Customer service is a dying ideal, and it will make me stick with or abandon a company. I'm pretty damned impressed, and I'm not easily impressed.
Oh, and Spectre, thanks for setting me down this line of inquiry. I learned a ton about lubricants on both sides of this debate, and if my conversation with the Nissan parts guy is any indication then I probably know more about gear oil than he does at this point.
No problem. Also, let's put this to bed once and for all for the archives and those that will inevitably search them. Otherwise both of us may get some very odd questions years after we've forgotten the incident. (I get strange PMs from my Jaguar threads, for example...)
The original owner's manual for your XTerra (and most other recent Nissans) are available either direct from Nissan's website, or more conveniently, from my local dealer's web site here:
http://courtesyparts.com/owners-manuals.php
This is page 9-2 of that manual.
It's pretty clear that Nissan knows what GL-5 is as they use it elsewhere in the car. It's also pretty clear that Nissan doesn't want GL-5 anywhere near your manual transmission. And you now know the reason why. Unfortunately, I don't think I've ever seen a Nissan owner's manual where they explain
why this is the case, which is IMHO both annoying and stupid.
As for knowing more than the idiots at dealership parts counters or even some of the people working in the service department, welcome to the club. Happens all the time. If you do find a competent parts person, treasure them, they are surprisingly rare.
This has happened to me, too, but I caught it in time. I took my Series III to a dealership to have the oil changed under one of their service specials. They had just hired a new service manager and service writers plus some new techs; this was their way of attracting customers to return. I tend to watch quite closely when someone services that car, and I just happened to notice that their shiny new tech was loading up my car with 5W30. This is a standard oil used by the later cars so it figures that this would be what he'd normally reach for. Only one
tiny little problem.
I live in North Texas. It doesn't
get cold enough here for the big XK engine to safely use 5W30!
The tech said I was wrong, the new service manager said I was wrong, the parts manager said I was right (good man, long time employee) and we ended up before the dealership manager in short order. End result: "He's right, you're wrong, go drain his oil and do it right. He just saved you from being fired, now get out of my office."
Moral of story: Don't automatically assume that your particular dealership knows what they're talking about. Sometimes they don't. Trust - but verify.
(And even if they do have competent techs, anyone can make a mistake. Never hurts to double check.)
Edit: By the way, I do have them properly trained now.
It took a while.
Edit 2: Also, yes - very good service from Royal Purple. I will also consider them for some upcoming lubrication needs.
