2012 370Z burning oil
 

Well, never thought this would happen to me but here I am.

Bought a brand new 2012 370 last April. Car has been a joy to drive since day one. Recently I noticed some odd odors coming from it at start up so I started it up and took a good look at the exhaust.

There is a nice plume of visible white smoke emitting from the tail pipes. Once the car reaches operating temps its subsides little. Car seems to drive fine but I notice some unusual noise from the engine.

If I slowly rev it up to around 2.5k and release the gas I hear an odd hissing sound come from the engine bay... I hear the same sound when the car shuts off.

The burning oil became painfully obvious when I checked my dipstick the other day, the first 6k miles it didn't burn oil at all so I stopped checking it so diligently. The car was pretty low on oil but not dry.

Can't tell you how disappointed I am in Nissan.. This may scare me away from ever buying another Nissan. I am going to take it to the stealership and see what they say I guess. Anyone ever hear of a new car burning oil resolve well?

EDIT:

Car has 8k miles now and has had 3 oil changes

One of ours is currently going through a consumption test. At its worse it burnt almost 2 quarts in 5 months (less then 3k miles). It has gotten a little better though. The sad part is the stealership tried to blow me off after 500 miles and it still reading good on the stick. I had to raise hell and make a fool of myself to make them check it again after 1k miles then again after 1500. Which will take like 6 months for us.

Whwre was it on the dip?

hey man

mine was kinda the same.....
4000kms and went through half its oil.
The hiss is probably the VQ engine, they all hiss and are naturally a raspy engine.
I took mine back to the dealership and did a oil consumption test and over the next 3000kms it didnt use a drop. I put it down to the run in process (i keep telling myself that) or it wasnt topped up upon delivery.
I hope it stays this way. Mine on start up has white clouds of what seems like steam (as it disappears quick) not smoke but once it warms up its ok.

Get an oil concumption test, from what ive hears piston 1 can be problematic and burn oil.

Thx for the replies:

To answer some questions:
Fairlady: It was almost dry... had its second oil change at 6k miles.. I noticed it at 8k.. not sure how many quarts it had been through because the oil was very dirty adn black so i just got it changed out.

Luke: Yea I know VQs are noisy drivetrains, although I have noticed a strange adulation in the exhaust lately.. could just be my imagination though.

Also, I had the first two oil changes done at a Lube-X place and found out after the second one that they put in synthetic 0w30 instead. I don't think that should cause any real issues but it worries me that Nissan may try to deny warranty coverage based on that.

sigh.. im loosing sleep over this issue. Good night fellas.

Well if nissan think its the synthetic oil doing it then tell the oil company and they can look into it too. But i doubt it.
My oil wasnt black, was still clear but was half empty.

Something doesnt seem right. Take it back and say gimme a new one DOA or dont ring me until its fixed.

you guys need to search on here.

using a quality synthetic wont void your warranty.

also do your own oil changes. those lube -x places are notorious for botched jobs and shoddy materials. do it yourself and check it yourself. our cars burn a lil oil, dont be too alarmed.

AGREED ! dont EVER trust someone else to do your oil changes.simple and easy to DIY

why dont u guys have ur oil changes done at the dealership while u within warranty

Actually, it's not a bad idea to do so. They'll have a detailed record of every service and will make it harder to deny warranty claims.



OP, That smoke might just be moisture in the exhaust. Unless you monitor the levels and do the oil consumption test, it doesn't make sense to even worry about it. Also make sure you're measuring the oil in the same conditions every time...flat surface & cold (at least let cooled for 10-15mins).

One major issue is where you get your oil changed, if they can't even get the recommended grade right, who knows what else they messed up. I've had friends who worked at places like Valvoline, Jiffy Lube, etc....good guys, but they're idiots and most aren't even real mechanics. I can't even begin to tell you how terrible they really are. Do it yourself, find a performance shop or at the very least go to the dealership and have it done there. BTW, you can't tell how effective the oil is by just looking at it. You need to have an oil analysis done to really know if it's broken down from places like Blackstone Labs. It may be black in color, but that doesn't mean it's bad...it means its doing it's job and working as it should. To really figure this out, you need to be deligent and keep track of the oil level at least once a week and see if there is a drop. I would start by getting an oil change done properly if you haven't done so already. Who knows, some kid could have left the drain plug or oil filter loose....did I mention these lube-x places employ idiots.

IMO, this sounds less like oil consumption and more like shoddy work by the maintenance tech.

The rest of the issues- "smoke", noise, etc, are more than likely moisture evap from the exhaust and the HR "hiss", based on what has been discussed so far.

OP, keep an eye on your oil level. I would consider a quart or a bit under that (the distance from L to H on the dipstick) "normal" for around 5k miles of driving. More than that would warrant more attention.

lol...

The car was running great until about two weeks ago... Then I started to notice strong smells of burning oil. Now a few weeks later it burned through most of its oil.. with only 2k miles between oil change. After 2k miles the oil shouldn't be dark black, something is definitely not right. I highly doubt this is all attributable so lube-x, as far as I can tell the only thing they did was put 0w30 in the car. (To be fair I asked for the best synthetic and in their minds it was 0w30.) 0w30 and 5w30 should both run well in the car. Do you guys hear the hiss I'm talking about when RPMS drop in your engines? It almost sounds like an aerosol spray, I know the engine is noisy but i've never heard this sound before.

Thanks for the replies, Lube-x had done a great job over the last year on all my other vehicles, I always used the same technician and trusted him. Obviously I won't be returning there.

as far as changing the oil myself, I don't have any real way of lifting the vehicle to get underneath for a proper job. How do you folks lift your Zs?

My main worry here is nissan will try to void my warranty, I am an American living in Canada, I bought the Z new and brought it to alberta but I am still the original owner. The warranty booklet clearly states that you must sell the vehicle AND register it out of country to void the warranty which I did not. We will see how it plays out, I am going to be taking it to the stealership soon to have an oil consumption test started. This may take a while to resolve as the car will be stored for the winter in the next few weeks.

+1 I don't do any oil changes myself when the dealership will do it for FREE! Why create more work for myself when if they screw it up it's their problem to fix. Given if you have some reason to not trust your dealer then you may forgo this process.


mhcoss,
The hiss you are hearing is the normal VQ noise you are hear from the turbulence created at the x-pipe juncture. Given you do not list any mods. Unless you have switched out your cats and or exhaust the noise level should not be as pronounced as say someone running Fast Intentions, Berk, Ark, etc.

It sounds like you have noticed a change/problem with your car. Take it in and let the dealer start a consumption test like a lot of us mentioned. As for the hiss maybe you have developed an exhaust leak if it is worse then normal.

Burning up to 1 qt of oil per 1,000 miles is within acceptable tolerances.

Even hyper exotics are allowed to burn up to 1 qt per 1,000 miles and the manufacturer is off the hook.

Keep track every 1,000 miles of how much oil you are burning. If it is less than 1 qt/1K miles, there is nothing the dealer will do. (My 2nd 350Z was a notorious oil burner so I have been through this dance before) You will just have to keep adding oil. If it is more than that, then the dealer "should" (doesn't mean they will) do something about it.

(Side note: If you can see white smoke coming out the tailpipes, that is not normal. This should be shown to your dealer right away.)

Sorry.

0w40 liqui moly; good stuff so far :)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if your engine is burning oil shouldn't you see bluish colored smoke from the tail pipes? I thought if you are seeing a bunch of white smoke than you could have water/coolant in your oil....?

i love how 10 years ago if u burned a quart every 1,000 miles something is wrong with your engine. but now if u burn 1 qt every 1000 miles you are "within spec"

Id say 1qt/1000mi is pretty bad.....

There is no reason to lose faith! You can always do a leak-down test to confirm if the oil is getting past the piston (blow by) which would then essentially lower your compression. We build a lot of STi motors as piston #4 is a common failure point. A ring issue is the most obvious thing to check for oil consumption, just not typically with such low milage. During the leakdown test you will bring the engine to top dead center and make sure the camshafts are in the correct phase. You want intake and exhaust valves closed, and piston at the top of the deck. Then use your leakdown test to force compressed air (typically ~90PSI) through the engine. It will then give you a % of leakage. If you hear it out the intake or exhaust you have a valve train issue, if you feel air or hear air out the oil filler neck that is a piston issue, if it comes out the radiator cap then you have a head gasket issue. I think if you can find a reputable shop to perform the test, then if you had poor results you could go back to Nissan and present your data to help with the warranty claim.

Thanks,
Alex Goodwin
AlexG@motionlabtuning.com

Luckily for the OP, or anyone else who may be experiencing oil consumption with the VQ37, the information above is completely incorrect.

Please check the TSB issued for the VQ37 regarding acceptable oil consumption.

This is from Infiniti but it's basically the same thing as Nissan. The nissan one is on this site in the TSB section but I'm lazy.

http://www.infinitig37.com/TSB/1SY30.pdf

Not necessarily. Carbon buildup (soot) on the tailpipes, however, is very common.

No it's not

:iagree: That's an awful lot to burn for 1k miles... "regular" or not.

I'm only telling you what the dealer told me when I had this issue with my 350Z.

Sounds like they fooled you, like they tried doing to me. I have a car 8 years old Turbo'd beat the hell out of that does not burn this much oil.

thx for the responses folks. Took her for a drive to the misses family for canadian thanksgiving today.. seemed to be running well. Going to schedule an appointment with a dealership, in the meantime I plan on doing my own oil consumption test. Stay tuned.

I think I may be f-ed though, Pretty sure my warranty is void simply because I'm american and bought it in america and registered it in Canada.. we will see though.

I had to go through the same thing. The first dealership I went to about my '06 Rev-Up eating oil told me that 1qt per 1k miles is acceptable. They didn't have much to say when I asked why, then, would Nissan suggest up to 7500 miles between oil changes.

They even went so far as to overfill the engine by a quart during the oil consumption test. On moderate acceleration, oil would spew out of the dipstick and onto the block, giving me a nice smoke show. Pretty cool, huh?

Luckily, the next dealer I went to went ahead and replaced the short block. Problem solved.

I'm going through it again now, though- about 1qt every 750 miles.

I'm personally not going to be that sad to be the VQ35/37 go.

If you are smelling buring oil that is bad. If you see oil smoke at star up that is bad. Sounds like you could have a leaky oil seal in one of the valves and or even leaking head gasket that is allowing oil and air to escape from one of the heads.

I would get it in quick. The warranty will cover it all and you get a loaner.

Nobody "fooled" me. I was not happy but they wouldn't budge. What else could I do? It's just a car. Not worth the aggravation. My concerns were documented.

Take it to another dealer. Get NNA involved. Get an attorney. You have plenty of options- it just depends on how far you want to go with it.

Not far. I later traded it in on another car, so I stopped caring.

I'm not going to give myself an ulcer over any car problem. Once the dealer knows about it and has documented the issue to the point where my butt is covered, I stop caring.

However, I did take an issue once all the way to NNA concerning improper alignment with my first 350Z. Everyone kept telling me it was within spec, but it pulled like a mother to the right. Finally got an old timer Nissan tech that worked on the original Z cars. Knew what it was immediately and fixed it. (Rear toe adjustment)

Just a question for the OP:

Are you checking your engine oil after you've been using the car for a while?
You should check the oil when the engine is still cold, or if you've been driving around make sure about 10 minutes have gone by before you check the oil so it can return to the oil pan.

At 2900 miles and 6 quarts of oil, I got a new short block. at 13,700 ish I started a new oil consumption test. Only two quarts in 3700 miles, or was it 3 quarts. Either way I am testing as we speak. I do not want to fail a second time.

about an hour. In that time you can prep a good cherry or blueberry pie and chill it. Give it another hour and serve.

Well Its been a while since I posted on here. Car has been stored all winter.

I think my car has a blown head gasket.

Oil smells sweet.. The coolant is completely burned off (reservoir empty). Really sucks, soon as the snow melts a little more outside I'm taking it to nissan. All I can say is they better repair this right and not do a half arse job. I almost don't trust nissan to take care of this correctly. God I hope the car doesn't need a new engine.