Hey guys:

I'm planning up upgrading from my 4th gen into either a 5 or 5.5 gen. It would be a no-brainer for me if it wasn't for the oil consumption issues of the 5.5. Is it really as bad as I'm led to believe by reading threads here, or is it overblown? My last car before my current Max (Talon) drank ALOT of oil and I don't really want to go through that again.

So I've narrowed my choices to a 5 gen (5 spd) or a 5.5 (auto) available in my area. Right now I'm leaning toward the 5gen but those extra horsies in the 5.5 are soooo tempting.

Opinions please...

 

I say go for the 5th gen if the oil is that big of a deal for you. Those were basically the last two years for the vq30 in Maximas so you get a really fine tuned motor.

Or you can do what I did and get a 5.0gen and do the 5.5 bumper/headlight swap?

 

the 5.0 with a 5 speed isnt too much slower than the 5.5 with an auto

 

i say 5th gen 5 speed and do some mods youll be ok

 

My 5.5 has 170,000 miles on it and burns less than a half quart of oil every 3,000 miles.

Find one that doesn't burn oil, and slap headers on it. You'll never have to worry about it burning oil. Well. Unless you beat the **** out of it.

 

I disagree greatly... anyways to the OP if speed isn't some kinda goal and you care more about reliability the by all means go with the 5th, if your looking to mod and drag or something then just keep searchin or travel a lil distance for the 5.5 6spd...

 

my 02 maxima se has 125000 and it is fine. It burns maybe a quart every 1500 miles but that is just because the seals are getting warn on the pistons. My dad has this car for so long and he just upgraded to an 09 Maxima (trust me i'm super jealous). He has never had a problem with this car. There are tons of parts and as you can see the community is huge.

 

101k on my 03 se.. and i must say i have never had a noticeable amount of oil loss.
all motors burn oil, regardless or make. its a matter of how much.

 

My current Max (96 auto) doesn't burn a drop in 5000 km. Having to add a litre between changes isn't a big deal to me - it's having to add every 600 -800 kms that drove me crazy with the Talon.

I don't do a lot of hard driving, but I do enjoy the occasional spirited romp. Not planning on doing anything crazy mod-wise - likely just minor intake and exhaust tweaks.

I'm currently looking at an 02 with 95,000 km (60,000 miles). Doesn't look like it's been beaten on badly at all. Owned by an older guy. From what I've read this is typically about the time when oil usage will start to show if it's going to happen. True?

 

Pistons don't have seals - they have rings (oil and compression). Valves have seals (stem seals). Is that what you're referring to? Either can cause oil consumption if they're damaged.

 

i agree, go with the 5.0 and have some fun with the mods!!

 

I'm going to assume that's what he means.

The main reason you see oil burning in the 5.5's is because Nissan put miserable, nasty precats on our cars. As they get older and start to clog up, the exhaust gets held in the engine and burns out the seals and rings.

Deleting the precats is the best thing you can do for a VQ35.

 

i have a little over 100k on mine and I race quite often. It burns a little bit of oil but nothing serious, I give it a quart every several fills, probably one every 2-3k miles at the most

 

Is this a serious thread? Cmon man, This has been discussed tons of times before. It's not like everyone who has a 5.5 burns a qt a day. Most the cases it's barely anything. Especially not a reason IMO to get a 5th gen over the 5.5. However is power isn't what you're after go with the 3.0 and save yourself some money. However i'm sure the 5.0 guys (whether they admit or or not) would rather have a 6mt 5.5.

 

You just opened a big can of worms...

 

Heh, he probably did... When I was shopping for a 5th gen, I basically knew I could never settle for an AE or something of the like when it had one less gear, and a gob less power... I like the VQ30, but the 3.5 is a whole other monster. I knew it had to be either 5.5/6MT or no Maxima.

 

I have a 5.5. 130K miles and no oil issues...

 

Though I have no clue what "AE" means....

 

Anniversary Edition.

 

A derrrrrr...I guess I did know that but my brain wasnt fully functional at 3am. Thanks man.

 

...or none at all. In my case, after 8 years with my 5.5 gen, it's never lost a drop of oil. Well, except for when my rear VC started leaking, but that's inevitable on the 5.5 OEM valve covers.

Every car has its problems. Particularly used cars. Even if you find a 5.5 max that happens to burn a little oil, it would totally be worth it over the less powerful (but still respectable) 3.0 liter engine.

 

Having owned both a 5th 3.0 5MT and a 5.5 6MT I am much happier with the power that comes with a little more displacement.

That being said my goals are a little higher now that I have the 3.5 and I do very much enjoy the extra power. Once the I/H/E goes on it should make quite a difference as I am pretty sure I have some plugged pre-cats (100,000 miles)

The 3.0 is a very smooth motor and was always a pleasure to take to red line and never gave me so much as a hint of trouble.

It all depends on what you want really, How much does power and speed matter to you?

My opinion is that the manual transmission is really what makes the car fun to drive with either a 3.0 or a 3.5

 

I'll chime in with the other 5.5ers. Mine seems to burn between 0.5 and 1.5 quarts per 4k miles depending on how I drive.