3.5 oil loss. Should I be worried?
03-08-2010, 12:11 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 497
3.5 oil loss seems to be increasing. Should I be worried?
Before anyone starts in on me for starting yet another 3.5l oil loss thread let me explain. I'm one of the *lucky* 20% or so that has a 3.5 that likes to burn oil. I've had my car for 4 years now and honestly this doesn't bother me too much. Usually I just run regular Pennzoil 5W-30 and add half a quart every 500 miles or so as needed.
Last week it was time for the oil change. Advance Auto has an ongoing special that is 5 quarts of Pennzoil Platinum (synthetic oil) with a Purolator Pure One oil filter for $25.00. As I like the Pure One filters and this is a good deal I decide to buy it. I change the oil and drive the car from Colorado Springs to Denver airport and back, around 70 miles each way. Then some city driving that totals maybe another 50 miles. My Max goes through 1/2 quart of oil in that time. I know that it burns synthetic faster than regular oil but this is really bad. This is double the oil I usually go through in the same amount of miles.
As far as I can tell the car doesn't smoke at all. I don't see a cloud when I leave an intersection and even at first start in the morning I can't see any smoke. The car has no power loss at all and fuel economy is still spot on at 21-23 city. Still, this kind of oil loss, even for synthetic, is starting to worry me. My questions are to the people here who have the oil burning 3.5's. Have you noticed that the oil loss is increasing with engine age? If you do use synthetic oil in an oil burning 3.5 how much oil are you going through?
The thing I'm starting to worry about here is the overall condition of the engine. I'm fine with the oil loss but I worry about the condition getting worse. I don't want to be adding 1 quart every 100 miles for example.
Last week it was time for the oil change. Advance Auto has an ongoing special that is 5 quarts of Pennzoil Platinum (synthetic oil) with a Purolator Pure One oil filter for $25.00. As I like the Pure One filters and this is a good deal I decide to buy it. I change the oil and drive the car from Colorado Springs to Denver airport and back, around 70 miles each way. Then some city driving that totals maybe another 50 miles. My Max goes through 1/2 quart of oil in that time. I know that it burns synthetic faster than regular oil but this is really bad. This is double the oil I usually go through in the same amount of miles.
As far as I can tell the car doesn't smoke at all. I don't see a cloud when I leave an intersection and even at first start in the morning I can't see any smoke. The car has no power loss at all and fuel economy is still spot on at 21-23 city. Still, this kind of oil loss, even for synthetic, is starting to worry me. My questions are to the people here who have the oil burning 3.5's. Have you noticed that the oil loss is increasing with engine age? If you do use synthetic oil in an oil burning 3.5 how much oil are you going through?
The thing I'm starting to worry about here is the overall condition of the engine. I'm fine with the oil loss but I worry about the condition getting worse. I don't want to be adding 1 quart every 100 miles for example.
Last edited by kbohip; 04-04-2010 at 12:21 AM.
03-08-2010, 06:36 AM
#2
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 652
For an imported luxury sports sedan, burning oil like this is just stupid.
I had to replace some gaskets about 6 months ago because oil was leaking onto the coils and spark plugs - not cool - but I still have about the same amount of oil loss. Its not leaking there anymore, and I never see oil spots where I park either.
I'm also wondering if this is something to worry about. I have to add oil about the same time you do. I've tried synthetic, but it doesn't make a difference - still have to add about 1/2 a quart every 500 miles, and its gets really expensive after a while, so I gave up.
Is there anything we can do to stop burning through oil like this?
I had to replace some gaskets about 6 months ago because oil was leaking onto the coils and spark plugs - not cool - but I still have about the same amount of oil loss. Its not leaking there anymore, and I never see oil spots where I park either.
I'm also wondering if this is something to worry about. I have to add oil about the same time you do. I've tried synthetic, but it doesn't make a difference - still have to add about 1/2 a quart every 500 miles, and its gets really expensive after a while, so I gave up.
Is there anything we can do to stop burning through oil like this?
03-08-2010, 07:58 AM
#3
Have the rings replaced...
...stupid expensive too...
...that's about the only real solution.
Nissan made a poor purchasing decision back in 2001/2002 when building the 3.5l for the 2002+ years and bought cheap @$$ rings. They have since then apparently fixed the issue, but my assumption is not enough people complained to turn into a recall...
...stupid expensive too...
...that's about the only real solution.
Nissan made a poor purchasing decision back in 2001/2002 when building the 3.5l for the 2002+ years and bought cheap @$$ rings. They have since then apparently fixed the issue, but my assumption is not enough people complained to turn into a recall...
03-08-2010, 08:34 AM
#4
My pathfinder 3.5 burns about 1.5 quarts every 3500 miles. Maybe a little bit more. It gets quite annoying.
To answer your question, yes i have noticed it burn slightly more with more mileage. Currently it has 104k.
I am happy I don't have to worry about my 3.0
To answer your question, yes i have noticed it burn slightly more with more mileage. Currently it has 104k.
I am happy I don't have to worry about my 3.0
03-08-2010, 08:38 AM
#5
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Moore, OK
Posts: 1,767
When did they have 3.5's in Paths? Our Pathfinder has a 4.0. VERY strong and can just about smoke my 3.0 Max. Luckily the 4.0 don't have oil leaks.
03-08-2010, 08:47 AM
#6
Don't you know who I am?
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: East Granby, Connecticut
Posts: 945
2002 Grey Lustre Maxima
6 speed manual w/ HLSD
22mpg city - 26 mpg highway (on summer blend)
K&N air filter (no additional engine mods)
75k miles
Burned 1 quart Penzoil every 1200 miles. Checked and topped off every other gas fill up (once every 2-3 weeks, approx. 600 miles)
Same car at 123k miles:
Burned 1 qrt every 450 miles. Topped off every gas fill up.
Same car at 125k miles:
Sold.
6 speed manual w/ HLSD
22mpg city - 26 mpg highway (on summer blend)
K&N air filter (no additional engine mods)
75k miles
Burned 1 quart Penzoil every 1200 miles. Checked and topped off every other gas fill up (once every 2-3 weeks, approx. 600 miles)
Same car at 123k miles:
Burned 1 qrt every 450 miles. Topped off every gas fill up.
Same car at 125k miles:
Sold.
03-08-2010, 08:48 AM
#7
2001 -2003 pathfinder has a 3.5. before that they were 3.3's and before that i believe they were 3.0's
Last edited by Jmahad01; 03-08-2010 at 08:53 AM.
03-08-2010, 08:49 AM
#8
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: East Granby, Connecticut
Posts: 945
One more thing of note:
The car started burning a lot more oil after I did an Auto RX treatment at 90k miles. Not sure why, but that's when the oil mileage STARTED going downhill.
The car started burning a lot more oil after I did an Auto RX treatment at 90k miles. Not sure why, but that's when the oil mileage STARTED going downhill.
03-08-2010, 10:13 AM
#10
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 497
So far it seems like it might end up burning even more oil as it gets more miles on it from what I can see here. Not good. I think my next oil change I'll just put in the cheapest 10W-40 I can find.
03-08-2010, 10:14 AM
#11
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: London, ON, Canada
Posts: 595
Reading this thread is fun for me because I've owned 2 Saturn S-series and anyone that knows them, knows they are one of the most notorious oil burners on the road, Albeit reliable and economical cars!
I checked the oil on my 2002 3.5L and noticed it was down about 3/4 of a quart, so I topped it up... I have so much oil in my garage from owning Saturns I couldn't care less.
For Saturns it was also a bad ring design. Neither of my cars (still have the SL2) leak oil externally, its all internal.
Funny thing is, my fathers VQ30 ('00 max) runs 5w30 synthetic or 0w30 german castrol and it will go 7-8k miles without using a DROP of oil.
I checked the oil on my 2002 3.5L and noticed it was down about 3/4 of a quart, so I topped it up... I have so much oil in my garage from owning Saturns I couldn't care less.
For Saturns it was also a bad ring design. Neither of my cars (still have the SL2) leak oil externally, its all internal.
Funny thing is, my fathers VQ30 ('00 max) runs 5w30 synthetic or 0w30 german castrol and it will go 7-8k miles without using a DROP of oil.
03-08-2010, 12:50 PM
#12
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 2,898
For all oil burners who live in climates warmer than 0 degrees:
Try using 10w30. I discovered this by accident actually, because I had always used Mobil1 5w30 synthetic and my engine burned AOLT of oil (1 quart every 250 miles). During one oil change I knocked over several oil containers by accident, and all the oil spilled out of 2 of them. So I drove to the store to get more oil, but all they had was 10w30. So I got 2 containers of that and funny enough, my oil burning slowed down considerably. Mobil1 10w30 synthetic is all I buy now, and I'll be using that from now on. Keep in mind, this hasn't completely eliminated the burning, but has slowed it down considerably for me.
Try using 10w30. I discovered this by accident actually, because I had always used Mobil1 5w30 synthetic and my engine burned AOLT of oil (1 quart every 250 miles). During one oil change I knocked over several oil containers by accident, and all the oil spilled out of 2 of them. So I drove to the store to get more oil, but all they had was 10w30. So I got 2 containers of that and funny enough, my oil burning slowed down considerably. Mobil1 10w30 synthetic is all I buy now, and I'll be using that from now on. Keep in mind, this hasn't completely eliminated the burning, but has slowed it down considerably for me.
03-08-2010, 02:01 PM
#15
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 652
Recalls are usually issued within the first 6 months to a year of the vehicle's release. Burning oil like this probably wasn't an issue soon enough for Nissan/Infiniti to actually care about it and issue a recall - easier to blame it on owner's driving habits after several years of wear and tear than admit there's a problem straight off the assembly line.
03-08-2010, 02:05 PM
#16
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: London, ON, Canada
Posts: 595
Probably not. If I had a non oil burner (too early for me to tell) I would run syn. If my car is going to consume 1 quart per thousand, I'm running conventional.
03-08-2010, 02:09 PM
#17
Do you have a link to Auto RXs site showing this new "sheep grease additive"??
03-08-2010, 02:45 PM
#20
Whoever is stock should also keep in mind clogged cats. Those worthless precats will clog or fall apart and clog the main cat. Say goodbye to your oil, then. And possibly your engine if you're not on top of it... 
03-08-2010, 04:36 PM
#22
Mine has burned a quart every 1500-1800 miles (lower end on trips, higher end around town) since I bought it with 113,897 miles on it. Just past 172,250 miles and oil consumption hasn't increased. I did switch to high mileage oil 4 oil changes ago but no real change in consumption vs Mobil1. This last oil change, I could only find 10W-40 on my trip to Arizona and have noticed since I've added it, no more oil light flicker on hot restarts after the car sits 15-45 minutes. Never has really concerned me because it only flickers 1-2 seconds and never when driving the car or idling. Nice to see it not doing it though.
03-08-2010, 07:45 PM
#24
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 4
I am pretty sure I do not have this problem (123k and running strong). I am not completely sure however. Problem is, if the car was running recently, it is impossible to read the dip stick. I pull it out, wipe it off, reinsert it, and pull it out again (Yes, I know what I said). When I pull it out, a good 6-8 inches is covered with oil, making it impossible to tell the actual level. It seems like oil is shot into the dip stick tube.
Does anyone else have this problem?
Does anyone else have this problem?
03-08-2010, 08:20 PM
#26
I am pretty sure I do not have this problem (123k and running strong). I am not completely sure however. Problem is, if the car was running recently, it is impossible to read the dip stick. I pull it out, wipe it off, reinsert it, and pull it out again (Yes, I know what I said). When I pull it out, a good 6-8 inches is covered with oil, making it impossible to tell the actual level. It seems like oil is shot into the dip stick tube.
Does anyone else have this problem?
Does anyone else have this problem?
03-08-2010, 08:21 PM
#27
03-08-2010, 08:50 PM
#28
I am pretty sure I do not have this problem (123k and running strong). I am not completely sure however. Problem is, if the car was running recently, it is impossible to read the dip stick. I pull it out, wipe it off, reinsert it, and pull it out again (Yes, I know what I said). When I pull it out, a good 6-8 inches is covered with oil, making it impossible to tell the actual level. It seems like oil is shot into the dip stick tube.
Does anyone else have this problem?
Does anyone else have this problem?
03-08-2010, 10:54 PM
#30
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 497
Back to what I plan on doing with my car. I'm going to top it off with 10W-40 conventional as needed. There's no way I'm dumping $6.00 a quart Pennzoil Platinum in every 500 miles!
03-09-2010, 04:54 AM
#31
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: East Granby, Connecticut
Posts: 945
That's why I used it.
03-09-2010, 08:38 PM
#32
my 3.5 has just 230k and it would use oil between changes , but without going into my engines history in detail , do not overlook the oil catch can .(thanks to this sites endless resources, i did it)....the pcv valve passes through alot of oil , look inside your intake( take off your block off plate IUH or the VIAS ), i was shocked to see the amount in there, once i put on a filter inline with the PCV not only could i monitor its collectings but suddenly im "using" less oil ...and as i side note the intake is as dry as can be just a stain where oil use to pool up ,,,,,btw ...i also did a seafoam treatment not only through the vacuum hose but i took out the plugs and poured a few ounces in , because once you are burning that oil coming in through the pcv it sure carbons up the tops of the pistons(which also leads to that damn pinging at <2000 rpm's,which is also all those damn heatshields on the exhuast)) lol, anyhow after all that including a change of oil to 0W30 G|C in seeing so far alot less oil "burn", and a few ounces in the filter... just my 2 cents ....
03-11-2010, 10:05 PM
#33
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 9
im having the same problem approximatley 2 quarts of oil every 3000 miles...seems to vary by the way i drive.
does anyone know were you can get a vq35 rebuilt or get one that doesnt burn oil?
if i cant fix this problem than the car will definitly be sold
does anyone know were you can get a vq35 rebuilt or get one that doesnt burn oil?
if i cant fix this problem than the car will definitly be sold
03-11-2010, 10:49 PM
#34
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 497
Personally I'd never sell a car that used 2 quarts of oil every 3k miles. That's not a problem. My problem is it seems to be using more oil now than it was before. Half a quart in 250 miles has me more than a little nervous, even if it was 5W-30 synthetic. I'm taking an almost 3k mile trip with it in a week. I'll be taking note of how much oil I go through. I'm also interested in seeing if it burns as much on the highway as it does in the city. If it does go through that much oil on the highway I may end up seizing the motor before I stop for gas! I won't be able to check the oil at gas stops because of having to wait 2 hours to get a decent reading so I don't know what I'll do.
03-12-2010, 09:02 AM
#36
Yeah, not to high-jack the thread but the 02-04 Pathy have the 3.5. Mine is a 2002 w/a 3.5 and I burn about a quart every 3500. dcnded, do you think a catch-can is an option for the Pathfinder? Not sure is I have a PCV or not.
BTW, my 2000 maxima never burned a drop of oil and I sold it w/122,000 miles. I don't think the 01's had this issue either. WTF happened between 00-02?
I know it's a bigger bore engine but that shouldn't have caused an issue unless they didn't factor in the increased compression and stayed w/the same exact rings.
BTW, my 2000 maxima never burned a drop of oil and I sold it w/122,000 miles. I don't think the 01's had this issue either. WTF happened between 00-02?
I know it's a bigger bore engine but that shouldn't have caused an issue unless they didn't factor in the increased compression and stayed w/the same exact rings.
03-12-2010, 11:31 AM
#37
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 9
i would love to do that with my car but im worried that the used engine i buy would burn oil too. thats the only thing stopping me from doing that.
03-12-2010, 11:54 AM
#38
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 9
Personally I'd never sell a car that used 2 quarts of oil every 3k miles. That's not a problem. My problem is it seems to be using more oil now than it was before. Half a quart in 250 miles has me more than a little nervous, even if it was 5W-30 synthetic. I'm taking an almost 3k mile trip with it in a week. I'll be taking note of how much oil I go through. I'm also interested in seeing if it burns as much on the highway as it does in the city. If it does go through that much oil on the highway I may end up seizing the motor before I stop for gas! I won't be able to check the oil at gas stops because of having to wait 2 hours to get a decent reading so I don't know what I'll do.
i would get that synthetic out of there and use conventional oil...i switched to synthetic and i was using a quart every 700-800 miles. so i switched back to conventional and the consumption went down big time.
03-12-2010, 04:03 PM
#39
03-12-2010, 09:11 PM
#40
Yeah, not to high-jack the thread but the 02-04 Pathy have the 3.5. Mine is a 2002 w/a 3.5 and I burn about a quart every 3500. dcnded, do you think a catch-can is an option for the Pathfinder? Not sure is I have a PCV or not.
BTW, my 2000 maxima never burned a drop of oil and I sold it w/122,000 miles. I don't think the 01's had this issue either. WTF happened between 00-02?
I know it's a bigger bore engine but that shouldn't have caused an issue unless they didn't factor in the increased compression and stayed w/the same exact rings.
BTW, my 2000 maxima never burned a drop of oil and I sold it w/122,000 miles. I don't think the 01's had this issue either. WTF happened between 00-02?
I know it's a bigger bore engine but that shouldn't have caused an issue unless they didn't factor in the increased compression and stayed w/the same exact rings.
should have a pcv , and yes put one in ,,, but please dont use a thicker oil than 5w30 IMO ...