I have a couple questions for the wise people here. I have a 2005 G35 Coupe 6MT. I never missed an oil change, I even changed oils at 100 miles and at 500 and then followed the book. I left the US last year November and brought my car to South America (3rd world country). There are no Infiniti dealers here, just Nissan and a crappy one. I am really concerned on my car’s well-being so here are some questions.

First of all, I want to point out that my car has 14k miles and that I use it once a week at most. Since November last year, I have driven the car less than 800 miles. This last month and a half, I went on vacations to Costa Rica so the car has been sitting covered up for almost 2 month now. While in Costa Rica, I bought Castrol Syntec 0w-30 German Formula oil (6 quartz) because some people claim that oil is better for the VQ engine than Mobil 1. That is the background info here come the questions:

1) Owner’s manual says 5 quartz is needed but if I don’t replace the Oil Filter, it will need up to 8.5 quartz, is this true? If so, is the K&N Oil filter the best? I can have it shipped from the US and wait for the oil change until then.

2) How bad is it that I have not changed the oil in almost a year (keep in mind that I have driven the car less than 800 miles in that year)?

3) It takes a while for things to get here from the US so I was thinking on buying K&N Oil filter and Air Filter. Anything else I should buy for my car’s maintenance?

Thanks in advanced, I have babied my car since day 1 and I would like to keep doing so only that living in a 3rd world country makes it hard.

 

Please, someone help me I know its kind of a long read but I dont know where else to get helped on this.

 

German Castrol is excellent oil for the VQ.

1. Its 5 quarts with a new filter. Remember filters have a oil bypass valve and can hold almost half a quart in the filter! So if you check the dipstick it might be a but lower then H. If you do not change the filter then I believe the manual says 4.5 quarts. But personally I would change the filter with the oil if you do 1 year + OCI's

2. Its fine, but if you dont drive the car enough or don't let it warm up to full engine temp, moisture can stay in the oil and thats bad.

3. K&N oil filter is good, but so is M1, Wix, Bosch, Purolator. So any of thouse will be good.

K&N air filter is not a good filter, it lets in more air but lets in more dirt.

 

thank you for all the info. if K&N lets more air in I def dont want it because it is dirty as it can be here. You cant even imagine.

What Air filter should I get? Is there one that is lifetime like the K&N?

 

^ If you want good filtration and dirt holding capability, its a Wix or Napa gold(made by wix) They are cheap. Which is what I use after looking into filters.

 

^ thanks... any fluids I might need like for some other parts? I read somewhere on the manual I think it was for transmission but thats for AUTO cars only right?

 

Manuals Have transmission fluid too, there is also the Differential fluid but you don't need to do that till 30k.

There is also, Coolant fluid, Brake Fluid, Power Steering Fluid, Also check your belts.

I am not sure when to change them with your schedule since I changed mine based on mileage.

I did, 30k coolant, 30k Brake Fluid, 45k Power steering, 30k Belts.

 

^ thank you for your help. I just checked and I used the car for 400miles in this last year. Before bringing the car here, I made a full maintenance at Infiniti.

It will take 2 months for me to get the oil filter... is it better to let the car just sit there until the filter arrives or is it better if I use the car once a week so humidity wont get in the engine/fuel tank and take the car to maintenance as soon as the filter arrives?

 

Filters go more on mileage then time. 1 year is no problem on a filter. If you are going to properly warm up the car, some highway driving or like 6+miles of city will work. You are making sure the engine warms up to 100% operating temp. If you drive a short distance and the car does not warm up 100%, do not do this you are doing more harm then good.

 

^ thanks again for your help.

I am checking online at amazon.com and I cant seem to find how long do oil filters last =(

 

Oil filters never "expire." If you buy a quality filter, they have a synthetic media, silicon ADBV (anit drain back valve), and the rest is metal and sometimes plastic.

that said, I wouldn't want to use a filter older than a few years (say two or three) purely because I say so

The big thing is condensation. A car sitting that much could have some serious condensation issues. Hopefully you aren't parking in a damp place, and don't idle the car once a week just to do it.

 

If only i could drive my car 400miles / year. wow that's like a mile per day.