Is this normal oil consumption?
 

Hey Guys,

I have a 2009 Touring 6 speed manual. I bought it at a dealer 2.5 years ago with 10k on it. I am at 32k right now and I have been noticing oil consumption in the last 15k. Yesterday, it took 1 quart of oil to bring the level on the dipstick from the L side of normal to 3/4 of the distance between the L and H of normal after about 1,200 miles. I had a Nissan dealer do an oil consumption test around 25k and they said it was fine. Should I go to another dealer and push harder?

Do another one?

I know there is a chart somewhere here with the "acceptable" specs for burning oil

Yes that is past the limit of bein ok. Mine is on it third motor.

10mm lower on the dipstick after 1000-1500 miles - See this TSB with chart:
TSB: 2009-2010 Nissan 370Z: Engine Oil Level Is Low

-- worth a new engine

Keep an eye on it. Check every thousand miles and record the measurements exactly. Build a record of the issue.

Demand to see the oil level before the engine is sealed if you do a consumption test. Look at the oil with the tech when it is unsealed and measured. Crosscheck that with the TSB.

I had a dealer purposely overfill my oil to the point where oil would spurt out of the dipstick and all over the block causing smoke whenever the oil pressure would peak just because they didn't want to replace the block.

It took me going to another dealer to get it addressed. If a dealer is giving you problems, go to another one or get NNA involved.

:iagree: Your warranty is with Nissan, not the dealer. If you don't trust your dealer to work on your car, go find one you can. I "fired" the dealer I bought my '09 from. My current dealer is much better.

Thank you sir! :tiphat:

:iagree: hope they take good care of you

given the oil consumption chart posted you can from the top of the dip stick at the H to just above the L in 3000 miles and that still be considered an acceptable amount of oil to burn. geez!

Correct. I believe the "acceptable" amount is approx 1.5 quarts per 5k miles.

These motors do have a tendency to burn a little oil. The term "little" can range from dealer to dealer on what's acceptable and what isn't. I do know with the VVEL system, the high compression, and the fact the oil is susceptible to higher temps, it can cause the motor to burn oil.. At least at a small/tiny rate.

Obviously if you're heavy footed, running from stop light to stop light, you may notice more oil being burned than when you're doing most of your driving on the highway.

Also, make sure you're checking the oil in the morning (or after the car has sat for a while) and on a flat surface. An uneven driveway can throw numbers off. If you check it 15 - 20 minutes after, it doesn't give enough time for gravity to take its course and feed it back down to the oil pan which could give you an inaccurate test.

With that being said, a quart is a good amount of oil to burn in just over 1,000 miles.

:iagree:

While it is true that "acceptable oil consumption" varies dealer by dealer, it does not vary as it applies to the oil consumption tsb.

This technical service bulletin is something all dealers must adhere to when dealing with this problem. Don't be afraid to print it out and bring it in if you've already done your measuring at home and verified that you are indeed in the "No Good" area as illustrated on the TSB.

Good point

Thanks guys for the info. I am taking it to a different dealer tomorrow morning for an oil change and then a follow-up oil consumption test again. For you guys that have had the short block replaced, how are things for you now? Is the car okay now? JapanJay, how are you on your third motor?! What is going on there?

The replacement block for me, on both my 350 and 370, was great.

Just expect it to eat some oil as it's breaking in. From what I've seen, it should be largely finished by the 7500mi mark or so.

New short block is fine; no oil consumption at all. Dealer did a decent job.

I really hope you reported this to the NNA?? It's dealers like this who WANT to be fired so they don't have to shell out the money for parts/labor, all to be covered by your warranty. Incompetence. :mad:

It is my guess that dealers make money on warranty work, if they're competent. The paperwork for my short block replacement included a good size bill to be reimbursed by Nissan.

While they do make money on warranty work, there's a particular line they can't cross when it comes to monthly reimbursements from corporate.

If they do too much work, it starts to look like they're just looking for things to replace and bill out to the manufacturer. This is the reason that some dealerships will be hesitant to repair things when you bring them in while others may jump right on it.

Just another reason not to stick with one dealer if they're not working out.

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

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...er930miles.jpg


930.5 from my last oil change at the dealer. Follow-up oil consumption test scheduled at the dealer this Friday.

Judging from the dipstick, it looks like that is at least 10mm from the H point of the dipstick.

What do you guys think?

Yeah. The oil rings are toast on your pistons. It is pushing oil from in the crank area into the cylinder. And you have a 6spd. My service managers was saying it is more prevelant with the manuals.

Yay!!! New engine for you!!!


930 miles and you're about 3/4 of a quart short... Motor is toast.
Thanks for playing, lol

That kind of consumption warrants a new block.

1145 miles from the oil change....
follow-up consumption test is tomorrow
I hope I fail!

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...n/IMG_0875.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...n/IMG_0870.jpg

in the pictures above the oil isnt at the proper temp to be checking it anyways. you should let it get up to 180 at least. then let it sit 10 min then check....

I guess oil use is effected by driving style and time between changes. I've had my '09 Z for 3 years and 11,000 mi. and had the oil changed three times now, (every 3,000 mi.). No oil consumption between changes was ever significant enough to be indicated indicated on the dipstick---none. I'm not complaining---just pointing out different situations. I drive pretty gently and I guess that makes a difference.

To Fuct:

Each time I checked the oil in the pictures below, I had just come home from work which is a 20-25 mile highway commute averaging 70mph+. I waited 30 minutes and then checked the oil which explains why the temperature was under 180. I suppose if I waited 10 minutes, the temperature would be closer to 180 but there would probably be even less oil on the dipstick.

To oldguy:

I noticed oil consumption with this car immediately after doing the first oil change. I agree that the oil consumption became worse between changing intervals if my driving style was more aggressive. However, it is a sports car and I bought it with the intention of driving it hard at least occasionally. It just doesn't make sense to pay this much for a car and then to be carrying around quarts of oil in my trunk.

Update as of this morning on 03/15/2013:

I failed the oil consumption test. The dealer ordered a short block motor which will come next Tuesday. The repair will take two days and they are going to give me a rental car. They gave me back the car and told me to continue driving it until then. They didn't top off the oil because when they drain the oil from the old engine, they want to get an exact measurement.

I think this is probably one of the few times in my life that I am happy to fail a test. :)

hmmmm. 10 min versus 30 i think wouldnt amount for much. i was unaware of the 20 min drive.

soooooo yea, your burning oil. :/

You're absolutely right. My point is that my car is closer to what you're entitled to expect as the owner of an expensive car, whose manufacturer should anticipate is being driven for sport. You are perfectly entitled to a complete remedy.

I babied my car and I still got consumption. :(

I'm glad your engine is doing well, but if it were driving styles only, Nissan wouldn't have released a TSB pertaining to a specific vin range possibly experiencing issues.

That's usually related to either an identified defect in a part or the building process. My money would be on a part (valve seals, rings), but who knows for sure.

Thats lame! My 1995 300zx didnt burn any oil! 210k miles and no problems, I really miss that engine :(

With the type of consumption that Avantgti7 is seeing, would you notice large amounts of smoke out of the tailpipes and soot on the bumper?

Not necessarily - mine was using a quart every 2500 miles, and no smoke from tailpipe; no soot (although soot is usually a too-rich fuel problem, not oil). Engine probably burned the oil very efficiently.

New engine replaced under warranty behaves the exact same, in every way except the oil level NEVER varies between oil changes.

--ZOM

In reality these engines are not supposed to burn oil. The early vq37 do have oil consumption issues due to a manufacturing defect in the piston rings. (Since yours is 09 that is you) Same issue as the early vq35's. If you are under warranty Nissan should replace your shortblock.

Source: Nissan/Infinity Master Tech

Did they do short or long?


Tapatalk2 ...

Nissan is only doing shortblocks now. Our 3.7 heads are in the neighborhood of 6kish.

I can say that I had very bad soot on my oil burning engine- the cool thing is that you could tell what side of the engine had the problem has one tailpipe would soot up as opposed to both (true dual exhaust setup).

No smoke.

After the engine change, the soot disappeared.

In my opinion, black soot on the tailpipes accumulating over 1k miles should be considered a warning sign of possible oil consumption. The pipes will get dirty, especially with test pipes, but just a heads up .

What if you have a muffler delete (aam short tales)? Would you get some darkness on the tailpipes?

Kinda like when you run hi-flow cats, you would have some smoke when you get on it.

You shouldn't get any MORE discoloration than normal with short tails.
You'll always have SOME soot with cats, just not half as much as with HFCs or TPs