New VK45DE engine is ordered for my 2006 M45

[elee]

In Oct 2009, around 42K on the engine, I noticed blue smoke during cold start ups and noticed engine oil level was below the LOW mark at the dipstick before the car was due for oil change. Brought the car to dealer and performed the 1st oil consumption test. The 3 checks up for the tests were passing the tests marginally(oil burning within the spec) with the oil level low at times. I was told to bring the car in again for the same test after we put 12K more miles on it.

In Feb 2011, at 51.5K, I brought the car in for an oil change and the oil level was extremely low at this point. Even though I hadn’t put additional 12K miles on the engine, I expressed my concerns as the oil level was so low that I was hesitated to drive the car at this oil level. They then repeated the same tests again and yesterday was the 3rd check up at 53.5K. Dealer presented the findings and Infiniti USA approved the engine replacement request. A VK45DE engine is on its way........ I was told the cost of this engine replacement will run around $11 to $12K and it will be covered by my powertrain warranty.

Now, here come my questions:
(1) What should I check after the engine is replaced? What other parts that they will also be replacing besides the engine alone?
(2) Do I need to break in the new engine? If so, how?
(3) What other things that I should be aware of for this engine replacement?
(4) Is it ok to take a short road trip(about 800 miles round trip) after a new engine will be put on next week?
(5) Will this new engine affect the resale value of my car? Will it affect the title or anything showing up on Carfax?
(6) For those who had their VK45DE engines replaced, did the oil consumption problem re-surface after another 30K to 40K miles?

Many thanks for your input.

[szh]

Some answers I can provide.

(1) What should I check after the engine is replaced? What other parts that they will also be replacing besides the engine alone?

I would think the spark plugs would also be replaced - if not, ask for this.

If you have not already done so, get the dealer to do a proper (manual - by hand) thorough inside plenum clean while things are off the engine. This will take care of any possible carbon deposits in there.

(2) Do I need to break in the new engine? If so, how?

You will get different opinions on this, so please take my words with the usual YMMV comment.

In general, the M engines are designed for high performance and should not be babied. The dealership will tell you to take it easy for the first 12k miles or so (although my Infiniti Service Manager believes that the new engines should be run hard so that things seat in properly).

I read another technique, which is to provide high (into just below the redline) revs (not sustained - just to get the pistons to accelerate hard occasionally). The thought is to get the pistons and rings to move "past" the normal max travel ... just the slightest amount. This allows better seating of the rings supposedly and makes sure that the cylinder wall machining is properly deburred beyond the normal piston travel region.

While I do not know if this is a perfect technique, the above is what I did to my car when new and I burn way less oil than others reported here.

(3) What other things that I should be aware of for this engine replacement?

My main recommendation is to do multiple oil and filter changes in the beginning:

1. One at 150 to 250 miles (certainly less than 500!).
2. Next at 1700 miles.
3. Next at 3750 miles.

Followed by normal OCI after that.

This is important to remove any metal particles that are removed from the engine moving parts during the initial deburring process.

(4) Is it ok to take a short road trip(about 800 miles round trip) after a new engine will be put on next week?

Should be ok, I would think. Yes, I would consider doing the occasional revs I mentioned above, and also drive in different gears (shifting occasionally) to change the rpm's around a bit. Your gas mileage will suffer, but better to do this than not, IMHO.

(5) Will this new engine affect the resale value of my car? Will it affect the title or anything showing up on Carfax?

Hmmm ... it should not affect the resale value - may even improve it, I would think, since the engine is newer.

Z

[InfinitiEric]

(5) Will this new engine affect the resale value of my car? Will it affect the title or anything showing up on Carfax?

Hmmm ... it should not affect the resale value - may even improve it, I would think, since the engine is newer.

Z

I take some issue with your thoughts in the above quote, Syed. Although native wit would state that a lower mileage vehicle would magnetize itself to a higher sale price, I would conjecture that having a replacement engine placed into a vehicle would be cause for issue rather than improved profits. A party interested in the vehicle would initially question the seller, in this case elee, regarding the oddly low mileage for the now five-year old vehicle and, once disclosed about the engine replacement, may shy away from purchasing the vehicle due to the newfound cognizance of could-be and has-been engine issues. In a comparably worse situation, the interested party may demand the seller to reduce the asking price or discount their offerings in light of the mass repairs partaken on the seller's vehicle. Of course, these situations rely on the single fact that the interested party is of a curious nature and originally question the low mileage.

elee - The engine replacement will most definitely appear on Infiniti's domestic and global service databases. Though Infiniti Dealerships are expressly forbidden to disclose vehicle service history and repairs to third-parties (such as an interested purchasing party) and even to owners themselves, many times employees will do so regardless of policy statement. Thus, a buyer may request repair history from an Infiniti Dealership on your vehicle and become au fait of the engine replacement. Many Infiniti Dealerships report major service repairs directly to third-party reporting agencies including CARFAX and AutoCheck and would subsequently result in them appearing on their generated reports. You may wish to discuss limited disclosure with the service technician or manager in charge of handling your warranty claim.

[sunoco]

When I was looking for mine, I came across a M45 that had a "new engine" after oil consumption. After I found that out, I did not even consider making an offer on it.

I dont think I would ever buy a car with a engine replaced.....but thats just me.

[elee]

Just a quick update:
Got the engine replaced within the 8 days. Dealer put 65 miles on it for their road tests. Have been babied the engine so far. Engine seems quieter and smoother but me and my wife have not really gunned it. Will get the car in for the oil change after the first 250 miles.
I don’t worry too much regarding the potential depreciation of the car as the engine needs to be replaced and as the original engine is defective anyway. The car for sure won’t sell if the potential buyers find out the engine is burning oil while not being taken care of when it is under my ownership.
Thanks all.

[EniGmA1987]

Glad it is working out for you.

[1scottie]

I had a new engine installed by dealer at approx 40kmi on my M45 for oil consumption, at the time either the dealer put no oil back in original engine after an oil chance as car was driven approx 7 miles, then when I went to restart car it smoked, this was its first oil change I had done being the owner or car was not serviced properly before I owned. Either case my engine smoked and burned oil so the dealer replaced it. The new engine ran a lot smoother than the oil burner and is still very smooth running after 29kmi. Now I am doing mostly hwy miles and at 69kmi the car does not lose a drop of oil, I followed a post on here where I changed the oil at 1000miles, then at 2750, and after that with every 3750 till around 12000 miles total on engine all with dealer dyno oil (They gave me around two/three oil changes for free based on my case). Now I have switched to Mobil 1 fully synthetic oil which I do every 4000 kmi (Costco sells a case of six for around $25 and dealer charges me $30 for labor, most of the time I get a loaner so this is worth it). The engine install work done by the dealer was almost flawless, I took covers off and checked all the cables, wires, hoses, etc. to make sure they were run correctly and only a few plastic clips/snaps were not reused, I used black tie wraps for these issues. One issue was the lower radiator hose leaked around 10kmi later, it was rubbing on a something or failed, I missed this, they replaced the hoses and the radiator, fan motor all at no charge. As far as resale value being affected, WHAT RESALE? These cars have the worst resale of almost any make and model I have ever seen. Of course this could be the rough economic times we are currently in which has tanked all the prices on luxury cars (Havent checked Lexus recently but when I went to buy my car Lexus resales were much stronger).
I enjoy the technology so much on my car this is one feature in which Infiniti does very well.

[pdelbene]

Any suggestions on how I can convince Infinity to replace my defective engine that is not under warranty. 59,900 miles and 3 connector rods are shot and the left exhaust manifold is cracked. Engine burns a lot of oil. I figure the engine must be defective if 3 connector rods are worn. I've never run out of oil but ran low by 3 quarts a couple times because of oil burning. I can't spend $14,500 on a new engine or $7,500 for a used. Who should I speak with first, second, third, and who's at the top that takes complaints. thanks

[JDMlove]

send an email to infiniti head quarters in the US, ask them to do it for you as a favor, and that all your life you were loyal to nissan/infiniti cars. try the dramatic way. u never know! u may get their sympathy and give you a free motor or at least give you 50% discount.

or send a msg to Infiniti japan and tell them how loyal you are to their cars.
!!

if u succeed tell me, i will try to get a free m56

[seldomseen]

Any suggestions on how I can convince Infinity to replace my defective engine that is not under warranty. 59,900 miles and 3 connector rods are shot and the left exhaust manifold is cracked. Engine burns a lot of oil. I figure the engine must be defective if 3 connector rods are worn. I've never run out of oil but ran low by 3 quarts a couple times because of oil burning. I can't spend $14,500 on a new engine or $7,500 for a used. Who should I speak with first, second, third, and who's at the top that takes complaints. thanks

I can tell you right now that Infiniti will not do jack for you because your car is out of warranty. Even if your car were still under its B2B warranty the process can still be very long for many people. The best thing would be to sell the car aggressively cheap and hope someone is willing to buy and repair the car themselves. You can try getting a lawyer but I doubt this would be very helpful either because so few 03/04 M45's were sold.

If you're up to the leg work. You can try to organize a class action suit against Infiniti if you can locate several other 03/04 M45 owners with the same problem as you. But because of the limited number of 03/04 M45s sold this may be a challenge. But a class action suit would be the most effective legal route at this time. I recently sold my '03 Q45 because of the costly major issues it would inevitable be plagued with.

[seldomseen]

When I was looking for mine, I came across a M45 that had a "new engine" after oil consumption. After I found that out, I did not even consider making an offer on it.

I dont think I would ever buy a car with a engine replaced.....but thats just me.

The fact that a person decided to sell a car after having its engine replaced speaks volumes.

[Iconic]

I think most people with 06+ M45 will have engine issues after 80k miles on their original engines. Since M45 was very low volume vehicle problem is not well known but if you look at the percentages its more like 40%.
I dont know of any 4.5 with more than 100k on it and no engine problems.

[Sprayy]

Mine is at 95K and it's still running perfect, no oil consumption whatsoever.

In fact all this talk of engine trouble makes me a little worried about keeping it. I'm sort of tempted to trade it in for a new kia optima sx :/

I think most people with 06+ M45 will have engine issues after 80k miles on their original engines. Since M45 was very low volume vehicle problem is not well known but if you look at the percentages its more like 40%.
I dont know of any 4.5 with more than 100k on it and no engine problems.

[The00Dustin]

Mine is at 95K and it's still running perfect, no oil consumption whatsoever.

In fact all this talk of engine trouble makes me a little worried about keeping it. I'm sort of tempted to trade it in for a new kia optima sx :/

I think you'll be fine if you keep doing whatever you're doing. I bought my 06 M45 with 43K miles in 2009 and it has 123K miles now. Oil consumption has always been less than half a quart in 3750 miles and hasn't changed at all. I also recall at least one other person posting, possibly with higher miles than mine, also on their original engine. It seems like they go out well before 95K if they're going to go out (or some people are doing something wrong that causes it, ).

[Iconic]

I think the engine needs to be properly broken in and dino oil is more suitable for it.