so im about 800 miles over my 5,000 oil change. (use motul 5w-30)

within the past couple days i have been seeing the red oil symbol (service?) come up on the gauge when i put in the clutch all the way down and slow down or take sharp turns.

today, the symbol came up like crazy and then i went to eat at a restaurant. it was valet so i gave em my ticket and then i drove off and i started hearing this chattering noise from what i think is in the engine!!!

it happens usually around 2500-3000 rpm and when i put in my clutch all the down it goes away about a second later...this happens in every gear.

i have NO mods, completely stock. 96,000 miles.

Please help me~ and...do you guys think i can drive until monday?

 

"Chatter"? Could be clutch/flywheel

Do the Z a favor and give the poor thing an oil change, who knows the chatter could go away on its own. But I still think its clutch/flywheel

 

^^^you have no clue what clutch chatter is.

This may be a silly question but... Did you check the oil. Hell, check the tranny fluid too while you're at it.

 

The instant that red oil symbol came up you should have pulled the car over and checked your fluids. I'm assuming you didn't do that. Start there.

 

i also have a similar chatter in my engine. I hear from some people that its my tranny. stock trannys in the z are no good?

 

At 5,800 miles since the last oil change I would say you've probably used enough oil to be low. It doesn't sound like you've checked the level yet. You're most likely low on oil and need to do the oil change.

Make sure you check your oil level frequently. You may need to add a quart or so between changes.

 

If the light comes on and you didn't immediately stop driving and top off your oil, you're engine is most likely ruined. Hate to say it, but true. That light being on means ZERO oil pressure, and you've probably got 1 quart left in your engine tops.

 

Most likely even less than a quart.

It happened to me with my '06 MT within 1500 miles of buying it used. Had no clue about the oil burning issues. Was going down the road, started hearing valve tap, oil pressure light came on... was less than half a quart in the engine.

At least Nissan replaced it with a good one.

I'm interested to see how much oil the OP has in his pan.

 

thanks for the replies guys.

the minute i woke up i read this thread yesterday and did my oil change.

i had 1 quart left!!!! i changed it immediately and everything is fine now.

i really do not understand why it burned so much oil though. i was roughly 800 miles over my 5,000 mark.

 

the car seems to be running fine now and the oil pressure is steady, no more light coming on too. is my engine really ruined?

 

Damaged, most likely, but ruined, probably not. Keep an eye on the oil level for the next several hundred miles. You may find that you are burning oil like a real champ. If that's the case, I hope you have an extended warranty.

 

Man,if you have to start a thread about oil light on and engine noise and then ask if its ok to drive till monday,YOU SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING.

 

Keep in mind that a lot of people change their oil twice over the course of 5800 miles. Usually people check it frequently in between changes too so this sort of thing doesn't happen.



If you're really worried about what damage may have resulted from this send some of the used oil out to be analyzed. The levels of some of the contaminants in the oil can tell you what parts of your engine likely suffered most.

...Obviously your engine isn't ruined but that oil is in there for a reason. If you think driving with very little oil had no effect on your engine you're wrong.

 

Holy crap, the oil light was on and you were driving?

The cylinder walls are going to be so scuffed and the pistons ring worn like hell. Your engine will forever burn oil now and have low compression (read low power) and eventually the engine will prematurely fail long before a normal VQ ever would. Cam lobes will be the most effected (where the ticking was coming from most likely) as they are slapping with very lubrication. Rod bearing also take a huge amount of abuse. The likely hood of a spun bearing down the road is really high.

Once the oil light comes one you have caused damage to the engine. If you continue to drive till the point it's chattering and you think it's the clutch the damage is very severe.

At this point I would either replace the motor or tear it down for inspection. The chances of it going back to normal and being fine are minuscule. Anybody who has ever torn down an oil starved motor knows exactly what I'm talking about. It will seem fine initially after you change the oil, but the damage will set in and rear its ugly head. I would be surprised if you make it to your next oil change. If you do you are lucky. Don't expect to get a lot more miles on it, lets say that.

Mostly likely outcome here you will spin a bearing and eventually a loud clicking noise that increases with RPM will be heard. Eventually the rod will seize to the crank and the motor will be garbage. Chances are good the rod will break and come out the block as well. Failure is pretty catastrophic from a spun main or rod bearing.



If they suspect oil starvation they will tear down the motor. If the oil should have been changed and it was run past the mileage, they will deny warranty on the engine. Warranty doesn't cover negligence.

 

The person isn't in warranty (verified with the owner) so this point doesn't really matter- but I would like to point out that there have been plenty of people with oil burning engines that have had them replaced by Nissan, even after catastrophic failure.

An engine eating 5 quarts of oil even in 6k miles is not normal and points toward the engine being faulty, not the owner. Apparently Nissan agrees it is in their best interest since they frequently side on replacing the engine rather than losing a customer.

 

This may be true but with 96,000km on the clock I doubt this will happen. A car in warranty maybe. Generally speaking, oil starvation is a warranty breaker.

As you pointed out, in this case it's a non issue, buddy doesn't have warranty. I'd be ordering another motor on www.car-part.com if it was me.

 

Nissan won't touch this with a 10 foot pole unless the car is either under warranty or the OP has 9k to give to the dealership.

Either way, it's either a good time to build the engine up or have a local mechanic swap in a good/used VQ.