We are considering getting a 2011 Nissan Quest but i was wondering if the newer engines are still prone to oil burning issue that has consumed our 2K2 series cars. What is the general word? When was this issue finally put to bed and what was the change they made to fix it? This engine is in so many cars that I would hope they have taken care of it.

Not sure when and if the fix was done on all models but I hear the piston rings were the problem.

My neighbor works for a dealership and reports that the 3.7's are prone to head gasket problems.

I can't find any kind of specific date as to when they silently corrected the piston ring problem, but anything made after '05 seems to be golden. Some of the RWD blocks (namely, the not-rev-up G35s and 350Zs) seemed to have had the problem for a little longer than that--those might be isolated incidents, however. I want to say that the problem went away for the 6th generation Maximas, but I'm pretty sure some of the '04s still used excessive amounts of oil.

I find it extremely hard to believe VQ37s can have head gasket problems, especially given that most of those cars are barely out of the factory warranty! Ford's 3.0L "Vulcan" V6 usually didn't eat its head gaskets until 90K-120K miles, so is Nissan really capable of manufacturing an engine that's worse than that..?

Your making me nervous. The used engine I picked up was from an 04 and it had a decent amount of oil crud build up in the intake mani. Hoping it was just a bad pcv on it.

I'm hoping that it's hit and miss as I've read - namely more miss than hit for the oil consumption. I'm approaching 85k miles and don't have to add between oil changes.
We probably here more from those that do use oil than those that don't.

SOME '04s, but, if any of them suffer from the same problem, it's absolutely a much, much smaller percentage than the 5.5 gens. My oil-burning '02's intake manifold and throttle body was super-disgusting, to me, but I don't have anything to compare it to.

Anyway, the problem comes from oil slipping between the piston ring and the cylinder wall and getting burned up with the gas-air mix inside the cylinder. I don't see how that would cause excessive oil-build-up in the UIM.

@Spock: Oh, it's certainly hit or miss! My thinking is that close to 40% of '02-'03 VQ35DEs use excessive amounts of oil, but others put the figure anywhere from 20% to nearly two-thirds.

My VQ35HR doesn't burn oil. I use German Castrol 0w30.

Not rev-up = model-year 2002+ VQ35DE.
Rev-up = model-year 2007+ VQ35HR.

So all you have to do is replace the piston rings? So are there aftermarket rings that you can use to replace them?

how much did it cost ya?

Autozone has a special on 5 QTs GC w/ Bosch filter right now for $30. lolz.. Although, I did have to drive 30mins to get some. :P

It should be noted that a lot of newer production engines consume a small amount of oil, its not limited to just VQs but many engines. As long as the consumption isnt excessive then its considered "normal".

I'm not sure how the newer VQ35s are but I havnt heard of any major issues.

I think the latter 6th gen VQ35s stopped using oil, but I read with these new-age VQ37s, Nissan recommends an ester oil from the dealer for quieter operation. I personally think they may have designed this oil to help hide manufacturing defects. It's a high-performing engine and I like its smoothness, but the quality control is suspect. The Ward's 10-best engine accolade is somewhat misleading, IMO.

How often do you do oil changes using this oil in your VQ35HR?