Oil question..

Discuss topics related to the VH41DE, VH45DE, VK45DE, and VK56DE engines.
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elwesso
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Car: 94 Infiniti Q45t 5 spd
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2007 Infiniti G35 S 6MT
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So i just did an oil change on the Q.. Maybe some of you saw my pictures in the Q45 forum, but of course I have the 5 speed in the Q45..

Anyway, when we did the swap we set the back of the trans about an inch lower than it would be factory, because the back of the trans doesnt clear the tunnel and we didnt want to make tunnel mods...

With the being said, when i check the oil level, it shows low, as expected since most of the oil is in the back of the pan.. Would you say it would be best to just base the oil level off where it is now, or add a quart to get it almost full in the front??

Since its tilted back, maybe it could hold a little more?


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SuperHatch
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You should add oil to get the sump submerged to the proper level.

The problem you will have is that the additional fluid hanging around in the back of the pan will most likely get beat up by the crank and you'll end up with additional windage losses and aerated oil that will lead to bearings that are beat to death.

Also, be prepared to drop that trans often to replace input shaft bearing and front gear syncros, hubs, sliders, etc.

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elwesso
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Why would the transmission being tilted along with the engine cause any decreased reliability in the trans? as far as i know its not uncommon for engines and transmissions to be mounted at an angle..

the engine and transmission are mounted flush so there is no angle from the line of the crank shaft to the line of the mainshaft in the trans.

_XLR8_
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I've had to do the same for the Patrol conversion, with the engine sitting at just under 10 deg, so would be interested in the outcome. I was going to add more oil to bring it up to the full mark but was also worried about excess oil at the rear near the crank. Specs say 5.2L and I have already put in 6 to get it to the low mark. As far as the engine/trans being on an incline effecting input shaft, bearings etc, should make no difference whatsoever. The engine and box are still mated correctly.

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elwesso
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Car: 94 Infiniti Q45t 5 spd
2007 BMW M Coupe
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Location: Indiana
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I wasnt really worried so much about the oil level, its merely a matter of logistics... The pickup for the oil is all the way at the bottom of the pan toward the middle, so as long as i know I put in 6 quarts then I know its gotta have plenty of oil...

My question is will the oil level get high enough when its slanted like that to actually go on the back part of the pan? that part is pretty shallow and i dont know if the static oil level would allow it to actually sit above that, and possibly go over the baffle plates.

I also wonder about how the drainback is affected.. On my setup with such a negligible difference (less than 5 degrees), the oil level shows up at just below half way on the hash marks, which would require about a half quart to bring it up to the full level..

For my setup, i daily drive it and ive put about 4000 miles on the setup, so I'd think by now (especialyl as hard as i drive it), something would have started showing a symptom by now.

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SuperHatch
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I wasn't implying that you mated the trans at an angle to the engine. The transmission is lubricated via splash lubrication by the gears sitting in an oil bath. When the trans is mounted at an angle, mode of the oil tends to sit at the rear end of the trans, and the lubricated parts at the front end of the transmission suffer increased wear. The greater the angle, the greater the effect.

I understand that cars often drive at 30* angles up hills and down hills, but the overwhelming majority of the time they are on flat surfaces. The system is engineered to work best at a level condition and in doing so it makes sacrifices for operating conditions outside of optimal. If you change the "norm" to one of these scenarios, increased wear over OEM intentions will be realized. You might only see life decreased by 5%, which is easily acceptable in your case, others might not accept that.

One thing you should consider is your assumption that you only lowered the rear of the transmission by 1" over what would be considered ideal. Just because your spacers are that large doesn't mean that the original Z mount would have been flush with the chassis at an ideal condiiton, it may have needed to be higher. Putting an inclinometer on the intake manifold before and after would have been the only way to get an accurate measurement of the change in angle.

I would be more concerned with your engine oiling situation than anything else. These engines have a tendancy to drain the sump already, measures should be taken to avoid situations that make that characteristic worse.


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