Chad68

iTrader: (1)

Going in for my oil consumption test Tomorrow and got bored and started doing some math and I hate math.

Some are saying that using up 1 quart of oil per 1,000 miles is considered OK by Nissan.

I have had my Z for 4 months and 1 week.

I have put on 7,500 miles in that time.

I'm using 1 quart per 1,000 miles.

7,500 divided by 4 months equals 1,875 miles per month average.

So that's about 1.8 quarts a month average, I am going through.

1.8 quarts times 12 months in a year equals 21.6 quarts.


Now add 4 oil changes per year at 5 quarts per change.

5 quarts times 4 changes a year is 20 quarts.

20 quarts plus 21.6 quarts equals 41.6 quarts going in and out of my motor each year.


Now I ask you, does that sound normal?

Or at least does the 21.6 quarts of oil a year that just dissapears into nowhere sound normal?

Keep in mind 21.6 quarts is MORE than 5 gallons of oil!!!!

More oil dissapears into thin air, than what they go through in 4 oil changes.

uncutZ00

maybe its because of your turbonator

97supratt

iTrader: (61)

LMAO Causes too much blow by?

On a serious note, do you drive your car hard? If you do, then your asking for some oil consumption. Whether its oil passing through the rings and burning in the combustion chamber, or blow by which can end up in your manifold. Whatever the case may be, going through 1 quarter every 1k miles is bad. Has your oil light ever turned on? Our dipstick's suck so I wouldnt trust it.

stein

iTrader: (3)

With 7500 miles on it that is not normal at all! This maybe normal on a high millage car (more than 80k) but not 7500.

Chad68

iTrader: (1)

Yup I agree.

I don't drive it that hard. Sure it sees redline from time to time (not during break in of course) but not on a regular basis, after the first oil change was done at 3,700 miles.

I have never seen the oil light come on, though at one point it must have been very VERY close to comming on because the oil PSI had dropped.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

Division is not my forte but…

…if you add 22 quarts of oil/year there is little point in doing oil changes. The oil has already been changed.

bailey bill

But the contaminates (acids, condensed moisture, various combustion byproducts, metal particles, etc,) remain.

If you already have excessive oil consumption, ne3glecting oil and filter changes will simply increase the rate of deterioration.

bill

Netko350Z

iTrader: (8)

110 miles to go with my consumption test!!!

Chad68

iTrader: (1)

Can you post a few details about your testing?

I just started the process today. They told me I will need to bring it in after 1,000 miles. I thought they would seal the dipstick in addition to the drain plug but lucilkiy they said they don't usually seal the dipstick because that way I can check the level and they say it would be very tough to sciphon oil out thru it anyway. I did check the level with the mechanic so there is no funny business. Will do the same when they take the reading as well as check it the day before I bring it in.

How long as you testing been going on? miles and or months?

What do you think they will end up doing for you? New short block?

Thanks

Netko350Z

iTrader: (8)

Well my test is supposed to be for 1,000 miles. They wanted me to at first bring in my car every 2 weeks so tey could check it. I told them that I hardly drive it that much and that I would rather just bring it in at 500miles then at 1,000 miles. So far it has dropped about 3/4 qt and I now have about 100 miles to go. I am not sure what they will do to get me a short or long block. My test has been goinon for months since I really only drive it on the weekends.

I am not too worried about any problems with the dealership since I have been EXTREMELY nice to them through the whole process. I told them that this is a "possible issue" with the VQ35DE motor and told them to visit this site for other examples.

They didn't seal my dipstick either. But the I am not sure what they used at first to mark the level. It looked like a piece of thin white tape. Lucky for me after they did the first oil change I checked the oil to see how they marked it. The tape was almost about to fall off so I just removed it. I figure that it would have fallen off and ended up in my motor.

I plan to rack up the miles this week so they can start the process soon...I hope.

BTW... I am geographically retarted but you should take your car to Performance Nissan since they appear to be the experts in the Nissan problems.

Chad68

iTrader: (1)

Wow thanks for all that info man. They told me to bring it in after 1,000 miles. Unfortuantly Performance Nissan is about an 8 hour, 400 mile drive from me, so that won't fly I basically just drive my car on the weekends but I rack up a ton of miles on the weekends, due mostly to me liking nothing more than driving the car but I'm starting to drive it a little less than normal because I'm racking up the miles a bit more than I would like.

Have you ever noticed that your exhaust tips get a black sooty build up on them? My tips get it on the bottom half of the tips. I didn't notice this until after my first oil change, which was when I also started to get the oil consumption problems. But that was also about the same time I added the Nismo exhaust too, so I don't know if the sooty build up has anything to do with the consumption issue. Seems like it's quite possible to me.

Derratte

Thats funny, I have the Nismo exhaust and some oil consumption issues, and I get the sooty black stuff on the inside of my exhaust too! Do you think there is some sort of correlation here? Is there any way the Nismo exhaust via its lower back pressure is causing the oil consumption? Hmm....

Silkk

iTrader: (11)

Just a little FYI in response to the "high-mileage" comment. I'm sitting at 71k miles and I burn less than 1/4 OF A QUART in 3000 MILES... 3 quarts every 3000 miles is not good...

06Firebase

Yes, a quart per 1000 miles is way too much for a new car.

I find it very difficult to check the oil level on my car. Seems to take hours for all the oil to drain back down so I can get a good reading on the stick. Letting it settle overnight was the only way I could be sure of the level (other than draining it all out and measuring the volume).

The dealer says this is "normal".

Netko350Z

iTrader: (8)

Yes normal in that it takes time to read the oil...

not normal to have it burn like that.

thumpboarder

iTrader: (3)

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I bought an 05 350z 35th Annviersary 2 months ago. I checked the oil when I bought it at 7700 miles and it was full. Well I never got to changing it until 9000 miles and I was 3 quarts low. So i was just thinking I went over 3000 miles unknowingly. So I checked it again at 10,000 miles which it has right now and I'm half a quart to a quart low. I'm using Mobil 1 5w-20 synthetic and using the Mobil 1 filter and never saw any oil anywhere near the car.

btw, the car is completely stock down to its filter

06Firebase

That's the kind of thing that I'm terrified of discovering about my car

I sure hope I didn't make a mistake . . .

davidf

iTrader: (18)

Wow I must be one of the lucky ones 03', 33,000, 0 oil useage. I'm knockin on wood though.

Chad68

iTrader: (1)

Well I have kind of good news. My Z does not seem to be burning near as much oil as I thought. Seems as thought the problem may be only half as bad as I thought, maybe even better.

After consumption testing started, I checked the level at 600 miles and it was at the 3/4 mark. The car had sat for one week at that point when I checked it.

Put another 300 miles on, so now it's at 900 mile mark. This time when I checked it, the car sat for about 4 hours when I checked the level and it was really close to the same mark (about 3/4). Seeing how it had sat for 5 days for the first reading VS 4 hours on the second reading 300 miles later, it's possible it may be, relatively unchanged.

I thought I was using about 1 quart every 1,000 miles but it seems like it might be closer to 1.5 quarts every 3,000 miles or even less but it's too early to say just yet.

The only thing I can figure is that the 10 minute drive thru place I had the first chabge done at, groosly underfilled the oil. BIG time! Won't go there anymore.

Of course after I checked the level at the dealer and verified what he put in, the mechanic could have later thrown another 1/2 quart in, to throw off all the readings, so who knows for sure.

I think I should have monitored it myself real close, before brining it in for testing.

But it seems to be not soo horrible for now.

Axelerate

iTrader: (19)

My 03 Z was burning oil and smoking like crazy. It was burning a quart every 1000 miles and would smoke out of the exhaust at idle and going into first and second. Smoking wasnt as bad with stock cats on, but still there.

Started doing a cumsunption test also, but it actually started leaking oil at the dealership, so they replaced the entire motor.

New one has been fine and no issues.

I wouldnt get to down about it, Nissan does know about it no matter what the delaer tells you. Contact NNA and start a claim with them, they slipped up and agreed that it has happened before. Once Nissan gets involved the dealer pretty much goes along.

It can take a while, but if it's valid and you stay on Nissan's ***, it should be repaired.