So after about 25k miles of repeated oil consumption issues, Infiniti has replaced my engine. Although, I always lost a few quarts every oil change, the and worst issues began at 75k miles.

I had an oil change at 75,000, and by 78,000 the engine started ticking. At 78,500, the ticking got so loud, that I waited about three hours until the engine got cold and I checked the oil. The oil level was about 4mm below the LOW mark. I barely had any oil on the tip of the dip stick. I added a quart of oil and it brought it up a few mm above the LOW mark. I was hoping this would get me to 80,000 until my next oil change. After 2 weeks, when I would start it in the morning, after it's sat all night, the engine clanked very loudly for a couple seconds, like there was no oil in the engine. I added another 1/4 to bring it just a hair over the LOW mark and made an appointment with Passport Infiniti.

I always allow the car to warm up before I drive off in the morning and normally the car would start up at about 1400-1500 rpms and warm up to about 900-1000 rpms. Until a few weeks ago, before the low oil tick started, the engine would shake aggressively at about 1200 rpms until it fell to about 1150-1100 rpms. It did this religiously everyday and it really didn't just stop until the oil level got really low. I didn't know if they were related. The puff of smoke it makes at start up became more common.

So I have a new engine now at 80k miles, and my Elite warranty is still in place until 96k. I got a long block, and it comes with every component brand new (spark plugs, oil filter, knock sensors, etc.).

I do have to say, that the car purrs. It is so butter smooth, it's amazing. Big thanks to StevetheTech for all his help with through this process. I'm sure if you have any questions, Steve can answer them, he knows his stuff.

Here are some pics of the old engine...

Nice to hear they took care of you!

Anyone mind creating a Powerpoint presentation of this thread? Just got no time to read each word.

DG

Daniel G wrote:Anyone mind creating a Powerpoint presentation of this thread? Just got no time to read each word.

DG

Yet you've got plenty of time to post up useless commentary on damn near every thread in the forum?

Uh, yeah. Sure.

antzrus wrote:Was the engine just bad-or did you just not change your oil enough? From what I am gathering re the VK45DE there were just some bad engines out there and the oil quality was not the issue. Yes?

I did every bit of maintenance to the M religiously. I guess the only deviation was that I did mobil 1 every 5k, but I never missed an oil change. The regular changes occured until 27k and we swithed to full synthetic at 30k.

Now the question is, did the extra 1250 miles between oil changes hurt the engine, even though I was using Mobil 1?

The truth is that it didn't start out that way. I check my oil levels pretty frequently, and I noticed that back in the 30's I was barely losing any oil. By the 40's -50's I was at half mark on the dip stick. At the 60's it would be at or just a mm above the LOW mark and in the 70's ai was adding a quart to stay alive.

Something caused that engine to degrade over time. Was it the 1250 extra miles or I've heard rumors that the Mobil 1 maybe causing it, or maybe it's the induction system that consumes the oil.

I'd love to know, so it doesn't occur again.

I really dont understand why some VK45DE fail this early. This is the engine NISMO used in the race car version GT-R in Japan (SUPER GT) and won the chamopion in 2008. This engine is bulletproof. I have an 03 Y34 and its got over 154k miles on the original VK engine now!!! Its still pull like new and no sign of any aging or powerloss. it sometime did get few blue smoke during cold start but thats when its about after 1500 miles oil change. all u need to do is fill up another quart of oil and the smoke will not come up again. I now just replaced all my PCV VALVES (some suggest replace might fix the issue) and hoses recently and trying to monitor the issue. i did the test and didnt drive the car for 5 days. I fire it up instantly and no smoke or nothing, i also check the oil level its all in normal range. Its been doing great and i have not seem the blue smoke or need of oil in any way. I did not change my oil when I replaced the PCV valves. The reason caus the oil comsumption might be when original owners did not properly broke in the engine when its new to casue the excessive oil consumption. I am not sure if u r the OG owner or not but it dose sounds like u were not.

yosM45 wrote: Something caused that engine to degrade over time. Was it the 1250 extra miles or I've heard rumors that the Mobil 1 maybe causing it, or maybe it's the induction system that consumes the oil.

I'd love to know, so it doesn't occur again.

It sounds like you took extra good care of it. Hell, I've got the VQ35DE and I use M-1 at 12k intervals w/out problems (62k) so far. I don't believe what the M-1 haters expound. There are apparently just some VK45DE engines that go ker-plop. Thank goodness you have the extended warranty.

Yos,

Good luck with your new engine! I took the utmost care when i got my new engine including following the break-inschedule as instructed, changing the oil more frequently the first few thousand miles and never skipped an oil change...but at 22k i started getting the infamous ticking noise agian. It just wasnt ment to be, hope it is a different story for you though, good luck!

I'm about to turm 100K. Changed to M1 at 43K miles (when I bought it). Use the Purolater Pure 1 filter and an OCI at every 3000 with an occasional change delay for 100-200 miles.

I added the oil catch can about 10,000 miles ago and it reduced the smoke upon start up. I have not emptied it out in awile (6000 miles) and need to check it as I'm seeing some smoke at start up again. Of course, it could be caused by other issues than the PCV system.

Other than that, it pulls like a champ and is probably faster now than when I first got it.

Did the replacement engine diagnosis ever get communicated to you for the specific failure? (autopsy?)

I am about to roll over 70k. I check the oil every month or so, and it gets close to the 'low' mark at about 3000 miles after each oil change. It has been like that since I bought it at 40k. I took the car in at about 50k (under powertrain warranty) because of clanking in the engine so I wonder if the problem gets worse will Infiniti replace the engine now that it is not under any warranty?
I have a third party extended warranty which I got without reading up on the subject here, but from what I read I don't think that will help.

Double E wrote:
Did the replacement engine diagnosis ever get communicated to you for the specific failure? (autopsy?)

Well, the reason Infiniti gave me for the new engine was to correct persistent low oil pressure damage caused on the cam shaft journals and the lower end. I don't think the dealer does the tear down on the old engine. I believe that is done by Japan.

rsg123 wrote:
I am about to roll over 70k. I check the oil every month or so, and it gets close to the 'low' mark at about 3000 miles after each oil change. It has been like that since I bought it at 40k. I took the car in at about 50k (under powertrain warranty) because of clanking in the engine so I wonder if the problem gets worse will Infiniti replace the engine now that it is not under any warranty?
I have a third party extended warranty which I got without reading up on the subject here, but from what I read I don't think that will help.

Man...I really don't know what to tell you. I don't think the 3rd party warranty would cover something such as oil consumption. I can't really speak for them. I would definitely read the coverage details closely. But read above...the actual reason for the replacement; maybe with the help of the dealer, they can sell it to the warranty company. Another route may be to work with your dealer, they will probably have you call Infiniti Consumer Affairs and see if they will gift you the repair cost since you're out of warranty.

What did they diagnose your car with when it started clanking back at 50k?

just so you know nissan did not fix the issue with this engine, as it is no longer supported.
they just gave you a new engine until your warranty expires. expect to see the same problem around 70k mark, if you plan to keep your car that long.

There's been a few members on here that have gotten their engines replaced. I know dvan had his issues recur, but that seems isolated.

I asked a while back on here for anyone that had their engine replaced, to discuss if any of their consumption issues had begun to recur, but no one answered up.

So again I ask, if you had your engine replaced, how many miles are on the new one, and how's it treating you?

Iconic wrote: expect to see the same problem around 70k mark, if you plan to keep your car that long.

Im at 80k and dont have any major oil consumption problems.

Geez, It seems like everybody with a M45 had an engine replaced. Good thing you had warranty.

Ace2708 wrote:Geez, It seems like everybody with a M45 had an engine replaced. Good thing you had warranty.

NO NO NO not everybody. my 03 had 154k on original engine and pull like new.

03-04 is not the same engine so this doesnt really apply.
as for reference my maxima with 300k miles on the odo burned less than 1qt of oil at 6k miles change interval using syn. not a v8 but still a vq.

VK's valve train and crank bearings (and few other things) were updated for the Y50, hence the issues. If you look carefully you'll notice engines have different HP and TQ ratings, for this reason.
Get off the crack, it helps

yosM45 wrote:
What did they diagnose your car with when it started clanking back at 50k?

They said nothing was wrong. The engine was flooded from me turning it on and off to see if the clanking had resolved. They cleared that, and then they cleared some codes that they said resulted from the flooded engine.
I believe they cleared the flooded engine and then started the engine and ran it until the clanking subsided. Maybe they added some oil, but the oil level was within normal limits beforehand.
I had to pay a $200 diagnosis fee, but that major problem has not recurred. The car runs beautifully, so if it just burns a little oil I am okay with it.