I have a 2K2 6 speed Maxima with 55K miles. I use Mobil1 10W30 full synthetic oil with OEM filters from DaveB. I do not have any noticable oil leaks.

I have been changing my oil every 5000 miles, give or take. I have noticed that every time I change the oil, I only get about 1 1/2 quarts out of it. I have tried waiting until 8000 miles to change, but I get almost no oil out of the car if I do that.

Am I burning oil? Any ideas?

 

You should be checking the oil level numerous times inbetween changes to see if your going down. That thing called the dipstick works real well for telling you your oil level. but i would say yeah, if your buring that much oil, u got problems.

 

You should be using 5w-30 not 10w-30

 

In Phoenix Arizona 10W30 is a better choice. They hardly ever get below about 30 degrees F and frequently are over 100. I'm using 10W30 Mobil 1 here in Colorado because of the amount I'd previously purchased for my previous (not Maxima) car. It works fine for me, but will change to 5W30 when I've used up all of the 10W30.

If you have not been checking your dip-stick about every 1,000 miles to see what your oil level is, you may have damaged your engine from too little lubricant (although this is less likely with synthetic). That little oil in the crank case has a hard time handling all of the pollutants that oil must handle, so there could be damage. If you're estimates are correct, looks like your "burning" about 4 quarts in about 8K miles or about a quart every 2K miles. This seems high for a Maxima -- but you'll know better by checking that dip-stick. Over time your not checking the oil level may have been the cause for your engine now "burning" so much oil now.

My 04 with 30K miles burns about 1/2 to 2/3 of a quart in about 4K miles. I end up putting that amount into the engine at about the mid-point before changing my oil at 7.5K miles. Thus, when it comes time to change the oil, the dip-stick is again down about 1/2 quart. You don't want to run with the oil level in your engine below 1 quart down. I don't like to run with it down more than 1/2 quart.

 

my 2k2 drinks oil too...not as much as yours though....everytime I put in 4.25q's....I get approximately 3.75 back everytime I drain it out....I believe this is normal since I hear alot of other cars burn oil too....and I think 1quart and above is something to look into.....but .5quart and below is considered acceptable.....you also have to factor in that everytime you change your oil...you ARE NOT going to get every ounce of oil from your engine....some of it stays in there...

Mobil1 10w-30 supersyn here...

 

^^^ Also, as the engine wears (though at 55K it shouldn't be that worn), moving up a grade isn't a bad idea (esp. in AZ). I had a old Toyota in college with over 175K miles that I had to go up to 20W50 since the tolerances were "a bit high..."

 

mabye give M1 0w 40 a shot? or Auto RX to clean the ring packs? or switch to a good dino? or move to a different synthetic somthing on the heavier side of the 30 weight scale or if you can get it xW-40

just a few options but id guess you can fix this at that low miles unless you really beat the hell out of the engine in these first 55k.

 

There is always some oil that does not drain out of you engine's oil pan, but this volume is figured when the owners' manual tells you how much oil to add with an oil and filter change. One advantage of changing your own oil, rather than have a quick-lube place do it, is that you can take the time to get more of the old oil out before you start adding new oil.

A procedure I follow is to drain the oil pan first. When the flow out of the pan is down to dripping, place the drain plug back in the pan, but only finger tight. Then change the oil filter. This will normally take about 15 minutes. When the new filter is in place, go back to the drain plug and allow more of the old oil to drain out of the pan. If there are other things you are doing at the same time, do them, and wait even longer to get the last of the old oil out of the pan. After about an hour or two, you will get about as much old oil as possible without taking the pan off of the engine.

Final tip after draining all of the old oil out. Shake each bottle of new oil a few times before opening the bottle. The additive package in motor oil contains some additives that are heavier than the base stock used to make the motor oil (this is also true for synthetics). By shaking the bottle, you do a better job of mixing the additives in the oil. There is no telling how long that bottle sat motionless on the shelf -- sometimes a year or more. Also, some additives may have a tendency to want to stick to the sides or bottom of the bottle. If you buy your oil in 4 or 5-quart containers, this shaking is even more important, particularly if you do not use all of the oil in that container on a single oil change.

 

burning is natural, especially when car has aged and broke in over time and what not.

in fact, many manuals i've read say that adding oil between drain intervals is normal.

but yes, use ur dipstick, and dont' ever PUT TOO MUCH. sometimes position of car affects how much is drained. if u can drain w/o raising than that'd be better..

anyhow ck ur oild..

 

yea but a 3 yr old car with 55k on it is not normal for it to be drinking oil esspescially if it was well maintained. esspescially not on the VQ nissans.

I just had 2 ideas though,
First did you just start using synthetic recently? if so i would expect some burning for a little while
Also if i were you i would go the stealer and change your PCV as soon as possible, that makes much more sense than the ring packs to me.

If none of the above help id go to BITOG and see how much Auto RX they reccomend and do that, with a lot of filters while its working its magic.

Good luck

 

No one is going to be able to determine exactly why you engine uses more oil than normal. But if you have only been drainging 1 1/2 quarts of oil, that means you have been running the engine on less than 1/2 full for some time. THAT might do some damage.

Take a sample of your oil (if you still have any old stuff left) and send it to Blackstone Labs for analysis. Email them and they will send out containers etc... $20 for the inspection.

I would also think about getting a compression check and/or leakdown test.

 

I got a 2K2 wiht 88 k on it and i jus replaced it with MOBIL1 10W30 Full Synthethic and i draned out almost all of it what does that mean if my car is not eatign oil..

 

k ..

the thing u do is MONITOR your level. do an oil change and watch your car ever week or once per month ( i mean its NEW man) shouldn't even be doing that type of stuff. but on my 97, i check about every 2-3 weeks or so, and its always been fine, no top off.. well in the range on the dipstick.. that way u'll know exactly if ur car is eatting oil or not. i doubt his oil went that low, otherwise there'd be an indicator or something..

also imo, if ur car is new go 5w-30, but then climate issues for some areas. i personally run 5w-30 on my 97 and everything is really cherry..

cars will eat oil, burn.. but it shouldn't be to a point where u have to top off A LOT or if any in between ur oil change intervals.. meaning, u shouldn't have to top off or add oil. if u have to, that means something is wrong and its eating oil at a rapid rate..

 

It means you are doin somthing right- keep it up

 

I just ordered the Blackstone kit. We shall see what happens.

Oh, BTW, I have been using Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 10W30 from the first oil change.

 

This could easily mean that your engine probably never had a chance to become fully broken-in. That the rings did not properly seat themselves like they would using Dino-oil. This could explain the excessive oil burning you seem to be experiencing.

According to my records for my 04 when she was new:
- I did the first oil change (Castrol dino oil) at 1,800 miles (just before a long road trip) and the original oil was down almost a quart before I changed it.
- I added about 1/2 quart of Castrol at 2,925 miles, during the trip.
- I added another 1/2 quart of Castrol at 4,150 miles, during the trip.
- After that, the engine stopped this slow but steady burning of about a quart of oil every 2,000 miles -- my read was that the rings were properly seated.
- I changed to Mobil 1 at 7,114 miles, just after returning from this long trip. The old oil was down less than 1/2 quart before changing.
- If I could revisit this decision to switch to Mobil 1, I would have waited one more Dino-oil change and switch at about 10,000 miles. This would have assured that the engine was fully broken-in.
- At 30,000 miles I add about 1/2 quart of Mobil 1 about mid-way in my 7,500 mile oil change interval. So the engine is burning about 1 quart every 7,500 miles. This IMO is not excessive.

 

I change out my oil every 4k miles....and I am missing about half a quart every time....sometimes more but I do believe its becuz alot of it gets stuck in the engine....it's never able to fully drain itself out....I also jack up my car in the front so the oil pan tilts down....so i can get every ounce of oil out....also I let it sit for 20 minutes......I'm still missing half a quart or so everytime I change out my oil.....in my opinion this is still within spec and shouldn't concern me or others

if I ran my mobil1 to 7500-8000 miles like Silvermax does....I would prob be missing 1.0-1.25 quarts of oil as well...still within the safety margin IMO....

 

There will always be some oil in the bottom of the oil pan that will not drain out. You can only get it out by removing the pan from the engine -- not worth the cost or the effort. That amount still in the pan will not vary whether you change you oil at 3,000 miles or 10,000 miles. Waiting 20 minutes for all of the oil to drain IMO is worth the wait.

I do not measure my old oil, so can't speak to how much comes out. But I always check my dip-stick to see how much the oil is down before I drain the old oil out. I'm never more than one-quart low (and usually only 1/2 quart) when I drain the oil. When I put the new oil in, I always put the same volume that the owners' manual says is needed for an oil and filter change.

 

I put an oil/water seperator inline with my PCV. It fills up weekly under normal driving (about 80% highway, no redline or high throttle). I could see 1/2 quart being sucked back up to be re-burned in 7500 miles.

 

I have the same problem but WORSE than u.

See thread http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....97#post3932397

 

Badabin badaboon. "you don't need to break in modern engines..."
Also, people justify to themselves switching to syn oils right away since Vettes, Porsches and other high end cars have synthetic factory fills. They neglect to realize those engines are bronken in on dynos before they are even installed. Then they wonder why their cars burn oil.

 

Lets see: Nissan is just "kidding" then they put a section in their Maxiama Owners' Manual with the title of "Break-In Schedule" -- the 2004 Maxima manual has this section on Page 5-14. Don't bother to point out that these instructions only apply to the first 1,200 miles (2K km) of driving. The reason Nissan has this section is to be certain that you do the proper things to properly break-in you engine (actually the whole car, including the brakes).

Then on page 9-5 (04 manual) is the statement: "Nissan recommends mineral based oils." I read that to be that Nissan recommends what is commonly referred to on this site as "Dino-oil."

Then on page 8-9 (04 manual) is this statement: " It is normal to add some oil between oil maintenance intervals or during the break-in period, depending on the severity of operating conditions." So the section on "break-in" was not simply a typo in this manual -- Nissan actually means that you should properly break-in your Maxima.

I have seen it posted elsewhere on this site (could not find this in my manual) that Nissan says that if you want to go to synthetic motor oil, you should wait for 20,000 miles before making this change. I did not wait that long, and if I could do it over again, I would at least wait for 10 K to 12 K miles before making the change to synthetic.

 

How do you spell old wives tale?

Yes you've seen that you should wait till 20k miles until going to syn, because of the elevated levels of silicon that can result from the switch before then. it eventually disapates back to normal levels.

If you really believe the "engines should not use synthetic until after the break in" you should build a time machine and go back to 1970, just make sure not to use synthetic in the time machine for the first 3 time travels.

just to back up my point to you,

Myth #6

Engines have to be “broken in” before using synthetic oil.
I need to break in my engine with non-detergent oil.
If I use regular oil or synthetic oil in a new engine, my engine will take longer to break in.

Fact
It was common years ago for engine manufacturers to recommend non-detergent oils for engine break-in. This was when the pistons used cast-iron “square-faced” rings and the rings needed to wear some to “seat” into the engine. With today’s technology of oils and engine manufacturing, engine manufacturers no longer recommend the use of non-detergent oils for the break-in period. In fact, engines today are factory-filled with high quality API SL performance motor oil, which contains high levels of detergents and dispersant additives.


this is taken directly from quaker states website. and i can find more evidences if youd like.

 

No, thats not excessive for an average engine, but you have one of the best V6's in the world with only 30k miles on it. Ive got a 3.0 that had ~80k on it and it burns nothing. Its not cause for concern but i would look into whats causing it. it may be an easy fix

 

No where do I see anyone (including me) on this site saying that you should only use "non detergent" motor oil for engine break-in. You will have a very hard time finding this kind of motor oil. Non-detergent motor oil is a non-issue. If you follow the oil recommendation in the owners' manual (page 9-5 in the 04 manual), you will buy API Service "SJ" motor oil -- this has the most recent detergent additive package in the oil -- whether the oil is Dino or Synthetic. The issue is Detergent Dino Oil vs Detergent Synthetic Oil for proper engine break-in.

Believe what Nissan tells you, or believe those who "just know."

 

My problem may well be not running dino oil for Nissan's recommended 20 K miles. But, then the manual also says: "It is normal to add some oil between oil maintenance intervals . . ." I will not worry about it.

 

It's your $20-$30K, so you can do as you wish. I personally prefer to take the conservative approach and break in the car the old fashion way.

In the case of ASU, some of the damage might have been caused by not seating the rings properly, however, I bet a fair amount of damage also happened by running the car low on oil (i.e, not checking the oil once in 5000 miles ). I'm sure the next car he buys new he'll take it easy on and run dino for at least 10K miles while checking the oil at least monthly...

 

ok first i wasnt talking about the ND part of the tale, i was reffering to the seccond part which tells of the differences of the engines of the 60's and 70's and todays engines. i realize thats not the greatest example of my point but for a better one please feel free to visit the internets home of oil gurus and ask them what they think about breaking in on synthetic and if after 55k it is possible that an engine is burning oil because after the first 3k it has been on synthetic and the rings still have not set.

Alos API SJ is not the most recent additive package in fact if im right its 3 generations old either that or i have some oil from the future in my basement because i have SM.

 

haha no my car is well past the break in period being 8 years old (its a 98 but was made in 97) and having 80k miles. If i bought a new car today i would break it in on dino and then switch it to synthetic, im not denying that thats the best way to do it, however i highly doubt that thats whats causing his consumption.

 

First off, I bought the car used with 9000 miles, so I am off the hook for any "break-in" issues.

Second, here are the maintenance records for all oil changes on this car.
07/28/2002 3,002 Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W30 old owner
02/14/2003 7,615 Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W30 old owner
06/29/2003 12,595 Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W30 Self
10/15/2003 18,615 Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W30 Self
1/31/04 23,587 Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W30 Self
5/14/04 30,317 Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W30 Self
8/2/04 37,956 Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W30 Self
10/26/04 41,904 Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W30 Self
12/9/04 45,934 Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W30 Self
2/25/05 49,543 Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W30 Self
4/25/05 55,243 Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W30 Self

 

My '98 Max (and every other new car I've purchased over the past 20 years) was converted to (AMSOIL) synthetic engine oil and transmission fluid at 1,000 miles...I keep track of at least two of my previous cars (a '93 and a '94 model) as I sold them to friends...the new owners have continued to use AMSOIL and they have ~200K on them with absolutely no engine or transmission problems and still no oil consumption. I routinely use 6-month drain intervals and just did my spring oil change on the Max today...logged ~ 9300 miles since the last oil change in late Oct. Not one drop of oil has been added to the engine since the last change, and prior to changing today the dipstick showed right on the "Max" mark.

I wonder why others' engines burn high amounts of oil too...it can only be a few things...quality of the products they're choosing, maintenance habits, driving habits, engine/emission control design or a mechanical problem. But based on my experience I think a long 10K or 20K break-in period is absolutely unnecessary prior to switching to synthetics...I have been recommending folks with new engines wait until their first scheduled oil change prior to converting and this is generally consistent with the recommendations of the major oil companies.

 

Talkinghorse,
Thank you for confirming what i've been saying.

 

Guess I mis-spoke. The SJ is what Nissan asks you to use in the 2004. I assumed they wanted you to use the most recent, and I was wrong. They don't say you can't use packages after SJ, but you should not use any before SJ, like SH.

We can agree to disagree on when is the best mileage to switch to synthetic. In the future, I will wait for at least 10 K miles.

 

Yea you can use packages that are newer than SJ as there made to be compatible.

And its not that i disagree as to when is the best time to switch to synthetic (well actually i think its 20k) its just that i dont think that this is the cause of his problem

 

3K miles would be the bare minimum IMO. By then, the rings should be 99% seated. Having said that, it doesn't hurt to wait until that extra 1% is broken in, or for me at the second or third oil change.

"it can only be a few things...quality of the products they're choosing, maintenance habits,..." Obviously it wasn't the M1 in ASU's case, but more than likely the 5000 mile oil checking interval.