This is my first post to this forum.

I have a 1997 GLE auto with all SE options. Love the car but... at 59,000 lost all oil pressure. Dealer repaired the obvious like tensioner but blamed me for not changing the oil regularly. The oil screen was completely clogged and looked like sludge in the pan. I am **** about this car and change oil with Castrol and WIX filters. I have never let it go beyond 3800 miles. And that was only once.

Lost oil pressure again at 77,000. I paid for the repairs. The condition of the oil screen and pan were identical to the last time.

I have since found two other Max owners with similar problems in the Northwest and am looking for more. We need to prove to Nissan this is not an isolated case and force them to repair the engines properly and/or replace them. The bearing wear with the oil lost is significant.


Thanks.

 

Damn Rick, that's a real bummer! That's the first time I have heard of oil pressure problems in a Maxima; especially with so few miles.

 

I had an oil sample that came back with a high bearing reading.

 

When you say you lost oil pressure, I,m assuming that your light came on unless you have an analog gauge. Does your car leak oil? Do you change oil on a hot or cold motor? What "weight" oil are you using? Answers to these may give some insight to your problem.

 

This is the first time I've ever heard of such a problem on a Maxima. On this forum we hear plenty of owner complaints, but this is a new one. The fact that it happened to your engine twice suggests that this is something unusual.

Castrol is good oil. WIX makes good filters. You've changed oil and filter regularly. What else is there? Why does your engine develop a catastrophic case of sludge?

1) Engine never warms up due to a stuck-open thermostat. Do you get good heat in the winter? If so, cross off this possibility.

2) Engine coolant seeping into engine oil due to a failed head gasket or crack in the cylinder head or block. Does your engine require regular coolant replenishment? When you change oil do you see evidence of water contamination (unappetizing "chocolate milkshake")? If not, cross off this possibility.

3) Sabotage. Some vandal, some criminal, is putting something awful in your crankcase when you aren't looking. This may seem far-fetched, it may seem paranoid, but I'm trying to help by enumerating every possible cause for your atypical experience.

 

There is a long thread about sludge on the Edmunds site, if you want to take a look. It would seem that it is more common to some engines (V6 Toyotas) than others. I've never seen any complaints about Nissan V6's. To get sludge, in an engine with low milage and that gets regular oil/filter changes like yours, usually has a problem with moisture building up in the engine. Very often it's condensation. Under normal operation the oil should get hot enough to vaporize the water, which leaves via the crakcase ventalation system. So, check the PCV valve and the hoses that attach to it to make sure they are clear. Try to drive the car for a full 1/2 hr. at least once a week, if you don't already do so. If it still looks like sludge is forming (there should be signs of it in the oil filler cap or dipstick tube), try using a mild motor flush (STP makes one or Marvel Mystery Oil) once a year. I've also never heard of anyone forming sludge with synthetic oil.

 

The oil light came on. I had noticed a change in the consistancy and color of the last two oil changes and was planning on pulling the pan on the next one. Never made it that far.

No oil or coolant leaks. No loss of oil or coolant. No loss of tranny fluid.

Did wet bulb test on the coolant. Guage matches the coolant temp.

The oil had gotten very redish and thick. I check the oil weekly so I noticed the change. It also seemed to burnish the dip stick.

 

According to the post I put on autotech.com there is a great likelyhood of the casting of the heads to be bad. the techs there all agreed that they have heard of problems in theh sand casting and that I might be getting silicon into the oil.

The oil does still seem gritty so watching it closely.

 

Thanks for the post. My wife drives thirty miles one way to work each day averaging 65. No stop and go traffic in her direction. The caris garaged and no one touched the car but the "dealer" and me.

There is no milkiness in the oil. I have seen it on my Triump cycle a few years ago. Except for the thickness ansd the red tint I saw no problems coming. As I said on another post, it does feel gritty.

 

Gritty is a bad sign!

Take a sample and get it analyized by www.blackstone-labs.com

or search for that company online. The casting theory seems sound. Also if the oil has had gritty sand running though it too long, the oil pump could have been toasted by the sand running though it.

 

Thanks, I will contact them right away. Let you know when I get the anaysis back.

 

I was hoping that this would have been from using stop leak but it may not be the case.

 

i was contacted by Nissan Customer Service on Friday and they havv epromised to call me back on Monday. I will post their reply and recommendations as soon as I get it.