sorry if this has been covered before but I couldnt find anything in a search...

Ive suspected my 02 has been burning some oil for a while but it didnt seem like much so I didnt worry about it. I use amsoil 5w30 synthetic and change around every 6k miles. Well I did my change today at 60k and it had barely 2 quarts in it! For some reason I dont think its a slow leak, I havent seen any spots anywhere or anything. What could be causing this? My CEL is not on. Thanks very much for any reply's.

shaz

 

Here's a thread on it:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=487874


you REALLY should not be going 6000 miles without changing your oil, especially if it's burning it...and yes, the VQ35's are known oil burners, but the cause has not been proven yet.

 

Here's a couple threads for you-

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=487874

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=438989

 

You beat me to it!

 

Even with synthetic? What if it wasnt burning oil? Thanks for the thread links

 

well considering synthetic oil is generally thinner than conventional oil, it would actually be easier to believe that a car using synthetic oil would be losing it. And yes, it is burning oil...many suspect the rings/honing process....the engines do not leak a drop of oil and some people have reported seeing smoke come from their oil burning VQ35s at high RPMs...

 

Wow, makes me want to get rid of the car...

 

try changing to conventional..... rings? why don't ask the Z guys and G's..same engine, if they have the same issue

 

Yeah, it's really ridiculous....are you under warranty? it takes pretty much an arm, a leg, and your first born to get nissan to cover the engine under warranty, because they don't seem to want to admit the problem. But if you keep your car in pretty good shape and change the oil a little more often than you should, it should be alright.

 

I haven't heard anything about oil burning in the RWD VQ35's so I can't answer, but I would suspect if they had already found the problem, the word would spread to the maxima crowd

 

Wouldn't u be able to tell on the dipstick if you were down 2 qts? How often do u ck. the dipstick? 2 qts. low has to make a diff. on the dipstick?

 

6000 miles is fine on synthetic oil, assuming you're not in a ridiculously dirty environemtn and use reasonable filters. Just make sure you check it every 500 to 1000 miles.

 

I would think the dipstick would be dry if you were down 2 quarts.

 

the only time i check my dipstick is when i measure on the initial fill up! =)
vq30!!!

 

try switching to regular pennzoil or chevron oil...then check it weekly to see the progress...if it stops burning, then you're good to go

 

yeah i'll probably try switch back to regular oil to see what happens.

 

Pennzoil?

 

yeah, is there something wrong? many BITOG members have done UOAs on pennzoil and have great results...

 

If you change it every 2500 or so miles its ok. If you change it every 3k it is probably ok, but if you drive hard, live in a harsh environment or have longer intervals (longer than 3k) then you could be in trouble.

 

http://www.my350z.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213176

 

WTF., ther problems seem worst then the MAX.

 

yeah, but like i said before, nobody has really found any solid proof of what is causing the problem. That thread shows that the Z's are burning oil, but it doesn't say what is needed to fix it.

 

Exactly.

 

pennzoil is great for if you have an oil burning problem, it gets thick enough in a week for ANY rings to keep it in the oil pan, no matter what condition the rings are in.

 

Yes and its that getting thick that causes significant bearing issues.

 

you were supposed to go "ahahaha" it was a joke, i know thick oil is bad. its bad for things other than bearings too

 

Bad piston rings. I lost about 1 quart every 1000 miles. I have 45k on my 02 3.5 6 speed - Nissan did compression tests and FINALLY replaced the engine!

At least they owned up to it!

 

I just hit 45K on my 02 SE 6sp, but no signs of oil burning.

In four years my only oil issue was my oil pan drain plug seal got worn out and started dripping so I replaced and done!

 

I donot think anyone knows, sad but probably true.........