To sum up a long story. I was driving on the road when my car just happened to make some rattling noises then shut off. When it shut off on the road it just happened to stop in the middle of the road in front of a mechanic shop. So to avoid getting rear ended I asked the guys to help push it off the road and take a look at the car. I didn't think that my car's engine self destructed. Its been almost a week and they said that I need a new motor. Mechanic said i'm looking at about 6,300 installed for a used motor with low mileage.

What do you guys think I should do? Any opinions? Should I trust these guys or take it to Nissan. The guy said he found a good amount of metal shavings in the oil pan which is very odd because I babied my car and did frequent oil changes. They don't sound s

I'm thinking is it worth putting a "new motor" or call my insurance and see what happens.

 

I dont think insurance is going to help. I also dont recommend you trusting some random shop. Take it to a nissan dealer and have them diagnose the issue, at least this way you will know what exactly happened to your Z. Then make an educated decision.

You may want to post Model year, Mileage, mods.

Good luck.

R

 

Is it still under the 5yr/60k power tran warranty? If it is then have it towed to nissan and warranty it, unless you have major mods or something. I wouldn't trust that shop with such a quick diagnoses!

 

A new motor should be built and installed by a 350Z shop. Ask for recommendations in the regional forum.

 

wow, a thread started by someone other than deltaforce

 

What do you mean???


Back to main subject. I just talked to the shop guy again. Nice guy, but he told me the car was running VER LOW on oil. About 3 quarts low. Whats weird is I had any oild chnage about 2 - 3 months ago at Jiffy Lube and still have the reciets. By the way my car is a 2003 Base with only a JWT intake and about 76,000 miles on it. I bought it second hand from a small dealership 2 years ago. I don't if buying it from those small dealerships makes a diff. Now that you guys know my situation what do you think I should do?

 

There's a guy who's starting stupid threads everywhere. Sorry to disturb your thread, didn't mean to

 

Jiffy Lube!!!!!!!!

There is your problem right there. Is this only place you took your Z to get Oil changed?? If so, your motor hasn't been lubricated for 2 years...ouch!

 

that is alot of miles for a 2003....getting the internals upgraded wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if you do end up needing a rebuild

 

The motor is out of warranty so a new one is on your tab.

 

I don't think thats the problem. I've heard the horrer stories from that place, but when they did it I actually sat and watched them do it. I was pretty insistent on that. So I know they did the oil change.

 

You didn't state how many miles have passed since your last oil change. Some people have horrible oil burning problems with the VQ35 engines. I've noticed that this phenomenon is sometimes related to the manner in which the car is driven. If you rev high frequently, and if you idle frequently, the combination of the two cases will result in an abnormally high rate of oil consumption.

How many miles do you drive per month?

I know people that do 2000 miles a month, which translates to 6000 miles in 3 months. Even in your case, you might have gone several thousand miles without you checking your oil level...or did you? Remeber, you must constantly check and add oil as it is consumed to maintain a normal oil level in your oil pan.

Many of those chop-shop junkyard quality auto-body shops lack in knowledge, technology, and motivation when it comes to doing work in our high-tech cars. Even when it comes to simple things like tire rotation, I see them using their impact drills to tighten the lugs. OUCH! This is how brake rotors warp and lug threads strip. Think about it, if they can't even do that properly, can you trust them with your engine?

 

Maybe it's not my place to say.. but since you live in Corona. Why not check out Performance Nissan? We have amazing sponsers from Performance.. plus the one in West Covina is opening up soon too "if you can wait"

 

last time i took my civic to jiffy lube somehow i ended up messing up the crank because of no oil, go figure

Moral of the Story: Be iffy if you take it to jiffy.

 

brother in law caught them not changing the filter on his truck. it is leased by his work and the leasing company had a deal with jiffy. they are not happy

 

Get it towed immediatly to a reputable Nissan dealership to have it check. Metal shavings is nothing unusual. You were probably just low on oil. Before leaving the shop though, I highly recommend you check the entire car, specially the engine, to make sure they did not mess with anything. And if it's been there a week, don't be suprise if the shop shows you an unusually expensive invoice. The inspection should not have taken more than 1-2 hours.