2011 Rogue 63k Engine seized

[mexorean]

I haven't had many issue with my truck till one COLD (-9) morning. The truck started..albeit, slow...but it started. Ran for about 1 minute, died. Started..ran for about 30 seconds...died. Started again..ran for about 10 seconds and died again. Now it won't start at all and when you turn the key to A/C, all the dashboard lights come on, everything seems fine. When you turn the key to start the car, everything goes black and nothing happens. When the key turns back to the intermediate position, the needles shake and rattle and the dashboard lights come back on. I called the shop down the road and they came and tried to jump the car even though I checked the battery with a voltage meter and it said 12.8 amps which means its fine. They insisted on jumping it and the same thing happened. I got it towed to the place and they called me about 20 minutes later and said that my engine had seized. The mechanic said that he tried to move the motor with a breaker bar and couldn't get it to budge. I told him I needed a 2nd opinion and he proceeded to curse me out and told me I owed him $120 for his labor. I got it towed to another shop and the mechanic just called and said it's definitely the motor. He asked me what happened so I explained the story to him. I also told him that the oil light never came on and that I never heard any ticking in the motor. Now he's confused as to what could've happened to make the motor seize. He said that there is a little oil although not much, but it still shouldn't have seized the way it did. He said that he tried to move the motor with the breaker bar backwards and forwards and couldn't get it to budge. Now I'm trying to figure out if it's even worth taking the time and money to tow it to Nissan just to have them tell me the same thing and it cost me an arm and a leg to get a new engine. I just lost my 5yr/60k mile warranty because I'm at 63K miles. Could this be something that Nissan has to take care of anyways because the oil light never came on? I get pretty regular oil changes and my last one was 6k miles ago. Does anyone have any clue as to what could've happened? Any suggestions?

[Rogue One]

I've moved this to the Rogue Forum so you'll get more input.

He said there's a little oil...and he's confused as to how it seized?

Nissan will obviously deny your claim, as you're Out of Warranty. The light bulb may have burned out/failed, which is why it never showed. Again, not Nissan's fault (OoW). Your beef seems to be with whomever changed your oil last. Sounds like the oil plug wasn't replaced properly, resulting in lost oil, which in turn caused the engine to seize.

[ImStricken06]

1. volt meters dont judge batteries. LOAD TESTERS do. even bad batteries will register 12v or more on a voltmeter, but once a load such as a starter is applied, the bad battery will dip down to less than 6 volts.

2. these recent cold temps are brutal on 5w-30 engine oil. especially engine oil thats old(driven more than 10,000 miles).

3. thickened oil clogs the oil filter. especially one that has not been changed in a while

this is the EXACT reason i change my engine oil into 0w-30 in late october / early november. ow oil doesnt thicken in the extreme brutal colt temps, thus not STARVING THE ENGINE OF OIL, WHEN FIRST CRANKED OVER. this is also why i dont go above 5,000miles between oil changes.

could your engine have seized, due to lack of oil, because the oil was as thick as syrup? YES
could the the battery simply have been dead, and the first angry mechanic purposely seized it to get you to dump money into his pocket? YES.

no one will know anything for sure except, that this engine is rock solid.

[mexorean]

The most I've ever gone between oil change is 8k miles. The latest oil change was done 6k miles ago. The reason the mechanic said he was confused as to why it seized is because he said that even with little oil, the motor should run with no oil for at least 20 miles. It'll tear your engine some, but it WILL run (according to him). So for the engine to seize with oil in it, doesnt make sense. He doesn't understand why it started then died, started - died, started - died.

[ImStricken06]

The most I've ever gone between oil change is 8k miles. The latest oil change was done 6k miles ago. The reason the mechanic said he was confused as to why it seized is because he said that even with little oil, the motor should run with no oil for at least 20 miles. It'll tear your engine some, but it WILL run (according to him). So for the engine to seize with oil in it, doesnt make sense. He doesn't understand why it started then died, started - died, started - died.

its true. i have said it before in some post, that our little 4 cylinder engine, especially in this weather could run without oil, for hours if not more, under normal driving conditions.
heck, i drove a v6 dodge ram junk-yard car, without oil for weeks! and it finally spun enough of the bearing, that the engine blew on the highway. it rattled itself to an end.

i have ran a 2.4L nissan altima engine like a work horse, with no oil changes in over 15,000 miles. it got so low on oil, the oil light came on and i kept driving it hard for weeks LOL. the things never even burped. (it was my old beater, so i didnt care. it was being junked so i drove the life out of it)

has anyone taken the current oil out of your engine to measure how much is actually in there?

i am starting to think that mechanic who cursed you out, might have ruined your engine. (thats just a hypothetical guess, based upon a totally empty assumption.) why would he yell at you? why would he behave that way? again, i dont know 99% of the story. i am simply assuming.

[mexorean]

The first mechanic got pissed off when he said "You're welcome to get a second opinion" and I took him up on that option. He got REALLY pissed off and started yelling. Does anyone know if the cylinders can be rebored or if there's a "protective coating" that would prevent this from being possible? There's a guy at work that thinks that this may be an option.

No one has taken the current oil out that I know of to tell me how much was actually in there. I should ask Nissan to do that for me. I did check the oil light to see if it lit up while the key was turned to the A/C mode, and it lit up, so I dont think that it being burnt out is an option.

[ImStricken06]

Does anyone know if the cylinders can be rebored or if there's a "protective coating" that would prevent this from being possible? There's a guy at work that thinks that this may be an option.

everything in this world is an "option".

reboring will cause the 2.5L to turn into a 2.6L+. which will require completely new pistons, rings, rods, maybe even crank. it would basically turn your engine into a competently new, different slightly larger engine. and in order to do all of that, you need a total tear down and rebuild. its MUCH-MUCH cheaper and easier to replace your short block with a new short block, or a used engine from the junk yard and then to sell the whole car.

a good shop with smart guys, could replace your short-block in less than 3 days.

[Rogue Jarhead]

On a -9 degree morning your engine oil is going to pour like mayonnaise in other words, not much, and that's if your engine has the required amount of oil in it. It's a good idea to check your engine oil periodically. Some reccomend at each gasoline fillup, others once a month or at each oil change. Once a month is probably a safe interval and then if you notice your oil consumption suddenly increasing you can check more often and take it some place to get it looked at to find out why.

Allowing your engine to run low on oil is asking for trouble, as you now know. If this was my vehicle and everything else was working properly I would probably go to the salvage yard and get a low mileage engine and drop it in. Then as with every engine check your oil, frequently at first and over time if the new engine doesn't seem to use much, or any ,you can lengthen the check intervals out to once a month.

Good luck.