well does it get all the oil out. Any leaks or any problems?

 

Oil Filter: Mobil 1 M-105

Tests have shown good flow rates and EXCELLENT filtration from the Mobil 1 filters. The M-105 is an oversized filter that reduces back pressure and results in better flow rates. It fits on the VQ35 just fine. The M-104 is the reccommended filter, but the M-105 has the same thread size and O-ring size, just a bigger filter.

 

Ares: They now have drain pans (rather than a bowl) that have a spout on one side. One can use that to pour the old oil back into the original plastic bottles....take the old bottles back to a disposal center without spilling or slopping.

If you use a floor jack it is much easier to make small wooden ramps which raise the car 3-4" off the ground.

I also ended up removing the plastic tray under the car. Its fairly useless for the kind of driving I do. I can always replace it if I need it. I don't think it has much value with regard to 'zero lift' unless I'm planning to drive over 130 mph.

 

cyberz350,
I haven't changed the oil yet. Probably in a month or so. I read some good reviews so I think it will save some time and mess. It's about $13 at Walmart.

 

holy hell!

I pay $30 @ walmart for my oil change using Mobil 1 synthetic. I watch them like hawks and always go to the same guy (he's a car fanatic and appreciates a nice car when he sees one. So I trust they do good work.)

 

I went to meineke, thought it was high, but their regular oil change was normal price(~20), Ive never used synthetic before, so I didnt know what the going price was.

Im fairly certain I over paid. live and learn, thats why Im doin it myself this time.

 

I posted about my magnetic drain plug, here's the results with pictures after ~2100 miles of driving.

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....640#post487640

 

I changed the oil this weekend... man, what the heck did Nissan do to tighten the oil filter so tight without stripping the threads??? I am usually able to remove most of my car oil filters by hand (with a lot strength, of course), but I even broke by oil filter wrench on this one!

I finally had to get my mallet and a screwdriver and put holes into the filter three times in order to get it loosened enough to get it off.

I forgot to buy a new washer for the plug, but it'll be okay this once (as all of my cars have never had oil leaks from non-replaced washers once or twice between oil changes). I'll take a trip to the Nissan dealership and buy like 20 of them soon.

 

All my Nissan's have had copper washers and not one of them ever leaked. I think its a waste to keep buying them. I would only buy them if I saw I needed one.

 

This washer appeared slightly different than others I've seen. It is a "double walled" washer that collapses into place upon tighting the oil plug.......I'm sure you could get away without buying a new one a couple of times, but for the .59 cents I'd just buy a handful and be done with it for a few years.

 

I guess for me, it is peace-of-mind. But yeah, I've had some cars that would rarely get a new washer and would never have leaks. I think I regard the Z more than the cars that I just mentioned not having changed the washer at all...

 

I'm a firm beliver in synthetic oils but my Nissan mechanic says not to use it until I get about 15000 mile on car because the valve stems are very hard and take awile to seat in. Also, manual says Nissan recomends mineral-based oils only. What's up with this?

 

I have changed my own oil twice thus far.

Removing the Shield is easy. I would recomend taking it off to work (more room) and putting it back on when your done. The whole process will add 5-10 min.

5 Quarts of oil

1 oil filter. I got mine from the dealer, it is the smallest oil filter I have ever seen (smaller then my Honda filter) but I double checked the numbers and it's the same as the filter installed from the factory. I also had trouble getting the factory installed filter off, they must have Godizilla put them on.

Plug washer is an interesting shape, copper, and compresses when tightened. When buying my filters @ the dealer he gave me a hand full (no charge) saying, "you'll need these".

One thing I have notced is the torque setting for the drain plug (24 - 29 ftlb I think) is not enough to fully seat the copper washer. First time I changed my oil I put it up the day after just to be sure (I'm parinoid out this car) and there was a slight trace of oil around the drain plug. I tightened VERY carfully by hand, rechecked the following day and had no further issues. Second oil change I followed that same tightening procedure and double checked it the next day, no problems.

That is my $0.02 on oil changes.

 

Sure glad it wasn't just me.

edit: (addition) my oil filter number was one number higher than the factory filter (ex: instead of 000, it was 001), but the box did indicate that my new filter was for the VQ35DE Z, so that sufficed me. I got the filter from Courtesy, and yes, it is smaller than the filter I have for my Civic (another small car).