Ive been using 15w-50 Mobile 1 EP oil..is this ok, or should i go back to 10w-30?

 

oh yea, I live in houston, and drive very frequently

 

yea i live in florida now i gues what W u should use will be helpfull im in florida now and i just put syn 10w30 with the mobi filter. Used to use 5w30 in NYC.

 

Go with 10W30

 

I also use mobil one syn 5w30 in CT, if I moved to someplace not a freezing hell 8 months a year I'd use 10w30 syn.

 

It seems like several people were able to drain oil and change oil filter through the opening in the plastic cover, without having to remove it. While this may work, it sounds like it could potentially get messy, especially when removing the old oil filter.

I built some ramps (stagered/stacked 2x8s) and got under the Z for the first time last night. It looks like the oil drain plug is fairly easy to get to without having to remove the plastic shield/cover. The oil filter is a little more difcult to access through the opening without making a mess.

I am thinking about cutting the plastic shield to make a bigger opening. This would allow me to change oil and filter without having to remove the cover every time. Has anyone tried this? Seems like it should work fine.

 

in all of my cars during the summer, i've always used 5w-30 in my regular cars or 0w-40 (in the race car). in the winter, i like a heavier oil like 10w-30 in my regular cars, the thicker oil stays on the metal components better after i've shut the car off for a while.

 

Where can i get those washers for the drain plug? Can i use 1 washer maybe 2 or 3 times?

 

I was burning oil for the first two changes with Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W30. My father is an Oil salesman and researches the market and tells me to use 5W30. It went against legitimate internet information but I gave it a shot. I am at my 4th oil change and no oil burning. My last change last week I was at 5,500 miles and I notice the oil was beginning to get thin and warmed up faster meaning it didn't keep my engine stable or cool. I just switched to Royal Purple and notice it being much smoother and takes longer to warm up. I will stick to RP from now on. Also I didn't remove the 14 bolt cover and did the change quickly.

 

I was burning about a quart every few weeks until I switched to Royal Purple 5W-30. Now, it stays full. They claim you can go 10,000+ with this stuff, but I don't trust it. I changed early this last time to dyno but I'm going to wait about 5k.

 

sorry for the late response, but

performance nissan parts, and MAYBE but it's not worth it. they get paper thin when you reinstall the drain plug, and they're less than $0.50

 

It had better be OK, I have used 5W30 Mobil One for 31k miles - no issues, plus living in a cold climate (New England) I prefer it at least for Winter.

 

Yep, that's an easy one - yes use them again if you don't mind oil dripping around the bolt slowly, or no, splurge and get a bag of the things and don't drip on the garage floor

 

I just put a rag under the filter on top of the cover, let it catch any drips from removing the filter. I would not cut the cover.

Consider yourself lucky - my 2003 Z did not even come with an opening. I think it was something like 18 bolts to remove to change the oil...

 

If i'm not mistaken filling up the oil filter with oil before you installed it, would cause that bit off oil to completely bypass the filtration before it circulated through the engine. Have you ever looked in a bottle of oil. I've seen particles down there before, and i'm using mobil1 full synthetic.

 

If your Z is lowered and you prefer to do your own maintenance and don't wanna deal with jackstands, I recommend a set of Race Ramps. I just dicovered them.

They're light, durable and have a profile that lends itself well to just about any lowered sportscar.

They're a bit pricey (around $200) but they're well made and worth it for me since a few of my cars are pretty low.

 

Is 10w-40 good for the z? any one have pics of the underpanel and where the 14 bolts are located?

 

from the FSM:

SAE Viscosity Number
GASOLINE ENGINE OIL
SAE 5W-30 viscosity oil is preferred for all temperatures. SAE
10W-30 and 10W-40 viscosity oil may be used if the ambient
temperature is above -18°C(0°F)

So if it's not cold where u live, 5W-30 preferred for lower temp range.

other tidbits -
Oil pan drain plug:
: 34.3 N·m (3.5 kg-m, 25 ft-lb)

ENGINE OIL CAPACITY (APPROXIMATE)
Unit: (US qt, lmp qt)
Drain and refill
With oil filter change 4.7 (5, 4-1/8)
Without oil filter change 4.4 (4-5/8, 3-7/8)
Dry engine (Overhaul) 5.4 (5-3/4, 4-3/4)

keep in mind this based on '04, specs may have changed with the newer engine, but I doubt it.

The bolts are just all the 10mm ones you see under the car that hold on the big black hunk of plastic. If you don't have an access hole for the drain plug and filter, you have to remove the guard.

 

how many miles could one go on a KN Gold Oil Filter?

 

1 oil change, whatever your religion on that (~4k miles for me). Maybe a better filter, definitely beefy and have to love the nut stamped into the top, but other than using a good filter that may have higher flow rates and better filtration (maybe) you gain nothing in terms of reuse IMHO.

It's still the oil that limits usage, and I never reuse a filter for an oil change, so just be happy it's easy to replace and don't go cheap on your oil/filter changes.

I may get roasted for saying so, but I still think the OEM Nissan filter is very good, they at least have good quality and QC, I never see them leak out of the box or some other the other weird things I see with FRAM and others. Unless you have built out the engine, just get a good filter and change it 1:1 with the oil.