02 se 118 k on it, just got it 2 weeks ago got a oil change and im a qaurt and a half low, theres no oil leak Im not even sure what kind of ioil they put into it .Can you guys please guide me into finding a soulution or at least fiqure out what exactly it is? I dont really have money to put int the car rite now and i really like this car. thanks

 

I'm not sure about the 02 models but I have an 03 SE 6 speed and it loses about 1 qt every 1k miles. More if I drive it hard. If your oil light doesn't come on you can tell when you're low by the noise the engine makes when you're driving up a hill or the engine is under load.

You'll hear a dragging chain like sound. I check my oil at least once a week. One time it had been a while and I needed about a qt and a half to top it off, not a good thing. Hope this helps you.

 

Maxgig is right. Some of our 3.5l engines burn oil. I usually lose a quart ever 1k - 1.5k miles. It seems worse in the summer and winter.

I set one of my trip odometers at oil change so I know to look at the 1k mark.

 

Typically when you are burning oil and cannot find a leak you should do a compression check and leak down test and it is most likely the valve guide seals in the head or the piston rings in the block.

 

yea i hear what u guys are saying about these engines just burn oil, but 1.5 qt in 2 weeks? i didnt put in 1000 miles, i checked it with the engine warm on level surface.


how much is a compression and leak down test, could it be the pcv system, should i put thicker oil, this is fustrating i dont wanna put money into my car, i just got it and i wanted to hook it up plus theres some body work to be done....just to have a car with a bad engine....

the car is clean, i looked underneath no leaks, the inside is mint, it runs good..... i got it for a g...... theres some dents im gonna fix, and the brakes need to be changed , i think a caliper is siezed cause the parking brake has to be all the way up for it to hold.. besides that if i put about 1500 into it id fix all that plus a system some new tail lights clear side markers leds all inside and a system...but this would be a few hundered at a time i cant dish out 1500 all at once to fix the engine

 

My 2004 SE with 99k miles is not burning any oil even if I get on the throttle when entering the highway.

I would start by replacing the PCV valve and making sure the hoses that connect to it are not clogged. After replacing the PCV valve I would drive under normal conditions for another 2 weeks and see if there is a difference in consumption.

If not you can try replacing the valve covers and valve cover gaskets. I have heard from a Nissan technician that this once solved an oil consumption problem.

As far as the compression and leak down test... I believe some places may allow you to rent the gauge in order to do the compression test (which is relatively easy and you can find a tutorial I'm sure on YouTube or by searching the web). The leak down test... I have not done one myself so I cannot provide any more insight on that.

***I don't believe that a well taken care of maxima motor would just burn oil. No car should just burn oil. Burning oil is a sign of engine wear. Perhaps Nissan used low quality piston rings or valve guide seals but no car "SHOULD JUST BURN OIL."

 

Id fix the engine first if I were you...The parking brake is the brake that stops it from moving when you are in the P position of an A/T. The e-brake is the lever you pull that you should put on pretty much every time(neutral, then pull e brake and then switch to park). Most likey your caliper isnt seized. You can have someone press the brakes and look to see if they compress properly

 

i meant the e brake its a 6 spd stick if its in neutral and its not all the way up the car moves, i do deliveries a few days a week and i dont wanna keep shutting my car off to put it in gear


im gonna change the pcv valve and take it from there like u said should i , what oil should i use. any other suggestions

 

You can consider using a High Mileage motor oil. They tend to be thicker and can help slow down the consumption of oil. Take in to account that sometimes certain oils mixing together can cause oil consumption as well. So instead of just adding a different oil to top it off, you may want to wait until you are ready for an oil change and then empty the pan and fill with the new high mileage motor oil.

I don't have any specific brands to boast.

 

1.) Change the oil, record how much oil was put in
2.) Drive car 3000 - 5000 miles, depending on oil
3.) Check oil level on flat surface after sitting over night during aforementioned interval
4.) During next oil change, record actual oil being removed

I still don't burn oil, sans maybe a half quart every 3k, same as my 4th gen. 130k here, build date of 10/02. Synthetic since 38k. 5 - 7.5k per oil change interval.

 

Yeah my 03day was hella bad until it died....put a 04 in there was so nice to see. All the oil come out and not have to check it but got totaled, my 02 now is not that bad, when it dies same thing, switch for a newer 3.5 less miles....and do what Nmex suggested since you don't know how much oil they put in there....

 

Use thicker oil I guess or just buy and extra 4.4L of oil and top it up when it needs. There's very little you can do when your engine is burning oil unless you rebuild it. Welcome to the oil burning club man

 

Ya try a thicker oil like 10w40 and a lucas engine treatment. my 4th gen at 240k miles dont burn any oil n 5000 mile change...ur rings may be worn someone probably drove it hard.

 

My 4AT 5.5 gen used a quart every 1500-1800 miles, then down to about 1200 miles per quart when the valve covers started leaking. The engine otherwise ran strong, no oil fouling of the plugs all the way up to when it was totaled by a drunk with 195k miles on it.

It is very important that you check the oil after the car has sat at least 10-15 minutes, even better first thing in the morning before you drive it to get an accurate reading. I'd check it every 250 miles or so until you know for sure how much it is leaking. If the car is making good power and not fouling plugs, adding oil is cheaper than replacing the engine. And like I said, I had nearly 200k miles on mine and it still ran great.

 

Um...if you know you car uses oil, why wouldn't you check it via
the dipstick every couple of days? Check it in the moring when cold.
Waiting for a "dragging chain" sound is insain.

 

I'd put in a 5w40 oil, something like Shell Rotella T6 and see if it drops. Also as you are going to do replace the pcv and check the hoses. You may also want to put in 3.5 quarts of T6 and rest Marvell Mystery Oil (fill it until the second dot while the vehicle is flat).

See how it goes, I know the 3.5 is a hit and miss but the above may reduce the consumption. The level on my 3.0's dipstick hasn't dropped a bit and it has little over 3000KM on the oil.

 

@OP: http://forums.maxima.org/search.php?searchid=2267312

You're welcome.

 

I wonder why this is such a common problem with the 3.5?

 

Stay away from syntetic oil because you will lose a lot of oil if you use that. I use regular oil 10-40.

 

Its common bc the average driver doesnt take care of their car. Synthetic oil is the way to go with a higher mileage engine. Thats a fact. No matter the viscosity, if you have a burning issue, it will burn off.

 

The only way I use synthetic is if its from the beginning.

 

Nope. Like last poster said. If your car used regular oil and now you switch to syntetic, it will burn more oil. (at least with our cars). Thats my personal experience and thats what I read here.

 

I would have to disagree i immediately started with pennzoil platinum when i got the car and it pinged like a B**** at first and oil would burn fiercely but after a year I found out that my oil pan was leaking from rust so i replaced that and switched to pennzoil ultra and now my light comes on around 4500 miles or so and my car runs like a f****** champ! synthetic......period

 

^ what do you mean your light comes on? I hope you do not mean your oil light.

 

I know right?

10w40? Really? Using that weight will help with the oil burning issues? Someone try it out and post the results!

 

i put 3 quart im like a day it burn it all then another 2 more qt burn it too wat could be wrong wit my engine shouls i fix my engine or buy a new one ? any suggestion

 

Theres a ton of misinformation on oil its terrible. People, come on, the manufacturers recommend a viscosity rating for a reason. it works best in your engine! for warmer climates nissan says you can use a 10w or winter rating and for colder climates or any other climate for that matter you can use a 5w rating. I use 10w in the summer and 5w in the winter even though 5w is fine all year round. You can use whatever you want and yes it will be fine for probably years but using the wrong viscosity over the life of the engine will wear parts unnecessarily and probably give you cold start issues and even more wear

 

no it doesnt. leave troll

 

How about an engine swap to a newer one?

 

if I deciphered what he said correct, its buring 5qts of oil a day? thats a troll. dont pay him any attention

 

Perhaps if he could communicate in english, we wouldn't have to try and decipher that garble.

 

that link is dead.......

I totally agree.

Switching to synthetic oil with a high mileage engine is asking for oil leaks from your gaskets. If your engine has over 100k miles, and it has had regular oil, then stick with regular oil.

bad piston rings on the early vq35 engines. seems like nissan fixed the problem in the late 04 and newer engines. I've seen some early 04 vq35 engines with oil burning issues but the newer one seem to be good.

 

I thought the forums archived search results for longer than a few days.

Anywho, OP, just search for "oil burning" or "oil burning VQ35" to read alllllll about the bad piston rings and how many people erroneously attribute to the loss in oil to the catalytic converters in the exhaust manifold (dubbed, "pre-cats") disintegrating and getting sucked backwards into the engine, ruining your rings. Right.

You can fix the oil burning like any other car that uses excessive oil by doing a ring job. Some people have luck replacing their PCV valves and clearing out all the passages that oil runs through. Check the FSM.

Putting ridiculously thick oil into your engine that fails to adequately lubricate all the moving parts leads to more problems than simply spending extra money on oil.

Don't want a car that uses oil? Buy a newer VQ35.

 

How expensive is the ring job by the way?

 

I dont know but I was quoted about $6k for an engine build that included higher comp pistons, forged connecting rods, overbored .020 and higher performance valve springs/retainers. This included everything from removal of the engine, teardown, bore, parts, and then reassemble, and reinstall of the engine....it was about $6k. But then again that is a performance engine job. If I were to take it apart I would do a performance build, not put stock stuff back in. Would be cheaper buying a newer VQ35 and having it installed. Its really not THAT big of a deal. All you have to do is just pay attention to the oil (check it every week) and add accordingly. It is NOT worth rebuilding the engine for in my opinion. I put synthectic in mine and have been doing so since I owned the car at 84k miles....now it has 105k and still use synthetic. I use the high mileage Mobil synthetic 5w-30.

 

i just started to use to castrol edge synthetic it works like a charm..i barely burned a half a quart @ 2500 miles.

 

Spock I wasn't waiting for the "dragging chain" sound I just know that hearing it is a symptom of not having enough oil in the car. In fact during that time I hadn't driven the car in over a week and just forgot about checking the oil. That is until the "dragging chain" sound reminded me. Even with the oil consumption problem the 3.5's have I wouldn't trade my 6 speed for anything. I love the extra goodies it comes with compared to other cars I've drove as rentals.

 

My '03 6-spd has burned a qt every 800 miles for 160K. Oil is still pretty cheap. I don't worry about it and just check it every week or two. It's been dead reliable other than needing the occasional quart between the 5K changes of dino 10-30.

 

But, if you were hearing the sound as an indication of not having enough oil in the car, isn't that the same thing? Why not check the oil level on a weekly basis?
I see in your sig that you have a '69 cougar; I used to own a '69 eliminator. Nice.

 

Thanks for posting this. I was going to until I read that this has already been said.

I had a friend of mine switch over to synthetic when he bought a used car after i advised him not to. And guess what happened? That engine started leaking from every possible area.