Hey guys, i posted a while ago about severe loss of oil

Well i jsut had the oil changed and put about 1000kms on it (2 weeks).. Checked the oil by the dealership, and low and behold, the dipstick reads low..

So about 2L or so is lost in 1000kms. No oil leaks, no inidcation of burning. Talking to the service manager on tuesday.

Just keepin you informed.

 

This may sound like a dumb question but are you using the same, consistant "procedure" in checking the level on the dipstick? You get a very unreadable/inaccurate reading if you just drive and then quickly try to check the oil level, particularly if you are trying to determine oil consumption. The draining oil "smears" all over the dipstick. You have to give the oil time to drain from the "top" of the engine. I believe the Owner's Manual says to wait at least ten minutes after shutting down the engine before checking the dipstick (on level ground). And it should be done with the oil temp. being at about the same temp. every time you check it. You cannot check it one time when the oil is stone cold and then check it the next time with the oil hot. The best time to check the oil level is after the car has sat overnight on a level spot at home. If you do this let's say every 1000 kms over a period of time then you can see the oil consumption "trend" that your engine has and you can monitor it.

 

Yes i have done that. I let it sit for 3 hours, and when i pulled the dipstick the first time before the oil change, it was DRY.. no oil on the dip stick... That was after 5000kms of driving on Amsoil Series 2000 oil.

After i got the dealer to do the oil change, after 1000kms, the dealer let the car sit for 20minutes, and read it.. it read Low. I spoke with the service manager, it appears he is putting a request in for a new motor.

 

Has anyone tried to use an oil catch can in there max. I'bet it would reduce the amount of oil that is passing thru into the intake, but I dont' know if it would reduce the amount of oil consumed. Just a thought.

 

Oil catch can? Please explain...

 

I have the same problem. No aparent leaks. I'm taking mine in to the stealership on Thursday for a recall (cam shaft position sensor threw a SES light) and asked about it. They will add dye and I'm to drive 2k miles (about two weeks worth for me). At that point, they hope to pinpoint the problem. I'll post the results.

 

Oil catch cans go inbetween your intake and your pcb valve. The tube that goes from your valve cover to the intake can and will suck up oil in small amounts. A catch can will seperate the oil from air and contain it. Some even drain back into your oil pan.

 

woody,

I checked the intake and there is no excessive oil build up ( have a frankencar intake), so i doubt its coming from the PCV valve.

But maybe i am wrong?

 

Ya just a guess, I havent had a large loss of oil , but if I do that is one of the first things I would try. It would be hard to notice any build up. What about on the inside of the line coming from the valve cover ?

 

Actually it would be easy to see the build up because i have a frankencar intake which is silver in colour, and its really clean inside... But i am thinking more serious engine problems than that!!

 

Ed, have you looked under the motor to see if/where there is an oil leak and from where?

I'm sure John at Dermac can help you out with this one. If not, sell that POS.

 

MiniRX7 - wow this seems like a very serious problem....how is driveability on the car? wut about weird noises and reactions from the engine? hopefully u get that new motor in ASAP so u can start enjoying the max again

oh yeah one more thing..how many miles on your 2k3?

 

kms? This here is the good ole US of A... You boys need to be saying "Miles"


J/k...

 

IIRC, Catch Cans are usually only used on FI (turbos usually and I guess it can be done for SC's) cars where the high boost can cause more than normal, oil blow-by. I suppose you could use one on an NA engine, but if the engine's in good tune, this will be of minimal benefit.

This is probably something you've already done, but have you looked at your exhaust gasses right after starting the car up in the morning (when it's cold)? If your engine is burning oil, your exhaust will have a bluish tinge to it... There may also be more crap deposited on your rear bumper....

 

I used them on all of my na hondas and VW's. You would be suprised by what ends up in the cans even with a completely perfect running engine.

Also any amount of oil will reduce the octane of the gas used, this is one of the reasons that they are used on FI cars.

 

Minirx7, I had a similar experience from the dealership. Three weeks after my oil change, couldn't have been close to 1000 miles, and my car was making wierd pinging sounds while going real slow at the supermarket parking lot between 1 and 2k rpms. Was driving me crazy, then when I got home it was making a loud clicking, and chattering at the upper passenger side of the motor. Shut the car off, and let it sit. Checked the oil, and there was barely even a sign of oil in the car. I replaced 2.5 quarts of oil to get the dipstick to read in the right spot. Luckily my girlfriend was home to drive me to the Autozone for oil. All the noises stopped, and my car is running fine (hopefully)My car is going to AA meetings for its oil consumption. Told the dealership many times about this and they say that it'll burn roughly a quart between oil changes. These cars like to drink, so just keep an eye on the dipstick I guess. I was hoping for a more tangible surefire cure for this, but apparently one is not to be had.

 

I noticed per your profile that you appear to be using Amsoil 0W-30. This concerns me. I hope you ain't using it now. In ain't winter in Toronto now. If you are still using it, I suggest dumping it immediately and start using a 5W or 10W-30. Yeah, I know the Amsoil boys are going to get upset!! With your MT especially, I wouldn't use anything with less viscosity than 5W-30 in the winter (even in the big T) and 10W-30 at other times. If you still have not found any external oil leaks then the oil has to be getting burned one way or the other. Is your exhaust more "sooty" than before the HOC started? A "happy" Max exhibits NO soot in the exhaust! Also, if your non-stock air filter is below the level of the TB have a look at it and check for it being soaked in engine oil. As someone above has suggested look for excessive oil/oil vapours backflowing from the crankcase vent.

 

I wonder if Nissan used the same POS rings on the VQ35DE in 2002 as they used in the QR25DE which had really bad oil consumption problems.
Personally have 113K miles on my 01 without any need to add oil between changes as it stays at full at all times. I don't even check my oil :P

 

my 02 was losing oil a month after i bought it, had my oil changed at the dealership once before i brought it back to get inspected. there was a slight rattle at 3200-4200 rpm, the techs couldn't find a cause or a source of the oil burning. engine replaced under warranty, would have cost more than 10G if it wasn't for the coverage.

 

I use one now:



It fills up every 400 miles.

 

The vent on the intake side lets very little to no oil through. Check the tube on the back of the intake connected to the PCV.

I also opened my manifold and found pooled oil (not in the tube, the manifold just before the entrance to the lower manifold).

 

Yup, my 2002 pinged while coasting downhill around 2000 to 2500 rpm. Thats right, the low RPM ping. After adding the catch can, it was all but gone. I noticed I still get some oil through to the intake, but not nearly as much. Probably just need a larger can to create a larger baffle.

 

Also try steel wool in the can to help seperate the air from the oil.

 

Clarification... Right now i am running conventional 5W30... I am no longer using the Amsoil 0W30 anymore.

There is no excessive soot on the exhaust, no oil leaks anywhere, and I dont see blue smoke out the rear.

Mileage on my car is 70,000kms (HONDAETER JUST FOR U, 40,000 miles). The car has been meticulously maintained (but also driven hard as well). I do oil changes every 6,000kms on AMSOIL Synthetics (thats like 3500miles).

I dont understand it. My dad's benz 2000 E320 also had oil burning problem, and the dealer swapped the motor after 100,000. I never thought a VQ motor would do this. My moms 99SE auto has nearly 180,000kms and no burning oil.

As for the motor, there is slightly more noises, but the car drives perfectly fine at all times.

Summary:
1. No leaks anywhere
2. No burning or excessive soot int he muffler
3. No loss in performance at all
4. Dipstick goes from FULL to LOW after only 1,000kms
5. Waiting on dealer to get back to me on new engine

IDEAS:
If they are going to put in a new engine, i am thinking about putting myself in debt and buy a Cattman header/ypipe, new clutch, ES engine mounts, and possible underdrive pulley since this would be easy to install with minimal labour, once the motor is pulled.. REcommendations?

 

Did you break in the engine (if bought new)? How soon did you switch to Amsoil? I suspect your piston rings never had a chance to seat properly.

 

I seated mine EXACTLY per the Nissan recommendations, use Mobile 10W-30, and I still loose oil. Like I posted above, it's going to the stealership tommorow for a recall (not related). While there, they are adding dye to the oil to find the "leak". Unfortunatly, I doubt they'll find it.

 

Why is there a break in procedure on a new car? I had my 2k2 and dropped 35K in 7 months and never broke it in, never had oil lose problem.

On my 2k3, i switched to amsoil after about 10,000 KM's or so.. I assume piston rings would be broken in after 70,000kms of hard driving

 

dude, you got cylinder wall glazing....
When did you switch to M1? The owner's manual assumes that the new owner will not change the factory fill within the break in period, but doesn't spell it out. Syn oils are too "slick" to allow proper ring seating. Then again, BlackBird my be right and no proper break in may compensate for cheapo rings (another Nissan "cost improvement" project gone bad?).

 

Syn oil is used in most high performance cars during break in.

 

That's a good observation woody, however, those factories (Porsche, MB, Aston Martin, etc.) run-in the engines for some period of time on the dyno at prescribed rpms and oil temperatures to ensure initial break in. I don't think Nissan falls in that category.

 

I didn't use synth until 10,000 miles or so.

Update: just got a call from the stealership: absolutly no signs of oil leakage anywhere. Gotta be through the rings. Question: if I now switch to either a high milage oil or non-synth, do you guys think I'll loose less? I'll try it on the next oil change, but I'm wondering what other's opinions are.

Also, any idea of a quick and easy way to tell if I'm getting blow-by? If I start pulling plugs (with about 5k miles on them), should I be looking for soot or would that just indicate incomplete combustion? I can tear into it this weekend if anyone has any ideas of what to look for.

 

bump. Anybody got ideas?

 

High mileage oils are a marketing ploy "to rejuvenate seals". Pulling the plugs and reading them is a dieing art and likelly won't help if you do it yourself (you may need to find an old timer mechanic for that).

If anything, you may get some relief by moving up a grade to 40 weight, but in MD that may be tough in the winter. A rebuild is the only real solution.

 

Finding an old mechanic around here is like finding a max without paint chips: aint gonna happen. No plan on rebuilding anytime soon. I figure that if I did it myself, it would cost more than 200 quarts of oil would (in other words 200k miles...). This seems to be a common problem for high milage 3.5's. I know for a fact that I've got about 50k more miles than anyone else here so I'm seeing the little problems years before the rest. Interesting to hear other people are already running into the oil problen and the valve rattle issue I've been having. I'm hoping the recall they are doing now will take care of the valve rattle (replacing the cam shaft pos. sensor). I'll post updates in a few hours.

 

200 qts at $5 a qt. is still cheaper than a rebuild. As for the rattles/noise, I don't know where M1 falls in the spectrum, but according to the BITOG guys, Amsoil is a lot quieter than German Castrol (0W30). You might want to give Amsoil a try.

 

Update: just got the car back. Valve rattle is less, but still there. Dealer still could not find the oil leak. I'll check the plugs this weekend and post again.

Amsoil is 0W30. It'll leak more because it's thinner. basically, I'm fighting two fronts: need a thinner oil to lessen the rattle, and I need a thicker one to lessen the leak. Basically, I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't!

 

The dipstick for the vq35 sucks ***. I have to wait about 20 minutes after an oil change or after the car has been running to get a meaningful reading from that thing.

Maybe whoever is changing the oil isn't putting enough back in, but they think they are because the dipstick misreads? Or, when you're checking, it's too soon after the engine has been running and it's being misread on the dipstick?

The amount of oil you're saying is being lost is a TON in a small time frame. If it were burning you'd see blue smoke out of the tail pipe, in my humble opinion, at @ 2L per 1000 KM. If that much were leaking, you'd see a huge puddle of it under the car.

I have an older car that does have a slight oil leak. It gets all over the motor and parts of the trans and leaves some under my parking spot at home in the course of 5,000 miles between my changes. Despite that, I still don't have to top it off between changes. The smallest of oil leaks look HUGE because just a few drops can cause a big mess. I'm probably losing less than 1/2 L in that time but it looks like 10.

I think you ight be misreading the dipstick here or the person changing your oil is not putting enough back in.

 

What "rattle" are you talking about?? A lighter viscosity oil won't get rid of any rattle that I know of. Are you not covered by your powertrain warranty? Just DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT mention the use of any oil other than that in your Owner's Manual. i.e. the Amsoil 0W-30. Hopefully the dealer doesn't know. Unless he's an awfully good Joe I can see them denying your claim!

 

I'm at 114,000 miles on my '03. Just a tad on the outside of the powertrain warranty...

The lighter oil would better lubricate the valve train because it is able to get into more of the parts. heavier oil is better in high temp regions because it is more dense at higher temps.

I'd NEVER use a 0W-30 oil. WAY too light!

 

No misread.. I let the car sit for 2 hours first.. Right after oil change it was reading at the FULL MARKER. after 1000kms, it was reading LOW...

I used to use AMSOIL 0W30. BTW.. i am using conventional oil as well and it still eats oil up like no tommorrow.

Every 1000kms, I am adding 1 bottle of oil. Thats absurd. If i drove 4000kms, i would be completely out of oil, like before.

I will be calling the dealer tommorrow, as a request as been sent to Nissan regarding my burning oil situation