I have a 2002 Nissan Maxima that is consuming approx. 2 qts of oil every 1500-1800 miles. Has anyone heard anything about this. If anyone knows anything about this please let me know.

 

up to 1 qt @ 3000 is considered normal/acceptable by Nissan.

any leaks you can see?

 

Thats definately not normal.

Time for warranty work. Probably a bad seal somewhere or too many ring gaps lined up.

 

Why? It's not too normal on any other 90's or newer car. Could be normal on a 2-stroke 1967 Saab that our great-grandparents might have driven though.

I have never seen a good response to this issue except for the oil sender, but people have complained that it hasn't stopped even after replacement.

What gets me is that on the 4th gen the front of the motor is covered with grime, and the so-called A tech, Nissan's answer to Mr. Goodwrench says "blow-by" all over the front of the motor is normal. But once you go over 60k, they'd be glad to address it. Put yourself into the shoes of somebody who just paid, leased, or financed 22k on a 2k3 or 2k2 car. Nothing is more disgusting than pulling out the dipstick and finding the oil level down.

 

That's alot.

 

Normal oil consumption is 1qt for every 1000 miles. You should get your oil tested at a lab (check oil study sticky). They might be able to pinpoint where the oil is going.

 

My 6 sp 2002 SE with 12,200 miles was most recently down by a quart after 2000 miles. Over the 4 oil changes its had, the oil use has varied from almost none to a quart in 3000 miles (and seems to be related to city vs. highway), but this was the worst.

I spoke to Nissan's consumer line and was told that most of the engines don't use oil but some do. (Pretty disturbing...) They said that this is in the "normal" range, but that they authorized my dealer to perform an oil consumption test to get a handle on the actual oil use.

I went in today to start the test and they basically changed the oil and marked the dipstick. I'll bring it back in 3000 miles and they'll do the math. I was told that if I needed to add more oil, I should bring it to the dealership so that they could record the amount added. Once we get an actual conumption rate, we'll take it from there. Regardless of how this turns out, my plan is to dump this car well before the 5 yr/60K warranty is over.

I've been a Nissan customer since 1984, but this is probably my last. The quality has plummeted -- too many little issues like hood flutter, wind noise, chipping paint, squeaks, rattles, pops, recalls and now the oil issue. Just today, the dealer replaced the rusted mud guard screws as well as the hood insulation fasteners that had fallen out.

Nissan seems not to care or not to learn. A guy in my office bought a 2003 SE. Many of the annoying problems that plagued the 2000 - 2002s were present on his 2003(paint chips, rattles, hood flutter, wind noise...). I had warned him, but since he bought it anyway, I made copies of all the TSBs, etc for him so he could get all of this straightened out.

 

We have a Maxima that we are working this same problem on. His car is fairly new (under 12k miles) and has been losing oil at a pretty good rate. Nissan tech-line suggested we replace the pcv valve but that didn't do any good, so while they contemplate a fix we have him out on his 3rd oil consumption test. My tech suspects the rings but the strange part is we pulled the plugs and there are no signs of oil fouling but the compression test was on the lower end of the "in spec" range.
Also his car was a demo, not sure if an improper break-in may be the culprit or not.
Definitely get the car checked out by your local dealership.

Best of luck,
Lonz

 

The oil consumption is probably due to the ring gaps lining up on the pistons. When Mardigrasmax took apart his junkyard VQ35 he noticed that a few of the pistons had lined up ring gaps. I have had a few of my SR20DE's do the same thing. It can be quite aggravating to see when you dissasemble a motor.

 

That sucks, It sooo anoying to see blue smoke when you start up a car. That why if your building a motor you use Totalseal piston rings. Kinda hard to find an exact match for a VQ though. Probably need to be custom made, in other words $$$$.

 

Total Seal was what i used. Even they would line up.


TS aren't that expensive though. A full set of the 'reds' for the SR20DE was about $125 direct from TS.

 

You think the Maxima is bad, don't look at the new M3. It's worse.

DW

 

Thats not too bad, the rings dont always line up. It obviously happens here and there but still not a common problem. Hopefully not anyway. I just figured custom fit for a certain engine would be atleast double the price of what you would normally have to pay.

 

Blue smoke on start-up sounds like valve stem seals more than piston rings.

 

How so? Grime all over the timing cover? I doubt that very much. With the Maxima, it's not an internal problem. It relates to rear/main seals, oil sender unit, valve cover gaskets, etc. Rings are highly doubtful. Though nobody seems to have a good answer or even cares because they lease anyway, look at it from the owner's shoes. Oil leaks on a brand-new car are disturbing. My Briggs and Stratton 6.5 hp doesn't consume a drop of oil and it only cost $349.

For the dealer to say that grime all over the front of a 4th gen motor is blow-by and normal is simply stupid.

 

Its still burning it regardless and it still sucks. Less work then rings but if it still smoking after start up then rings are fryed as well.

 

In one of the M3 forums, people were complaining and one guy re-stated the manual, and it was in effect saying that a Qt every 1000 or so miles was expected . .by BMW.

DW