coupe 6 speed, severe oil consumption

[djmadness]

i have a 2006 coupe, 6 speed, ras. the motor was replaced at 4000 km because it ran nearly dry, now the 2nd motor has almost ran dry at 6900 km's. i've been told that it could be the rings that they use now or a design flaw in the motor itself. has anyone experienced these problems before with the g35? would love to get some input on the problem.

[Q45tech]

How can an engine run dry if you check [and possibly add] the oil at each gas fill up. Not checking is obviously abuse even if Nissan decides to honor the wartanty the first time.............I would tell you to get lost if you allowed it to run dry the second time.

Just because it uses oil is no excuse to not maintain it! Until the 1,000 mile test show it needs replaceing.

Obviously some [5%] of the new series of engines use more oil than owners would like but 1 qt per 1,000 miles is the cutoff point.

[9095240SXDUCK]

Come on, be nice to the guy.

Well so far I have not seen any prob with the 06 at my work! but i will check it out tomorrow at work and reply what I find out. On a side note, are you sure no one is playing a joke on you? by leting out your oil?

[redhed]

just had my first oil change today at 3k miles. mine didn't use a drop as far as i could tell...

i know nissan has had some recent issues with their four bangers and using oil, but haven't heard anything about the v6s...

[djmadness]

thank you very much for your help. i wish it was someone playing a joke it would be less aggravating.its burning over a litre per 1000km's, not from abuse. other g35 owners i know haven't had any consumption problems. I'm just trying to get some honest answers that arent coming form the sales managers.

[9095240SXDUCK]

Well I have talk to couple techs and look it up on ASIST (What Nissan Tech Use), and Did not find anything or alease Nissan Know about and everyone at my work have not seen it yet!

I would call up your local nissan/infiniti office and talk to them about it!

[djmadness]

thanks for your time. the dealer hads started to document the consumption. i'll have to wait and see what happens from here.

[Q45tech]

If only 1% of the 300,000 engines have oil consumption excesses that will be 3,000 engines. Of the 500+ Nissan/Infiniti dealers, that would only be 6 per dealership in 3 years.

Not a serious problem unless you get one of them.

Going easy on someone who does NOT check their oil and ASSUMES they don't have too............is a Felony in my book -------- contributing to bad behavior. While it may work with 99% of new cars obviously there are exceptions.

[9095240SXDUCK]

do you notice the car smoke at all while driving or at start up? One day have someone follow you for couple miles and see do they see any smoke! But make sure the car is warm before the drive! also how do you drive doing break in/first 3000-6000 miles?

[djmadness]

yeah it smokes slightly, i had a friend follow me last week, you can smell it too. the pipes are black also. this is the second motor having the same prob as the 1st one, i'm trying to figure out if there is anything else like a computer prob or something that may be causing the consumption.

i drove the car moderatly easy during the break in, despite the dealer saying that its pre broken in, the second motor i took it real easy on and have the same probs.

as Q45 says i must have one of the duds, must have been made on a monday. and regardless of how i check the oil the car has a problem.

thanks for not taking it easy on me.

[Q45tech]

Hopefully Nissan will learn from their experiment in placing light duty High Performance 3.5 engines in the hands of average automobile buyers who are not educated in the EXTRA obligations these engines require from their owner operators. People who came from domestic or I4/I6 or old fasioned V8.

If we are lucky they will split the difference and return to more traditional less finicky designs. Unlikely since everybody is squeezing HP for marketing.

Buyers just don't understand what they are getting into now. Used or high mileage owners will be a nervous wreck........when they learn what a 5AT costs to replace.

I'm looking forward to Toyota 3.5V6 since the old 3.0 created so much sludge and problems.

Almost all of our engine change work today is from swapping sludged Lexus V6 and a few V8, use to be the older Q chain guide destruction but we fixed all those.

We are unique in that half of our work comes from Lexus now, so we get to see thousands [3 locations] side by side year by year. Afterwarranty old age is our specialty.

[djmadness]

thanks for your knowledge Q45tech, that really shines some light into this situation.my last 2 new cars (98 prelude sh, 04 acura tl 6sp) never needed a drop of oil. this is a learning experience for me. after thinking that a japanese manufacturer was indestructable, i will have to be more aware of the tuning of this car.

the good thing is that this car is so new that it may fall under lemon status. the dealer has taken it into there hands to rectify this problem. thank god for warranty right now. i'm pushing for a new car. we'll see how this plays out.

[gjohnson66]

Tell us what happens with the dealer -- I know I'd be very interested. At first, as someone accused you of, I thought you were just raw-hiding the car. However, once it happened again, I realized this was probably not the case. It is highly unlikely that you would have two bad engines in a row, but screwy things do happen.

[Q45tech]

The problem is the definition of a bad engine............assumming it lasts thru the 70k warranty [doesn't explode] and produces near the published power...............is excessive oil consumption a bad engine warrantywise.

Only after some arbitrary amount per 1,000 miles.

Is what previous owners WERE USE TO a warrantyable condition. No where does Nissan spec an oil consumption rate.

The EPA could care less if the engine meets emissions.Oil Consumption is not a safety defect.Lemon laws reflect a usability problem - doesn't crank or run or things fall off or fail repeatedly.

[gjohnson66]

Oil Consumption is not a safety defect.Lemon laws reflect a usability problem - doesn't crank or run or things fall off or fail repeatedly.

Wouldn't repeated engine failures count as a usability problem? Engine failures in the form of highly excessive oil consumption. I mean that if I were this guy, I would have the dealer's head for selling me a car that repeatedly had the same problem -- whatever the problem is.

Assuming we are being told the whole truth and the guy isn't rawhiding the hell out of the car,wouldn't you expect it to perform better for MUCH longer than this? This car is the textbook definition of a "lemon" to me -- however I would have expected the superior quality control perception that goes along with the idea of a car being made in Japan to have never let an example like this even leave the factory.

[djmadness]

the process will take a couple weeks i think with the dealer, as they are monitoring the consumption now, i'll let you know how it develops. dealing with the service departmant the sales mananger and general manager there's alot of bs to go thru. if i have to i'll get legal on this issue cause i believe in japanese manufacturing and that this is a lemon that slipped thru the cracks. a friend has the same car and has not lost any oil

the head mechanic(installed 2nd motor) says that its a design flaw within the motor. so Q45tech i think that your right. i still want to get a new car out of the dealrship cause regardless i'm paying alot of loot for this car, even though its the best car in the price range ($51k in cdn $) and i want to hold them up to there product.

jsyk, i'm an aggressive driver, not an abusive driver, shifting between 3000rpm and 5500rpm is normal, the car doesn't feel good when i shift at low rpms, YOu guys know how the car likes to driven so its hard to be fuel efficient.

our lemon laws are diferent than in the U.S.A.it will be interesting. I'll psot my dealings with them.

thanks for the responce

[Q45tech]

Lemon law varies by state, some are limited to 12,000 miles some 18,000 miles in a year.

Then again could be something the dealer/tech did on the installation.......did you get a totally new engine or a partial long or short block?

[djmadness]

it was the long block, supposedly the "best mechanic" was on the job plus one other mechanic. he seemed like he knew the car and its quirks, but who knows? i've only got 7000kms(4000ish miles)

[telcoman]

I have a 2006 Sedan 6Sp manual. I change my own oil and at the 1st oil change at 1656 miles the oil level was 1/2 way between the L & H marks on the dipstick. I mentioned that to the dealer. They said one qt per 1000 mi was normal on a new car. Prior to the second oil change at 5200 miles, I had to add 1 1/2 qts at around 4200 miles. It appears to me that the L mark on the dipstick would require 2 quarts or oil? I just gave my 06 G35 its third oil change this past Saturday at 8540 miles. Prior to changing the oil, I checked the dip stick and it showed about a 1/2 quart low. It appears that the oil consumption is reducing as the engine is breaking in. I use 10w-30 whatever I find on sale usually at PEP Boys. The three oil changes so far I used Exxon 10w-30.

[The_Scooch]

Could the sludge problem have anything to do with the popularity of quick change shops and the cheap oil they use?

My girlfriend drove a Dodge Intrepid for 5 years. She always took it to Jiffy Lube, every 3000, and got the bulk oil (Pennzoil) and their filter. After 60,000 miles the lifters and probably other small galleries were full of gunk and the oil pressure light came on. The dealer said she needed a new engine. I flushed the engine out with double strength treatments of Gunk flush, twice and got the pressure light to turn off. Then switched her over to synthetic. The car was fine after that until she traded it in at 127,000 miles.

After that experience, I figure there must be many more like her story.

[Q45tech]

Quicky changers usually have premium grades as options just that owners assume oil is oil.

Toyota's sludge problem was the 5,000/7,500 every 180 days and records showed people did once per year changes.

Nissan recommends 3750 or 90 days to maximize engine life beyond warranty. I would think that even the worst garbage oil that meets current specs would be adequate.

Some of these Quicky joints have been known to buy last years spec close out oil but even that shouldn't be a problem with 90 day changes!

You would be surprised at how many customers are ALWAYS OVER on mileage and time and usually come in a quart or 2 low.

My 1990 Q has 308,000 miles [bought brand new] and has had 82 oil changes that's more than 5 per year............little consumption in 90 days less than a quart although I did have to switch to 10w40 at 280k.

The point is they don't make em like they use to.

[The_Scooch]

That's good to know about your Q. I change my oil every 3000 with Mobil 1 and do the transmission and rear end every 10,000 with the same. Amybe the car will last as long or longer.

Seems anal, I know, but that's just me.

[djmadness]

H guys, still grindiing it out with the dearler in my siuation, going in today for the second comsumption test. the first one burned two litres in 1000 kms(which is about 2 quarts in about 650 miles) i will know today what the 2nd test is.

will keep you guys posted on this.

thanks

[Q45tech]

I applaud your diligence.................fluid changes are critical...as are filters.People seem to forget PS, coolant, brake, and AC compressor oil* [most last 100k without a change].

* when you vacuum down the system the machine can sample a small amount and examing this can clue you in when to flush and change dryer and oil.

you gotta really like a car to keep it 16 years.......we have many 1990 LS400 customers who will die before the car does. They are very anal about fluids and filters.

[caveytaz22]

I am haivng the same issue with my G35 coupe and am interested to find out the results of your issue. Have resolved the issue?

[telcoman]

Just a follow up concerning oil consumption on my 2006 G35 sedan 6sp manual. I just reached 23k miles and the last oil change was at 21k miles. There have been many posts on oil consumption and the dipstick on the G35. After 2000 miles the oil level on the dipstick was halfway between L & H. I added one quart and after waiting 10 minutes I rechecked & the oill level was exactly at the H mark. So the oil level on the dipstick at the L mark is two quarts low and not one quart as in most other vehicles. The G35 definitely uses oil but at 23k miles this is the first time I've gone two thousand miles and only used one quart.

Telcoman

[Rooster Cogburn]

I have a 6mt sedan and I have the same issue. At around 3k miles I heard a grinding knocking sound....took it to dealership and it was 3 quarts low on oil. They wanted to to a cosumption test, so I drove it 700 more miles and it was 2 quarts low. 3k miles later on the new engine and i'm having the same problem, just took it in yesterday. Dealership says its a known issues with MT engines. Guess I got two bad ones. Need to check the lemon laws here.

[Rooster Cogburn]

How can an engine run dry if you check [and possibly add] the oil at each gas fill up. Not checking is obviously abuse even if Nissan decides to honor the wartanty the first time.............I would tell you to get lost if you allowed it to run dry the second time.

Just because it uses oil is no excuse to not maintain it! Until the 1,000 mile test show it needs replaceing.

Obviously some [5%] of the new series of engines use more oil than owners would like but 1 qt per 1,000 miles is the cutoff point.

Are u kidding me? I'm sorry but a brand new car should not burn half its oil between oil changes. I'm sure thats why they replaced mine a 3k miles without saying anything to me.

[ampsucker]

can someone explain the nature of the failure mechanism on the engines that are using oil?

i assume it's not leaking as that would be easy enough to spot the source. is it the rings? i assume it's overhead cam so no valve guides to leak. if rings, wouldn't break in have something to do with proper seating? is it pooling or not draining back to the pan properly? what gives?

just curious. i agree that i would not be happy with a new car or even one with 50 - 100k using half it's oil between changes. to me, it's not the emissions or safety issues. it's the i don't want to have to pop my hood and get oil all over me, my clothes or my leather interior every time i fill up with gas.

i guess i don't see the connection between high performance, tweeked engines and oil consumption. q45tech, would you mind explaining what it is about the design of this engine that makes it "light duty" and "finicky"?

am interested in getting one, and just want to know what i'm getting into.

thanks...

[Q45tech]

Rings and their width and tension and the enhanced vacuuming effect of a clutch vs torque convertor when you let off throttle..........6speed vs automatic.