JB the drivetrain warranty for the 2003 Z is 5 years and/or 60K miles. The 3 year 36K mile warranty is the bumper to bumper warranty. Jason please explain your comment where you state that owners that change there oil every 2500 to 3000 miles would not know their Z was using oil??? If you are losing 1 qt of oil every 1,000 miles then when you checked your oil after 1,000 miles of driving you would note on the dip stick that your oil was down 1 qt . If you did nothing at that point and checked it after 2,000 miles your dip stick would be way below the full mark and you would be an idiot if you didn't think you had a problem. I've read several places that Nissan does not recommend using synthetic oil in our Z's. I wonder if the owners that are having a problem used synthetic oil too early and the rings didn't seat correctly? Has anyone that had this problem gotten any feed back from their dealer on what caused this problem?

 

Pit Bull,

For the record, I never used synthetic, so that kinda throws that one out the window.

I mentioned that people changing their oil every 3K miles would not notice because when I used to change the oil on my sportbikes, I never check the level or amount used. I just drain it and pour in the recommended amount. I would expect most people to do the same on cars...but maybe I am wrong.

I would normally have my oil changed at a Jiffy Lube or something like that for my cars. I typically keep new cars for a year and a half then trade them in, so I don't care to change the oil myself. I am trying hard witht he Z to keep it for at least three years, but this oil problem is putting a strain on that. Unfortunately, poor resale and trade in value is keeping me away frompicking up an STI or maybe a new Vette.

JB

 

I thought everyone checked their oil every time they fill-up with gas or at least once a week. I've been having the dealer do the oil/filter changes on the Z since it is cheap and easy. Mine has 11K miles on it and I changed oil at 1K miles and then every 3K after that. between 3K miles oil changes mine uses less than 1/2 qt oil total. I would say you have a problem, but I looked in the owners manual and Nissan thinks your find if you are using 1 qt every 1K miles. That's BS.

 

I agree, Nissan saying 1qt every 1K is crap. If that is true, then we should have a compartment built into in our cars to store oil jugs so we can refill on long trips.

There are several folks on this board who have had their engine replaced for losing 1qt every 1K, so I don't think Nissan will hold to what the manual states.

JB