Author - Toby Broom
Difficulty rating - Very Very Easy!
Estimated Time - 30min - 1 hour
First things first
-New Oil-
Nissan recommends 5w30 oil, this is should be available from them. Torco, Motul & Red Line also make 5w30 oils these are available from Demon Tweeks.
Not many people use this oil though as older cars tend to need a thicker oil.
The popular choice's are:
Castrol RS, the older 10w60 grade (not the newer 0w40), in my hands difficult too find or expensive from Demon Tweeks.
Mobil 1 Motorsport, this is a 15w50 grade (again not the common 0w40), available from your local Halfords.
Castrol Magnatec, this is a 10w40 grade recommended as the minimum grade to use, available from your local Halfords.
Millers, I don't know where to get it but is recommended.
-Oil Filter-
The Genuine Nissan Part is a 15208-70J00, which cost me £9.05 in May 2001, you can use a third part one though if you want but the official one is cheap.
-Sump Plug Washer-
The Genuine Nissan Part is a 11026-01M02, which cost me £1.30.
That's it as far as the parts go, you'll also need -
Something to put your old oil in to get it recycled.
The tools to remove the wheel nuts.
14mm socket/spanner for the sump plug.
Some cloths to mop up excess oil.
Changing The Filter & Oil
Firstly you need to get the oil nice and warm so that it runs out of the engine nicely, this means taking your car for a drive around to get the oil warm, not too difficult for most GTi-R drivers.
If you then remove the drivers side wheel this is the view you get:
From this position looking underneath the car and towards the front and just behind the splash guards you should see the sump with the 14mm nut on the bottom right hand side of the sump, the sump has a square pattern on it. It's probably better to let your car down from the jack before letting the oil out as it will be lower.
Get your receptacle for the oil ready as it comes out quick, remove the normal oil cap on top of the engine as it won't all come out and it glug badly. You can then remove the nut on the sump, if you've got sensitive hands then you should get some gloves as the old oil can be an irritant. The oil will also be hot so get your hands out of the way quickly! You should then leave the car for about 5-10mins to let all the oil drain out.
When all the oil has drained out then you can remove the oil filter, some oil will probably fall out of here as well so get your receptacle ready as well. The filter should only be on hand tight, if it not then you need need one of those removers or stick a screw driver through it. Apply a little oil to the gasket on the new filter and screw it on, to tight + 2/3 of a turn by hand.
Now you're ready to fill your car back up with oil, replace the sump plug with new washer provided and pour in new oil (3.7 litres with filter), you should now run your engine for about 5mins to check there is not any oil leaking out, if there is check everything is done up tight and there is not any crossed threads etc. Just check the dip stick to make sure there is the correct amount of oil and top up as necessary. Important, it has been known for a cable running past the filter to become caught and screwed down with the filter thus causing the filter not to screw up properly causing leaks, so keep your eye under the car for the first few minutes of the car running.
There you go your oil's changed, now you just got to wait another couple of 1000 mile before you need to do it all again!
Best of luck
Toby Broom