05 Murano using oil

[lwpurjr]

Wife bought used 05 Murano a month ago. It has begun to use oil. Nissan dealership says it was not maintained very well, sludge has built up causing the car to use oil. The fix is $5000 new engine because this sludge can not be removed.

My local car repair guy says it is worn rings and value seals. Fix is still a $5000 rebuild.

Any ideas? Trade? Repair? Car has 80,000 miles.

Would using detergent type oil eventually remove the sludge resulting in the car ceasing it oil usage?

[2young2retire]

You can buy an awful lot of oil for $5000. It the oil consumption is not too bad then just check to oil often and add as necessary. There are many things that could cause oil usage, worn rings, bad valve seals, and even bad pcv's so get another opinion before doing anything drastic.

[67hat34c]

Car must have never had oil changed to have sludge and warn rings.

If not smoking bad then drive it and keep filled with oil is one choice.

Now be aware that oil lubricates all moving surfaces including bearings. Rod bearings and wrist pins are sleeve type bearings and will wear out very quickly with low oil flow. Engine may start to knock. Also timing chain may be warn and could be subject to failure.

You may also review what your car is worth and how long you plan to keep it, cost benefit study. No easy answer. However consider 5000.00 cash plus your car as a trade for a new one. Bottom line is what makes financial sence to you.

[BBISHOPPCM]

Wow, the Vq35DE engine is nearly bulletproof, and is known to last hundreds of thousands of miles... this thing must've never had an oil change, and beaten to a pulp! That said, $5k is a LOT to spend on a car you just bought; your best bet is to trade it in and eat the loss, or buy an engine from a salvage yard... you're still looking at a ton of money, but not quite the $5k you'd be spending on a brand-new engine. Letting an engine run with excessive oil consumption is actually worse now than it was 30 years ago... burning oil will damage catalytic converters (and these have THREE of them!), causing the vehicle to fail emissions testing.
Modified by BBISHOPPCM at 10:18 PM 2/13/2010

[67hat34c]

True on emission system damage.

Fact we have a 05 350z anaversary that had to have an engine replaced. They made a high performance version for Anaversary eddition that had very light weight rings. Many started to use oil very early on . Ours did it at 50k range and Nissan covered it. Now about 3k miles later the converter went out and nissan covered that also under emissions system warranty.

Suspect the oil burning from old engine damaged the converter.

[Rand0m0sityxX]

$5k to rebuild?

It does sound like it hasn't had a oil change, or not many on time.

I would search some. Look at salvage yards, and ebay. You may beable to find a new motor cheaper than $5k.

You can also just keep checking the oil every so often, and add to it as needed as well as keep up with oil changes. Our Neon burned oil for almost 2 years before we parked it, we'd just check every other day or so and add as needed.

If you don't want to do either, depending what you paid, you can trade it in for something else thats in better shape.

[jwerty1]

do a fresh oil change, trade it to another dealer for an 06 or 07nissan engines are great, but some people just think it's too hard to change the oil every 3750 miles

[nafddur]

some people just think it's too hard to change the oil every 3750 miles

Every 7500 miles per the normal (ie non severe) driving schedule.

[Poyzinous]

the VQ can hold up to a LOT of abuse, and if you dont want to spend 5 grand just yet, I'd try going to a parts shop and buying a few cans of sludge/gunk remover for engine oil. Mix it in with 4 quarts of 5w30 synthetic and drive around for one week, then drain oil and change filter and fill up with fresh oil. Change the oil after just 1,000 miles and see how it looks when coming out. It may have cleaned a decent amount enough to save the motor. Its worth a shot.