time after time again, I have been told "jeremy, you need to check your oil often, the best time to do it is when you go to the gas station to fill up, that way you never forget." It wasn't until recently that I actually understood why it was so important. My Z has been running, and down, and running again lately. It was running fine until my father and I did a head gasket swap, and then oil and water mixed, spinning a crankshaft bearing. I was given a new block, and I put my old head back onto the block, spent the money for parts, and got the Z running again. The Z liked to overheat, and I suspected the head might be warped. After this last time of getting the motor running again, I checked the oil to make sure there was no water in it, and no mix was visible. I checked the oil again, and noticed it was low, so I went to the gas station to put more oil in. Luckily I checked the oil when I did, because water and oil was mixing, meaning that my head was warped. It leaked from right around the 4th cylinder, where the original leak was from. I noticed this early, from when it had started really mixing, and I had the Z towed home. The motor is fine, and I was recently given another head for it, so it should be up again. Due to me checking the oil as often as I had, I saved myself more money, and saved the block that I was given. When I drained the water out of the motor (2 weeks later), there was close to 3/4 of a quart of water mixed with the oil. Not a good thing, but at least I saved the vehicle.

Moral of the story: check your oil often!