Chris11LE

Got the car up on the Blitz ramps, went to "fold" half of the shroud, but mine seems different.

I didnt get pics, but there was already a square cut out for the drain plug, and there is a little small square "flap" for the filter. Pull two bolts out and the filter flap drops down. You can *see* it, but good luck taking it off without dumping the oil all over the rest of the shroud.

There was no way to flap it down that I saw either. Looks like Id have to remove almost all (if not all) of the bolts.

Did they change the design somehow? Did I completely miss something?

I was able to drain the oil out straight thru the square cutout. The filter made a mess when it came off though....I wiped up as much as I could (without taking the whole shroud off)

Really looking at an aftermarket one at this point...I still refuse to pay the dealer to change my oil.

6mtg37s

iTrader: (1)

Be careful to not leave any standing oil in the shroud, it might touch your sway bar bushing amd dry it up.. Thats what happened to mine because of the stupid dealer. I usually take half the bolts in the drain side off and fold the shroud in half from the middle, its a little hard to do since its pretty strong but it works out.

Chris11LE

Yeah I shoved a few shop rags between the bar and the shroud and wiped up as much as I could. Car only has 1200 miles on it, so Ill be doing another oil change in 2K or so.....maybe Ill pull off the whole shroud at that point, or buy one from tollboothwilly and replace it even sooner.

Just surprised because the few pics Ive seen of the undershroud look different than mine. The drain plug cutout is actually pretty useful....didnt get any oil on the shroud. But the filter cutout doesnt make sense to me........the filter will always have oil in it so I dont really know where they expect it to end up.

On the bright side the engine seemed quieter on startup with the Valvoline synth.

6mtg37s

iTrader: (1)

Hm maybe they changed the design on the new ones. After this oil change why are you going to do another one in 2k miles? Seems too early for synthetic oil.

Chris11LE

I just wanted to get to a normal mileage for oil change. 1200 (just because "break in" is "done" but not really), then 3750, 7500, etc.

I drive the car so little it took me 4 months just to get the 1200 miles on it. Since Nissan/Infiniti are so adamant about 3months/3750 miles with this engine, I figure Ill just follow their recommendations.

Hapa DC5

iTrader: (1)

Once I hit 15k I'll be at 5k OCI.

clutch5

You might check out form-a-funnel
Form-A-FunnelŽ Flexible Draining Tool

They sell them at NAPA and other places

I just heard about them so don't have one yet but plan to get one.

Chris11LE

Was thinking about something like that.

The wife just tossed a set of well-used silicone formable cutting boards. I coulda used one today, oh well.

Comatose

Chris, do you have an X? From what ive read that sounds like how the undercarriage for the x was designed

MACS

iTrader: (3)

Damn, Chris... I believe we have the same car, no? I have damn near 6k miles on mine! Got it late December.

My oil change was a lot more smooth. Shroud looked just like in the video's here. Only thing I was thinking of was the fumoto drain valve.

tharbemiko

iTrader: (1)

Do you have this valve installed? I'm thinking about getting it but I haven't seen any reviews yet...kinda worried that it'll suddenly open while I'm driving

Chris11LE

No kidding, I dont get to drive the G nearly as much as I want. I have another daily driver so I can drive the G WHEN I want, with all the rain and other bad weather around here it sits most of the time. I picked mine up on Jan 12, and of the 1200 or so miles I have on it now, 400 of them were from the drive home so technically Ive only put 800 miles on the car since I got it here.

As far as the shroud, Ive confirmed that the AWD version *is* different than the RWD version. Thats why yours is different from mine. All 4 of my wheels are driven

I believe there is a safety catch (sort of like a cotter pin) that comes with or can be added onto the valve. I actually have the Fram SurDrain on my truck........instead of an open/close valve, when you screw the drain tube onto the "valve" it opens up the drain and lets the oil out. Unscrew the tube and the oil stops draining.

I still worry about both the Fumoto and Fram setups, enough that Ive never installed one on my G or the wifes car. Never had a problem with the one on the truck, so I might just pick one up for the G someday. But since I have to have the car on ramps to change the oil anyway, I already have plenty of access so the valve doesnt save a whole lot of time/effort. On top of that I always wonder if there is anything left over in the pan. Another option is a fluid evacuator like a MityVac 7201 (I have one of those too). But again, I always wonder if Im getting everything out.

MACS

iTrader: (3)

Gotcha, you have AWD and I have RWD.

I haven't installed the fumoto valve yet, but at next change I am seriously considering it. Then again, the filter is still going to make a mess...

antirice

iTrader: (2)

I have the fumoto valve on my car. Just search on the web, it's a proven product with alot of positive reviews.

I wouldn't worry about it opens by accident. It's a very good design and I heard ppl went off roading with it without any issues. They also sell those safety pins if you are paranoid about it.

Chris11LE

Yeah it looks like the AWD shroud has the cutout for the drain plug, and it works nicely. The filter side is the mess, Im going to try and get one of these: Form-A-FunnelŽ Flexible Draining Tool Funny how one of the application pictures is pretty much exactly our situation.....hole in a plastic shroud for the filter but clearly not enough room for the oil to end up where it needs to be, vs all over the shroud.