Ok so here's the story, got my 01 Altima GXE with 70k on her, no highway until I toke her out. The rocker cover gasket was definitely leaking a bit, nothing to change the level of the oil but enough to make the engine look meh. Always changed my oil at 3K miles, was using Valvoline high mileage (the 275k guarantee one) and never burned any or leaked. At 80k miles I put on an Injen SRI and my MIL light was tripped, checked it out and its P1441 (very small evap leak, maybe faulty ECM) couldn't really find out why and I didn't need emissions done and she ran perfectly so I didn't worry. at about 90k I found out it was the hose at the bottom of my EGRC-BPT valve that melted (assuming that the SRI let it get way to hot and it grilled but the MIL tripped the second after SRI install so I'm not exactly 100%, tips?) Anywho now that you know all my problems, at 101K I put in new plugs and did a switch to synth as well as tightened down the bolts on the rocker cover to cheap-o fix the minor leak. My work bought the oil for me so I went all out, 4quts of Mobil 1 Woo! Checked my oil yesterday because I ghetto rigged that evap hose to hopefully turn off the MIL (emissions soon) and checked my level (something I'm not in the habit of because shes been a goddess to me) and bam down 1.5 quts! Last I checked I didn't have a stage 2 WRX so I'm mildly unhappy. Its appears to be coming out of the distributor cap area, I was thinking maybe the rocker cover gasket? I was going to change it out because I wanted to paint my rocker cover (metallic purple!) but I'm not so sure that's it now. Also, I don't feel like that much oil just leaked out, no marks on my driveway or my parking spot at work, why would I suddenly be burning so much? I've actually been driving my car less spiritedly lately (speeding tickets ) so I don't feel like its from that. Anyone have tips or things I should go through to get to the bottom of the problem? Sorry if I rambled or missed a post close to this, I'm terrible at googling things. If anyone can give me any tips it will be VERY much appriciated and if I hear of someone else with the same problem I will try to help them. Side note: does anyone know where I can get EVAP system hose? Right now I'm using fuel line but if the old EVAP hose melted I don't know how long this one can last. Thank you for any help!

Ok 1.5 quarts is an a**-load of oil to be burning in almost any condition. How many miles did you drive between changing the oil and checking it? Also, did you check the oil when it was cold, or right after your drove it?

In general, running conventional oil for a long time and then switching to synthetic is a bad idea because it usually causes leaks. Synthetic oil itself doesn't cause leaks directly, it's definitely better in most ways than conventional. What happens is over time gaskets and seals (like the rear main seal, etc.) shrink some and leave spaces. Conventional oil will fill these gaps over time with sludge, more or less plugging them up. Synthetic oil on the other hand has detergents built in that remove and prevent oil sludge. So eventually those "plugged" leaks will start leaking because the synthetic oil ate away the sludge that was plugging it.

That being said, it's strange that you aren't finding any major leaks under the car since you're missing so much oil. Even if you were burning it, I would expect at least some blue smoke coming out the exhaust.

Also, changing the valve cover gasket (what you call the rocker cover) is not a big job and they are usually only $20-30 at any auto parts store. Then just get some RTV silicone for the corners. The distributor gets an o-ring where it goes into the head, so that probably needs to be replaced to. Those o-rings are pretty size specific, so make sure you get the right one.

TheAltinator wrote:Ok so here's the story, got my 01 Altima GXE with 70k on her, no highway until I toke her out. The rocker cover gasket was definitely leaking a bit, nothing to change the level of the oil but enough to make the engine look meh. Always changed my oil at 3K miles, was using Valvoline high mileage (the 275k guarantee one) and never burned any or leaked. At 80k miles I put on an Injen SRI and my MIL light was tripped, checked it out and its P1441 (very small evap leak, maybe faulty ECM) couldn't really find out why and I didn't need emissions done and she ran perfectly so I didn't worry. at about 90k I found out it was the hose at the bottom of my EGRC-BPT valve that melted (assuming that the SRI let it get way to hot and it grilled but the MIL tripped the second after SRI install so I'm not exactly 100%, tips?) Anywho now that you know all my problems, at 101K I put in new plugs and did a switch to synth as well as tightened down the bolts on the rocker cover to cheap-o fix the minor leak. My work bought the oil for me so I went all out, 4quts of Mobil 1 Woo! Checked my oil yesterday because I ghetto rigged that evap hose to hopefully turn off the MIL (emissions soon) and checked my level (something I'm not in the habit of because shes been a goddess to me) and bam down 1.5 quts! Last I checked I didn't have a stage 2 WRX so I'm mildly unhappy. Its appears to be coming out of the distributor cap area, I was thinking maybe the rocker cover gasket? I was going to change it out because I wanted to paint my rocker cover (metallic purple!) but I'm not so sure that's it now. Also, I don't feel like that much oil just leaked out, no marks on my driveway or my parking spot at work, why would I suddenly be burning so much? I've actually been driving my car less spiritedly lately (speeding tickets ) so I don't feel like its from that. Anyone have tips or things I should go through to get to the bottom of the problem? Sorry if I rambled or missed a post close to this, I'm terrible at googling things. If anyone can give me any tips it will be VERY much appriciated and if I hear of someone else with the same problem I will try to help them. Side note: does anyone know where I can get EVAP system hose? Right now I'm using fuel line but if the old EVAP hose melted I don't know how long this one can last. Thank you for any help!

Sounds like to purchased a POS Best bet would be to dump the car ASAP.