Has anyone confirmed, by pulling a 3.5L apart, as to the reason why they are burning oil? I have searched and people have speculated rings, valve seals, ect. Oil-filter was changed every 3750 mi. since new and at 80K this 2003 GLE is burning almost 2 quarts!
I'm sure Nissan will say. "Oh that's normal" Well to me this is unacceptable. I am trying to put together my case against Nissan for this problem, any info would be helpful.

And, has anyone out there gotten Nissan to repair this problem?

 

It has to be the rings. The A33B VQ35's have the same valve oil seal part number as the VQ30, VE30, SR20, the new HR, and the GA16. Can't be that.

 

i think every 5.5 gen burns...I even have a new engine with only 2400 miles on it. I got it when nissan replaced my old one due to oil consumption. Even my new one burns a bit. I have learned to accept it...

 

Mine does not...

 

slickrick. Mine does not either.

 

63.5k and not burning oil yet...

 

I bought my car with 48k on the clock and I don't know how the previous owner treated it, but I change the oil and filter religiously every 3k, and my engine burns between 1.25 and 1.5 qts. each change. The dipstick of course doesn't show that I'm down at all, but when I drain the oil, I only get 3 qts. (if I'm lucky). I know it's bad for the engine, but I've just learned to ignore it.

 

237000 and no oil burn issues

 

107k and burn almost all my oil between changes. smokes out the tail. I'm gonna start calling it bluesmokemax

 

I denied it before but now I think there may be a link between burning oil and 6spd maximas...I think normal shifting (around 2500-3000) may be too much for the car and shifting at 2000 may be better...I have no proof of this but I just want to throw it out there

I used to shift at 2000 all the time few months ago and my oil level was always the same...lately its been 2500-3000 and I see I burned a bit

 

6 speed no oil burning......

 

82k ish, no burn, shifting around 2000 all the time (gas is expensive). also want to mention that i drag race about once a week and still dont burn. i really think its a combination of how the engine was broken in and luck.

 

nothing yet, and I drive it hard and change my oil @ 5k mile intervals.

 

does the oil filter contain the same amount of oil at all times? Maybe thats why my reading could be off (and for others also)..maybe when theres more oil in the filter the dipstick will show less and when theres less in the filter the dipstick will be higher...

 

its the rings

 

Still measuring my oil on every change, and I still get between 4 and 4 1/4 quarts (which is how much i put in). And my car is a 6-speed.

 

My dad's '04 I35 with 20K burns oil...

 

How do you manage to upshift at 2000?

 

how accurate was your dipstick?

 

67K + 6spd and no oil burning detected as of yet...

 

How much BS did you go through getting Nissan to replace your original engine? Thanks

 

Completely unrelated to the transmission.

 

it pays to have buddies who work as service techs there

 

Always reads full, which is completely accurate...

 

Hmm....are you saying that the dipstick in the Maxima 3.5 VQ is also defective and/or not accurate?? Is this even LEGAL for Nissan to allow it?

If this is the case, i would be VERY concerned. I always judge if my car needs oil or not based on what the dipstick shows. And yes, when i change the oil myself (using steep driveway and ramps under front wheels, so car is 98% horizontal) i NEVER get out more than 4qts. My dipstick has never been on low or empty. The oil i get out is always less than 4qts or close to 4qts.
I think that this is normal because i never wait for hours to drain all the oil out of the engine. I never really thought that this would indicate that my dipstick is not accurate and my car runs low on oil. My car has 100k miles on it. It may burn a little oil but so far, i never added more than 1/2 qt between my 5k miles oil changes. The exhaust tailpipe does NOT have any sticky black ashes on it. So far - so good. But this post really made me wonder.

Going back to the oil dipstick..., i also replace the oil on 3 other cars in the family....Acura TSX, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Sonata V6 .... and i NEVER get the same amount of oil out as what i put initially pour in - never! I don't think any of these cars burn oil. The dipstick never showed "low" on any of them.
Ideas?

 

Alright this is what i was told by a nissan tech. Now i dont know if its true, but it could make sense. He said the VQ35 have a molybdemun coating on the cylinder walls to reduce drag etc., but he told me that this coating easily becoms out of round, therefore the rings are not sealing anymore, which is why so many 3.5's burn oil. It all makes sense, he said if the car overheats even once the coating can become out of round, but he said sometimes it doesnt even need to overheat once for it to happen. He also mentioned breaking in the motor has alot to do with it.

You guys should see all the 3.5's we replace due to oil consumption. Murano's, Pathfinders, maxima's, altimas. I remember this one R50 pathfinder we did, it would burn 1qt of oil every 1000km(600miles). I got to pull that engine apart, and the insides were a MESS. It smoked like crazy, it also destroyed the cats all of which needed to be replaced.

 

I have a 96 se 5 speed that with 160k and it burns no oil....I was thinking of upgrading to a 5th or 6th gen.....Is this oil burning thing more common to the 5.5 gen or do 6th gens burn oil too? I dont want to "get used " to a newer car than I have now burning oil, so Im thinking about an 00-01 maxima instead if this is such a common thing.

 

the 3.5 dipstick is a joke...i can get 3 different reading at different time if i park in the same spot and wait hte same amount of time for it to "drain" back in.

i would only worry if the stick was bone dry or only alittle on the stick.

mine is usually always in between the hatchs lines.

 

I'm just wondering how a dipstick can actually be as inaccurate as people are claiming it to be...if you're telling me the dipstick reads full yet you are several quarts of oil low please tell me what the dipstick is actually reading then?

 

I didn't believe it either until I saw it with my own car...

If I check within a few days prior to changing my oil, my dipstick will read FULL, but when I drain the oil (and oil from the filter), I'm lucky if I get 3 qts. out...

 

Interesting, I have noticed that if I try to check the oil even 10-15 mins after the car has been off the amount of oil on the dipstick is beyond even the full mark from drainback I assume (without wiping off and reinserting), but if I check it completely cold it is spot on...I'll have to keep a closer eye on it I guess but like some have stated here, every vehicle I have ever owned I have never gotten the exact amount of oil that I put in at oil changes which is perfectly normal to an extent.

 

I usually check when the car's been sitting overnight or something and on flat ground.

I agree that a lot of cars burn some oil, but burning 1.5 qts in 3k miles shouldn't be normal, and I don't believe it is. That being said, it may not be doing too much damage to our engines to be down that low, but I wouldn't like it to get too much lower.

 

No don't get me wrong I totally agree with you about the oil issue, before I purchased my current maxima I looked at a private sale max that had a known oil issue which almost made me throw out even considering a maxima but I also did some research and am well aware that it is still a very small percentage that have issues.

 

subscribed.........

 

unsubscribing...

 

<---Never subscribed in the 1st place.

 

What year cars are all these oil burning engines in? are these same defective engines in the brand new VQ35's or did they correct the problem in a certain year?

 

this is not an issue to be terribly worried about. Most examples are doing serious miles in pretty harsh conditions. just change the oil regularly, get at least the first 20-30k in @ 3k OCI on regular dino, and try to take your readings after the car has been sitting over night. the rings tend to be the focus of the problem, so this is a potential issue in all VQ35s from 01/02 up until recently when they started adding the "rev-up" and HR variants of this fine motor. even the people who've had to have their engine replaced acknowledge that this isn't common. It just happens to seem common here because everyone comes to complain or get their concerns addressed.

bottom line; get your oil changes/levels documented thoroughly. alot of us do it in the driveway, but if you keep receipts, and maintenance logs, It makes it a lot harder for nissan to turn you down.

 

Rev-ups are far more prone to oil burning.

 

I don't complain too much because I know it's a problem and there aint sht I can co about it other than replace or rebuild. Don't get me wrong, I love my car and the vq35 because of what it can do but the issue is very obvious...I have owned many cas and driven them all hard without issues like this. I go through about a qrt a week (800 miles or so).

As far as I'm comcerned the oil burning issue is crap but for the last 2 yrs of me having the problem I've done near everything I can to blow the engine and it still keeps smoking v8's. I've even sprayed nitrous into the rev limiter many times and it wont pop. I have 50 less compression in one cylinder than the rest but cant feel a difference. I do see lots of smoke out the back though. bla bla, I hate and love my engine.

Ps.
I was burning oil way before I ever put nitrous on my ride