Driver72

iTrader: (1)

a puff of blue smoke come out of the tailpipe of my 2002 Maxima when my fiance started it up!!

The car was "cold" and hadn't been started all day but when she fired it up, I saw a small plum of blue smoke.

I walked over had her jump out and I jumped in, while in park and the engine running for about 15 seconds now, I gave it some gas. A quick stab at the throttle, the tach ran up to about 4000 rpm's and looked out. Sure enough another puff of blue smoke!

So it's obviously burning oil.

26,000 miles in 22 months.
2 recalls and now this.

What the he11, so I have to take it in tomorrow morning.

So much for great reliability.

My GTI 1.8T was driven 3 times as hard and other than the well known window regulator issue, it was trouble free in 3 years!

Anyone else have this oil burning issue in their 3.5 V6's??

FanaticMadMax

probably a broken ring that's causing the oil plume into the combustion. I never had a problem with my car, still going strong. Did you buy it brand new or used? I hope it's not an ex rental car.

FanaticMadMax

Actually a blue smoke is not the oil since it would come out black. Blue is a very bad sign, if i remember correctly from my auto mechanic class, i believe you may have a crack in your engine block where your anti freeze is leaking in the combustion. I would have it check with Nissan.

Driver72

iTrader: (1)

Got the car brand new in January 2002 with 22 miles on it.

Blue is oil burning.
I plan to take it in tomorrow. The car runs perfect still and my guess is that a seal is leaking/cracked allowing oil into the engine. When the engine heats up the seals expand and it's not a problem.
Cold seals that are cracked or worn will often leak and then "seal up" when the engine heats up.

I have a feeling this is the problem, but if so, it's inexcusable in a less than 2 year old car with only 26K miles on it.

I just want to know if anybody else has had this problem with their 3.5 liter.

Driver72

iTrader: (1)

Oh, by the way, it may just be a coincidence, but when I changed my oil 4,000 miles ago, I used Mobil 1 fully synthetic oil for the first time in the car!

I'm a fan of synthetic, but does anybody think this could be a culprit?

BlackBIRDVQ

iTrader: (15)

I got 71K miles on my 01 Max since June of 01 and I switched to Mobil 1 at 3K miles. I always have put 4.5qts of oil in it and always had it at the full mark from every 3k mile oil change. Car has been VERY abused, talk about 3rd clutch is about to be put in it and 4th set of Koni shocks- its raced alot road racing... Car had no break in period. Runs very stong now. I'm a mechanic myself, worked with the VQ for years they are a fantastic engine that will be around for another 20 years like the VG motor did and still does. VG was introduced in 79 and is still installed in the Frontier and Xterra. That would be 25 years in production of an engine that hasnt changed much in that long run.

Driver72

iTrader: (1)

Well guys, since that single incident of seeing a bit of blue smoke the car has been started 3 more times, including this morning when I went to take it to the Nissan dealer, and no smoke.

The service advisor, along with one of the mechanics standing right next to him both said, "Nissans are known to burn a bit of oil between oil changes."

They said it's nothing to worry about, just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get worse or happen too often.

Then for a reasurring answer I asked again, "so you've seen this occasionally with the 3.5 VQ and isn't just an issue with my car?"

And they both shooked their heads, "no" and said, "yeah, it's not uncommon" and again said, "just keep and eye on it to make sure it doesn't get worse, but a bit of oil burning from time to time is common."
He said something about them burning 1/4 quart every 1000 miles in normal.

So, that's that!
As I said, the car runs perfect, doesn't ping, doesn't sputter, nothing.
And again, since then I've watched out for it and floored it once and looked in the rearview mirror to see if there was a smoke trail and NOTHING>

I guess it was just a sporadic incident.

SR20DEN

iTrader: (7)

It probably isn't oil seaping past the rings or valve seals which would be signs of an aged engine. As with many engines, Nissans tend to let oil past the PCV and it can dump into the intake manifold. If you remove your airbox and open the TB you will see plenty of dirt and oil gunk. At 20k miles there will always be a film of oil in the intake manifold and I have now seen this with two different VQ35 engines. It is normal and there is nothing to worry about.

Galo

Ahhh...how do you think the top piston ring gets lubricated if it's not for a minute amount of oil getting to it????

Yes, some small amount of oil consumption on ANY and ALL engines is normal. In fact, on most engines, one quart between oil changes is considered normal; in the case of our micro-finished VQ, half-quart between oil changes is normal indeed

paralyse

Blue smoke = burning oil (pull plugs if you have any doubts)
Black smoke = AFM is not right or your car is on fire...
White smoke = coolant entering com. chamber thru cracked block/head, head gasket, blown freeze plug, etc.
Purple smoke = aliens took over your "cat"

Blue smoke on acceleration (engine load) usually but not always is valve guides or valve stem seals. Blue smoke constantly (engine not under load) usually indicates worn piston rings.

Check for valve seals with leakdown test and check rings with compression test.
You can also pull the plugs and see which cylinder(s) are fouled with oil (shows up on the plugs as thick black oily deposit or a dark gray "crust" on the electrodes?)

At 24k miles or whatever you are due a new engine (insist) if there is even the slightest trace of blue smoke from your Max!! Make sure you have receipts proving you did oil changes every 3000 miles in case their warranty person is a real ****.

There are exceptions to these guidelines! Porsche boxer sixes from Boxster/911 are notorious for burning oil on startup after sitting a couple of days. Porsche says this is normal (!). Oh well.

paralyse

As an aside, IMO, if someone especially a dealer tells you "engines are supposed to burn oil" they are full of it. No offense, but i see plenty of vehicles in the shop with 100k+ miles that dont use a drop of oil between changes. Not all of them are "every 3k" types either. My Max gets its oil changed every 2.5k miles and at 41K (I drive it hard, too) I have never had any issues of oil consumption, certainly not "1/2 quart" (unacceptable) or "1 quart" (****ing ridiculous). Most cars that I see that are regular oil burners, follow a history of poor maintenance (one guy went 10000 miles between LOFs on his minivan with 130k, spun bearing after oil pump clogged -- never had it in because dealer told him 1 quart was normal consumption...!)

Maybe on GM rust buckets but not on our micro-toleranced VQ35s
Don't let the dealer use "normal oil consumption" as an excuse to deny you warranty coverage of an engine that is experiencing ABNORMAL wear.