Well, I have been doing some research on burning oil on this forum to try and come up with a solution for my burning oil problem. I thought I would ask the question again because maybe it isn't a valve cover gasket that is my problem and maybe I could be better prepared when I talk to service for some suggestions. I have about 19k miles on my car and I followed the break in period as described. Actually I took the 4k break in period route. Last Sep. I think that I was perhaps burning about 1 qt. every 1500 miles. I asked service to look at it and the reply was that he couldn't find anything. I am getting maybe 1200 miles to a quart if that now. It seems the longer I go, the more it is going to burn. I am just plain scared that I am going to forget to check now and it will get too low(which i have done). You can't believe how embarrassing it is for people to catch you with your hood up all of the time on a new car. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Actually it's more like 800 miles per qt. of oil loss.

 

I have only had to add oil during the 3750 miles between
changes once. I think you have a problem the dealer needs to fix.

2003 TwBlue 5AT Sedan, sunroof,
Graphite Leather, splashguards, HKS exhaust,
14 wire Grounding kit, 350Z duct, Stillen CAI
Underbody rear diffusers, Drilled alum pedals

 

I used to burn 1 quart every 3500-4000 on my sedan. I don't know about the coupe yet. There were some guys over at my350z.com that was burning oil like you were and nissan ended up replacing their engines.

Take it to the dealer. Have them do an oil change and have them check it out periodically. Hopefully this will all be done under warranty.

 

What is the typical amount that should get drained? Five quarts in, how many quarts out?

---------------------------------
http://www.anythingbox.net

 

Interesting post about the oil consumption. There was/is a class action suit going on with GM cars and oil consumption. It had to do with the piston ring materials and break-in method. Ironically enough, the folks who babied their cars are experiencing the worst oil consumption of all.
PM me if you are interested in details.

'04 G35X Graphite/graphite, NAV, wood, premium

 

How can you tell your burning oil? My dipstick doesn't give me an accurate reading two times in a row..................I never know how much oil I have......I just make sure every 3,000 miles I dump the oil and filter.........
Now you got me wondering.........................what is the full w/oil filter cap? is it 4 .75 quarts?
Dennis


04 cpe IP/willow/5at/prem/18's/JDM clear corners/Piaa's/MTEC H4 Super White fog/highs

 

5 quarts.

2003 TwBlue 5AT Sedan, sunroof,
Graphite Leather, splashguards, HKS exhaust,
14 wire Grounding kit, 350Z duct, Stillen CAI
Underbody rear diffusers, Drilled alum pedals

 

I made the service appointment for Thursday I forgot to say. Still under warraty so.. I knew I have been having problems with this for quite some time and I am actually a bit relieved that the engine is going as bad as it is this quick rather then a long slow route because of the warranty. I know now that I need a new engine that is for sure but I don't know if that was the case before or not but I just got the reply that he couldn't find anything. But the service is quite helpful and I have worked with them quite a bit already so I feel comfortable I don't know if I did baby the car during breakin or afterwards. I did follow the breakin guidelns but I was noticing that after the breakin period that the car was very hesitant to really let me take it up over about 4500rpm. It was still really really tight and so I contnued to take it up at a very slow rate. I usually don't rev it too high I guess because it just doesn't seem like it very freely. There was one thing that I noticed for awhile and this lasted for a few months was that in 4th gear or any other I think, at 4500rpm there was some sort of vibration that could be heard. Kind of like a tuning fork sound. but once the revs got higher or lower, it would stop. As I look back it seems like the engine was only good for the first whatever miles that I had it. I will keep you all posted as to what i find out though.

 

The dealer filled it up last week and wants me to run it 1000 miles and go back. I was using synthetic and they put in regular oil. There are some very annoying sounds now especially at highway speeds and this thing doesn't have anywhere the power that it used to have but I guess it seems like for quite awhile that the power was taking a downturn. It still is burning quite a bit of oil but I don't think quite as much as when I brought it in. This thing is making me really sick though. I have all these imaginations that it isn't going to get fixed for me.

 

Actually I just checked the oil level for the 6-7 time today. That dipstick is really driving me crazy! It was showing higher then what it ought to have been I think but right now it is showing according to the rate that I was previously experiencing.

 

Wow keep us posted on this. I just did an oil change today and was down to 1 friggin quart in there. I was shocked. I will be checking the oil every thousand miles. If I can that is, I feel your pain with that POS dip stick. my enging feels strong still but I refuse to deal with replacing the oil every thousand miles. Let us know how it goes.


Long Island Meet 5/22/04 ^
Black 03' 6MT Coupe
20" iForged Aeros/Z-Tube/Nav-TV Tuner

 

Yeah I had about one quart left after about 3600 miles which was last Feb I think and I am running synthetic. It went too low and started to knock which left me very confused for a day or so and a thought occured to me to check the oil. It was a very odd feeling to see the dipstick totally dry! Right now I am experiencing a ton of power loss which is reminding me of my civic's acceleration that I traded in for the G last year. They replaced my synthetic with regular oil last week and some more problems are starting to shine through because of it. I am getting some very annoying engine sounds like some sort of a wobbly type effect when I get to highway speeds especially. Also reminds me of my Civic a little bit. But I used to never turn my radio on because I love the sound of my car. Now I find myself turning the radio way up all of the time without really thinking of it. So I know there isn't something right with that. I am going to go check the oil in a bit, which now might be the best time right after getting it all warmed up and letting it settle a bit. I am right now a little over 400 miles on this 1000 mile experiment that the dealership is running. I can't go over 750 or so without going below "L" and I am going to Michigan this weekend which is 600 miles round trip. I might try and go in tomorrow but time will be tight or next Tues. and add a quart myself and they will have to trust me. But I am going to call tomorrow. That dipstick was driving me nuts that is for sure and I was having a really difficult time trying to come to a conclusion if I am burning as much as I was. So I wanted to get at least 700 miles or so before I take it in and the oil will be down a good ways. What does POS mean? And thanks a lot for your post, it makes me feel like I am not in this alone but also I know that someone in the future will have similar problems and do a search and find these posts and have some support rather than feeling really confused and helpless. I would suggest though that you make your problem known to your dealer. I really wished that I documented my oil levels through the past few months and write down exactly how much I put in and that might help you some. But make that known to your dealer. Thanks again for your post.

 

I just checked it and it was about exactly halfway between L&H with slightly above 400 miles. When I checked it a couple of days ago it was a little lower. I'll check it again when I get to Michigan tomorrow night at about 750 miles.