So.... after my oil change.... 1000 miles later... i checked the dipstick.... and its near the LOW mark... it WAS a little below the HIGH mark when i changed my oil...

anyways.... It needed half a quart to get back to being a bit below HIGH...

im guessing its burning 1/2 quart every 1000 miles.


This is a new car to me... so i dont know if it was doing this before...

and i wanna know IF this happened because I used synthetic oil on a highmileage car... or if the rings/seals are bad just because this is a 3.5L and its a common issue...

im pretty sure the car has been running dino oil changes before... since it had the sticker on the window for the next OCI and it was done at one of those 15 min places....

i used mobile 1 5w 30 with a MT 110 filter

---

and ... would any of that auto-RX help?... or should i go back to dino oil...?...

its a 2002 maxima SE 6sp with 120,000 miles

 

120k isn't exactly new and 1/2 qt in 1000 miles is substancial, however I wouldn't consider it a huge deal at this point if you keep up with the level and it doesn't get any worse. I would definitely go back to regular dino oil if it is using oil and see what the difference is with the consumption. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try something like auto-rx or "restore" or something to that effect but I wouldn't expect anything drastic from them. Maybe give that castrol high mileage oil a shot.

 

Check rear valve cover for a crack, and replace with 04+ rear cover if it is.

 

well if the valve cover has a crack or the gasket is leaking... wouldnt i see oil spots on the driveway?.... cause i dont


should i switch to dino oil now?....or wait for the next OCI..... if dino oil fixes the problem.... this mean i can never go back to synthetic?....


would seafoam help any at all?

 

1. replace PCV valve
2. change valve covers
3. deal with it because its bad rings

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....loss+diagnosis

 

but don't you have a fix for it when you get back to the states? I remember you were going to upgrade your rings with something, is that going to be the cure?

 

yes, im going to replace the rings.
and headers in case the pre-cat issue does cause the problem.
but it would probably be easier for most people to just deal with it.

 

I hate synthetic and my maxima will never see ANY of it. Its too thin imo and if you have to top off the oil every now and then whats the point? You are just wasting money on synthetic. I got my engine replaced for oil consumption back in May. It burned 1qt in 3k miles...which is not bad compared to lots of others here. Needless to say, even my new engine burns a LITTLE..nothing to worry about yet. I broke it in properly.

I have learned to live with it. I went on the 350Z forums and their oil consumption rate should make US feel blessed. The non revup and the revup engines both burn crazy amounts of oil. I read that this guy burned 1qt in 600 miles. Its sad b/c I wanted to get a Z and sell the maxima next summer...maybe I still will, I dont know.

But back to you. It sucks you bought a car and this is happening. To be completely honest with you, you have to live with it. You wont be able to get a new engine from Nissan b/c you are out of warranty. Keep a close tabs on your oil levels every 500 miles and add if necessary. Consider switching to a heavier weight oil and leave synthetic. Try 10w-30 castrol gtx dino oil and see if your consumption goes down.

If oil is on your spark plugs then you may want to consider changing your rear valve cover. You might be lucky and that could be your problem. Also, dont go by the dipstick. VQ dipsticks SUCK! See how much oil you get out when you do an oil change and remember your oil filter holds about 1/4qt of oil.

Oh yea 1000th post

 

That's well within the Nissan spec of 900 miles/qt. Therefore it's "normal". Not typical for most, but not a reason to worry either.

 

Does a burning oil engine damage other parts?

 

Nissan Techs will tell you that the engine literally VAPORIZES any oil that makes it into the manifold/exhaust. I don't believe this entirely, but modern cars DO have mult. cats that assist in this process....

I'm struggling with this issue and what to do next. I'm running Mobil1, and losing about 1.75 qt. / 2k miles.
I'm considering trying different blends of oil, and perhaps better synthetic (group IV base stock) with a higher burn-off temp.

Something tells me that going back to Dino would be best for the guy who started this thread, however.

This is tricky one with these engines....so many variables. I doubt we'll EVER solve the mystery.

gr

 

Has anyone who has had this issue dumped the synthetic crap and improved their situation with dino?

 

I don't think it's such a big mistery. Like soonerfan said, either replace the rings or deal with it.

As long as you keep an eye on the level and add oil as needed no damage should occur.

I used to own a 4th gen that never burned a drop of oil, but I still checked the oil level every week because I like to take care of my cars. I still do it with my current car (burns no oil yet); gives me a peace of mind.

And if you burn enough oil to have to keep adding a lot of the fresh oil you never have to do an oil change again.

J/K - don't do that

Also, AFAIK the oil burning problem is not limited to just the synthetic. I have yet to read that someone switching the oil type/weight significantly improved or solved the problem.

 

it isnt a mystery because the cause has been identified.

it is caused by bad rings. proven with compression tests and cylinder leak down tests on numerous engines.

 

and i'm guessing replacing piston rings isn't something a DIY mechanic can do in his driveway without an engine lift or something of that nature, right?

 

its something you will need a mechanic to do.

but since its already gonna be open, you might as well do what im going to do when i get back to the states next summer. new pistons and rods (and maybe cams)

 

Do a compression check/or leakdown test...I've been driving Japanese Vehicles for over 25 years and most Japanese engines are designed for 300,000 miles plus and don't even have a ridge worn in the cylinder walls...Most still have the cross hatch honing pattern present! Unless you've been beating it like a dog and not changing your fluids on a regular schedule would I point to your rings being the problem! I've also been running sythetic for over 2.5 years on my 03, and I personally run 10w30 Mobil 1 and then switched to 10w40 Royal Purple for extra protection during dyno run and the track! Personally 5w30 is below what Nissan recommends! Owners manual calls for 5W30,10W30 and 10W40

 

Sorry, about the 5w30 oil it's prefered but if above 0 degrees Fahrenheit 10w30, 10w40 maybe used... I'm in Texas! Let us know something... I'm pretty sure that 5W30 sythetic is to thin for your motor!

 

made by HKS? Sick meng!

 

Yeah def run a higher weight oil, prefferably a high mileage oil too, the detergents help a little.

Fix it? Rebuild your motor.

Dunno what you mean by DIY mechanic, ive built 2 chevrolet smallblocks in my mom's garage. But Replacing the piston rings requires pulling the motor and dissemble of the rotating assembly, well theoretically you could do it in the car but thats retarded. Building a motor isn't that hard, you just need LOTS of time, patience, some money, and books.

 

alright after reading everything....im kinda confused... got a bit of a mixed response....

i dont want to go ahead and replace rings.... thats my worst case scenario... and then are the valve covers.... since im not too handy with things like this.



but.... fluids wise... some say go to dino oil.... others say use a higher weight...

i was using 5w 30... and someone recommended 10w30..... but once the engine is up to temp... they would both be the same temp right?... so how would it make a difference? should i go for a 10w40?... or 5w40? or anyother (x)W 40 ..... mobile also has a 15w50 that i use in my motorcycle.... anyone recommend that?


btw... those were all synthetic...

about dino oil.... i dont know much about them... iv always used synthetic... help me make up my mind...


and about the autoRX... or seafoam?

while... others state the oil consumption is pretty normal under nissan standards... wow.

i drive normally... usually shifting below 3k RPM.... i drive alot though... my work is a 60mile round trip... and i usually have little errands and stuff like that... school is a 40mile round trip... and through out the day.... i punch it up to 4.5k rpm to get through traffic.... but this is occasionally... not frequent...

i doubt im pushing the engine too much.

 

Switching from 5w30 to 10w30 won't do anything trust me, my previous vehicle (4.3L S10 pickup) I did a rebuild and used some shoddy valve seals which leaked. Before replacing them with quality seals I tried slowing the oil consumption by trying various weights, made no difference at all.

I don't think how you drive should have too much of an affect, true a motor that is revved higher a lot will use more oil than maybe a car that is never pushed but the difference is so small anyways. In contrast, I drive spiritedly just about everyday including 6500 rpm shifts, etc. and my car uses no oil.

 

If you don't push your car much, I don't see a need for synthetic.

I used to use synthetic religiously, now I wish I could have my money back!

 

yeah theres no point in running synthetic if you are going to just end up burning it off

 

ok ... so dino oil it is?...

hevier weight then?...

also.... autorx? seafoam?

 

Autorx and seafoam wont really help anything, auto rx might but i doubt it.

 

You never said if you have any leaks or not? You also never said whether you've performed a leakdown test or compression test!

 

other people have performed that test. it has been determined that the oil loss on 3.5 is caused by bad rings letting oil into the cylinder.
its been proven on here and forums with other VQ35DEs (Zs and Gs).

every person doesnt need to do it.

 

dont see any leaks on the driveway..... dont know what a leak down test is... is it cheap?

and never did a compression test.

 

http://www.aa1car.com/library/leakdown.htm

you do each cylinder to see if air pressure leaks from the cylinder.

on my engine, cylinder 3,5, and 6 failed (+30% leakage). Air came out of the PCV valve fitting indicating that the rings were worn.

this was also evident when i replaced my plugs

 

Is this something that is intrinsic to only the VQ35DE and not the VQ30DE-K? I know I've seen oil use problems related to the VQ35DE, but haven't seen much if anything about the VQ30DE-K. I've had my VQ30DE-K for 4K and haven't seen the oil level budge a bit. Further, this car has had Valvoline synthetic in it from the get go (records prove it, hurray!) and seems to be loving it.

 

aksansai that is correct, it's an issue with the vq35de the vq30 doesn't seem to have this issue.

 

actually the 00-01s burn oil too. I dont know if its ring related or not but they are burning oil or losing it somewhere

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ht=oil+burning

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ht=oil+burning

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ht=oil+burning

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ht=oil+burning

Ofcourse their's is no way near as common as the 5.5 gens but Im just putting it out there. Also, the 2.5L altimas are burning lots of oil too...i'll send a link to whoever wants it

 

The 2.5 ALtis are CONFIRMED as having a HUGE problem with rings and oil-loss.
I know a guy who works in the MS plant where they Manuf. them....he said there was a HUGE nationwide recall. Local dealers have confirmed. Vendor issue (rings).

This isn't the same as our engines though -- just strangely coincidental.

I wish....

 

wtf man... i thought nissans are supposed to be bulletproof like hondas n toyotas...

and i thought the 30 and 35 were voted in the top ten motors... for a reason...
---

i have given nissan the benifit of the doubt for a while... just decided that my problems are caused by previous owner.... etc etc... like the syncros in the transmission.... and the oil burn.... but everyone else have the same issues.

[/endrant]


in other news.... i guess my final call for now is to wait a bit more on the current oil...and see if its still loosing oil.... and then go for 10w40 Castrol GTX high mileage dino oil....


i dont wanna mess with the rings/valve covers or anything for now..... just oil...
as of the brand and type of oil... anyone have any other suggestions?...other than the castrol gtx 10w40 high mileage dino

 

I've had good results with Castrol GTX 5-30 That should be good, but I'd be interested to know how 10-40 works.

Ive driven about 400 miles since I got my 03...still waiting to see how the oil burns if at all.

My tranny was replaced recently and I STILL have some lite grind/notchy feeling. F.

 

you 3.5 guys crack me up...."not a huge deal" lol....

Hell, I've gone 10k miles and still been full...

 

My trans. has been notchy since the day I drove it off the lot....no kidding.
I just swapped my gear lube the other day with AMSOIL GL-4 from GL-5, and it IS a noticeably smoother difference!

I'm just not sure what to do about my oil consumption, but I'm leaning towards Castrol Syntec BLEND. I still like the benefits of synthetic, but I'm hoping the dino will alleviate some burn-off issues. I'm going to do a 5w-30 for the winter, and maybe something thicker like 10w-40 in the spring.

Irish's comment is kinda funny, but not. You're right Irish: is IS ridiculous what we 3.5 guys put-up with in terms of oil loss/consumption. But what choice do we have??
I'd have NO PROBLEM dumping 1qt of fresh oil in the sump every 2-3k miles, if I KNEW it wasn't going to self-destruct @ 100k miles!!
It's just the principle of things....the VQ3.5 IS supposed to be bulletproof like the 3.0 is/was -- this oil loss is total b.s.!!!

 

what are the benifits of synthetic that you like over dino?....

should i consider blend instead of dino?

--

and after how many miles did you just change ur gl-5 to gl-4?

 

Synthetic typically coats and BONDS to metal parts in the engine, giving better lubricity during start-up. Also, synth. resists temp. change better than dino, and stays more consistent in varying temps.
Good synth. typically outperforms dino 10:1 in all of the important categories or shear, burn-off, OCI, etc., etc.
Typically - there is no comparison when using a good synthetic.

Now - with the oil consumption issues: there are MANY schools of thought just short of tearing down the engine (like soonerfan) and replacing the rings!
But, I'm going to try different blends of oil and base stocks to see if I can get some relief in the amount of oil loss that my engine is exhibiting.
If it continues to get worse, I may have no choice but to rebuild...but for now, I'll just keep dumping oil in it.
It's the only thing that makes sense, because it STILL runs as strong (or stronger) than the day I bought it!

I changed from OEM dino in my trans. around 15k, to AMSOIL 2000. ThEN, it was accepted that this was okay....now I know better.
SO, I clocked about 40k miles on that GL-5 stuff. I'm at 57k now. I hope I didn't do any serious damage, but only time will tell. It seems to be okay for now...no major changes in shifting.

gr