Ok, perhaps this has been covered before but I couldn't find any satisfactory answers.

I have a 2002 Maxima SE 6SPD (3.5L offcourse)

I got the car in August 2006 with 140,000km on the ODO. Even though the Used Car Dealer changed the oil/filter I drained it as soon as I got it home and replaced it with Mobil1 5W30 synthetic and Fram oil filter.

(also replaced the Air filter with a new K&N air filter).

I always check my engine oil every couple of days (its a habit), and it turned out to be a good habit in this case cause I noticed that this car was using up rather excessive amounts of oil.

To be honest at first I didn't think as much of it. I thought that perhaps the switch from dyno to synthetic could have something to do with that.

After a number of oil changes (every 5000km / 3000miles) I wondered if perhaps the internals of the engine were at fault, and then I got the notice in the mail that I had to do my Emission Test (done here every 2 years for cars 3yrs or older).

I was kinda worried that due to the excessive oil consumption there may be a problem with the etest. However when I had it done it showed nearly 0 emissions, even the guy at the shop was surprised. I can scan and post the results when I find the printout...

I'm stumped. Even when I am on the highway and really punch it, no matter how much I do I never say any sign of smoke come out of the tail pipe, even when I when out with a friend and had him follow me...

At about 160,000 I switched from Mobil 1 5w30 synthetic to Valvoline VMax High Mileage Synthetic, I noticed that between oil changes the car would consume an additional 3-4L of oil that's nearly what goes into a drained engine during an oil change.

I am currently at 181,000km and the engine runs very nicely, I do mostly highway commuting (about 50km each way).

Ever since I owned the car I used nothing the Premium Fuel minimum 91 Octane when I couldn't find a Sunoco station, but 99% of the time I did fuel up at Sunoco and used 94 Octane.

The engine is bone dry in case someone is wondering...

One last thing...at my last oil change I added a can of Engine Restore. So far too soon to tell if there are any changes, too early to say...

What should I do, check, etc etc etc, Where is all that oil going?

 

its an all too common problem here. Check your muffler tips and see if they are black as hell...its either burnt oil or carbon deposits from running rich

The problem is with the piston rings...they allow oil blow by which gets burned in the end. Not too much you can do except keep adding oil or replacing the rings. Im on my 2nd engine btw...the 1st one burned oil and I got it replaced by Nissan under warranty

 

SLVRMAXX is correct. With the engine restore, I don't think it is a good idea. I used it and untill I changed my oil I was getting multiple missfire codes, the check engine light was flashing at me and my car would die at lights. i don't think it helps on aluminum blocks. you may not notice the problem I did with the restore because you probly arn't losing as much oil through the rings as I am. That restore stuff and spark plugs don't like eachother.

 

Are you saying you lose more oil than me between oil changes? I go through about a gallon (3-4L) I find that absolutely ridiculous...is there a permanent fix ? is it due to poor quality rings in these engines? Or will the same end up happening again after replacement? To be honest I would never replace them unless it becomes a driveability issue, for now car is fine, power is there, and its smooth...

 

I will check the muffler tips and get back to you. How come this excess oil burnoff doesn't show up in any way on the emission test?

 

you loose plenty, I loose about a qrt a week but I do notice blue smoke out the exhaust when I hammer on it. If you don't have any kind of major oil leak of any kink=d then yes I would say its the rings like on all the other vq35's that have this issue. I've just learned to deal with it by topping off my oil weekly.

 

I have noticed that towards the end of my oil cycle i can here a tick like the vavles or something. after i put about a half a quart i am good. I have 123k miles and this worries me. I change my synthetic 5w30 mobil 1 every 5k miles. Is there anything i should do differently.

 

Just keep the oil filled, Your hearing the timing chain start to rattle when the oil gets low.

 

What about replacing the rings. Is this going to occur again after a while or is it only something that happens with the original rings due to poor material quality or something? Why is this such an issue in this "award winning engine". My First car was a 1985 Mazda 626 with a 2L 4-banger (carburated) over 400,000km and if I drove it hard (which was usually the case as it only had about 90hp...) it would use up about half a liter between oil changes.

My second car was a 1984 Audi 5000S 2.2L inline 5-cylinder, 110hp, I retired it after the 3rd tranny died, but the engine was mint even though it had well over 650,000km on it, and used less than half a liter between changes.

I can't believe that such a relatively new car would drink so much oil. Nissan should do something about it then again its all about the $$$

 

replacing the rings is a alot of money if you pay someone to do it, also many places will not want to do it you'll have to ask around and expect some downtime until they finish it. it's stupidly expensive as far as i see. oil is a lot cheaper. switch to dino. unless you are capable of doing it yourself AND changing other things down there then it should be done.

 

Until you are fouling plugs, I'd just keep adding oil as needed. I have 115,000 miles on my '02. Changed the oil 1200 miles ago (Mobil1 5W-30) and according to the dipstick, the oil level is still very close to the full line. I am guessing the problem isn't every single Maxima with the 3.5, but obviously enough of them to warrant the attention it seems to get here.

Apparently, the Porsche Boxster had similar problems when it first came out and I've seen long term tests of Porsches and other high end cars where during the 40k test, the cars were going through a lot of oil too.

 

I will stick to just adding oil, unless plugs are fouled and the job becomes necessary due to driveability issues. The reason for sticking with synthetic was added protection. Doesn't dyno oil burn off even quicker than synthetic? I can't compare since I never used dyno oil myself in this car. Does anyone have more info on this? Sure anyone wouldn't mind saving a few bucks if its possible, but I don't want to do it at a cost of possibly reducing the engine life.

I used to add Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer for two oil changes and it seemed to work a bit, I did use up a bit less oil but a bottle of the stabilizer is not much cheaper than a gallon of synthetic oil. so ended up working out to the same in terms of $$$ but a bit less oil burn off. Still, its in the back of your mind and you still find yourself checking the damn dipstick on nearly a daily basis, especially in my case where I do drive quite a lot (over 100km daily, or 60miles)...

 

dino oil is cheaper to burn off compared to synthetic. If your gonna keep topping off frequently, why use synthetic? I hate synthetic...I only use dino oil. I heard from many forums (g35/350z, altima, rsx) that their cars burn a lot of Mobil 1 and when they switched back to a good dino oil the comsumption declined noticeably.

Switch the weight of your oil...maybe try a 10w-40 if your temps. seldom reach -0 degrees. That should reduce burning quite a bit

 

Oddly enough, my 626 went through about a quart of Royal Purple every 3000 miles and it was half a quart per 3000 with Mobil1.

Unless the rings are as bad as the '74 Z/28 I used to have-a quart of Valvoline 60W Racing every 40-60 miles!!!

I ended up having to sell the car because of it. Couldn't afford to rebuild the engine because my (now ex) wife was writing hot checks all over town.

 

Unfortunately I live near Toronto, Ontario, Canada...so we actually have 4 seasons here...I should have tried it in the summer months, (switch to 10w30 and see if that helps)...its just too cold now to put oil in that thick...

As I write this its -8*C or (17F) up here, so too cold for such thick oil...I remember it getting cold early one fall about 1000km after an oil change in my old 1993 626 ES V6, I put in 10w30 instead of 5w30 and the car was very sluggish and took a while to warm up, it also was noticeably harder to start in extremely cold temps, I ended up changing the oil early (before the 5000km interval) cause it was just too much of a pain.

perhaps I will try dyno oil..hmmmm...we'll see Maybe the Valvoline MaxLife (non-synthetic) or one of those higher mileage oils? Or are those not recommended? Do they have a higher than normal amount of detergents to clean up dirtier higher mileage engines? thus increasing oil burn off? any thoughts?

 

those fx45 rimz look right on ur max........i been lookin for em and at a good price also, but no luck

 

Is it my imagination, or do most of the threads I read about oil burning issues indicate that synthetic is being used?

It seems that some burn, some do not, but most that do have the synthetic oil used at some point. Mine does very well on regular dino oil, so I am hesistant to try synthetic on the VQ even though all of my other cars have been using synthetic.

 

Amen to that.

 

Wow, i'm actually surprised to read these oil burning issues with the VQ35. I thought that the only oil hungry engine from Nissan was the QR25. Now I'm getting a little worried about buying a used Maxima.

 

Checked the tips, they are blackish especially near the bottom edge...i'm really starting to consider switching from synthetic to dyno oil and see if there is any difference. I just changed my oil about 1300km ago so another two months and i'll be due for another change (i rack up km quickly). When I do the change i'll update with the results (if any).

 

I would suggest that you try going away from Synthetic to Dino and see what happens in terms of oil consumption. I have owned 3 Maximas and have never had a problem with burning oil in any of them. I have always used straight Dino. Synthetic oil is thinner by nature and it is not uncommon for folks to switch from Dino to Synthetic and develop leaks in some of the seals, especially on higher mileage vehicles.

What can it hurt to try out a high mileage straight dino product? It's less expensive any way and if it slows the oil consumption you are miles ahead.

 

I agree, I will try dino oil, I was just unsure because I did not see any visible evidence of "oil burning". My mom's 1999 Dodge Intrepid 2.7L V6 burns oil, she will go through about 1-2 L between oil changes, but she does 100% stop-&-go city driving (has kind of a lead foot as well) and it makes a very visible cloud of smoke whenever she gives it gas from a constant speed or from a standstill...my engine consumes over twice that amount of oil and no visible smoke appears under any circumstance. Also, there are absolutely no leaks whatsoever...I know the culprit, and I will switch to dino oil on the next oil change and see what happens.

I'm still wondering whether I should go to a regular oil like a Castrol GTX, Valvoline or a Higher Mileage formula (I have over 181,000km / 113,000miles)