Well this thread was due to come up at some point. So I picked up this....


































READ THE STUFF ON THE VERY BOTTOM.....



See how that works kids....your car needs oil, tires, brakes, head lights, air freshener, etc....you buy oil, tires, brakes, head lights, air freshener, etc.

Seriously though, for the last 20K miles or so the I35 has been consuming oil. It seems to be common with a lot of the VQ Engines do as they get older. I am adding about a half quart every 500 miles or so.

I'm torn though. So far since I have had the car I have replaced brakes, tires, oil, fluids, belts, plugs and one tail light bulb. That is it. There is 165K miles on the car and it still drives extremely well.

What do you guys think I should do? I know that a lot of you will say get a new car and I will eventually. Have any of you had a similar issue with a car you have owned in the past?

 

Hahahaa. I just did an oil change on mine, Monday.

 

I bet $1 that you will be car-shopping this weekend...

 

Sounds like a great car!

 

You're going to owe me a dollar.

It had been consuming oil for the last 20000 miles (roughly the last 8 months). I plan on getting 200K out of the car.

 

Thanks

I'm going to be pissed if that was sarcasm.

 

I wanted to be the first one with a "Well the car needed this, so I fixed it" thread

 

Nope....mine has been semi-broken longer. And I don't think I am the first one.

 

If you had to add a quart of oil, it's totalled ...

 

Ha haa! You got me. I thought you were going to say that you traded for a G37.

What a concept, fixing what's broken on the car!

 

G37 is too new for me.

The thing is that the car is still "broken." It still consumes oil.

 

Congrats on the Pennzoil bottle!

 

Nice car Ravi!























Wait, wrong thread.

My wife's Civic is losing a little oil, at least was a little before we fixed it. Mine is perfect (just bought four new tires), and plan on getting 500K miles out of my car.

 

Come on car gurus. You guys always have opinions on these things.

My mechanic basically said that there really is no great fix for it. I can either monitor and add oil or dump the car. I'm fine with adding oil as long as other stuff doesn't break.

 

If you like that one you should see the other 2 I have. I just switched out of Mobil 1. Too expensive and I change the oil out often.

 

Yep..... I'm a bit rusty on this, but I remember that if a car isn't leaking oil anywhere, it's almost certainly burning it through blowby... the piston rings can no longer contain the crankcase pressure and oil gets forced up the cylinder walls and up towards the combustion chamber, and it gets burned up.

He probably just didn't want to offend you by saying "oh, it'll be x hundred amount of dollars just for your car to stop burning oil". Not many people would agree to that, and some would think their mechanic is trying to rip them off - he probably wanted to avoid that, or there could be some other issue with VQs that I'm not familiar with. You should check on the Nissan/Infiniti forums, but I'm almost certain its the rings.

Sucks, but these little bastards are likely the culprit (about as big as a bracelet)





and good choice. This was what I was taught.... if you've got oil leaking/burning issues and you can't fix it right away, start putting in cheap stuff, you don't want to essentially pour $8/qt synthetic down the drain.

Also, how much is it burning each month?

 

ugh, I'm terrible at explaining things. Sorry to be long winded and unclear at the same time.... but those piston rings, I assume you know are an internal component of the engine (read: usually labor intensive to replace) so there is no easy fix (if it's the piston rings)

My cousin's G35C had some strange issue too apparently. Her boyfriend said when he took off the underbody shroud there was oil caked on ALL over the place, but it wasn't leaking or anything. Didn't know the exact cause, but they got rid of it, and she got a G37, lucky girl.

 

No, no sarcasm at all.

If thats all that you have done to it at 165k miles.....its a great car!
I would just keep checking the oil levels and adding when needed.

I would let it go if I became disabled or somehow I wasnt able to add the required half quart every 500 miles or so.

 

how long have you been using the penzoil with cleaning agents? Do you usually stick to this or another type of oil?

Over the years, the rings deteriorate and oil actually reseal's them or plumps them up so the rings still seal properly. Using cleaning agents can dissolve this small layer and cause to oil burning issues or worse, dislodge a chunk of sludge and have it clog something up!

Try use some thicker oil to help stop it from burning oil or try using some Mobil 1 High Mileage oil. If you want to take a chance, try using some Lucas Stop Leak, I'm not sure how it works, but I have heard some good and bad things about it to...

 

I have 80k on my VQ35 engine and have noticed no considerable loss of oil between 5k mile oil changes. Frankly, I have a really hard time getting a clear indication on the dipstick that came with my FX35, but it definitely still meets the minimum needed at 5k mile intervals.

I use Mobil 1 oil and filters and do all the work myself.

Unless it really becomes problematic, I would just keep it. If it continues to get worse, or you drive more than 500 miles a week, that would be my tipping point.

Also, I would be hesitant to change oil brand/type at this point in the cars life given the issue at hand, but that's just me.

 

I barely know how to change my underwear.

 

Depends on how much driving you do. With my new commute, I put a lot of miles on my car and I'd be annoyed if I had to add oil every 500 miles. One trip to the office and back is almost 200 miles for me now, so adding oil every other trip would get old real fast. Not to mention, I'd probably start getting nervous that the car would strand me at some point. However, if you don't put a lot of miles on the car, you could probably stick it out a bit longer. It's up to you!

I do one or two trips per week to the office, working at home the other days. Additional driving in between commutes would put me over 500 miles very quickly.

 

Costco - i know why it is burning. I searched out a lot of the forums. My mechanic basically said to fix it will cost less than a new engine and his recommendation is to keep it as is. He's not BSing me, he's just saying that if it were his car he would drive it.

 

That explains the odor in Ramblings.

 

I hate that about these cars. I can never tell. I actually read that because of the poor design that most people don't even know that their car is consuming oil until they hear the timing chain rattle.

I changed the oil based on recommendations from a tech at Infiniti and my mechanic.

 

I've been commuting about 500-750 miles a week for the last 50K miles. I keep a quart of oil in the trunk and I check it every other morning. I don't think I will take it on 500 mile runs anymore, but for commuting I am OK with it unless I start seeing other issues.

 

since the car is getting older, you ever consider running a slightly thicker oil?

 

Hmm, I can only get to about 40k miles on a car before I have to get a new one....

 

Be careful....you got one of those oil consuming turbo engines :wink:

 

Ravi, have you considered replacing the engine? Either a low mileage one from a scrap yard or a new short block? If the rest of the car is in good shape (suspension, trans, brakes, etc) it would be a lot cheaper to do that then to purchase a new car.

 

VQ37 swap?! :keepmeposted:

 

Get an oil with a higher HTHS and lower NOACK. Redline 5w-30 should significantly lower oil consumption.

The ester base oil is great at freeing up stuck rings which could be causing the oil consumption.

Have you checked the PCV system? Check the plugs for signs of oil burning. If they look good, it may be going elsewhere.

 

I bumped it up from 5W30 to 10W30.

 

If it continues as it is now I am fine with the car and the current engine. If the engine fails or the problem becomes worse then I would be looking at a replacement engine. I've considered that already.

 

I pulled the front 3 plugs last week. No sign of oil burning. The rear ones are difficult to get to but I will be replacing them soon.

 

I be poor.

 

ravi... dont know if any body has answered your oil consumption issue question yet since i only briefly skimmed through the responses, but it is common throughout nissan/infiniti's lineup. perhaps this article might help you out... http://www.netcrafting.com/car_mx/pathfinder/oil.html.

 

holy shit. that may be whats wrong with my car too

 

I'm going to have to give that a good read. Most of what I have seen basically said that it is common and most people just monitor the oil unless it gets really bad.

I do have other options. I just really trust driving the car everyday. I can always trade with my wife, but then I will be dumping more miles on our Pathfinder and paying much more for gas. As it is, I am spending about $8 a month extra in oil to replace what is consumed. It's a lot less than the $150-$200 more in gas or the $300-$400 for a new car payment.

 

Just drive it until it breaks. Knowing that it's getting heavy on oil consumption just means you need to start saving up cash for a new ride now if you haven't already. FWIW I drove a civic for a solid 2 years that burned oil about the same but the engine never quit. Just check it every time you fill up and all should be well. Or you could just mix the oil with the gas 50:1