I was unaware that when I bough my z used with 10k on it the motor was replaced less than 500 miles before I bought it, I learned this when I took it in for a OC complaint. Keep in mind I am a service advisor for Honda, so I know the guys there and most of the techs personally, one of their tech worked for us a one time, and is an old guy and knows his s*$t. He told me these VQs do not break in well on the the crap Ester oil or synthetics, he had me use regular dino oil for 2 oil changes, it drank 3 qts of Mobil 1 in 1800 miles, thus why I took it in. Now it may have used .5 qts in the last 3000k on Valvoline synthetic.

Dropped her off at the dealership last night. Tech said this morning through some investigation that oil was seeping past a bolt for the VVEL right cover. He tightened it down and put liquid gasket around it.

Let's see if this fixed it.

Mine is at the Dealer getting replaced right now. Same deal, was supposed to take 2 days.. "problems with the Timing" ..then a wire related to the Timing was broken during install. been a week. supposed to be done tomorrow.
I have never tracked it or even ridden it hard. Every 1k miles the oil is COMPLETELY dry.. yes Oil does not even register. sad story...

I'm sorry to hear that bro. Keep an eye on them and try to establish a relationship with the tech.

Man, after all the problems I am reading about, Oil consumption at 32k, clutches with the life span of a butterfly etc. I am wondering if I made a mistake buying this. (2013 6mt+spt) I love the car but after reading all the stuff on this forum it seems like a time bomb.

I guess the question is how much of this perception is based in reality vs the total number of cars out there and who posts about issues? Are we talking 50%? 2%? 100% on the clutch issue sooner or later or what?

I would like to have rock solid confidence every time I am pulling my Z out
but not inspired by what I read. My gut feeling is this is just perception because you read about specific events and the majority have no issues.
I hope at least.

You're talking about a small percentage of people on an enthusiast site. However, that's also not counting the non-enthusiasts who have had problems.

The oil consumption issues are very rare. The clutch hydraulic problems are common.

All in all, it's not an unreliable vehicle. It does have its quirks, however. Just drive and enjoy it and don't worry about problems until they happen.

You want oil consumption... My fellow service advisor had a vette that ate 2 QTS of oil every 1k miles... Gm told him to pound salt. Traded it on a Z. I've said it before I am in the service business I can list problems for every Honda in existence... All cars that are mass produced will have issues... Im on my second trans and the way it's going there will be a third... second gear sync will not line up at redline.... just grinds away. Agreed drive the car and enjoy it.

My 370 was eating about a quart and a half every 1k before I had the engine replaced. One tailpipe was completely black with soot while the other was completely clean. Two quarts is pretty insane.

I got a 2009 Nismo Edition 6 speed... Its got 7000 miles on it and haven't noticed any oil consumption. However, has anyone noticed "Service engine soon" light activating and car going into LIMP mode due to trouble code P1089? I brought my car back to the dealer and they first replaced the bunch of parts to include the whole head of the engine twice but still happening. Anyone know why?

That DTC indicates a VVEL problem.
P1089 Nissan VVEL Control Shaft Position Sensor Bank 1 Circuit OBDII Engine Light Trouble Code | Engine-Codes.com

Hey All,

So my saga continues. The car just turned over 43K a few hours ago after I drove it back from the dealership for a consumption test on the new shortblock. I have put close to 10K on the new motor and was still noticing high levels of consumption. (See pic below which shows the oil level 1200ish miles after the last oil change). The mechanic and the shop foreman both agree that the car is consuming excessive amounts of oil and said that they would file the necessary paperwork to get me a longblock this time. Meanwhile, the mechanic topped off my car with oil and told me to drive it until they called me in when the new longblock arrived. BTW, they told me that the longblock was $7,800 alone in parts. Does this sound right? I hope this ends the saga. I am also considering buying an oil cooler and having the mechanic put it on with the new engine. What do you guys think? I almost wonder if high oil temperatures translate into some increased oil consumption too. My oil temperature gauge regularly hits 240-260F based on my driving style and the car becomes sluggish.


http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...shortblock.jpg