G37 Owners Must Read!!!

[jhmcastle]

i just bought a 05 G35X and had an oil change done at my local nissan dealer. they put in mobil1 synthetic into my car. that was what they recommended to use now in the winter. I live in canada by the way and for the last week its been like -30 to -35 degrees celsius. i wud be interested to know if i could run the oil you guys are talking about or if its even available up here. my car has 24000 miles on it rite now so would it be a good idea to switch?

[Focusedintntions]

I just bought 5 quarts of this stuff...i'll let you know how it works after i get it in tomorrow.

[johne68]

we live over 100 miles from the nearest nissan dealership; we found out about the "need" to use this oil after taking our 6 months old g37 back to the dealership to correct some minor glitches and get our "first oil change is free" oil change; note... we had one oil change performed using normal pennzoil motor oil between purchase & this oil change;

there was no mention of this "use only this oil" situation when we purchased the vehicle.

now i'm in the predicament of how best to deal w/ the situation.taking the car back & forth to st. louis for oil changes will be a pain in the a**;NOT using the recommended oil is not something i care to do.

am trying to get in touch w/ the service department of the dealership to see if i can order a supply of oil from them.

does anyone else know where i can purchase a supply of this oil?

[SteveTheTech]

jhmcastle- I tried to send you an email about this but your email in your profile doesn't work???

Johne68- If you cannot get it online as I have not been able to find any at this point, try a premium synthetic. In lue of driving extremely out of your way for an oil change, you should be able to get away with using a high quality synthetic. Something along the lines on Mobil 1 without any noise. There are a few instances of noise from using dyno/regular synthetic but from what I have seen over the past few months of regularly servicing 3.7s those who use M1 and other high quality synthetics have had minimal to no noticeable noise, or performance loss from the drivers point of view. I don't know about long term concerns at this point it may be too soon to make a call.

Many of the guys here use M1 and other premium oils which should provide sufficient lubrication. There are reasons to use the ester and the engines were designed to use them. However, I do not think that Nissan worked out the details and logistics of supplying enough specialty oil for several models. It's a pretty decent Fail on their part and I sincerely hope they resolve their issues as this is only the beginning of many specialty products.

Given the current trend toward alternative fuels and eco-friendly design some manufacturers are using Urea injected diesels that have a fluid injected into the exhaust stream to burn off NoX. I know nothing of the commercial availability of Urea additive but I'm thinking you can't go to Autozone and get more, when you need a refill. The same applies to Hydrogen vehicles, they don't use combustion engines and I can imagine everything on these emerging vehicles will require all kinds of specialty fluids and products, not to mention service. It seems that the days of most DIY projects may be drawing to a close.

[G37 Man]

Steve

I had my G37 in this past week and was told the Ester Oil is required and the notice was sent out in August of 08.

I was told the 08,09 G37 and FX are in that category.

What gives,are they saying if I use 5-30w oil other than Ester Oil I could have a problem if a problem arises while I am under warranty for the G37?

I told the SM,I was real ticked off that after buying the car this comes up.I knowput the Ester Oil but at $16 a QT and the fact it forces me only to go to an Infiniti dealer is just not right.

[SteveTheTech]

There is no legal way they can require you use their oil after you have already purchased the car. As this thread covers using a premium oil should suffice. I personally feel that acceleration is smoother and faster with ester, that might be in my head I have no numbers.

[Sentientbydesign]

Steve,

Regarding the Urea, just pee in a cup and separate the Urea from the rest of the urine . It's interesting to note that Urea is a natural byproduct of urine. The cosmetic industry has been using a synthetic form of it for "softening skin". Now the auto industry uses it to satisfy the EPA. What's next?

I'll be doing some research in the coming week to find out which mainstream synthetics are Ester based and what the general concensus is. I'll also start doing oil analysis with one of the reputable labs to see what's really going to be helping out our Niconaughts and what's just a 5 qt jug of ...

[Poyzinous]

Ester oil should be $12 or $13 a quart at every dealer. And they will do a standard oil change unless you request Ester. If you plan on keeping your car for more than 8 oil changes, use ester oil.

[G37 Man]

are

Ester oil should be $12 or $13 a quart at every dealer. And they will do a standard oil change unless you request Ester. If you plan on keeping your car for more than 8 oil changes, use ester oil.

are you saying Synthetic Motor oil is not as good as Ester oil and that you should get rid of the car after 8 oil changes?

Because if that is the case,that should have been discussed before buy the car.

[SteveTheTech]

Not to sound snappy but that's pretty much what the thread was about. I was advising owners who want to take the best care of their 37 that there is a new product that the engine was designed to use. Poyzinous is just giving you some more information.

NO your car will not blow up, and no we are not having this debate again.

It's something each owner will have to make a decision on. Some people find the price unacceptable, others realize that the tires average $300+/ea and air filters are ~$20/ea, it is not really a budget ride.

[Poyzinous]

Touche, salesman.

Steve makes a necessary point. You can use whatever oil you want in your G35 or G37. Mobil 1. Quaker State Q. Castrol Syntec. Canola(although its better suited for bakery fresh products). The main thing is, does your car deserve $13 a quart oil? That depends. Did you pay nearly 40 G's for something you plan to cherish and drive? Or did you pay that money for a car you want to use to show less fortunate people you're an undeserving j@ckhole who likes glitter in his hair and caviar in his ranch dressing? If I had a G, I wouldn't think twice about using Ester Oil. Get it together. Want another comparison? (some people apparently like them) If you have an HDTV decorating your wall, do you pay a little extra for HD programming? And pay a little extra for Blu Ray? Or do you have it connected to rabbit ears and wadded up balls of aluminum with a VCR?

[Jacko3]

Poyzinous:

Another interesting response! Well said!

[G37 Man]

Not to sound snappy but that's pretty much what the thread was about. I was advising owners who want to take the best care of their 37 that there is a new product that the engine was designed to use. Poyzinous is just giving you some more information.

NO your car will not blow up, and no we are not having this debate again.

It's something each owner will have to make a decision on. Some people find the price unacceptable, others realize that the tires average $300+/ea and air filters are ~$20/ea, it is not really a budget ride.

Steve

I appreciate your comments on this issue,but my question is one of did the early production G37's shipped before 08 have the Ester oil in them or not?

If not why? I can accept the fact when a Mfg tells me the car was shipped with Synthetic oil say Mobil 1 and that is what you should use,I don't mind paying the money.High end cars demand high end expenses,no problem!

But don't tell me almost a year later hey use this oil because we have seen some problems that the Ester oil corrects with your engine again this is for the G37 owners.

By the way I believe in changing oil at 3,000 miles synthetic or any other oilthat my car calls for and the key is calls for when I purchased the car.

By the way This is not designed to be a war amongst G owners .

[SteveTheTech]

ASIK they did indeed come factory filled with ester. They noticed the noise on a few early ones that had early oil changes and people noticed the noise from the B2 VVEL actuator. Normal operation was verified and the software adjustment adapts the idle parameters to accomodate the use of non ester type oils.

Please bear in mind that everything that I say here is merely my opinions and observations.

[G37 Man]

aga[QUOTE=SteveTheTech]ASIK they did indeed come factory filled with ester. They noticed the noise on a few early ones that had early oil changes and people noticed the noise from the B2 VVEL actuator. Normal operation was verified and the software adjustment adapts the idle parameters to accomodate the use of non ester type oils.

Please bear in mind that everything that I say here is merely my opinions and observations.

Steve

Again I appreciate your comments and opinions and that is why I joined the NICO Club to be informed on how best to care of my G.

[SloPoke4life]

Hey y'all.. new to the board.

I just got a 09 G37S and am confused here. Any help would be appreciated.

Someone posted earlier that their dealer told them not to use ester oil for the break in period. It is my understanding that ester oil is what came in the G from the factory. I plan on changing my oil with ester at 1500.. i got 600 miles to get a legit educated answer.. help me.

My buddy is a mechanic with infiniti and he said to use ester. I got another mechanic buddy who thinks I should use conventional oil for the break in period. So tell me who is right. Thanks in advance!!

[Poyzinous]

I dont know why they are telling you NOT to use ester. The engine is designed to run with ester oil. Stay with it. Ester will actually be better for break in as it will clean and collect better than regular oil, which is important during break in.

[riceqx2]

MY 0.02 cents...

I spent this entire weekend trying to buy a new G37x, and at one dealer that I visited, while I was waiting, I walked into the parts dept. and asked the parts salesperson if Ester oil was required and he indicated that it wasn't required and Ester is not what they use... FWIW; BMW requires engine oil (7qts.!) with the 'LL' designation (LL=Long life). That oil costs $7.00/qt. BMW recommends 15k miles between oil changes...

[G37 Man]

After doing the research,I am going Mobil1. I was about to go RP but noticed their API being SL the G37 calls for SM which Mobil 1 has listed as well as SL on their label.

[pfarmer]

There is no legal way they can require you use their oil after you have already purchased the car. As this thread covers using a premium oil should suffice. I personally feel that acceleration is smoother and faster with ester, that might be in my head I have no numbers.

I did an oil change using Ester at about 13500 on my 08 XS. I figured if this stuff is better lubrication wise that this may translate into better mpg.

Now it is possible that other factors (such as summer blend gas, etc) have come into play but over the last 1000 miles I am now getting 23.0 where I was getting 21.9 . My target was 1 mpg . I figured this would easily pay for the difference between a $120 oil change and one costing about $50. My plan is doing oil changes at 5k although I believe this is probably twice as often as needed. Part of this reasoning is to make sure I am ahead of the curve of a 7500 schedule for warranty purposes, part is 5k is easy to remember, and part is due to making sure the oil filter is changed often enough even if the oil chemistry is still good.

Some studies show that changing the oil filter is the key. That modern oils in modern engines can go as much as 25k without issues with the oil itself. I figured that this may be where the magic number of 15k comes into play with BMW. We of course can not easily do oil analyses so we rely on some other magic time or mileage periods.

I believe in using a filter with anti drainback features and with a bypass.

To me the issue with the bypass is that oil flow is better than no oil flow in a street car with average drivers. However because it is a street car there is no easy way to sense bypass mode so the best insurance is to do frequent enough changes using a quality filter. On a new car with average drivers 10 k is probably fine but 5 k pretty much guarantees it. Sensing bypass is actually fairly easy to do but configuration basically would require adapting something like an external oil cooler adapter for the job.

I also believe most could benefit from a partial bypass filter which will filter much finer particles. The drawback being that any failure of the engine can instantly escalate into a full blown event before an average driver senses anything occurring.

So back to the Ester, from what I have seen so far, at $12 a quart I believe it should be a break even procedure (based on standard oil change prices) and it stands to reason if what I have seen so far holds true should pay off in the long run in longevity.

Perry

[lucasnlee]

A pretty good thread about oil here:

LINK EDITED BY MOD>>DO NOT POST LINKS TO COMPETING FORUMS

I just called my local Infiniti service and they do not use ester as their standard oil, they use Shell 5W-30. They said they only use ester on engines that are making the knocking sound some have complained about. I was suprised to hear they use plain regular old oil if ester is supposed to be used in our engines. I have an 09 G37S coupe and wish there was just a straight foward answer to keep the engine running good. I've heard pretty good things about Penzoil Platinum, but it doesn't have ester so who knows???

[Potomac-Greg]

A pretty good thread about oil here:

LINK EDITED BY MOD>>DO NOT POST LINKS TO COMPETING FORUMS

I just called my local Infiniti service and they do not use ester as their standard oil, they use Shell 5W-30. They said they only use ester on engines that are making the knocking sound some have complained about. I was suprised to hear they use plain regular old oil if ester is supposed to be used in our engines.

You really have to look past what dealers say or do. They will buy bulk oil, non-synthetic, and dump it into cars that require synthetic. I've had 20W50 dino oil pumped into a twin-turbo Audi by a dealership, in the middle of winter! I've had an Audi dealer add "Z-max" (aftermarket fraud) in the oil without even asking me.

You have to be your own advocate and manage what they do. Same thing with so-called "scheduled service." They make up the intervals and insert senseless tasks. Spend 45 minutes with your owners manual and make sure the dealer stick to what it says.

[lucasnlee]

I

You really have to look past what dealers say or do. They will buy bulk oil, non-synthetic, and dump it into cars that require synthetic. I've had 20W50 dino oil pumped into a twin-turbo Audi by a dealership, in the middle of winter! I've had an Audi dealer add "Z-max" (aftermarket fraud) in the oil without even asking me.

You have to be your own advocate and manage what they do. Same thing with so-called "scheduled service." They make up the intervals and insert senseless tasks. Spend 45 minutes with your owners manual and make sure the dealer stick to what it says.

I decided to go with Penzoil Platinum and puralotor pure one oil filter. If my engine ever knocks I'll switch to ester but not problems so far.....

[lucasnlee]

[QUOTE=lucasnlee]A pretty good thread about oil here:

LINK EDITED BY MOD>>DO NOT POST LINKS TO COMPETING FORUMS

I just called my local Infiniti service and they do not use ester as their standard oil, they use Shell 5W-30. They said they only use ester on engines that are making the knocking sound some have complained about. I was suprised to hear they use plain regular old oil if ester is supposed to be used in our engines. I have an 09 G37S coupe and wish there was just a straight foward answer to keep the engine running good. I've heard pretty good things about Penzoil Platinum, but it doesn't have ester so who knows???[/QUOT

^^^ If there is good info relating to our cars and engines other than this forum it is very silly not to be aloud to share it...

[kmckis1029]

^^^ If there is good info relating to our cars and engines other than this forum it is very silly not to be aloud to share it...

has to do with advertising money... i would assume... makes since to me...

im do for an oil change... i use RP... i will be calling the nissian dealer next week and asking about this ester oil... i want the best in my G35x...

[G37 Man]

I have gone the way of Mobile 1 for my G37 and just recently to Mobil 1 EP.from what I can tell there is an increase in performance and better MPG using the Synthetic oil.This also could be because of breaking in as the car has only 18k miles on it at this time.

I was averaging about 19+ MPG on regular oil for first 12.5k milesUsing Standard Mobil 1 Synthetic about 21+ MPG changed to at 12.5K

switched to Mobil 1 EP which has been in for less than 1k miles 23+ MPG changed at 18K miles.

same driving habits mixed highway and non highway.

[SteveTheTech]

So it's been several months since many of us have visited this topic. Since my last posting here I have started to try ester oil in many other applications in varying dosages. In the last month or so a buddy of mine came to me with an 06 M35 with ~30k that sits while he travels on business he does not like the rattling noise on initial startup after a few days of sitting. So we tried a quart of ester, two months later he just reported back that he has yet to hear the noise.

In my shop we had a VQ37VHR replaced (non warrantable insurance claim, sorry no further information allowed) after the tech was done I took the valve covers off to take a look for my own sake. Under the valve covers lies a suprisingly complex setup that (in this car that had only ester) there was a small layer of oil coating everything. It was a bit strange and we (as a shop) all stood around for a while investigating further, as would any group of skeptics. There "appeared" to us, in our casual observations, that there was something differrent about this stuff.

Today I changed the oil in my wifes Acura rsx with a KA20 that has a bit of a valve train tick on cold startups that I don't like. Instead of following Acuras 5,000 mile service interval I change it at 3750 with tier 1 synthetic always. This time I did a few things differently and have seen instant results that seem an improvement. Instead of the OE Honda filter I used a 9E000 Nissan filter and 2qts or ester mixed with 2.5 qts of M1. The first startup was much smoother than I have heard that car start since it was new (6 years and 58k ago). Time will be the judge of what happens. In order to have a completely blind test supject I have not informed the wife that anything is different this time, we'll see if she notices anything different.

Ester may be worth the price to some it may not to other. Everyone is a little different. To some it makes sense for the piece of mind if nothing else, I am one of those. Here is to the true car enthusiast.

[Poyzinous]

ESTER FTW!!!

[Potomac-Greg]

The thread is still alive!!!I wanted to put in my 2 cents on the warranty issue. There was a statement earlier that use of anything other than the ester oil would threaten your warranty. Based on my reading of my documentation, that is just not the case. The ester oil is recommended not required. Oddly, the objective standard cited for the oil is actually fairly low (API). Other cars I own and owned (German) have very specific manufacturer-specific standards. My wife's Benz diesel has a rating that only TWO motor oils commonly sold in the US actually have.

I would have NO guilt or hesitation to use a first quality, full synthetic in 5W30 or 0W30 in my G37. But if the Magic Ester Oil is not significantly more pricey, and I can pick it up nearby, I'll use that.

[Poyzinous]

True, ester is recommended, not required. But once Mobil and Quaker and maybe Pennzoil have their own esters on the market, ester type will probably become a requirement for future vehicles. I'm using exclusively ester in Dad's EX35. Its good stuff.