My '98 max is burning extreme amounts of oil (up to 3 litres (kind of like quarts, i guess?) within a month). I had a bad engine knocking/ticking sound which came and went sporadically (apparently sticking hydraulic lifters) and occasional rough idle. After serious driving my car reeks and at startup sometimes even shoots oil-black water type stuff out my black residue caked dual exhaust and onto people/cars behind me...lol...no, it really sucks. Because of the lifter thing (or whatever that sound is) I need to change my oil monthly -mobil 1 synthetic- and have been adding some Bardahl's/Wynn's additive/engine flush crap (I've got nothing to lose). Anyways, I need to get my car emissions tested within 2 weeks and don't feel too confident about this one. If anybody has any advice short of a complete engine rebuild please help me out.
Thanx.

 

Who told you that?

 

nissan and a mechanic who has racing experience.

 

Sticking how?

 

If you're getting THAT much oil coming out, then it generally only comes from one place, the other side of the piston. And in that case it's usually a piston ring that has gone.

Rebuilds are too expensive compared to used engine swaps. Find yourself a used engine for cheap and a decent mechanic, and hopefully you can get it all done for around $800.

Sounds like a pretty bad problem all to happen at once. Did you suck something nasty in your intake?

 

Agreed but we are missing one point. What if his pan is leaking?
That is a LOT of oil 3 litres is like a half gallon.

 

It's a possibility, but I doubt it. If it's leaking 3 quarts a month thru the pan - he'll surely notice it.

He said in the post that after serious driving - the exhaust shoots oil out the exhaust. How is this possible? I thought that is any oil enters the combustion chamber - it would be burnt immedietly and all that would be visible is blue smoke - LOTS OF IT!!!!

 

He should definatley check for blue smoke. Then again, I'm not sure how raw oil would get straight into the exhaust without getting in the combustion chamber.

Possibly one of his rings completely came off and his spark plug is completely caked in oil and doesn't fire and the cylinder is just pumping oil mixed with gas out his exhaust. That would also cause the rough idle. That would also explain the "oil-black water type stuff" being unburned gas mixed with oil just getting pushed out the exhaust without being sparked in the cylinder. Then again, he should definately have a CEL in this situation.

 

My car is not leaking oil and visually, does not make an excessive amt of blue smoke.
Maybe the crap coming out the exhaust at startup is just condensation?
Thanks for the input.

 

Do you have a CEL (Check Engine Light)
With a CEL you 100% definately won't pass smog.

 

^ I passed smog with a CEL, totally legit btw.

 

If I was you I would not Drive the car for while. Take care of the before anything worst happen to it. make sure you fix this..

 

Yeah..... take it to a competent mechanic and find out the problem

 

These "PRO'S" told you this and have no ideas as to how you can fix it?

 

Is it possible this guy only needs a head gasket?

The ticking worrys me, thare are no hydraulic type lifters in our cars.

 

Apparently the only way to fix it is an upper block rebuild.
I have no cel.

 

First off.... pull your plugs and check them out.
Second, get a compression test.

Third, we don't have hydraulic lifters. So much for the nissan race tech....

The black residue in your exhaust is just carbon. It feels wet since at startup there will be a lot of condensation. Once it's hot it shouldn't be dripping anything.

What do you mean your car reeks? Smells like .......? If it's rotten eggs and you've got LOTS of carbon buildup I'd guess your catalytic conv. is shot. That should trip the CEL though...

Post the results of the first two things....


-RMB

 

I just got (past 2 months) new Denso iridium plugs and a Carsound hiflow cat.
Apparently the condition is called "blow by" but I didn't really catch the details.
Going for a compression test this week.
Thanx for the help.

 

Going for a comp test on Sat.
I'll probably just run this motor t'il she blows.
(might hit the track this weekend)
What's the going rate on an engine swap?

 

Try to get a "leak down" test done vs. a compression test - much more accurate results. Best case is you may have a bad set of valve guide oil seals that can be easily swapped out. Brittle oil seals can cause you to burn a quart every 1000 miles or so. Worse case is you have bad rings - that should be evident from oily spark plugs and blow by coming out of your valve cover (run the engine without the filler cap and see if a bunch of oily smoke will come out).