Oil Use '02-'04 M45s?

[Mark Linkous]

Not if you are still under warranty.

[myother45isalesbaer]

My understanding this engine is the same as that in the Q. I know several people who have or had Q's and they tell me this motor is almost bullet proof. Haven't heard one bad story yet. Many stories about them going past 200K and still running strong.

After taking a look at the exhaust system I wonder how long all those cats and mufflers are going to survive and the cost to repair the system from front to back. A lot of it looks like stainless steel, but certain pieces don't.

Oh well, have to go see if that rev limiter still works.

Does anyone know where I can buy a factory shop manual?

[szh]

Does anyone know where I can buy a factory shop manual?

Don't need to ... see here: zerothread/243992 ... in the stickies in this forum!

Z

[myother45isalesbaer]

Excellent. Many thanks.

[szh]

A few other things I would mention inre oil.

1. In general, worrying about whether to use synthetic or dino, is less important than making sure you change your oil often enough that the engine sees clean stuff regularly. Do it every 3750 miles with either a full synthetic (almost any brand - I use Mobil 1 0W-40), or a good dino (Castrol GTX 5W-30 is what I would recommend), and you will be perfectly fine.

2. Remember to change the filter every time too!

3. If you want to get the benefit of both oil "worlds", use a synthetic blend. Or blend it yourself! For example, you could use 3 quarts of Mobil 1 Synthetic 0W-40 (or 5W-30) and 3 quarts of Castrol GTX 5W-30 and you would be fine! You could also change that ratio easily yourself too.

Z

[szh]

The 03-04 M45 is a Nissan Gloria(asian market).

And the Nissan Cedric.

The numbers are elsewhere in the forum, Z has them, but approximate build #s were 5000 03 and 1800 04s

Yup. In here: zerothread?id=191187. I really, really need to find time to update the charts though ... soon!

Z

[myother45isalesbaer]

You are 100% correct as far as I am concerned. I am new to the site so I jumped in on the oil change issue. To be honest, I don't care what oil you use. I am good with regular oil mainly because my M is doing a 50/50 city highway and I like to make my changes more often. Thats my choice and its working well for me. I have spent hours bantering the pros and cons of syn vs regular oil with many mechanics. I am now done with those discussions and want to move on. I am going to run regular oil. End of that story.

I would like to hear more about how to make this bad boy sleeper perform better and how are we all going to make sure it gets into the classic status it deserves. What do you think? Lets end the oil talk....its getting boring.

[GJEMD]

[QUOTE=szhosain]

And the Nissan Cedric.

Z being the resident hair splitter, I must say the Gloria and Cedric were of the same platform. Cedric was a taxi the Gloria a luxury car. I'll stand by my original statement.

[MinnyQ]

On the long term reliability of Infiniti exhaust systems, I gotta tell you that only last week did I touch the pipes -- to replace a section that HAD NOT RUSTED but had been "cut" by a rusting hangar. $200. No big deal. Cats and mufflers still solid ... on a '95 Q with 272K in ... corrosive salt-drenched Minnesota. I am impressed. Which is why I'm considering an M45 even with $3 gas. The M, as I read it, is 400 to 600 pounds lighter than my Q.

Someone mentioned the styling. My beef is with the long rear overhang ... and the usual small trunk, with no pass through possibility. (The gas tank!).

But considering the very long term reliability of the one I own and the length of time the M/Gloria was built in japan, I'm betting the long-term is as good with that one.

[myother45isalesbaer]

Thats all good info I like to hear. My brother in-law is in Brainard. I don't get anywhere near as much salt, etc. as you guys do. He's motoring around in another of my favorites......an SHO.

Yes.......the trunk is a little small. No pass through can be annoying for anyone who wants to get any items over 4-5 feet into the trunk. I am assuming you are a skier.

I really have no complaints so far. I like the car alot. Just noticed the tach is bouncing. I almost wonder if its worth the effort to take it back to the dealer. They worry me that they will do more damage to fix it than the repair is worth.

Do not like to say this.......but my local Infiniti dealer is more into Starbucks Power Sales Meetings than servicing what he sold yesterday.

So.....what's the scoop on the heated seats. Mine feel cold all the time. Another dealer repair?? I am still under warranty but going to my dealer scares me.

[A1A ANDY]

Hey, I found this site just a couple of days ago looking for how many M45's were brought into the USA from 02-04. The answer is about 7,000 total. Go to Nissanusa. com and go to sales figures. The last month of December of 04, only 120 M45 were sold in the whole country! I have a 03 Silver M45 with the chrome option. This is my second M. I sold the first one when I relocated cross country. My first one had blue smoke on the start up if it sat for a couple of days. This one doesn't. This one sometimes has a tiptronic issue and I lose the programming on my radio, and only 35,000 miles, but I LOVE this car! I'll have pictures soon.

[szh]

Hey, I found this site just a couple of days ago looking for how many M45's were brought into the USA from 02-04. The answer is about 7,000 total. Go to Nissanusa. com and go to sales figures. The last month of December of 04, only 120 M45 were sold in the whole country! I have a 03 Silver M45 with the chrome option. This is my second M. I sold the first one when I relocated cross country. My first one had blue smoke on the start up if it sat for a couple of days. This one doesn't. This one sometimes has a tiptronic issue and I lose the programming on my radio, and only 35,000 miles, but I LOVE this car! I'll have pictures soon.

Welcome to NICO!

I have the Infiniti sales figures cleanly charted in this thread: zerothread?id=191187. I just need to update it soon ... will do shortly.

The data at Nissanusa.com requires you to click all over the press-releases.

Z

[myother45isalesbaer]

You are making me happy. I think the 2003-2004 M45's have classic written all over them. Low sales numbers can help that be true. Funny story about the M's. I was pushing mine hard up the Merritt Parkway here in CT and someone was gaining on me all the time. The Merritt is a curvy, nasty road to drive at high speeds. So about another 20 minutes of this goes on, but I am focused on driving and looking out for the cops as I was doing well in excess of the speed limit. This other car I had been watching in my review mirror finally catches up to me and passes me well in excess of the 80-90mph I was doing. What was it............another M45 in a bigger hurry than me. Its the only other M45 I have seen in CT. It made me feel good to see another one well driven. I was going to let him run blocker for me, but he was doing speeds I just wasn't up to dealing with at the time.

Blue smoke is generally oil consumption due to bad rings, valve guides and anything else that lets the oil get into the combustion chambers. Somewhat surprised to hear that about the M's engine. But I did have a similiar problem with my Yamaha built SHO motor. It didn't seem to have any impact on performance or oil consumption.

Wish I could help you on the trans and radio issues. Have not had those problems so far.

My opinion............don't sell the M until we see what happens with prices for them over the next couple of years. Today I think they are selling way too low. I was actually thinking about scouting out a few clean ones and buying them as "futures". Interest rates stink and the stock market is not doing much better. They seem to me to a great bargain today.

[MinnyQ]

The heated seats on my aged Q still work just fine. Good and toasty. I just had to sink $600 into a new radiator. But 13 years and 274K seems like a reasonable lifespan for that piece of equipment.