Got a DEK some years back, finally put it in. Burns 2 quarts of oil in less than 1000 miles. The exhaust is COATED with black film on the inside. Few days ago I found out it might have been dropped down a flight of stairs. There is only one flimsy bracket that is broken on the engine that I can see which would support the drop idea. Crank pulley is wobbly which would also suggest it was really dropped. There is 5-7mm deflection when the car is running. Coolant has the slightest amount of oil in it if it's oil at all. Besides getting another engine, just started school again so no cash moneys, what could it be? I'm even hoping it's a head gasket so I could take care of it Labor day weekend. Testing compression next weekend...

 

Miles on the motor? And when you say "wobbly", you mean its off balance on the axis the crank rotates on? It doesnt stay perpendicular?

 

...might have been dropped? There's not second guessing when buying an engine. Who sold it to you? Beat his ***.

 

~40k. Looking down on it from the front you can see it's not spinning true.

Wasn't like that. I gave my motor to a buddy who needed one ASAP and I took the DEK as a trade...

 

Swap out the crank pulley.

 

And the engine while your at it.

 

I was hoping to wait til summer to swap in a 3.5 but at the rate the oil is burning it's most likely happening this winter. I'm just gonna try every stop leak product out there to see if any slow the oil consumption...

 

Hi buddy, I have the similar situation with you. mine infiniti 99 burns oil too, and I didn't see a single drop on the ground. it should be leaking into combustion chamber. I think your engine might be doing the same thing. I'm planning to do compression test. I'll let you know if I figure some solution out.

And don't worry about it too much, just keep up the oil level, it should be fine, if you just drive it to school.

 

why did your buddy trade a running motor for a running motor? i mean if his motor was all good why did he trade his dek for your motor?

 

No, he had a 97 with the stock motor. It was bucking like crazy around 3000rpm or so in every gear. He needed it fixed ASAP and didn't have time to deal with a DEK swap. I told him he could have my motor and I'd take the DEK. Some time down the road it ended up being the ECU, even though he swapped it out earlier with no success. Skip forward 2 years when I finally decide to finish up my engine that all this crap starts popping up. To this day neither me, him, nor the person who had it before know the past of the motor. We just know who it belonged to first and that they got rid of it because of a 3.5 swap...

 

Dave, was there any work done to the motor? Was it torn down before install?

 

Damn dude that sucks... if there's anything I can help with let me know. So I take it you dont even wanna drop another VQ30DE in but rather a 3.5 instead right?

 

Nothing extensive. Nothing that would cause this kind of oil consumption. I can't attest for the original owners bu the sealant around the timing chain cover looked as if it was never opened up. When I opened it up, it was CLEAN inside. No reason for me to suspect a bad motor.

No, not going to a 3.0 when a 3.5 is almost same price and not that much work is needed. I'll try to find a 3.5 along with a 6spd and hopefully have it ready to drop in after this semester....

 

Cool, let me know once you do, I'll lend a hand and learn a bit while at it.

 

I'm about to just order a gasket set and replace all of them. Feels like a waste of money though...

 

DO a leak down test. How is the PCV system?

 

PCV is good as far as I can tell. 90* fitting in the hole going into a pcv which then goes to the top IM port.
Will try to find some time this weekend to do compression and leak down tests but with all the bday stuff going on it will be tough...

 

yea do the compression test and see what happens... just remember to remove all spark plugs at once and block the throttle open..

leak down is the opposite..you want all plugs in except the one your working on

 

yeah, was looking it up earlier. Hopefully my autozone has them in...

 

go to harbor freight they have them... you have a compressor right?

 

yessir............

 

Hey dave I have a compression tester in case you cant find one

 

Ah man that sucks man.

I feel your fustration man. I just swapped in my 3.5 and now she is knocking

Im looking to swap again in the winter

 

Well if there's a possibility the engine was dropped, and the pully is wobbling Id say the crank is prolly bent at least at the end there. If so its gonna wash out a couple of main bearings I would imagine, at least from being out of balance.