Hey guys i wasnt shure where to post this but let me give it a try here.
I have a 1998 Maxima 5 Speed with 158,000 miles on it. I have noticed that every 2,000 miles i need to add 1/4 a quart of oil? Could any of you guys tell me why is my engine doing this? I have Not been a heavy driver, never been racing my car or anything like that. I bought my car with 60,000 miles and all the miles on it are highway miles. My engine still feels really strong and i havent felt any power loss or anything else wrong with it.

Thanks for the Info......

 

possible slow leak somewhere?? have a good look at/under the engine

 

I already inspected all the engine and no leak at all...It's dry

 

If your burning oil you wouldnt find a leak. could be a seal wearing at some point.

 

Are we talking about the head gasket?

 

A 1/4 of a quart is so little that I wouldn't even worry about it. What oil (brand/weight) and oil change interval are you using with your car?

I've had my Maxima since it had 40k on it, it now has 125k, and it has always burnt 1/4 to 1/2 a quart of oil between oil changes (every 3k).

 

Oh man...You just made me feel better because my car burns just about what yours does. I had been using Castrol 10-30 and then when i noticed the burning or hit 100,000 I started using Castrol Highmilage the green quarts. Do you think i should use other kind of oil?

 

1/4 of a quart / 2k is not much. 1 qt/1k is probably where I would start getting nervous.

Dave

 

1998 auto GLE 124,000 miles
Using Mobil 1 (5-30w), need to add about 1/2 quart between 5000 mile changes.

Now I just make sure when I change it that it's close to the top of the hash marks on the dipstick when hot. I just keep a quart of oil in the compartment where my jack is in the trunk.

 

A motor shouldnt be burning any amount of oil between changes. If it is its a sign of a seal or oil getting into somewhere it should be going. The fact that its burning a small amount shows the problem is as bad as it could be but could lead to be a larger problem.

 

Nonsense! He is only talking about 1/4 quart of oil over 2,000 miles and the engine is at 158K.

The obvious question is how frequently he changes his oil and filter.

Don't sweat the small stuff and get on with life!

 

I use Castrol GTX 5W30 year round. 10W30 is fine too - although it be a little heavy for winter (depending on how cold it gets where you live).

 

I missed the over 2,000 part. I was under the assumption it was over a 500 mile period, and his milage.

still a leak is a leak, in this case its due to its old age and more than like a worn out part, which if replaced wouldnt cause a loss of oil over time.

 

Just a thought, Stillen Maxima.

You might want to consider buying a couple bottles of AutoRX and doing two trials.

The product cleans engine internals, ringpacks and crankcases and helps to rejuvenate engine seals. It has fixed many a rear main seal leak as evidenced by member feedback on www.bobistheoilguy.com (see the Additives forum).

The product can only be bought over the internet - see www.auto-rx.com

I am presently running it in my 95SE before switching over to synthetic oil (Esso XD3 Extra, 0w30, PAO, full synthetic).

 

Trying to fix an oil loss of even 1 quart over 3k is a waste of time. Talk to any dealer, most will tell you it's "normal". Most likely oil is seeping past the valve guides or ring-packs... Trying to fix either of those will most likely result in new bigger and nastier problems than his current negligible oil consumption.

 

...and think of how many quarts of oil you could add for the price of a real repair!

 

good point.

 

my car use to burn 1 Qt everyweek , that`s when i started to worry

 

I use a quart of oil between my 5K oil changes (mobil 1 supersyn). It is likely due to engine wear but that isn't uncommon on higher mileage cars. Mine has just over 100K on it now.
I was getting tailgated last week on the highway by some jerkoff in a raised up ranger or something. I put the car in third gear and floored it and left him behind but since his headlights were so close to my rear end, I noticed a cloud of smoke blow out of the exhaust when I floored it. I think that is why Im losing a quart every 5K. All well. My honda smoked a little bit too when I floored it too. Many of your cars probably do it too but you would never notice it unless someone who is following you told you about it.....or if you're getting tailgated at night and you see the could in the guy's headlights.

 

Me too, I'll never use synth in the Maxima or any vehicle, except on my new car which came with it from the factory, and wouldn't you know, Castrol, not Mobil 1. So I'll stick with Castrol but probably let the dealer rip me off with the $120 oil changes until the warranty is gone.

Anyway, I use the 5W30 GTX dino style too on the Maxima. Pick it up whenever I see it at 1.09 per qt., by the case.

I had the annoying "missing oil" scenario as I used to have the dealer change my oil til 60k. For whatever reason, after I started changing my own oil, my loss of oil stopped. I did have the pressure sender replaced under warranty, and added a new copper gasket at the drain plug once. I'm willing to bet the VQ doesn't burn oil, it leaks it somewhere. The other thing is the dipstick is very inaccurate, let the car sit overnight and check it in the same parking spot.

 

Wow, Thanks guys for all this info! Now there might be a leak inside the engine but where could it be or like i said before could it be the head gasket?

 

No - its not the head gasket. As I already suggested, it's most likely worn valve guides or ring packs.

 

Wow ... my brother's Lude will be almost dry at every oil change. Now that is serious oil burning.

Dealer says it is normal . I have posted this in the off-topic/other cars and people just said check for valves, but neither of us are extremely car savy to start tracing lines and tearing into the engine bay.

 

Im gonna have to agree with bobo for you guys, unless your engine was abused you have decent odds of fixing this with some auto-rx

 

The aroma of BS is overpowering. Let's see a picture of your new car and a dinky toy doesn't qualify!

You just said last week that you won't be in the market for a new car for 8 to 10 years and would be keeping the Maxima. If you had bought a new car, every man and his dog would have heard about it by now on the .org.

What kind of gas are you running in it?

You don't have to go to the stealership for oil changes for warranty purposes. Any Jiffy Lube will do, just save the receipts.

 

I had a serious oil burning problem of 2L every 1000km (like 2 quarts every 700 miles) and Nissan couldn't figure it out....no signs of a leak or any blowby. This same problem has happened on a bunch of other 5-speed maximas that I know of as well...so I am starting to think it has to do with the way the motor reacts with the mt.

 

You refer to this problem in the past tense. Has it gone away?

If not, you should consider AutoRX. It might help and there is no harm in trying.

 

Nissan replaced my motor free of charge under my ASP warranty.

 

Good stuff! How many kilometres were on it at the time?

 

im not gonna touch those synthetic comments with a 10 foot pole, but i will say i disagree.

 

Good man! I don't want you to be hurting Frank Fontaine's feelings.

 

150k...the warranty was good for 6 year 160k....it was a huge fight though trying to get the motor.

 

Did you do any other work at the same time, eg. clutch/tranny?

 

I've changed my own oil on the maxima from day 1 - so when I say I'm loosing oil, I know it for a fact. I take out x quarts after draining and need x+delta to get it back to the full mark on the dipstick (after waiting for the oil to settle, in the same parking spot).

I always drain 3.75 quarts (with filter included). Granted there is some oil left in the filter (because of the ABDV), but always add 4.125 quarts. After 5 yrs of parking on the same spot, there are no spots on the driveway, no seepage visible from the timing chain cover or rear main seal, or any other common spot (sending unit, etc.).

To boot, when I step on it with someone tailing me on the highway at night, I see a puff of smoke behind me (only visible when the trailing car's headlights are on)... thats oil burning. Some seepage past the valve guides or rings is not a big deal and with 125k on the clock, probably not unreasonable either.

 

Yes I had the flywheel resurfaced which I think they ripped me off on as I heard the oem flywheel cannot be resurfaced and the clutch was changed as well.