nismolicious

Hey guys...

New to this forum, however have been a frequent member of zilvia and a couple others (So don't worry.. no noob **** here :P )

I am no master mechanic however have enough experience to do a basic swap (such as an sr20). I have never opened up my 350z (other than small things like a thermostat, fixing that annoying hatch issue and so on-

My Z is a 2003 touring model and completely bone stock with 75k-

I have had an issue for the past couple of months that continues to get worse and I am completely stuck!!!

Near the end of the summer I had noticed between oil changes that my oil pressure was reading low (dropped down almost to zero at idle and wouldnt get past 50 psi flooring it)

After changing the oil everything seemed to be straightened out. Then a couple weeks later same symptom happened so I added another quart of oil and things again were all good.

I have been doing this now for about 3 months and increasingly new issues have arrived-

Symptoms now
-Occasionally (twice this has happened at random) the car will sputter (like its camed) or like its a bad MAF and the check engine light will come on and flash. Car would not stall and turning the car off and on again would remedy the problem

- There is a rattling sound (not a knock) that almost sounds like flywheel chatter (could be unrelated) but I notice when I put more oil in this stops temporarily. (this can only be heard at low rpm (up till 3k)

-Occassionally (at random) the VSC, brake, and SLIP lights will come on and stay on, then go away eventually (could be unrelated)

-When I make a U-turn or a hard left turn I watch my Oil Psi drop from say 60psi down to like 15psi (even when I am giving it gas)

-When I drain the oil even as little as 1,500 miles there is significantly less oil in it but I cant see any wet spots or visual leaks. There has been one incident where I heard the start of a knock and quickly turned it off, bought more oil then no more problem.

I use Mobile 1 10w30 and recently have used Lucas oil stabilizer to see if I could fix the problem...


Any ideas! Thanks guys
Matt

KornerCarver

iTrader: (2)

It would seem your car is buning a large amount of oil. You should probably check the level daily for awhile and see how much your level is declining.

nismolicious

^ Thanks man!... Yeah I had figured as much but not sure where it could be coming from... I read somewhere that a gasket in the timing chain cover sometimes causes one of those issues... I am thinking about checking the spark plugs for oil... im wondering if it could be in a valve seal (heard something like that somewhere but I also heard there is a gasket that needs to be replaced when you do so (when checking the spark plugs).. and all the $12 mobile one quarts have added up to me = broke!

0jiggy0

iTrader: (13)

Your burning oil.

0jiggy0

iTrader: (13)

With the amount your burning it sounds serious,maybe time for a rebuilt. Maybe the original owner didn't take care of the car.

nismolicious

Yeah... a big part of me thought about selling the car now while a dealer would still give me full value for it (Couldn't ethically sell it privately.. wouldn't want to do that to a fellow enthusiast :/ ) But I would love for a stealership to have their share of karma

But the stubborn part of me loves this car and wants to fix it!! I have only had it for a year and try to take good care of my rides... I was hoping it isn't a bottom end issue but I guess my fears may be right

enZus

First thing I would do is pull the spark plugs and inspect. How much oil are u burning? How many miles a day u put on? Your rattle could also be valve if u say when u put more oil in it quit. As others stated, the last owner didn't take care of it

nismolicious

Took a look at the spark plugs... you guys were right!

there is oil on the two rear cylinders (closest to the firewall) The passenger side one has more oil than the other!

After looking up a couple things I think this could be a valve cover gasket, more specifically the rings around the spark well.

I am going to buy the R&D kit and see if that fixes it... It could be possible that I have 2/3 unrelated symptoms cause each of my problems...

Do you guys agree or am I sounding hopeful naive