It's pretty well-established VQ35's have weak piston rings. Many start burning oil well before 100,000 miles. Why was there never a recall or class action suit for this? Nissan knew these engines had consumption issues during development since the owner's manuals for 02's state it's okay to top off oil lol. They don't even specify an interval just that it's "normal."

 

This question isn't directed at you so much as in general to owners of these and many other cars. Why is it such a big deal that you have to check and even add oil to your car?? Are we as people becoming so lazy that it's too much to pull your dipstick out wipe and repeat?? If you still own a car that's 13 to 16 years old at this point, and probably has over 150,000 miles on it don't you think you've made out pretty good?? I mean is checking the oil and adding some here and there that big a deal?? If you bought the car new and you've had it this long it's safe to say it's been a decent car too you. If you bought it used and you're complaining about oil consumption shame on you for not doing a little research on what you were buying. Class action law suit!!!! I'm sorry but this is part of what's wrong with society right now. You wanna sue a company because they made a car that if you bought at the same time you had a kid starting school that kid would be graduating or damn near graduating college. Come on people.

 

B/c not enough sued (don't recall a class action suit) and they wouldn't have got anywhere. The consumption issue unrelated to precats is irrelevant, really. They will all claim it's normal. That's why it's in the manual It doesn't happen on every engine and it's not like 2 qts/1k mi like the honda v6 lawsuit, which affects every engine. BMW sells/sold engines that need 60 weight oil just so they don't blow up before the warranty runs out (many still did). Let's not forget about their timing guides that have destroyed all of those 4.4s. Where's the recalls for that ****?

There should have been a REAL recall for the disintegrating cats unlike the faux QR25DE one (which should have resulted in another class action). But since it always happens out of warranty on the maximas and no big lawsuit (unlike sentra/altima), there was no reason.

GM knowingly and intentionally killed like 124 people and maimed many more to save a buck on an ignition switch (and stole 7 billion in tax money). You think Nissan cares about some oil consumption on cars well out of warranty?

Adding in the corruption of govt only makes it worse. Toyota fine and recall (all lies)...while GM gets away scot free. Padding pockets is a get out jail free card and w/e else you want to screw over the consumers on.

 

It says in the manual that this is normal...

Not enough people complained (remember this is early 2000 era)

Usually takes a while to develop this problem

 

I always wondered if Nissan fixed the issue in later model 5.5 Gen's? Or was this a problem with all 5.5 Gen Maxima's & I35's? I have a 2004 I35 which is obviously on the very end of the 5.5 production & with over 100,000 miles it doesn't burn any oil (yet, knock on wood).

 

Lucky you. My 03 drinks oil like a ****. Where abouts in Albany are you. Would be cool to meet another owner in the area ! I'm right by SUNY uptown.

 

Some engines are junk others are legendary.
guess which one the 3.5 is :P

 

Yeah it was just a thought I had but I'm sure it's just that I've been lucky so far. I actually live in Colonie but I work in Albany.

 

Has anyone actually opened a 3.5 up and see exactly why it was burning out?

 

Legendary with exceptions depending on year and layout.

 

Sounds good man, interested in helping me find a vaccume leak? I've had a p0300 for too damn long now.

 

Both my 03s drink oil. 105,000 on one and 145,000 on the other. My one with the 145,000 has to warm up when it's cold before you can drive because it knocks horribly when the engine is cold. One warm or if it's warm out side the engine runs and sounds great. I'm guessing it's from the previous owner not staying on top of the oil. It's done it since I got it at 100,000 miles.(it was warm when I bought it so I didn't notice it)

 

Sorry man but I don't think I'd be very much help, I'm not really mechanically inclined.

 

the vq35 also has weak valve seals if im not mistaken? my vq30 has an oil burning smell when i put the hammer down, not sure if weeping gaskets or weak rings or valve seals or what?

 

That's where most of the oil burning is taking place, imo (rings if precat damage). If I engine braked, then accelerated hard, there would be a massive blue cloud.

3.0 should never burn oil unless uncared for.

 

i dont think precats are really the typical cause of oil consumption, not sure what is but im just being theroritical here, what other guys than childuvkorn are in diehard aggreance that the precats really do this much damage? ..not sure too many... there may just be a trend of opinions that you started...
please dont take that offensively man, i like what you contribute here, your opinions, and have gutted my cats myself in the last 6 months, but im being objective and trying to look at this from the outside in

im not saying you didn't experience what you experienced but is it all that common ??....not too sure....

older heavy mileage engines burn oil, they been doing so since before the maxima....so yea... op ....that statement in the manual has nothing to do with anything but logic.

look at this way... you talk to any mechanic...about how precat material can disengrate and go back into engine... and he would look at you very confused, and explain how that doesnt make much sense.

but heck i gutted my cats (which were perfectly fine at 178k).... so i give up and no worries because I know just in case... it wont do any more possible damage.

 

*sigh* nissan has stated that this is the reason for failure of qr25s. So, when we take our exhausts apart and find disintegrated precats... This is not a theory.

Valve overlap sucks the particles back into the cylinders. That's why we don't use egr and I'm sure that's why nissan brought back egr in case the cats were **** quality, again. They obviously knew about this when designing 6th gen.

How many times do we have to go over this? Rings don't magically go bad and cause 4 qt/1k miles of consumption. Maybe some are bad and cause up to a qt or two per OCI. I already have proof when under high vac conditions that an extreme amount of oil is sucked in... a la valve stem seals.

 

Yeah my 02 ser had the cat disintegration issue. Trashed the motor. Nissan replaced at all and showed me the damage.

 

and im sorry for my lack of knowledge, but how'd you put two and two together? what similarties are there between the vq35 and the qr25 other than nissan? same rings? same cats? no egr?

i am at 1qt to 1.5 qt per +/-~OCI i am at 186k, and my original cats were fine at 175k

and my point was commonality vs rarity by the way

 

I guess my issue is rings and only rings since I removed my pre-cats a loooooooooooooong time ago, and the issue hadn't come up until recently.

 

this was my point, not sure how common the precat failure is on the maxima!

its not impossible that can happen but the commonality is something i am looking at objectively

 

Let me put it this way:

EVERY single precat will fail with no exceptions. It's just a matter of when depending on driving behavior and conditions. As the miles keep going up, then you'll hear about it more and more if people join the forum. Otherwise, they're dumped at the junkyard or put on craigslist (I see them all the time). I bet most are going straight the junkyard, since they're not worth anything and people are lazy.

 

I for one think the 3.5 DE has done well. Had the car since March 2003 and it could still haul a$$ if not for the poopoo tranny. Ive had the tranny changed and/or rebuilt more times than I care to count but the engine is still bangin on at 205K miles. yes it likes oil. and gas. but it is paid for.

 

at/mt?

 

would it be common practice to overfill the oil since the 3.5 is known to burn/leak oil or would that cause more damage.

 

Just keep an eye on it, fill it to where it's supposed to be. OP might get higher than it should so then you get more possible seals leaking, etc.

 

If your car uses a good amount, I don't see any harm in adding a few extra hundred milliliters during an oil change. I think our engines call for around 4.25 qts. I usually add 4.5 qts and call it a day.