To summarize shortly over the past few months my car has been burning oil badly. I'm talking an oil change today and less than 3 quarts left in a couple of weeks. I've taken it to a dealership here in Atlanta who has monitored the oil consumption (3 oil changes since july) only to come back and claim that some modification has been made to the ecu to make the car run excessively rich. That or a piggy back system that is sending a false reading from the o2 sensors to the ecu, bs.

I explained to the service manager that the only modifications I've done are RT Cats, Nismo Exhaust (both of which installed by another dealership) and JWT Pop Charger that I voluntarily took off a few weeks ago.

Today I called Infiniti Consumer Affairs and their position was "you modify the car then you void your warranty." So we're going back and forth while I'm explaining to him that even if my modifications are causing the problem the burden of proof is on them to prove it, he comes back with "well if you read your warranty you'll find that any modification done can void the warranty."

At any rate I am tired and I just need a favor. Consumer affairs seems to believe this is an isolated problem, that literally my car has been the only one with oil consumption problems. If there is a thread listing owners who have had problems with oil consumption can someone please direct me to it? If not, for those of you who have had this problem can you reply or shoot me a pm. Basically Infiniti is trying to say there is nothing else that can be done.



<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by tonio on 10/13/04 08:36 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

Why don't you ask them, how does adding an aftermarket exhaust effect the way oil is being consumed.

I mean oil burning is dealing with the engine itself, the valve stem seals to the piston rings.

S13/SR20 for sale

 

you beat me to it...

an engine with an aftermarket exhuast will not consume more oil , specially on a level like yours... wait a bit, there are many people who have the oil burning issues.. and its just not with the G35.. the 350z crowd has the same problem.

its the engine itself that has the problem and its not caused by a pop charger, or and aftermarket exhuast. any engine burning this much oil has a problem from the start, before any modification.

Infinity will not be able to prove the mods you listed will cause the problem your having, thats why they are so easy to recite your contract and warranty.. thats the typical corp mombo jambo to get out of warranty issues.

goodluck and i hope they service the engine.

 

Sorry, I had to edit the post..I have Random Technology Cats as well..they wont even mention the exhaust. Basically what Infiniti has said is something has been done to the ecu to make the o2 sensors give a false reading, making a very rich condition. Also the dealership said if the problem was actually with the engine that I'd get smoke from the tail pipes which they claim I havent. I could go and take a picture of my exhaust right now and everyone could see how black the tips are.. and they were just cleaned yesterday.

Trust me, I had a reply for whatever bs scenario they gave me. It went from the pop charger, to the cats, to the ecu. I've been reading about this car over the past year, especially since I've decided to go FI so I took it upon myself to learn every little bit about this engine that I could.

One thing that is strange to me though is nobody wants to put anything in writing, whenever I requested it was always some excuse. Right now I'm just documenting everything that has happened and what I've been told.

 

The Magnusson-Moss Act protects you. However, you may have to get a lawyer involved.

 

try a search here, freshalloy, and my350z.com.

The magnusson-moss act trumps anything in the contract that we have with infiniti regarding the warranty if it's contrary to the Act. They could put that an aftermarket lip spoiler will void the warranty on the engine, we could sign it, but it would have no legal effect because the MM act takes precedence.

The next time someone tells you to read the contract (it's chicken sh*t and they know it) tell them to read the MM act, which will control. I would try contacting ICA one more time and see if you can work this out. If not, call the BBB and they will have information or they can point you in the proper direction about filing a claim.

This is the difference between a company who helps you with your issues versus a company that works against anything that costs them $. It's gotta suck for the ICA reps who are basically trying to mislead the consumer regarding the law and our rights.

 

If I understand correctly, the cats would be more prone to creating a lean condition. Regardless, a lean or rich condition should have no effect on burning oil. As someone mentioned above, it has to do with piston rings, etc., unless you have a leak somewhere where it's definitely not the fault of your mods. You're getting the run around. They're hoping to eventually say something that you're not familiar with and make you acquiesce. It's BS.

Try to make complete records such as times, names, and what was discussed. Continue to ask them for their position in writing as there is a good reason that they are refusing.

 

I agree exhaust and intake should not be a factor. IF you do a ecu flash or something then thats different. I think Plenum should be ok too...

 

Take your car and dyno it! Take off the passenger side oxygen sensor on the catalytic converter and get a quazi-accurate A/F plot. Come back on here and post the graph. We can tell you if you are truly running too rich.

Also, as AL said, your mods should be leaning out your car, not making it richer. If you have black soot on your exhaust tips, that just means you're probably making short trips and not letting the car fully warm up. If that's the case it is 100% normal, as the car is DESIGNED to run rich upon start up.

Did the dealership "test" the lean/rich condition of your car when it was warmed up? How did they test your car to PROVE that the damage was caused by your mods?

 

One of the questions I would look for an answer to is how they concluded that the car is running rich. Did they run a diagnostic of some sort that showed conditions that would cause the ECU to add more fuel? If so what were they (very specifically). If they can't tell you, they have pretty much nothing to stand on. And get them to put it in writing like al503 said. It not only commits them to an answer so that if they end up contradicting themselves later, they start to undermine their own credibiilty, and it makes them think twice about committing to something if they are uncertain about it.

 

OBD2 scanners and Consult show the closeness to the as designed 14.7AF [block learn and adaptive learn percentage].
Self learning control coefficient should be near 100%
PO171 or PO174 code show up when the engine is running too lean for a period of time.

Customer services job is to listen to you, but the decision maker will be the Infiniti regional engineer who meets with owners on a regular monthly basis at dealers concerning disagreements.

 

Luckily there is a Dyno day this saturday so you know I will be there just to be sure I'm not being fed BS on the a/f ratio. Nobody specifically said what the air/fuel ratio was, the service manager just said there is a rich condition present.

I do have one question though, the dealership said when the o2 sensors are disconnected they are still getting a reading as if they are connected..this is a grey area for me because I do not know everything about the sensors.

My understanding is the o2 sensors are supposed to detect how much air vs. the amount of fuel is coming through the exhaust and adjust the mixture accordingly if there is a lean or rich condition.. correct me if I'm wrong. Excuse my dumb question but how does the amount of oil used even relate to the a/f ratio?

 

Perhaps I'm missing the point/wrong but as I mentioned before, I don't think the A/F mixture has anything to do with oil consumption. Can anyone enlighten me? The only thing I can think of is that a rich a/f mixture will help keep the cylinders a little cooler which is important for FI concerns but not so much in N/A form.

 

is my car burning oil if the bottom of my exhaust tip is black??
i dont remember wiping them, but they're black rite now.

 

Hey your not alone man. All I have done is the pop charger and she's going through oil like crazy. I am in the middle of a consumption test. Literally 500 miles into a 1000 mile test and it's low by almost 25%. I had to add 4 quarts in 3.5k miles to keep it full last change and it seems to be getting worse. I would add oil now but that would kind of defeat the purpose of the test. I have about 400 miles to go and then I'm takin her back to see what they say. I've been keeping everyone thats interested posted as to what happens so i'll let everyone know where Im at after my next trip to the dealer.