You can do your own. It's pretty easy. The hardest part, believe or not, is removing the lower plastic diffuser. It has something like 12 screws and 1 plastic tab.

nissan really made oil changing easy on the Z. The drain plug + oil filter is the not blocked by anything and there's plenty of room to navigate around. oh yeah, there's a special crush washer for the oil drain which needs to be changed every 2 times. You can buy the washers (and OEM filters) from Courtesy Nissan.

word of advice though... get a larger capacity oil pan. I got this small Blitz pan which is good for 4 quarts and the Z dumps about 5 quarts so my container gets uncomfortably full and makes pouring a delicate procedure.

 

black? Dan what are you doing..that doesnt sound too healthy given low mileage between changes?

 

Yeah. I dunno. Doesn't your oil turn black by 3k?

 

please, please check out this site for ALL oil questions:
www.bobistheoilguy.com
there is a link to a great forum that discusses nothing but oil. diff oil, deisel oil, gear oil, small engine, 2-cycle, etc. Half the site is petroleum engineers and many, many, many reviews and tests have been done on all kinds of filters and oil in different engines. Several have posted there tests on the VQ35 at varous miles. If you're not interested or lazy, I'll tell you the simple answer though- test your oil. his is the only way to know which is working best and how long to change it. I am going for 10,000 miles right now before my next change. Blackstone Labs did my last test and this interval should be fine, and I will have them test the next batch to verify. I use M1 0W-40. it is excellent. The only oil I'd choose over it is rare and hard to find here in the states, Castrol Syntec 0W-40 imported from Europe, the Castrol NA division sells crap for the money. Again, more facts and info than you could ever possibly want on these and just about every brand of oil at this forum. Enjoy.
Edit: the European spec Castrol is known as German Castrol xW-whatever in case someone wants to search on it.

 

not really its more like a clear brownish color at that interval how many miles on the car and when did you consider your car broken in before you started driving hard?

 

No. I've never had it turn black before, and I use Mobile 1 5W-30. At 3K, I always changed my MR2T's oil and filter, it never turned black even before I changed to synthetic.

 

Yeah. I used the standard jack last time because my ramps kept moving back as I tried to drive up them and I'm not quite sure where it is acceptable (which spot) to jack up the car using my two ton jack.

One of the best things about doing your own is not having to schedule an appointment, not having to wait, and not having to go during work hours (none of the dealers near me have a service dept that is open on weekends). Oh, and the rewarding experience that you get with bonding with your Z is the ultimate plus.

 

You can't tell a damn thing based on the color of the oil. The fact is, the oil's job is to suspend carbon and other soot to prevent sludge in the engine. If the oil stays clear too long, I seriously doubt the abilities of it, and wonder about the quality of base stocks used. The only way to know when an oil has been used beyond its abilities and life, is to have it tested, an analysis costs about $12 and contains a wealth of information about your engine and oil.

 

....ok thanks just tell the last person with the starbucks cafe mocha appearance oil to not worry

 

I just switched to Syn, Mobil 1 and will do an oil change just like if it was regular oil.