2002 nissan altma 2.5L engine problem

[jerry winterlin]

i recently purchased a 2002 altima 2.5L and found that the motor appears to be shot. i drove the car 163 miles, and it blew 3 1/2 quarts of oil out the tail pipe. i'm hoping that someone out there has had a similar experience and can advise me on what to do, what to expect in the way of costs, where to go in atlanta, georiga for honest and fair mechanical service, etc.

after learning of the engine problem, i had the 5 year history of the car pulled and it "appears" that possibly in november of 2003 at 43,000+ miles a new block may have been put it. kind of hard to tell from the records. the car repair history also shows that at that time an exhaust maniford kit, bearing seal, and exhaust manifold were either replaced or had work done on them.

if anyone has some good adivce and/or can tell me the best path to take to getting the car running properly again, the name and # of the altima area rep, costs,etc., i sure would appreciate it. this motor appears to be one of those that was manufactured with some sort of undetectable defect, and i am sort of inclined to feel that nissan should withstand any costs to repair. thanks for your time and any advice/help you might provide.

respectfully,

jerry winterlin

[JayTech]

hey, your problem is quite common among those years altimas and other models built with the 2.5. the problem is the catalytic converter. It breaks down over time and negative backpressure from the exhaust pulses pull cat material back into the combustion chambers. In turn this coats the piston rings in cat material and cause excessive oil blow-by leading to oil comsumption. The only repair for this is a new engine and a new cat. this is usually coverd under warrenty pending on the warrenty that you have. if you are out of your warrenty then your looking at a few grand to fix the car.

hope this helps

[Buzzman]

Where did you buy the car (dealership, private sale, etc?)?How many miles on it?If you bought it privately, then you are most likely screwed.If it came through a dealership, then you may have a chance at redemption.Good luck.Let us know what happens.