paul5:14

yes smoking out the tail pipe (blue smoke) is burning oil. could be rings as stated above or valve guides/seals. Mine smokes a lil but only if i rev it up right after cold start up.

igzy

iTrader: (18)

Even if it was a clogged PCV, how often did you change it before this and if you did in the past, I'd be interested if and why you are getting excess blow-by... Excess blow-by usually signals a near failure of the engine...

kbohip

I've seen a few cars do this, but never a Nissan. My sister used to have a Ford Probe that would burn through a quart every 1k miles and my other sister has a Mazda RX-8 that also uses a quart+ every 1k miles.

My Maxima has used a half quart during the last 2k miles. I wonder if my problem could be the pcv valve?

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

i did some PCV valve research today and im thinking the valve may have actually been clogged (stuck closed) instead of open.

from a website - if the valve is stuck the blowby gases cant escape. at higher engine speeds, blowby gases increase crankshaft pressure that can cause oil leakage from sealed engine surfaces.

so are seals bad now because of the pressure?? i guess we will find out soon

kbohip

Hmmm, it's defintely time I replace my PCV valve then. Honestly, I'd never paid much attention to them or replaced them on any of the cars I've owned.

EH STEVE!!

iTrader: (1)

Man, reading all these posts is getting me angry... Nissan and the dealers seem to think that this oil consumption issue is only related to the QR in which they have stopped sales of some Altimas and Sentras because of this issue (heard about that on the news and different sites). I don't think the above problem is only related to the QR, and for some reason every dealer that I have talked to says it can't happen to my car... hello, why the heck not, from what I've seen over my lifespan anything is possible and with their track record of this oil issue in the past 4 years why hasn't the light bulb turned on or at least flickered???

As I stated earlier, 300 bucks spent on these items... all for nothing. I'm not sure if calling Nissan NA is going to do any good since the car has 81K on the odo but I'm going to try and fight this one, if not I guess I'll just drop in a motor from somewhere.

NisTech

This guy is right. It's called put a goodwill claim after the warranty expires but it cannot be 30K kms later for example. It's gotta be pretty close. And yes when we return parts changed under warranty we return them to parts dept with a stamp in case nissan NA wants to see them. So they will have them for a while.

A first solution other than engine is to replace the rear rockercover, as per techline first. Some passages get clogged up in there. Then i guess it needs more diag. Compression test would be another if u think it's rings.
Just keep on going back and say u'll leave the car and you want rental and you should see some action. Don't give up though

bvenvert

I am curious to find out if those of you having oil comsumption problems are running synthetic or standard motor oil? I don't think it should matter, since the motor should not be burning or using oil in some capacity anyway, but synthetic oil tends to be thin compared to the same weight standard motor oil. I have read other threads that state that changing over to synthetic oil after you have compiled a number of miles on the motor, can lead to leaky seals, in a variety of areas around the motor.

Since most of you don't have leaks, but appear to have oil burning issues, could it be possible that the thiner synthetic oil passes more easily by the rings and gets burned in the cylinders?

I am just curious. I have an 03 SE with 43K miles on it and I feel fortunate that I don't have any oil consumption problems at this time, but I have always run standard motor oil in my engine. I have thought about switching to synthetic but there is no motivation to do so on my part. I have owned 3 Maximas and have never had any oil consumption problems, even with 130K miles plus and I have always used standard motor oil.

kbohip

I'm using synthetic 5W-30 Mobil 1 in mine. I've used this since I bought the car at 55k miles. Like I said before, my car right now burns about 1/2 quart every 2k miles. Not enough to make me worry yet. One thing that DID seem to help with my oil burning is changing the oil filter from Fram back to Nissan. When the Fram filter was installed, my car burned 1 full quart on the 2k mile mark. The fact that it's only burned half that now with the Nissan filter is interesting. I can't say that this was for sure the oil filter alone though as it could have been different driving, different temperature conditions, etc.

It does kind of bug me though that my wife's '91 Maxima has around 70k miles on it and doesn't burn a drop of oil between changes. I run Mobil 1 synthetic in that one as well, along with a plain 'ole Super Tech Wal-Mart oil filter.

I might run dead dino in my Max next change to see if the car burns less oil. I've also heard that changing over to synthetic oil can cause a car to use more oil, but only because it's cleaned the gunk from around seals causing them to leak. My car is leak free.

PAREDLINE

Take a quart of oil out and bring the car back saying it's losing oil again. You'll probably get a new motor. F nissan.

paul5:14

I doubt the oil filter will effect this in anyway whatsoever.

kbohip

You're probably right, as I wouldn't think it would affect it either. Still it is strange how it dropped in half all of a sudden. I'll have to keep an eye on this.

paul5:14

I hear you, but like you said there are tons of other variables that could have effected this outcome too.

00Max00

For anyone who interested in learning more about motor oil, suggest a great site for you all, www.bobistheoilguy.com

bvenvert

I would be interested in seeing a poll on the 3.5 motors that are running conventional oil vs synthetic oil and match that up to oil consumption. Nissan doesn't run synthetic in there motors off the showroom floor, at least they didn't in 03, but many consumers switch over to it after they purchase the vehicle. I just wonder if there is any link between synthetic oil and consumption.

Have we seen this poll on the org?

bvenvert

Your wife's 91 is running a different motor, probably the 3.0 V6, which has been an award winner for Nissan. They seem to be bulletproof, as was the 3.0 I had in my 94. I sold it with 132K miles on it and it didn't leak any fluids at the time, plus it didn't use any oil.

Based on the Org, the only motors showing signs of oil consumption are the 3.5's.

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

i switched to aimsoil sythetic when i bought the car (had 30,000) miles on it. the car ran fine for 15,000-20,000 miles before the problem started. the first dealership i took it to tried to blame the oil cause it was "thinner". i refuse to buy that

Kevlo911

iTrader: (36)

Call Nissan. Complain. POS piston rings...

GBAUER

iTrader: (2)

not confirmed yet. Wait till I tear down my old engine.


1. tear down old VQ35
2. discover Nissan used crappy internals
3. complain to nissan
4. wait for nissan to respond.
5. hit 130th b-day waiting.
6. ______________
7. profit?

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

Been waiting over a year now.

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

you will never tear it down

5thgenmaxima

iTrader: (1)

If you want to see if it's blowing past your rings you can do the diag work for them and show them the results...

Just do one head, the easiest one and see what kind of shape the rings are in.

1.)pull the easiest plug
2.)pull the fuel pump relay
3.)screw in $15 compression tester, crank 4 revolutions and record results
4.)unscrew compression tester, add one tablespoon of oil and repeat compression test. see if your compression raises more than 5-10%
5.)repeat on the other easy to access plugs

If the compression raises signficantly when you add the oil between tests then your rings are allowing excess "blow-by", that's the cause of your oil consumption.

Then again, maybe the pcv valve fixed it.

NisTech

nissan has to have us go the cheaper route hopefully it fixes it. Then u do a wet compression test like the guy explained you above and then you might have to go couple of times back and complain and if nothing solves it they will put in a new motor. But you have to be patient and let them do their diags. Tecs have to call these engines in and ask techlines (our help if we get stuck) and they tell us what to replace and then if nothing solves it as they tell us on the phone we submit a claim and if it gets approved and you have your receipts of rigurous oil changes and most importantly you are an original customer (gives you points) they will get you what you want!
End of story and second guessing. You are not to diagnose just complaain and let them measure their readings with km intervals and dipstick levels... Get to know your service manager in a nice way but profesional. Don't rip and tear from the beginning. Just ask him who do u have to talk to for your engine to get fixed? nissan canada or yourself? and he will say himself. And then you say good.... U wouldn't want to go the long route anyway.
So stop guessing guys

5thgenmaxima

iTrader: (1)

But we like to guess. If we where just normal people driving our cars and not caring what was happenning we wouldn't be on this forum trying to figure out what the cause was......

BTW, If nissan does just end up swapping in a new motor, you know as well as I do the cause for burning may or may not be accurate anyways....

If one of the 3.5 guys find out what the problem is, then the rest of the 3.5 guys who are out of warranty that are having the same problem will know what the common issues are.

paul5:14

+1, there are a lot of us with '02 - '03s that are wayy out of warrenty. Thinking about the problem n figuring it out for ourselves is all we have. That or bring it to the dealership n pay the 90+ dollars an hour for them to figure out "its a PCV valve"

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Updates?????????????

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

well i was gonna take it in to get the oil level checked but checked the mileage and have only gone 500 miles. i think its getting low though cause im getting the timing chain rattle.

03MAXTNR

I bought an 03 maxima less than 6 months ago. I changed my oil after 2500 miles and was a quart low. Now my timing chain rattles when i start the car first thing in the morning. Is this normal?

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

HOnestly guys - this whole thing has got me nervous. When I bought my 02 I thought it would be as rock-solid as my '98 -- now I'm not sure it's going to make it past 60k without a major meltdown. I've already dealt with Nissan C/S on one occaision (warped rotors) and came-away SERIOUSLY unhappy with their service -- I don't want to KNOW what kind of b.s. they will pull on ME when I claim my engine is burning oil, and I need a new one.

The timing chain rattle ALONE scares me, and it's done it SINCE DAY ONE!!!

I personally have found absolutely NO correlation between TIMING CHAIN RATTLE on start-up, and low oil-pressure IN MY CAR. The ONLY time I burn unusual quantities is on the hwy - and even then, it's MAYBE 1/4 qt per 1k miles. The chain still rattles indiscriminantly at various times and stages of warm/cold.

Several months ago - I realized that I was "burning" an indiscrimate amount of oil (mobil1 full synth @10k) and started monitoring the levels more closely. THE ONLY corollary I can find, is that I DID change my PCV about 5k miles ago - and since then, oil consumption SEEMS to be normal. I would not have made this determination on my own -- but after I read Soonerfan's info - it carries some water.
Was this the CAUSE?? No idea. Was it stuck open or shut? I don't think so....seemed to be normal, and was not covered in oil or goo.

I have NO engine mods - and don't plan to do any. But what I AM starting to consider, is selling this time-bomb, and calling it quits with Nissan AND MAxima once and for all.
I love my car, and it's been good thus far (47,500mi)- but even if I DID have to replace the 3.5vq (free or not) -- they'd still only give me the EXACT same engine, with the EXACT same problem, and that's BEST case scenario.

gr

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

i just got a survey from nissan north america. they want to know how i feel the dealership handled the problem.

6SpeedTA95

holy felony hell batman

xnyc

iTrader: (9)

chain rattle during startup seems to be pretty common on the quests with 3.5 also

maxS

chain rattle or VTCs rattle?

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

this thread isnt about the startup rattle

xnyc

iTrader: (9)

sorry got too caught up in the topic of ppl saying their cars rattle when their low on oil lol

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

thats cool. seems lately everyone thinks its the same problem because both include a rattle

mydecember1985

iTrader: (1)

Best of luck with this man, but definitely be very proffessional with the techs and manager. My old Diamante used be serviced occasionally by the Ocala Nissan/Mitsu dealer up the street, and because I was a repeat customer, I went in one day for a faulty water pump that I had them install 45K miles past(way outside of their work warranty) and they replaced it for free.
Just to keep a good relation, I have my oil changed there every2-3 oil changes and all diagnostics are performed there.

Kinda makes me happy I have a 3.0 :sad:

kingrukus

iTrader: (41)

I am sure that the PCV is a band-aid fix. The dealership tried the same fix on my '98 when it was burning oil, and it didn't fix anything.

I really like the idea of a wet compression test...I would highly suggest guys with vq35's burning oil to do this. At least this could basically prove (or vice-versa) the theory of weak rings.

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

well i just got back from the dealership. i went in to have them check the oil level after 1,000 miles. well it was 1 1/2 quarts low. i already knew it was low cause i was getting the timing chain rattle. i overheard the tech talking to the service manager "i have heard about these engines having this problem. i recall hearing somethig about the valve cover being cracked or the gaskets being bad. you cant check either of those from the outside".
so i was right when i though that the PCV valve wasnt the problem. the problem is what clogged the valve.
so i have an appointment next tues for them to remove the valve covers to check things out.

kingrukus

iTrader: (41)

Has anyone bothered to do a wet compression test yet?

Our local dealership has 2 VQ35 cars in right now burning severe amounts of oil. This is becoming a more serious problem. I am still looking at picking up a 5.5 gen, but it must have the balace of the powertrain warranty left on it (ie 5 years, 60k miles)