maintenance tips?
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maintenance tips?
Hello just purchased.. 71k miles flawless condition.. anyone had tips for the vehicle id much appreciate it.. the last owner used conventional oil, I personally like synthetic. Will there be an issue going from conventional to synthetic oil? What brand and weight oil do you recommend (las Vegas)? Oil filter? Any recalls? Anything I should be careful about? How's your g35 been treating you? How often to change tranny oil? Anything would help... thanks
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Thanks. I been researching, I'm thinking of going mobil 1 full synthetic 10w-30.
Mobil 1 formula does not help, and may even make things worse. German Castrol formula is the way to go here.
If you purchased your new ride from a private party ask them if the 60K mile service was performed or visit you local Infiniti dealership and see if they have any records of it be done. Nissan suggests changing all fluids every 30K miles, in your area if would be a great idea to change your trans fluid once a year. Since the previous owner used Dino oil, Mobil 1 would work fine for the first two oil changes that I'd do every 2K miles. From there using WIX oil filters and AMSOIL 10W/30 will keep your coupe running great for years to come. Google search AMSOIL dealers in the Vegas area. Great looking coupe, enjoy the ride!
Gary
Gary
Here...
-Change your MT Gear oil (in my opinion replacing it with factory Nissan MTF from a Nissan dealaership since it's cheaper than Infiniti for the same stuff).
-Change your Differential Gear Oil with something high end such as Amsoil Synthetic
-Change your motor oil with a nice synthetic oil... German Castrol or Amsoil are some of the better ones. Some people have had bad results with Mobil-1, so I'd recommend avoiding that. I'll warn you right now that oil changes in our cars take a long time because the engine under-cover is held on by something like 19 or 20 screws and you usually want to remove this to do the oil change without spilling oil all over it.
-Pop open the airbox and check out the condition of your intake air filter. If it's dirty, you might want to replace it with something nice like an Amsoil EA-Nanofiber drop-in replacment air filter. I don't recommend using a K&N as they let a TON of dirt through.
-Check the pad thickness on your Brembo Brake pads. Rotors for the Brembo system are extremely expensive and you don't want to have to unnecessarily replace them due to your pads wearing out and grinding on the rotors.
-Lube up all of your door hinges including the trunk and hood. Pay extra special attention to really working it into the hood hinges as these things are known to freeze up and do serious damage to the side panels when trying to open the hood while the hinges are frozen. Use White Lithium grease for this.
-You're starting to get close to Spark-Plug replacement territory, although the recommended interval is 100K, so just something to keep in mind for the near future. When you change the plugs, keep an eye out for oil in your spark plug tubes and on the plugs. The Valve Covers/gaskets are known to fail and leak on these cars as a result of the material that the manufacturer opted to use for the valve covers.
-Keep your ears alert and listen for any clicking noises from your rear axle as you take off from a stop. This is a common problem that can be easily remedied with an hour or two of time and a container of grease.
-Take a look at the inside edges of your front tires. Our cars wear out/feather the inside edges of tires way prematurely and you'll eventually start to notice a weird noise and slight vibe as you drive down the highway on worn front tires. This isn't real obvious at first glance unless you know to look on the inner edges of the tires.
-Don't plan on getting much longevity out of the stock Bose multi-disk CD-player. The CD unit usually starts to fail internally, rendering CD-playing almost useless. The rest of the system will function fine though for playing the AM/FM radio or tapes.
-Wash the whole car and throw a nice coat of wax on it. Make sure you also wax the headlights. Try to regularly wax them actually... they are prone to fading, oxidation and yellow discoloration. Also hand wash and wax the metal on the inside of the engine bay with a wet rag and throw a coat of wax on that to prevent rust buildup in there and make future grime removal easier. Don't spray a hose into the engine bay though... just wash and rinse everything by hand.
-Try not to use your Fog lights unless it's foggy out. The heat from them always being on will eventually crack the inner reflective housing that separates the main head light beam from the fog-light beam, resulting in an S-shaped crack visible to the naked eye when you look down from above into the headlight while standing in front of the vehicle and leaning over the hood.
-Wash and wax your rims and the Brembo calipers. It helps make brake dust removal easier with a coat of wax on them and they'll look nicer.
-These cars have an in-cabin air filter that is in the dashboard behind the Glove Compartment. If you notice any stinky smells or lack of airflow from the blower unit, you might want to change it out.
-Lube up the tracks on your power seats liberally with White Lithium grease and try to avoid unnecessarily moving them up and back, as the plastic gears that drive the seats are very prone to failure.
-Try to avoid using the Auto-up feature on the power windows as this can often lead to premature failure of the unit and the window will roll-up all the way and then start rolling down again rather than staying closed. The motors eventually fail in the windows anyways if you use them a lot.
-You didn't mention where you're from.... but if it's snowy/icy, or just really cold there, be aware that these cars are not very good in those conditions, particularly when equipped with a stock/summer tire.
-Make sure your spare tire exists in the trunk, is inflated and the car has a jack in the trunk along with the associated tools to remove the lug nuts and turn the jack. It's a crappy situation to be in when you get a new car and don't find out that the car is either missing a jack, tools, or spare tire until you have a flat on the side of the road some cold winter night.
-Change your Differential Gear Oil with something high end such as Amsoil Synthetic
-Change your motor oil with a nice synthetic oil... German Castrol or Amsoil are some of the better ones. Some people have had bad results with Mobil-1, so I'd recommend avoiding that. I'll warn you right now that oil changes in our cars take a long time because the engine under-cover is held on by something like 19 or 20 screws and you usually want to remove this to do the oil change without spilling oil all over it.
-Pop open the airbox and check out the condition of your intake air filter. If it's dirty, you might want to replace it with something nice like an Amsoil EA-Nanofiber drop-in replacment air filter. I don't recommend using a K&N as they let a TON of dirt through.
-Check the pad thickness on your Brembo Brake pads. Rotors for the Brembo system are extremely expensive and you don't want to have to unnecessarily replace them due to your pads wearing out and grinding on the rotors.
-Lube up all of your door hinges including the trunk and hood. Pay extra special attention to really working it into the hood hinges as these things are known to freeze up and do serious damage to the side panels when trying to open the hood while the hinges are frozen. Use White Lithium grease for this.
-You're starting to get close to Spark-Plug replacement territory, although the recommended interval is 100K, so just something to keep in mind for the near future. When you change the plugs, keep an eye out for oil in your spark plug tubes and on the plugs. The Valve Covers/gaskets are known to fail and leak on these cars as a result of the material that the manufacturer opted to use for the valve covers.
-Keep your ears alert and listen for any clicking noises from your rear axle as you take off from a stop. This is a common problem that can be easily remedied with an hour or two of time and a container of grease.
-Take a look at the inside edges of your front tires. Our cars wear out/feather the inside edges of tires way prematurely and you'll eventually start to notice a weird noise and slight vibe as you drive down the highway on worn front tires. This isn't real obvious at first glance unless you know to look on the inner edges of the tires.
-Don't plan on getting much longevity out of the stock Bose multi-disk CD-player. The CD unit usually starts to fail internally, rendering CD-playing almost useless. The rest of the system will function fine though for playing the AM/FM radio or tapes.
-Wash the whole car and throw a nice coat of wax on it. Make sure you also wax the headlights. Try to regularly wax them actually... they are prone to fading, oxidation and yellow discoloration. Also hand wash and wax the metal on the inside of the engine bay with a wet rag and throw a coat of wax on that to prevent rust buildup in there and make future grime removal easier. Don't spray a hose into the engine bay though... just wash and rinse everything by hand.
-Try not to use your Fog lights unless it's foggy out. The heat from them always being on will eventually crack the inner reflective housing that separates the main head light beam from the fog-light beam, resulting in an S-shaped crack visible to the naked eye when you look down from above into the headlight while standing in front of the vehicle and leaning over the hood.
-Wash and wax your rims and the Brembo calipers. It helps make brake dust removal easier with a coat of wax on them and they'll look nicer.
-These cars have an in-cabin air filter that is in the dashboard behind the Glove Compartment. If you notice any stinky smells or lack of airflow from the blower unit, you might want to change it out.
-Lube up the tracks on your power seats liberally with White Lithium grease and try to avoid unnecessarily moving them up and back, as the plastic gears that drive the seats are very prone to failure.
-Try to avoid using the Auto-up feature on the power windows as this can often lead to premature failure of the unit and the window will roll-up all the way and then start rolling down again rather than staying closed. The motors eventually fail in the windows anyways if you use them a lot.
-You didn't mention where you're from.... but if it's snowy/icy, or just really cold there, be aware that these cars are not very good in those conditions, particularly when equipped with a stock/summer tire.
-Make sure your spare tire exists in the trunk, is inflated and the car has a jack in the trunk along with the associated tools to remove the lug nuts and turn the jack. It's a crappy situation to be in when you get a new car and don't find out that the car is either missing a jack, tools, or spare tire until you have a flat on the side of the road some cold winter night.
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Welcome to the boards!
I've had my car from 28K 4.5 years ago through 105K miles today.
5w-30 oil changes every 4.5-6K miles (depending more on weather and my time, I'll change a little earlier if I'm worried about not having a good opportunity for another few weeks). I've used a few different dino oils from the major brands (Castrol, Quaker State, Mobil 5000) and typically pick up a Fram XG or a Bosch and avoid the cheapest tier of filters. When I got near 60K, I started using the High-mileage oil blends and have been quite happy with this whole combination. I've never been down more than a quart between oil changes. Often, that's my trigger to do the change rather than add a quart for just another 1000 miles of use before eventually changing it anyways. And I don't bother removing the aero-tray, and just use a catch pan big enough to catch the drips from oil-filter spilling, and then toss a handful of clay cat litter down to soak up the last stray drops.
Belts were replaced right after purchase at 30K, I replaced them myself at 65K, and they are actually still currently on there and appear in good shape. Need a measurement tool to check the depth of the grooves, but I'm not too worried. It was very obvious the two times they've needed replacement. Changing them is actually quite easy, too, compared to my wife's Pacifica..
Tires don't last long.. front inside shoulders tend to feather, but I can nearly get around the claimed warranty on a pair up front. Rears don't last even half the manufacturer's claimed mileage, but that's because I like letting the tail wag when it gets a bit damp, and I can't help but light them up occasionally as a self-prescribed stress relief treatment.
I changed the rear diff fluid at 60K and 90K, planning to do it every 30K. Very simple, very cheap, good peace of mind. Just using the Mobil 75-90w I can get in my local stores.
Drained the trans fluid from the bottom of the pan and topped it back up at 90K when I did the diff and an oil change. Skipped this during the next oil change because I hadn't picked up more trans fluid yet. Just did this a second time last weekend with my most recent oil change. This last time, only 3 quarts drained, even though I could have sworn I got an even 4 the first time. If I continue to get just 3 each time, then I think I'll continue with doing this every other oil change. That means I'll be putting in 3 qts of fresh trans fluid every 10-11K miles, which is close to changing it every 30K miles, and that seems like a good routine and safe bet to me. It also will never shock the system and knock crud loose. Might drop the drain pan at some point and put in a new filter and clean out any sludge, but I'll never do a flush.
I change the air filter every 10-12K with a basic Fram. Working perfectly fine.
Change the cabin filter with an activated carbon type every year after the pollen stops turning everything yellow.
Still on the original spark plugs, so I need to change them, but I haven't had any issues.
Still have the original coolant, and it's still testing good, but I'm planning to flush mine in the next couple months when I get a warm weekend without other plans. (Already have all my coolant and distilled water ready, and just did my wife's a month ago.) I'll probably try to change my plugs at the same time.
I had to have the front rotors turned around 35K to get rid of a shudder. Replaced the pads all around at somewhere around 55-60K. Didn't turn the rotors because they were right at the minimum thickness. For the cost of pads and doing it myself, I didn't mind if that meant eventually doing them sooner.. Developed the shudder again around 80-85K, but I've just lived with it. It's really more just a pulsation of higher-lower-higher-lower braking force and is not as noticeable at higher speeds as it is under 10 mph. I still have >40% of the meat left on the pads because I'm very light on them. I'll put new rotors and pads on next time, but that may not be til Spring or Summer of 2015.
Had the TSB done on the axle-click, but it sounds like it might be back, so I'll do it myself this time around if I continue to hear it.
Bose CD player has been dead for almost 2 years. Living with it because I don't want to put a Metra dash kit in, and the JDM dual A/C controller is too expensive to justify right now.
Besides washing it every other month and waxing 1-2 times a year, there's not much else I've done..
Oh, and even though it says 91+ octane REQUIRED, it's just as happy on the 87 regular coming out of the pumps here in the Atlanta area. In fact, rough data seems to show that it gets better mileage on 87 than on the 93 Super (mid grade here is only 89, still not up to 'requirement'), but I wouldn't go so far as to make that claim, I just know it's defintely not noticeably worse, and I stopped running 93 after about the odometer reached around 40K. Been perfectly well behaved.
I've had my car from 28K 4.5 years ago through 105K miles today.
5w-30 oil changes every 4.5-6K miles (depending more on weather and my time, I'll change a little earlier if I'm worried about not having a good opportunity for another few weeks). I've used a few different dino oils from the major brands (Castrol, Quaker State, Mobil 5000) and typically pick up a Fram XG or a Bosch and avoid the cheapest tier of filters. When I got near 60K, I started using the High-mileage oil blends and have been quite happy with this whole combination. I've never been down more than a quart between oil changes. Often, that's my trigger to do the change rather than add a quart for just another 1000 miles of use before eventually changing it anyways. And I don't bother removing the aero-tray, and just use a catch pan big enough to catch the drips from oil-filter spilling, and then toss a handful of clay cat litter down to soak up the last stray drops.
Belts were replaced right after purchase at 30K, I replaced them myself at 65K, and they are actually still currently on there and appear in good shape. Need a measurement tool to check the depth of the grooves, but I'm not too worried. It was very obvious the two times they've needed replacement. Changing them is actually quite easy, too, compared to my wife's Pacifica..
Tires don't last long.. front inside shoulders tend to feather, but I can nearly get around the claimed warranty on a pair up front. Rears don't last even half the manufacturer's claimed mileage, but that's because I like letting the tail wag when it gets a bit damp, and I can't help but light them up occasionally as a self-prescribed stress relief treatment.
I changed the rear diff fluid at 60K and 90K, planning to do it every 30K. Very simple, very cheap, good peace of mind. Just using the Mobil 75-90w I can get in my local stores.
Drained the trans fluid from the bottom of the pan and topped it back up at 90K when I did the diff and an oil change. Skipped this during the next oil change because I hadn't picked up more trans fluid yet. Just did this a second time last weekend with my most recent oil change. This last time, only 3 quarts drained, even though I could have sworn I got an even 4 the first time. If I continue to get just 3 each time, then I think I'll continue with doing this every other oil change. That means I'll be putting in 3 qts of fresh trans fluid every 10-11K miles, which is close to changing it every 30K miles, and that seems like a good routine and safe bet to me. It also will never shock the system and knock crud loose. Might drop the drain pan at some point and put in a new filter and clean out any sludge, but I'll never do a flush.
I change the air filter every 10-12K with a basic Fram. Working perfectly fine.
Change the cabin filter with an activated carbon type every year after the pollen stops turning everything yellow.
Still on the original spark plugs, so I need to change them, but I haven't had any issues.
Still have the original coolant, and it's still testing good, but I'm planning to flush mine in the next couple months when I get a warm weekend without other plans. (Already have all my coolant and distilled water ready, and just did my wife's a month ago.) I'll probably try to change my plugs at the same time.
I had to have the front rotors turned around 35K to get rid of a shudder. Replaced the pads all around at somewhere around 55-60K. Didn't turn the rotors because they were right at the minimum thickness. For the cost of pads and doing it myself, I didn't mind if that meant eventually doing them sooner.. Developed the shudder again around 80-85K, but I've just lived with it. It's really more just a pulsation of higher-lower-higher-lower braking force and is not as noticeable at higher speeds as it is under 10 mph. I still have >40% of the meat left on the pads because I'm very light on them. I'll put new rotors and pads on next time, but that may not be til Spring or Summer of 2015.
Had the TSB done on the axle-click, but it sounds like it might be back, so I'll do it myself this time around if I continue to hear it.
Bose CD player has been dead for almost 2 years. Living with it because I don't want to put a Metra dash kit in, and the JDM dual A/C controller is too expensive to justify right now.
Besides washing it every other month and waxing 1-2 times a year, there's not much else I've done..
Oh, and even though it says 91+ octane REQUIRED, it's just as happy on the 87 regular coming out of the pumps here in the Atlanta area. In fact, rough data seems to show that it gets better mileage on 87 than on the 93 Super (mid grade here is only 89, still not up to 'requirement'), but I wouldn't go so far as to make that claim, I just know it's defintely not noticeably worse, and I stopped running 93 after about the odometer reached around 40K. Been perfectly well behaved.
Last edited by Marlin84; Mar 5, 2014 at 12:48 PM.
I am getting a check engine light, for my motor taken to long to worm so I bought a new $20 thermostat and then found out today it takes removing half of the front of my car to change it out 1.5hr in the book at $79.99 an hr... ouch is there an EZer way?
you dont have to remove the front to get to the thermostat. If you are stock, just remove the air intake snorkel...that should give you enough room to access the thermostat. Make sure you also get a new thermostat gasket. Screwing it back on can be a little bit tricky since you'll have to do it mostly by feel, but just take your time, and you won't have a problem..
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