New owner of Z. Low oil problem
11-08-2014, 09:57 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
New owner of Z. Low oil problem
Hi, I just bought an 06 350z with 53k miles on it. I just moved out to the Los Angeles area from Minnesota for a job. I've wanted one of these for a while, but due to the rear wheel drive they aren't really practical for a daily driver due to the winter weather in Minnesota. I'm happy with the car so far, I'm really impressed with the torque coming from my 01 Audi TT.
I did recently have an "incident", driving to work this week I noticed a weird rattling sound intemittantly when around 3500RPM. I had checked the oil right after I bought it, but I guess its really hard to tell on these especially immediately after the engine has been run. I called the dealership where the car has been serviced in the past, and as of right now the last oil change was ~5000 miles ago. They also told me it is running synthetic, so I figure it shouldn't need an oil change for a couple thousand miles. After the car was sitting overnight, today I checked the oil and it was maybe barely reading at the end of the dipstick. I thought this can not be good. I put a couple quarts of 5w30 synthetic oil in and the noise instantaneously went away. Before I did that I noticed the oil pressure would drop to around 15 psi when I noticed the noise. So great, I was running this engine wayyyy low on oil for who knows how long, and I finally noticed it because I heard what I figure was the valves slapping without any oil.
I haven't noticed any spots on my garage floor, so I don't think the oil is leaking, so how did it get so low? It must either have been burnt off, or not enough was put in at the last oil change. Only will time will tell if my first hypothesis is correct, so I'll make sure I keep an eye on it. But how much damage has been done? The oil pressure is reading normal now; 15-20 at idle, approaches 80 as the revs climb up. From what I understand, this really only tells me that the clearances at the crank bearings are close to normal, but there are more components in the engine that require oil besides this.
There's nothing I can do now to change what has been done; other than to offload the car before more substantial damages becomes apparent. But that's kind of a sleazy thing to do, and honestly I like the car. What do you guys think, is this engine perma-f**ked now?
I did recently have an "incident", driving to work this week I noticed a weird rattling sound intemittantly when around 3500RPM. I had checked the oil right after I bought it, but I guess its really hard to tell on these especially immediately after the engine has been run. I called the dealership where the car has been serviced in the past, and as of right now the last oil change was ~5000 miles ago. They also told me it is running synthetic, so I figure it shouldn't need an oil change for a couple thousand miles. After the car was sitting overnight, today I checked the oil and it was maybe barely reading at the end of the dipstick. I thought this can not be good. I put a couple quarts of 5w30 synthetic oil in and the noise instantaneously went away. Before I did that I noticed the oil pressure would drop to around 15 psi when I noticed the noise. So great, I was running this engine wayyyy low on oil for who knows how long, and I finally noticed it because I heard what I figure was the valves slapping without any oil.
I haven't noticed any spots on my garage floor, so I don't think the oil is leaking, so how did it get so low? It must either have been burnt off, or not enough was put in at the last oil change. Only will time will tell if my first hypothesis is correct, so I'll make sure I keep an eye on it. But how much damage has been done? The oil pressure is reading normal now; 15-20 at idle, approaches 80 as the revs climb up. From what I understand, this really only tells me that the clearances at the crank bearings are close to normal, but there are more components in the engine that require oil besides this.
There's nothing I can do now to change what has been done; other than to offload the car before more substantial damages becomes apparent. But that's kind of a sleazy thing to do, and honestly I like the car. What do you guys think, is this engine perma-f**ked now?
11-09-2014, 01:01 AM
#3
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Is your car stick or auto ?
11-09-2014, 02:08 AM
#4
Registered User
Thread Starter
It is a manual. Funny, I just started to notice that my clutch is starting to slip. I don't think that this should be related... Could it? I've been taking it easy on it since I noticed, but it may have been improved since I added oil.
11-09-2014, 06:00 AM
#5
General & DIY Moderator
MY350Z.COM
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You have a Z33 with the VQ35DE Rev up engine in it. Do a little research here and you'll find out quite a bit more about it. You'll need to keep an eye on oil consumption since that's a common problem, but it's not as bad as say, a turbo RX7 with a rotary. I'd keep the car and have some oil on hand to top it off now and then.
As for the clutch, that's an unrelated problem. But you're at the mileage where a worn one will begin to slip.
As for the clutch, that's an unrelated problem. But you're at the mileage where a worn one will begin to slip.
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11-09-2014, 03:01 PM
#8
Registered User
Thread Starter
I looked into the oil consumption issue a little bit and it looks like the PCV system can suck some oil into the intake, this kind of alleviates a lot of my oil consumption fears. There are a lot worse ways that oil can be burnt.
I watched this video:
and took my plenum cover off to check if my was the same. There was a bit of oil sitting inside this cover, just like in the video. Whats the fix for this? Should I install a catch can? I'm in Cali so whatever I do has to be CARB legal. I'll take a picture and try to up loaded it tonight.
I watched this video:
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