Hi everyone,

I have 84k miles on my 04 350z. I went from burning 1qt every 1800 miles to 1qt every 1000 miles. I'm also losing coolant very very slowly. I did an oil analysis and no coolant in the oil and the engine turned out to be healthy even though I'm burning oil pretty quickly.

Anyway, I want to be prepared if/when the engine goes out. I don't know how long DE's that burn a lot of oil last, but I want to have an idea of what I should do when the engine needs a rebuild.

I just want to put a stock DE in there with no upgrades. I'm not concern about making more power, I'm just after reliability. The two choices are: having a shop rebuild my DE or buying a already rebuilt DE and having it installed.

I was thinking about going this route and buying an already rebuilt DE and having them install it. Would this be a good option? The engine is $1,750 w/ a 2 year unlimited mile warranty.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Infiniti-G35-01-05-350z-01-06-NONREV-VQ35DE-3-5-Liter-Rebuilt-ZERO-MILES-Engine-/281233277215?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item417acf411f&vxp=mtr

 

Don't have a shop do it, and definitely don't get one on ebay.

Either buy it from a reputable Z shop like Z1, or buy a good used one. Some scrap yards will let you hear it run before they pull it, but that depends on what kind of operation they're running.

 

Your motor sounds perfect for a rebuild (better to have heat cycles). Take it to Dynosty and have them use it as a core for a built motor. Hopefully your coolant leak is unrelated but a new headgasket will be part of the rebuild anyway. If you stay away from headwork, it should not be too terribly expensive and you'll have a motor that can take 1000 hp.

 

SOHO Motorsports will be able to give you a good deal on a built short block, and all gaskets required for reassembly! Give Nik, the owner a call. Tell him James sent you! I blew my engine (piston ring failure), and he was able to get me a built short block to my DOOR in 2 weeks. Kyle @ Import Parts Pro will give you a good deal also, but has a longer turn-around time.

 

Thank you for all the suggestions so far! I'm hoping I'm a long way from having to rebuild.

Do DE's that burn about 1qt of oil every 1,000 miles last when making sure the oil gets changed every 4,000 and that the oil level doesn't go below minimum. I'm at 84,000 miles and I'm hoping to get to at least 150,000 miles!

 

I'd do a compression check. That will give you some insight.

 

Change your pcv valves, look for leaks, check for smoke out the tailpipes, then do a compression check. Bad pcv valves will cause oil burning. 1 qt every 1000 miles isn't the end of the world, but you need to id the problem.

 

Regarding my engine, I've replaced the pics valve, no visible leaks and no smoke coming out of the pipes. I have no clue what the problem could be at this point.

Would the recommended step be to just buy the parts indeed for the rebuild and have a shop do it for me?

 

i guess it depends on how much time you have. If you have the means to get a block built by IPP or Dynosty for example, it may save you some down time compared to having a shop pull the engine, take all the measurements, and get it machined.

You can still drive around while you are awaiting for your block to come in. Will require some time and a core.

if you can't wait for this then having a local shop do the rebuild may be more viable and immediate.

a lot of different factors go into this decision.

 

Or just buy a used DE engine and swap it overnight and sell the old engine/parts. You don't need built engine if you are not FI.

 

^That's a good idea if you can hear one run before buying it. If you're not looking for a built motor you'd be well off with a used one that Nissan built.