Have any of you noticed the VQ burning oil. I have a 6mt coupe with 10k miles and in my last oil change it burned 1 quart of oil. I put Mobil 1 synthetic and drive it for around 6k between oil changes.

I just had my oil changed around 1100 miles ago and I checked the oil level this morning and it is at half which I think equates to half a quart.

There are no leaks so that is why I think it is burning. My wifes Toyota does not lose any oil between oil changes and the oil stays cleaner longer.

Should I take this up with the dealer or is this normal for the VQ engine?

Thanks

 

Question for you. Did you keep the car under 4k rpm for the first 1200 miles? Please feel free to instant message me if you'd like to keep this answer off of a public forum. I'm at 1150 right now, and have ~35 mile trip to the dealership for my 1st oil change this afternoon. On the way home, I plan on LETTING HER RIP. I've read on performance cars, like the E46 M3, that w/o proper break in, the car will drink oil.

Thanks for an honest reply.

2004 Infiniti G35C-6MT
LR/Willow/Premium/Aero/Splash/BSM
30% Lumar Tint, Invinca Shield (C-Bra),
Z-Tube & JWT Pop Charger

 

Neppster,

I religiously followed the break in procedure for the 1st 1200 miles by keeping it under 4k rpm, not going over 80 mph and varying the speed.

Did yours lose oil so far with 1150 miles? Could ou check? I also had Mobil 1 Synthetic put in for my 1st oil change.

 

I heard you should go synthetic after 10k miles and not before...synthetic is too slippery...someone correct me here if I am wrong.
Kerry

 

neffster, you said: "I've read on performance cars, like the E46 M3, that w/o proper break in, the car will drink oil."

Engines are run plenty hard in factory dyno testing before the engine is even dropped in the car. One could argue the G35's real break in period is roughly between 500-600 miles but that's only for the gearing and the clutch. One could argue ATs don't even need to be broken in. My point is that no one really knows for sure the exact importance of breaking in your car or how long it takes, but you can bank on what you read about the car using more oil because it wasn't broken in according to manual standard as being not true...

<font color=red>..</font color=red> 2004 Black 6-Speed <font color=red>..</font color=red>

 

why is the "break-in" period still a damn mystery?
can we just email the factory and ask them how hard they ran the car and wat the break-in rules are?

Coupe 6-spd Twilight Blue/Black Premium

 

Mellowkyle,

I was a member of Road Fly for ~2 years (posted under the user name "neffster" and "road fly on the wall") and came very close to purchsing a 2003 E46 M3. On that forum there is an INCREDIBLE amount of detail paid to break-in (every since BMW was blaming the owners for engine failures by not following "proper break in"). At the end of the investigation it turned out to be a bearing failure (new manufacturer) but in the attempt to find the actual reason for the engine failures, Blackstone labs made Millions of dollars (ha ha) off of the M3 guys. As it turned out, the people who followed proper break-in did not burn oil, and those who "raged on their cars from day one" burned up to 1 quart every month or two. I'm not "smart enough" to make this up, but I followed this situation very closely. By the way the M3 does not come in an automatic, the transmission for the SMG and 6-speed are identical. As for the comment "but you can bank on what you read about the car using more oil because it wasn't broken in according to manual standard as being not true..." I can only tell you what I read over a relatively long period. You may be right when talking about general family sedans, but when referring to higher performance engines I would tend to think there might be something to following proper break in.

Then again what do I know, I'm only a mechnical engineer who's in love with my G Coupe.

As for measuring my oil level, I'm at the "Internet Cafe" at Orlando Infiniti right now, and they've already taken my car back to change the oil. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.


2004 Infiniti G35C-6MT
LR/Willow/Premium/Aero/Splash/BSM
30% Lumar Tint, Invinca Shield (C-Bra),
Z-Tube & JWT Pop Charger

 

seadweller, check this ASAP
https://g35driver.com/forums/showfla...sed&sb=5&part=

You prolly blew the valve cap like MANY other have....im sure it will be a recall in the very near future...im checkin mine this weekend

'03 G35 Coupe | Black on Black | Performance | 20% tint | Clear Corners | http://www.cardomain.com/id/dabomb3

 

Break-in is for the bearings and rings to seat properly. But even more important is the valves to seat properly. Racing enginges don't need this because racing engines might run up to .0010 or more clearance between cylindres and pistons. Larger clearences between crank, rod and bearing. The valves are lapped to there respected seats. After dyno time, these engines are ready to go. Street engines.... even if the bearings were pretty much seated you can't get away from the fact that the valves seats are not. Ohh I forgot about the cams... the proper way to break in cams is between 2500-3500 rpm in gear accelrating and deacclerating. I've built numerous engines both street and espacially racing, so take my word for it. All good to great engines should burn a little oil, means everything is getting lubricated properly. Don't ever try to out think an engineer, you'll lose.

 

Thanks for the link. I will check if I see any sign of leak. Also I don't remember smelling any burnt smell if my oil was leaking.

I will let you guys know.

 

hogger453

As I said I followed the break in procedure you and the factory outlined. I just rechecked my oil level and it shows to be a quarter quart low after 1200 miles. When I checked this morning and it showed half down but it was at a slight incline so I just rechecked it.

My questions is, with your experience, how much oil consumption is normal or acceptable?

Thanks

 

Improper break-in can indeed cause an oil consumption problem. One of the main reasons is that proper break-in is essential to proper piston ring sealing. Most oil consumption problems on a new engine are due to oil getting past the piston rings......which of course consist of at least one oil wiping ring and compression rings as well.

 

Mobile 1 is ok to use anytime. Corvettes come with it from the factory.

 

Keep in mind that some engines are engineered to use synthetic oil from the very beginning. But most engines are not.

If a car came with synthetic oil from the factory, then of course it's fine to continue using it. The G35 does not come with synthetic oil...... so it must be properly broken-in before using synthetic.

 

Seadweller,
The only way you can find out is to have a leakdown test done on the car. This will point out if there is a problem with the combustion chamber components: valves and seats, rings, pistons. I don't think it's a valve issue, you would be losing compression at low speed and dropping a cylinder. Rings might be the problem, the leakdown will check this. If the rings are working correctly, you will see less that 20% loss of pressure on each cylinder. If the leakdown results are within these specs and you are still losing/burning oil, it maybe premature valve guide wear or bad valve seals. I would also get the dealer to check the crankcase ventilation system. Have you changed anything on the intake side? CAI, intake manifold, etc. Check the tailpipes for traces of oily residue, very common on high mileage, oil burning cars. Good luck and keep us posted!

Later,
Phatnine11