370Z - Oil Consumption TSB
 

2009-2010 370Z; ENGINE OIL LEVEL IS LOW!


Well, it looks like prior posts here at the370Z.com are correct about the Z's TSB. I, personally, have seen the Nissan Document. (BTW, I like how Nissan titled the document: "Engine Oil Level is Low." In my opinion, it should have the title "Excessive Oil Consumption.")

Please see:

http://www.the370z.com/767958-post66.html

At least, for now, it looks like the myth about "Nissan not blinking unless you use 1qt/1K miles" is a bust. Correct me if I am wrong, but between L-H marks is equal to one (1) quart (24mm).

Change your oil and fill to the H mark. Drive and log some miles. Measure oil level from the H mark and see chart below. Note that Oil Consumption test is done by the dealer. Obviously, you can do this yourself as a guideline.

Miles
1001-1500 >=10mm drop from H is a "no good engine"
1501-2000 >=13mm drop from H is a "no good engine"
2001-2500 >=16
2501-3000 >=19
3001-3500 >=22




Hopefully, this is not a re-post, and good news for some members waiting for the info.
cheers!

This applied to me sadly.

without reading much to it does any1 know if the oil light comes on at all when the oil is running low???
reason i ask is im not sure if my car falls under this tsb
i check the oil stick and sometimes i cant tell if its ok or not
i have not got a oil light yet tho
just wondering

Oil light has been hit or miss but usually if it comes on it's too late.

You should let the car cool for ~10 mins or so on a level surface before checking your oil level.

I guess it applies to me too, however I'm always checking my car oil level.

Plus I told the dealer the last time about it and they recorded on the car records (Oil Consumption Problem).

I want to revive this thread to help all the unsuspecting '09-June'10 used 370z owners out there cruising the forum while waiting to buy their car. Apparently, there was a modification to the engine in June '10 to help prevent the oil consumption issue. Please, as many of us have learned...the easy way or the hard way(long block replacement=no car for possibly 3months) check your oil every time you fill your tank. This will allow you to enjoy your car for years to come.

i still recommend checking oil level when the engine is cold.

Edited because I accidentally went full retard

Nick,

How do you figure?

he likes things in the middle. :icon17:

No, not at all. "Normal" is considered anywhere between the L and H. The oil being at "H" is the top end of "Normal".

nick likes safety.

Theres not too many times i will say this, but this is incorrect. filling to H will never cause engine problems

So are 2011's pretty safe from this? I wasn't having any oil consumption problems before and haven't checked it in a while now.

hey bruce- just check your oil at least once every 2wks when the engine is cold.

i found that the car eats oil when at the top dot, but does not if at just a hair above the 3/4 area. this was the same way on my G when new. after about 10k miles the consumption was gone and i filled all the way to the top and each time i checked the oil was near the top dot. :)

guess I'll go check it later today.

yep, pull up the yellow handle dipstick, wipe oil with a clean towel, dip it back, count to 5, pull up dipstick to get your reading.

if your engine is completely cold you can just pull up the dipstick to get your reading. no wiping needed in this case.

I say count to 7. :icon17:

I think I might be visualizing the dipstick incorrectly lol

I can't get to mine because it's in the garage. Does anyone have a picture so I can see what I'm incorrectly stating?

there's only two dots (holes) on the Z's dipstick... (well, at least on mine).

My bad guys lol

I was visualizing the dipstick TOTALLY wrong as I usually read it based on the location I visibly see rather than the H and L markings. Clearly I'm mentally challenged and physically need to go look at parts on my car before I post from recollection.

dont worry about it. :tup:

:icon17:

uhhh.... looks who's talking. you dont even own a Z. ALL of your posts are recollection. lol :icon17:

Doesn't matter, I have a good...uh...hmm...


....what was I saying?

:icon18::tup:

:icon17:

If you get the low oil pressure light, that just means you push her even harder!

when you check the oil on a cold engine, or 10 minutes after you turn off the warm engine, what is considered too low? Right now im exactly between the H and L after the 10 minute turn off and wait... Getting an oil change thursday but dont know if i should mention to dealer to check for oil issue since its an early '09

Mike,

Check the level when the engine is cold for comparison sake, if you have burnt off a quart between oil changes you most likely have nothing to worry about. Between L and H is about half a quart. Still mention it to the dealership before the warranty is up to get an oil consumption test done.

Both incorrect, the proper count is four mississippi!

:icon17:

Thank you for the info, going to the dealer tomorrow.

:icon17: Please don't rely on the low oil pressure light as an indicator for oil level (yes, people who are intimidated by the complex engineering of new vehicles do this). I believe that oil consumption is a very serious issue with the 09-June10 370Z, while some may take this lightly I can understand where they are coming from. However, if only a handful of people watch their oil level more often it will increase their engine life...MY WORK IS DONE!

My vin ends with 504xxx instead of 503xxx... does that mean I am fine?

I have been checking my dipstick and been OCD about this oil consumption problem.

yah, kinda like TPMS, the threshold is too low. it just tells you one's a dumbarse for not checking routinely.

In the case of my 2009 370z Touring, the low oil light did not come on. I found out the hard way with a damaged sprocket and engine misfires. Fast forward 1 and a half months and the car is still in the shop undergoing multiple engine rebuilds (i.e. new short block) and the service department has been unable to get the engine running like new. After the first rebuild the engine ate itself and set off 2 additional sprocket codes... meaning more damage. Luckily I'm trading it in and Nissan can fix the car on their own time.

I'll be getting a 2013 soon as I got fed up with my 2009 oil consumption issues and I was thinking of trading mine in anyways. My question is... how exactly does checking your oil every time you fill your tank necessarily protect you from this problem? You either get the problem or you don't, correct? Meaning... if you have it, you are going to face major engine work and weeks if not months without your Z. I'm only asking because I want to do the right thing with my new car.

Funny, because today I jsut entered my used 2009 in for this. I bought the car thinking it was all original. Carfax can back spotless, even took it to the dealership doing the test and nothing came back in the service dept. Pulled the trigger and bought it.

Hit 3k miles and took it in for the first oil change. Changed everything to royal purple: rear diff, trans, engine with a K&N oil filter. Got to the next 3k change and scheduled for a monday morning, decided to check it the friday before.... Was no oil on the stick!!!! I WAS LIKE WTF???? It was only 3k miles, no way should it be any close to that low. I got super lucky, no noises. Immediately went to the store got 3 bottles of royal purple. Only got me to the half way point. Good enough to make it to monday.

Got the oil changed and this time went with Amsoil and a purolator. Set the maintence alert to go off in 1.5k. Again super low, almost 2 quarts, but still on the end of the stick. Reset the alert, and again almost 2 quarts for the second 1.5k miles.

Went down to the dealership with paper work my neighbor Tim, owns a 09 Z too, sat on my front door with the print out on the Bulletin. Confronted them about, and they did some digging. Come to find out the whole long block was changed out exactly one month prior to the service bulletin. June 29th 2010, bulletin came out on july 29 2010. They are still waiting on the faxes from the dealership with all the details, ie: why customer brought it in, what the techs found, ...

Had them do the $110 using the Ester oil so as there is no, "Well lets try using the better stuff..." While there spoke with their master tech, has been for something like 10 years or so. Actually he was pulling the trans out of a GTR while I talked with about the consumption issue. He stated it is something he has only seen in the 6spd manuals. I had been taslking to various people in different car communties and we all were concluding severe blow-by. Their tech concured that was what was actually happening, but I was thinking it was happening in the upper regions of the RPM band, 5.5k and up. He stated that is was actually during a hard down shift that the pre-2010's created a very strong vacuum that pulled oil out and was blowing it through the intake.

Which lead me in to one of my major concerns, if it was indeed blow-by, if he could have the tech pull the intakes off and check the throttle bodys for residue build up. He said that when I brought it back in for the 1k mile measurement that they would pull them then and check.

Spoke to him about my second major concern, which since it is severe blow by, it is greatly reducing the life span of my cats. He stated that if it did fail he personally see that those would get replaced even if they are not listed in the parts list bulletin. He agreed that would be clogged muuch sooner and should be replaced.

Last but not least brought up my concern that since this has already happened once obviously, and it didnt get corrected, even with the first replacement being a whole long not short block, would it even make a difference if it was changed again. His respone was that the few he has been involved with the consumption issue was resolved....

Well folks I got about 950 miles before the first check and I intend to drive it just as hard as have been to get a true reading on what I have been experiencing. Will keep this updated as it progresses.

Side note: I hope I dont have to deal with the horror of not haing the car for a month or so. I guess I do have the rainy season fast approaching on my side and dont intend to drive it in the rain. Will be driving the other car so maybe it wont hurt as bad not coming home to it....

I honestly do miss my Z even though I continue to read some of the problematic exceptions.

No affiliations but Thousand Oaks Nissan was awesome and exceptional with service when I had my Z.