wow I guess im going to hold off from buying one for now..

no, mine had had a little more than usual test drive miles on it. it's my fault for not being patient and ordering one. i had a feeling in my gut to pass on the deal i was being offered by the dealer, but i let my heart get in the way. given the current progress on my Z, it looks like that will be the step anyway. there's not another sports car in this price range that i'd drive. there's always bound to be one dud in a lot, and too date i'm not aware of these issues in the '10's....just the '09's.

I started my oil consumption test at 1579 miles after already adding 2 quarts. At 2451 or another 872 miles I am down 1.9 quarts. I didn't know I bought a BMW.
What is the delta Nissan is looking for?
Does this explain all the need for carbon clean up at tail pipes?

6600 on my 09 broke it in about average i guess. i'm no gear head.
car has never reached red line yet only had it up to 105.
but so far no oil burn.

doesn't the g37 have the same engine do those guys have the same oil burning
problems?

While this is a real horror story for those who have the problem, you might want to try to determine what percent of buyers have the oil consumption problem before deciding not to buy one. I read about this problem shortly after I bought mine and was worried about it for a while, but mine hasn't burned a measurable amount of oil in 2,500 miles. I'd be furious if my car had been in the shop for a month (or even a couple weeks) out of the first year and I sure sympathize with those who have this problem, but it sounds like Nissan is at least doing something for them.

For what it's worth, my previous car was a Mazda Speed3 and there are even worse stories on the Speed3 boards. Enough that I would not have bought it if I had read them first. As it turned out I had no problems with mine even with a few mods.

One additional follow-up for the oil consumption test. My test was done by the dealer (sealed dip stick) every 1K miles for 3 rounds. As for Nissan's exact pass/fail volume, I'll have to get that information and be happy to post it as my service guy owes my some pics of the defective seals and the oil blow-by.

I also used to 'customer service/satisfaction' surveys done by corporate to voice my displeasure and the next day they agreed to pick up two-months payments for my time in the shop.

So far I'm happy with the new engine, although on the next oil change/inspection I'd like a retuning. Oil temps are still in the 220-240 degree range after a 25 mile commute (freeway speeds), but no higher.

New oil change. 1500 miles later I'm down around 3/4 of a quart. After the oil change though I definitely pushed my car hard. Went on a mountain run plus a long drive two days after the change. I approx. did 450 mi that day. I also get on it a lot while driving to and from work and everytime I'm in it. Doesn't seem too bad to me.

My '09 has just shy of 9000 miles on it. Broke it in easy, first oil change at 1250 miles with Ester Oil, next change was at 5K miles with Redline 5W-30. It's been burning some oil, for the first 5K miles probably burned 1.5 quarts and has burned about 1.25 quarts since the last change. I check the level weekly which is about every 300 miles and it finally seems to be settling down. My previous car was an '04 G35 and it drank about 3/4 quart between changes which were every 3K miles using Castrol GTX or Pennzoil dino. So I think the guys who have VQ engines that use no oil are the exceptions. I could live with a quart every 5K miles and hoping that as the engine is more fully broken in that will be the average.

if the Z keeps burning this much oil... who ends up picking up the tap? the owner or the dealer?

I don't mean for the oil change, but for adding all this oil... if you are forced to add 1-1.5 qt every 1k miles.. that can add up..

You're joking right? If you can't afford to buy a quart of oil every 1000 miles you shouldn't be driving a new car.... wow.... Let's hope you never use more than a quarter throttle or you'll be after the dealership for excessive fuel consumption.....

I guess what I originally meant to say wasn't portrayed corrected:


From my little bit of reading on this forum (my knowledge on this engine is very minimal, even at best), consuming more than 1qt of oil every 1k miles is excessive.
Where it's lead to some owners getting several engines parts replaced, and in some cases even getting new engines.
How was diagnosis achieved?
By topping off and checking how much was burned correct?

Thus, for an engine to be burning excessive amounts of oil, and then needing excessive warranty repair (I feel that a new engine is as excessive as you can get), can't one blame Nissan for the 1qt/1k miles?

If it was standard for the Z to burn 1qt/1k miles, then that's a choice you make when purchasing the car.

However, if burning 1qt/1k Miles is NOT standard, and in fact a fault in the engine/Nissan design etc, then why should the owner be held accountable for the oil?


On my 335i, we don't have an oil consumption problem... except we have the High Pressure Fuel Pump.. which is worse IMHO as having a car shut down on you is dangerous, to say the least.

In the 19k and 14 months I've had my 335i, I've had 2 oil changes;
One covered under BMW warranty/maintenance, the other I did myself at 7500.
I think it's total BS to change oil at 12-15k, especially on a twin turbo car...
Maybe stock... but for a car pushing upwards of 430wtq... I wasn't going to wait until 12-15k
But... during all this time, I never needed to top off... and my car runs at 240 oil temp Daily driving, hitting 250-260 spirited driving, and 280+ on a hot track day.
But then again, these cars have completely different engines..
I was just surprised that for a car that burns oil at a much higher temp hasn't (don't mean doesn't, I can't speak for all owners) needed a top off..

and then again, not even all Z's seem to need top-offs... it seems just a few...

So, again sorry if what I originally said came off as incorrect; it's not that one can or cannot afford the qt, it's if it's worth it.

Esther oil is about 12/qt if I've read corrected?
If so, it puts it right around how much my oil costs me.

Thanks.

To me the $64,000 question is how are these engines being treated?

If you are burning a quart of oil every 1000 miles and only driving it on the street normal than nissan needs to step up and replace entire motor.

on the other hand if you track your car or drive it like you stole it every time
you get behind the wheel.remember the old saying buyer beware.

my engine burned a quart every 1k miles when it was new, up until about 4k. Now at 8900 miles, it doesn't burn any. I've been using regular 5w30 valvoline for break-in every 2k miles.

I'm going to wait a little longer to change to redline, but these engines just seem to burn oil when new. They just take a long time to seat the rings fully.

I also did not baby my engine, it drove it hard right off the lot. I am a firm believer in fast break-in = strong engine.

It's now pretty common knowledge if you talk to Nissan service techs that there was a break-in, seals seating issue with a number of cars in '09.

The oil consumption test was done by Nissan service, they sealed the dip stick and the car was inspected every 1K, three times. Exceeding a 1QT was a failure. What triggered the test initiation for me was the car fail-safing into limp mode about 1K past my first oil change at 3750. It did this because the oil level was critically low.

The other tell tale sign you have this specific issue will the pressure of oil in your exhaust system, or as my wife described it...the garage smells like french fries, lol!

The new engine I've broken in harder as this was the third time (original, short block replacement, engine replacement). The '10 engine seems to be a big improvement. After to next post-service inspection i'll finally get to start doing some mods, having kept my Z bone stock throughout this ordeal.

Was it a pain, yes. But all I had to do with service to say the word "Toyota" and they got the point and bent other backwards to earn my business.

Fair enough. My car was burning a lot of oil - around 2 liters per oil change. It seems to have calmed down now since my 18,000 km oil change. I was never too worried about it. If it remained an issue then I would have the engine replaced for free which to me is win/win other than a slight inconvenience of not having the car available to me.

I'm sure pretty much every vehicle made has some failure with the engine, etc. People with problems make the most noise. Unfortunately in this thread there is a LOT of people with "oil consumption issues" that haven't put enough mileage for the engine to be fully broken in. Some people are suggesting an engine isn't fully seated until 20,000 miles! For those who do have a real problem Nissan verifys and replaces. Is there really any issue here?

There are lots of comments about "oh my VehicleX never burnt a drop of oil!". So what? There are lots of other vehicles that do. Its very common for high compression engines to consume oil. If a liter or two of oil is an issue then don't buy this car. If you want what has been claimed as the best sports car value on the planet then buy a $17 gallon of Penzoil Platnium 5W30 and stick it on the shelf in the garage and do the minor maintainance of keeping your oil topped up and enjoy a fantastic sports car. It's amazing that for the very first year that the car was produced that there is virtually no problems with it.

hmm. so no problems on the 10s?

So would it be worth it to buy a 10 vs a 9, even though it'll cost about 10-15% more?

About 5200 miles on our 2010 Z, oil changed to Castrol Syntec 0W-30 at 2050 miles or so. I left about 3/5 a bottle of 0W-30 after the change for top-offs and I still have 1/3 a bottle left after topping her off to the "full" dot at the last fill-up.

So maybe 1/4 qt. consumption over 3150 miles. Seems healthy to me!

I've got an '09 (bought 17 Jan 09). It now has ~33,500 miles on the odometer and it's been ~3,500 miles since the last oil and oil filter change (Mobil 1 and Bosch filter as usual). As always, there's been no apparent oil consumption. FWIW, I broke it in per the manual but I've never babied it since then. :driving:

I have an 09 370z with aprox 18500, last oil change was at 15000. I just had
to add 3 qts. Have been using castrol synthetic.
Not pleased

^^3qts is too much imo

Those with the oil consumption issue, do you drive you cars hard at all......redline or anything like that....or just casual driving?

This sounds like the 06 rev up oil consumption thread.. Fail by Nissan!!

I am lucky, no oil consumption on mine. I track and autox my car 80% of the time, I still don't have to use more than one quart in between oil change

this is not meant to be a smart xss remark.
but why would anyone drive their car until it went into limp mode.

wouldn't common sense say check your oil way before then.
wonder how much oil is left in the motor when it hits limp mode. 2 quarts??

there was a guy i know who drove his with only a quart and a half left in it
and the dealer told him tough xxit.

i mean if you take your car into a dealer with one quart in it,there gonna
look at you like your an idiot.

If the car never lights up the low oil light, or the temperature never goes up more than it normally does for you, how would you know or why would you expect you need to check the oil between changes?

I have never had a car that needed checking between changes, until now (maybe).

I agree how would you know. These cars shouldn't burn the oil the way they do.
But others don't burn any. One shouldn't have to worry about checking your oil after every fill up,not on a 40,000 car. But my point was its neglect not to..
Anyone who reads this forum knows about the oil issue....

vp of common sense would tell you to check your oil and air pressure every 2 to 3 fill up. its just smart to do so, are we really that lazy?

I agree totally i'm showing my age,but anyone who drove in the 70'sand 80's
knew they better check the oil,water and air.:driving:

Is it just me or is anyone else shocked that it's not common knowledge that you are suppose to periodically check your fluid levels? You check how much gas is in the tank - why is the oil any less important to monitor? It's a good habit to check the oil level when you fill up.

Because the car isn't supposed to consume oil between changes. At least not in the last 30 years.

Sure, but what if your car develops an unexpected oil leak at a seal, RTV joint, cover, drain plug, etc.? Wouldn't you want to catch that and have it repaired under warranty before reaching the point of having to replace the entire engine?

That's the same as saying that you shouldn't check the volt meter because the voltage isn't suppose to change. In real life we can tell if the charging system is working by periodically checking the voltage. Oil is the life blood of your engine and it needs to be monitored. It shouldn't change but you can prevent catastrophy by monitoring it. That's the whole idea.

If the car isn't suppose to be monitored you wouldn't have a friggin dip stick on the side of the block. It's simple maintainance and taking simple care of your car. My 240Z is almost 40 years old and it doesn't burn a drop of oil either but that doesn't mean you don't check the oil levels periodically.

AND we already know that the cars consume oil (as do MANY other modern engines) so it really is foolish knowing that they may/may not consume oil to not check them.

Checking oil level
 

Here is my rational why you should not check your oil while it is new. I did and found out at 485 miles I was down 3/4 qt, and again at 1048. Previously I had suspected, now I knew by 1500 miles I had an oil consumption problem. Had I let the engine burn up I would have a brand new built in Japan long block.
Even though dealership requested a long block due to oil starved heads that had been subjected to thermal oil viscosity break down i.e. above 260*F, I instead got a short block with my old heads placed back on top. It only took eleven days and 46.8 hours to do, since the tech had never done such a thing with a 370 before.

Let the car grind to a halt and get a proper replacement engine built by somebody who builds these things all day long for a living. I wished now I had.

Tam

I understand your anger/frustration. I had the issue; based on my recollection, it was Nissan who said to replace the short block.

I have a good dealer. They were the ones who fought for an immediate whole engine replacement. The Manager's arguement to the Nissan rep: "If you personally bought a brand new $30,000+ car, would you settle for a short block?"

I've got a good dealer too. I was the first logged case in SoCal, so they basically did the short block experiment on my Z. Following the manual break-in (<4000 rpm) for 1500 mi and then jumped on it forced the short block failure in a few days. That then triggered a full engine replacement which I understand is now the prescribed treatment since field techs have zero experience on the 37 engine. For my trouble and their learning curve, Nissan reimbursed me for every day of shop time, about 2 months of car payments.

I think it's unnecessary to get into p!ssing matches over check your oil/fluids. For many people, they buy a new car and they service their car with their dealer as per the manual. If you're constantly topping off and you don't keep good notes, when you bring it in for service you may not know there's a problem with your seals unless you are looking for it.

So your new short block failed? I'm guessing it was a bearing/rod big end failure. From some stupid tech getting grit or dirt in the block, or failing to COMPLETELY clean the cylinder heads before bolting them on a new engine. Your average mechanic is just an imbecile that shouldn't even consider touching the insides of an engine, that's just the cold hard truth. An engine needs to be assembled with surgical cleanliness, be it a pre-assembled short block, or from scratch. They probably built it right their in the garage bays without even putting up plastic sheets around the build area and on the ground. :facepalm:

I'm glad you're getting a whole engine now; I really hope they don't manage to screw that up as well. :)

I thought I read somewhere that the 2010 engines aren't burning oil. Does anyone know the engine serial number range for the 2010?

My replacement engine is so far so good with acceptable, little consumption. I just want to check if the new one is a 2010.

These engines are mostly computer built, wonder if there was a batch of bad parts

the bulletin states!!!
APPLIED VEHICLES: 2009-2010 370Z (Z34)

APPLIED ENGINE: VQ37HR ONLY

APPLIED VIN/DATE
vehicles built before: JN1AZ4FH(*)AM303670 / 05-APR-2010
JN1AZ4EH(*)AM503778 / 05-APR-2010

YOUR WELCOME!

The interesting question would be what changed on 04/05/10 :rolleyes: