So I have a 2003 nissan pathfinder SE and recently I've noticed the oil light flicker a couple of times usually during start up. Yesterday the light went on and there was a ticking sound in the engine, I checked the dipstick and the tip was barely touched by oil. This morning I checked again and the light was off and my dip stick full of oil what gives!? If anyone can help it will be great

It usually takes the top ends on VQ's at least 5 minutes to completely drain back into the oil pan, so you can't check oil level right after you shut down. The early VQ40's have a couple of known problems with low oil pressure at idle or generally. There's a paper gasket on the back of the timing cover that can disintegrate and let oil that should be feeding the upper chain and IVT's bypass back into the pan, causing low pressure at idle. There are also a pair of o-rings at the back of the gallery tubes that will cause low pressure across the board if they fail. The paper gasket is a more common issue, but you should get your pressure checked with a mechanical gauge immediately. If it's low across the RPM range then you could be burning up the motor.

Look into your oil filler ,looking inside do you see sludge buildup , brown deposits , bright lite looking ALL around in there ,inside valve cover hole ? A failing oil pump /failing engine shows that light more & more-so on startup . Todays oil filters (probly in your car's appl.) have an "anti-drain back " feature which helps oil to be better primed upon startup - CHECK THIS- make sure you got a filter with that feature !!!. SUPER DUPER SLUDGE buildup (from oil change Rippoff artists) can hold oil UP in engine thus starving the pan - thus giving improper level - thus destroying a motor !!
Also , not a wiseguy here but , your description of " ticking , then checking level ...." if you checked while running is technically NOT the way - BUT can be indicative if a clear reading is showing, while running, barely touches very bottom of dipstick , may very well indicate sludge keeping oil from draining and leaving an abnormally low level in pan ???
Somebody pick it up from here ............

p.s. I see now the double entry and how VStar , da nico guru has some very good and 'specific' info,take it away

Already did, Rogue needs to combine these threads. For the OP, multiple posting ain't a great idea. If you're in the wrong forum, Rogue will fix it, you won't even need to ask.

2nd that , Rogue = the HAMMER here , Rogue one tough cookie , nico's 'enforcer' if you will , keeps it right ,keeps it slight , not real mean - just real clean .
What would we do without Rogue ? " That cat Rogue 's baaad mu-fa , waych yo mouth- I'm talk'n bout Rogue ??"

Okay I'll check oil pressure and check oil filter while I'm down there. It's crazy cause even on a turned off engine I have no oil on the dip stick... Only when it's turned on is when the dipstick gives me a reading

Did I forget to say & ask YA GOT ANY OIL IN THERE ? Someone unscrew ya and dump da pan ( not bei'n a wiseguy now ) ??????? Not funny ,I know. Like " who doesn't lov ya baby " ....... almost

By the way , that picture the op shows up top - IM DOIN THAT RIGHT NOW....................

While the engine is running, oil is going everywhere inside the block so of course the dipstick is covered with oil. This is why you should never get the oil level while the engine is running. You are probably at least 2qts low if the oil pressure warning light if coming on. It's sucking air out of the pan because your level is so low. Fill it up!

mdmellott wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:13 pm

While the engine is running, oil is going everywhere inside the block so of course the dipstick is covered with oil. This is why you should never get the oil level while the engine is running. You are probably at least 2qts low is the light is coming on. Fill it up!

So I'm assuming oil consumption in these cars are high then. Because I have no leaks what so ever

Full circle here , in a nutshell ,what mdmellott says = Fill it up ,..... and I say go 1/4" PAST the 'full' crosshatch , even

peteralvarez91 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:16 pm

So I'm assuming oil consumption in these cars are high then. Because I have no leaks what so ever

It depends on how well maintained the oil changes are made. I change mine every 3K miles, as per Nissan's scheduled maintenance, and by that time my '02 will have burned about half a quart.

Just thinkin Peter - helluva " carbon footprint " with that one.........

macgiver wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:19 pm

Full circle here , in a nutshell ,what mdmellott says = Fill it up ,..... and I say go 1/4" PAST the 'full' crosshatch , even

Alright will do, I remember putting in 5 qt what the manual said to do but I guess next time do 5 and a bit more... Do you guys recommend synthetic and also going up 10w-30? Or just stay at 5w-30?

macgiver wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 6:58 pm

2nd that , Rogue = the HAMMER here , Rogue one tough cookie , nico's 'enforcer' if you will , keeps it right ,keeps it slight , not real mean - just real clean .
What would we do without Rogue ? " That cat Rogue 's baaad mu-fa , waych yo mouth- I'm talk'n bout Rogue ??"

Why not 5-40 , cause ya got the flicker , so stay 5. Then the CONSUMPTION ?? So goto the 40 " at temperature" - thus 5-40 , also ester oil like Motul 300V 5-40 has high surface tension , and the group V (five) stock many say superior , just a suggestion - only a suggestion .

macgiver wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:27 pm

Why not 5-40 , cause ya got the flicker , so stay 5. Then the CONSUMPTION ?? So goto the 40 " at temperature" - thus 5-40 , also ester oil like Motul 300V 5-40 has high surface tension , and the group V (five) stock many say superior , just a suggestion - only a suggestion .

Hmm alright for sure.. Btw I pick up this pathfinder months ago and I'm not sure what the previous owner might have done with it as far as maintenance but I basically brought this thing back to life and up and running, I'm new to this platform btw.. I'm more of a bmw person but I love the truck

Funny , I got a 650i V8 naturally aspirated , a suicide machine , and that Motul 300V 5-40 is perfect for a "pushed " driven Bimmer !!!
But I hope you didn't get an ailing car seeing now you kinda just got it ???

I use 5w-30 full synthetic Castrol Edge High Mileage because I'll burn less than conventional or synthetic blends between oil changes and the additive in this Castrol brand keeps my old seals well conditioned so they do not leak. But here's the rub. You said your engine is not leaking any oil and that's great. However, synthetic oil has a much better, higher flow rate that conventional oil and it is sadly to often the case that when one switches to synthetic in an older engine that has seals which are just hanging on and doing their job, synthetic's high flow rate characteristic has a way of finding its way past the seals and even the valve cover gaskets. It's not all bad news if you do find that synthetic oil starts leaks you never had before if you use the High Mileage brand with the seal conditioner additives because those additives may actually rejuvenate, to some extent, those old seals and eventually stop the leaks from continuing if you're lucky.

macgiver wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:37 pm

Funny , I got a 650i V8 naturally aspirated , a suicide machine , and that Motul 300V 5-40 is perfect for a "pushed " driven Bimmer !!!
But I hope you didn't get an ailing car seeing now you kinda just got it ???

Ah yeah you f*** up with that engine jk. I got a e90 n52 and a f32 n55 435i, but yeah I hope not I mean everything has been good no codes no engine knocks it sounds normal to me. The engine fells strong. The oil light flickering just started happening too at first it would flicker just a bit at start up then it'll be gone untill yesterday it actually stayed on for a while until today so I hope it's just that it needs oil

Stick with the lowest recommended viscosity for better gas mileage.

Absolutely Peter , I heard horror stories AFTER I bought that 650 , the smoking- valve seals , PCV's ,trans seal R&R , but I knew enough to start cold a prospective engine , look for smoke ,look for smoke ,look for smoke.
I was lucky too , SH!$#TT it only had 61kmi Several Bimmer mech's I know envy the buy, say it's a F'n Gem !!!!!!!!!!!!

mdmellott wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:43 pm

I use 5w-30 full synthetic Castrol Edge High Mileage because I'll burn less than conventional or synthetic blends between oil changes and the additive in this Castrol brand keeps my old seals well conditioned so they do not leak. But here's the rub. You said your engine is not leaking any oil and that's great. However, synthetic oil has a much better, higher flow rate that conventional oil and it is sadly to often the case that when one switches to synthetic in an older engine that has seals which are just hanging on and doing their job, synthetic's high flow rate characteristic has a way of finding its way past the seals and even the valve cover gaskets. It's not all bad news if you do find that synthetic oil starts leaks you never had before if you use the High Mileage brand with the seal conditioner additives because those additives may actually rejuvenate, to some extent, those old seals and eventually stop the leaks from continuing if you're lucky.

Yeah that's basically the one that I used this past oil service that I did on it. So then if I'm missing oil and a low reading of my dipstick says I'm missing atleast 2qt is that normal on these pathfinders? I've only ran about 2k with this oil

With due respect , I think your kinda not to be as concerned about gas mileage whilst staying 'thin' , as you are posting "useage' or "LOSS" , and so that's where I believe the going to 40 , ie. 5W-40 maybe in your specific case the trick.
Respect to mdmellott , he's one smart fella -just like me ,,,,, too, Apples and oranges tricky crapshoot here ya know????

macgiver wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:50 pm

Absolutely Peter , I heard horror stories AFTER I bought that 650 , the smoking- valve seals , PCV's ,trans seal R&R , but I knew enough to start cold a prospective , look for smoke ,look for smoke ,look for smoke.
I was lucky too , SH!$#TT it only had 61kmi Several Bimmer mech's I know envy the buy, say it's a F'n Gem !!!!!!!!!!!!

You'll be alright its just the money to fix all that is alot and to keep up with the maintenance that's key and lot of ppl are not up for it. I suggest you find a good bmw tech tho to help. I usually to all my work on all 3 of my cars but I always got my back up tech just in case. Well I'm learning with the pathfinder but up to today much easier than bmw

peteralvarez91 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:50 pm

... my dipstick says I'm missing at least 2qt is that normal on these pathfinders? I've only ran about 2k with this oil

Not normal in an engine like ours that has had consistent oil changes at 3K to 4Kmax and not allowed to run low, like it is now. Once the bearings start burning oil, there's not much you can do to stop it other than using oil additives like Lucas Oil High Mileage Oil Stabilizer to slow down the oil consumption. https://lucasoil.com/products/engine-oi ... stabilizer

BMW the nightmare , it's the tech , dozens 'modules' ,the weird ista software , Greek to me . But , I'm THE BMW mechanic now , and diff , oil chng , PCV's , cabin filt, Br bleed .........." me done do so far" captain!
Not even halfway there , I'm OCD stickler

mdmellott wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 8:02 pm

peteralvarez91 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:50 pm

... my dipstick says I'm missing at least 2qt is that normal on these pathfinders? I've only ran about 2k with this oil

Not normal in an engine like ours that has had consistent oil changes at 3K to 4Kmax and not allowed to run low, like it is now. Once the bearings start burning oil, there's not much you can do to stop it other than using oil additives like Lucas Oil High Mileage Oil Stabilizer to slow down the oil consumption. https://lucasoil.com/products/engine-oi ... stabilizer

I've never used oil additives in my cars, my bmw n52 engine has 160k and barely burns any oil. So every oil change use the whole qt plus the 5 qt of oil?

It can become more art than science , a crapshoot , many plausible ways , seat 'o your pants will have to kick your azz in the right direction ???? Tis a real 'mystery' ? ....... yeah

Yeah... The additives are a Band-Aid but they can help stop, or slow down, the bleeding.