4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

You are probably ok changing it once a year due to the low mileage. I always change synthetic at least every 6 months just to get the dirt out (more often if I do a track day). I saw an ad yesterday for Mobil 1 that is supposed to be good for 15,000 miles or 1 year (I forget which). They used to have oil that was warrantied for 5,000, 10,000, or 15,000 miles. Not a bad idea if you are out of powertrain warranty.

You are right about the belt. I remember that as not being terribly fun.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

I saw a video of someone with a M35. They had all kinds of room, plus this long bolt that you turn to back of the auto-tensioner. We don't have either of those things, dammit.

But I'm not too worried. Looking at the belt closely myself, I don't see any shiny surfaces, or tiny little cracks in the rubber. It looks fine (to my untrained eye). Figure to be at the mechanic sometime in the next year at least, so it can wait until then. Besides, the Infiniti recommended maintenance on the serpentine belt is 60K miles.

I'm due for a brake fluid swap. Last time was 3 years and 17k miles ago. Same for transmission oil, which was 3 years and 16k miles ago. Now that I'm thinking about this, I should put these things on the list for this year sometime. Probably August or September. I've still got a couple of rear tires to buy.

And coolant fluid... maintenance schedules says 105K miles. Wow... I didn't know what. That's kind of amazing.

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

I know all the new Nissans (and I would assume all the new Infinitis) go 105k before you do spark plugs or coolant. That is one thing I really like about the Nissan VQ engine we have. They are pretty bullet proof, last a very long time, and require very little maintenance.

ZahyMatar

iTrader: (4)

I think it's funny when people go crazy about what oil to use on the VQ like it's some high maintenance engine like the BMW S85 V10.

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

I have yet to run into that, but it would be funny. I just get whatever synthetic is on sale at Advance Auto Parts since their sales are ridiculous.

I work at a Nissan store and we had a customer who was an engineer. He theorized that he did not ever need to change his Xterra oil because it would never break down. He made it to 73,000 miles and then seized his engine because he failed to take into account for dirt getting into the oil and the engine burning some oil over the years.

When I had an E46 M3 they wanted me to run some fancy Castrol oil that was about $16/quart at my employee cost. I think I did that for one oil change and then switched to Mobil 1.

The Maxima in '09 required really expensive Ester oil. In 2010, miraculously it did not need it anymore.

Baadnewsburr

iTrader: (3)

Funny you guys should mention the oil thing^^^^....I used to use royal purple thinking it was a decent midrange ester based oil (Which is avaiable cheap up in Canada) for probably 100k miles on my g with no issues....but once i got over 130 miles my top end began to get noisier and some research I did indicated that royal purple hasn't actually been ester based for some time...at least not what we get up in Canada...

Anyways, I'm sure it could be that the top end needs an expensive adjustment, but as a cheap fix I switched to redline a couple of oil changes ago after confirming its actually ester based...it actually made a very noticeable difference on my VQ35HR sound wise...its been much quiter since ...cant verify anything performance wise....now that I'm at over 143k miles I switched to Motul 300V about a week ago as apparently it runs these engines even quieter and is better for track days (tis the season!)..so far its about the same as the Redline, but I haven't really listened closely (with the Royal purple I could hear the top end clatter if I opened the window)...

it may all be placebo but I will say that as bullet proof as these cars are (I have never even burned a drop of oil!), in a harsh climate as we have up here things like hoses and plastic bits start to rot like a mo fo once you get into high mile/10 years territory...the good news is that almost everything is super easy to fix/replace on these cars and you almost never need a special tool to work on them

Baadnewsburr

iTrader: (3)

Have more faith in yourself....its really not that bad, I've changed my belt three or four times and have never needed to go through the bottom...you just remove the coolant over flow tank and slip a slim breaker bar to back off the tensioner....theres A metal loop you can slip an allen key into to to keep it unmentioned while you work the belt...takes about 15 mins...

the key is that you need a breaker bar slim enough to get in there...I use a regular one that just happens to be quite slim but they sell those serpentine removal tools at harbour freight for about $16 and all they are are super slim breaker bars.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

Just ordered two summer-only tires for the rear. I'm getting off the PSS bandwagon and going with something new... the Continental ExtremeContact Sport, 275/35ZR19

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...eContact+Sport

$525 shipped from TireRack.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Looking forward to your review when the time comes, would mean even more since you've spent a lot of time w/ those PSS.
BTW, loved the story of your neighbors "secret" Bricklin First time I saw one back in the early 70s it blew me away.

ZahyMatar

iTrader: (4)

Woooooooo, I've been loving mine. 255/40 square though

2GoRNot2G

iTrader: (5)

Nice tire choice. Really looking forward to your review on these, since I have a full set of them mounted and ready to install on my Porsche once I finish all the suspension work.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

I'm not really expecting much to review on. Point-for-point, they should be virtually identical to the PSS they're replacing. And on top of that, it's only the rear tires. I mean... if something is noticeably better or worse, I'll talk about it. But I've zero expectations there will be anything to report.



Tires arrive tomorrow. I'll probably have them mounted Friday or Saturday. The plan is to temporarily put my duckfeet on the rears, and drop the two rear Vossons and two loose tires off at the shop, so they can do it whenever, and I don't have to worry about them fcking with an impact gun on my lugnuts. I'll deal with proper wheel torque, thank you very much.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

It's so-o cool seeing these tires sitting on my deck when I came home last night. Big, meaty 275's, FTW.



Bye bye, PSS. You served me well for 14,000 miles.

2GoRNot2G

iTrader: (5)

Nice! Gotta love the smell of fresh rubber in the evening.


Just curious, but do your Extreme Contact Sports have "DW" molded into the tread? The "Sports" I recently bought do and so do the Extreme Contact DW's that I have. Tread looks almost identical too... Seems the only different between the two tires is the "Sport" on the sidewall.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

Yep.



They're on the car now. I just got back from some driving. The balance is good at all speeds, and so far I'm not sensing any difference between these and the PSS. Then again, it was rush hour, and I didn't do anything stupid (yet).