Originally Posted by KnoxvilleG37

Because the answers are in that little book in your glove box called the "Owner's Manual".

But, I'll answer your questions:

1. If you don't have receipts for your maintenance, and you have an oil related failure....kiss your engine warranty goodbye. That's $8500 plus a crapload of labor costs.
2. Yes 5w30 is the recommended viscosity for our cars (in the owners manual). Using anything other than this is not recommended by Infiniti.
3. Yes, you are supposed to replace the drain plug washer with every oil change. (again, this is in the manual, and stated MANY times in the maintenance thread).

And, the reason I said "let the flaming begin", is because you own an Infiniti, not an "infinity".

Originally Posted by KnoxvilleG37

Because the answers are in that little book in your glove box called the "Owner's Manual".

But, I'll answer your questions:

1. If you don't have receipts for your maintenance, and you have an oil related failure....kiss your engine warranty goodbye. That's $8500 plus a crapload of labor costs.
2. Yes 5w30 is the recommended viscosity for our cars (in the owners manual). Using anything other than this is not recommended by Infiniti.
3. Yes, you are supposed to replace the drain plug washer with every oil change. (again, this is in the manual, and stated MANY times in the maintenance thread).

And, the reason I said "let the flaming begin", is because you own an Infiniti, not an "infinity".

Originally Posted by todd92

2. 5W-30 is no hard and fast rule. In fact, if I was tracking my car I would use a 40 weight or even 50

Originally Posted by Mike

How is using a thicker, heavier oil, designed for tolerances different from the VQ37, giving you additional protection?

Tracking the car is no harder in terms of engine load, than doing a high speed freeway run.

Originally Posted by todd92

Oil gets thinner as it gets hotter. Thin oil protects worse. Tracking is way harder than driving 100 mph on the freeway, oil engine temperatures are much higher with the lower speeds, higher rpm and repeated full throttle acceleration.

Originally Posted by Mike

Oil's viscosity does decrease as temperature rises.

However, you still havn't answered my question. Being at WOT is being at WOT. The load is the same, regardless of if the car is on a dyno, on the freeway, or at the track.

If oil get dangerously hot, this car is designed to go into limp mode to prevent the engine from being damaged. In addition, any oil, if too hot, is going to break down. If anything, coolant temperature should be the larger concern.

There is absolutely NO reason to run a heavier oil. The engine's tolerances are too tight.

Originally Posted by todd92

You do not drive WOT on the freeway, at least not for very long. Dyno runs aren't very long either. Both have large cooling airflow. If you don't understand that repeatedly accelerating from 30-60 to 100+ over and over again produces higher oil temperatures, I really can't explain much else to you.

Originally Posted by KnoxvilleG37

^^ Mobil 1 is "full synthetic" but not "100% synthetic".....there's a difference. Oil brands like Motul and Amsoil are 100% synthetic (completely man-made molecules). Oils like Mobil 1, Pennzoil Platinum, Castrol Syntec, etc, are highly refined versions of conventional "dino" oils with different additive packages to increase resistance to breakdown (these are known as Group III oils).....basically they help keep the oil from breaking down or shearing down over a much longer period of time. Mobil 1 is a fine oil, as are the others mentioned above. Remember, just because you use a synthetic oil, it doesn't mean you're allowed to go past 7500 miles between changes if you want to keep your factory warranty on your engine.

EDIT: Also I forgot to address the other part of your question about an oil change before 3750mi. YES, quite a few guys on here do an oil change anywhere from the first 200 miles to the first 1000 miles. Thought is that there are fine metallic particles from the engine floating around in the oil during the "engine break-in period", and that this initial factory fill should be drained around that time. YES, this is very OCD and you will be fine waiting til 3750 miles. But if you decide to do an early change during the break-in, there's nothing wrong with that either. I wish I would have, but I didn't know about it until after my first 3750 mile service.

Originally Posted by jran76

So, just to clear up a few comments in here... The VQ37VHR is different than any other VQ engine, or any other engine for that matter, in regards to the VVEL system. This is unlike any system used on any other car, and that is why the Ester oil is recommended by Nissan. I have always been a big supporter of synthetic oil, but I am not convinced that it is actually better for the VQ37VHR (in general, yes the synthetic is better, but there are some advantages on the VQ37VHR engine).

There are 2 main factors: 1) the DLC coating on our engine parts need the Ester for better protection, and 2) the nano-particles to reduce friction. Nissan is the first to use these "nano-particles" to aid in the reduction of friction. The nano-particles are essentially super small ball bearings in the oil that aid in the reducing friction on the DLC coated surfaces. There is also a section of the VVEL system that really needs this additional protection. The continual adjustment part of the system on the intake side rocks back and forth (a traditional variable valve setup will spin the entire assembly around), and therefore it does not get the type of lubrication that a variable valve drive system would normally get. This is where the "ticking" sounds comes in that some people have reported. This is also the reason Nissan recommends the Nissan Ester oil. It will resolve the issue, but it has to do with the combination of the Ester (which a lot of oils add), and the nano-particles that no other oil currently has (this is also what Nissan would really like to patent).

As I mentioned, I have always been big on decent synthetic oils, but I would like for someone to prove with more than the conventional evidence that the synthetics have the same advantages as the Nissan Ester oil on the VQ37VHR. The VVEL system in our cars is a whole new ballgame in terms of variable valve control, and the oil really is different than anything out there. I think everyone accepts that in general synthetics are better than conventional "dino" oil, but the Nissan Ester oil is far removed from being a traditional "dino" oil.