hi-
at about 18k, surprise, suprise, my oil light came on. quickly checking it i noticed the dipstick was barely marked. i brought it into the dealer who concluded that the mechanic on the previous oil changed didn't fill it back up. i now have 21 k on the car and again, my oil light has come on again. before you ask, no, i have not been using synthetic oil. i did a search and found a few other mentions of excessive oil consumption, but nothing definitive. anyone else out there know anything about this?

thanks in advance!

mike

 

i got my oil changed at 1800 miles to syn. now about 4800 i check my oil all the time sometimes it says its high then low bla bla bla that dipstick sucks *** imo, um i drive that car like crazy not really noticing an excessive consumtion, actually none at all, one things for sure is that the sensors suck on cars they always come on at the last minute, just when your oil is gone the light comes on instead of when its a bit low like it should, same with the tire sensor etc. etc. have no idea if this remotely helps but the only thing i can suggest is checking to make sure the dipstick and cap are tyte, take it to the dealer, again, and tell them to look at it, your car should not be going through 3-4 quarts of oil every 3000 miles no matter how bad u drive

'04.5 Diamond Graphite/Graphite
Premium, Aero, Tire Package
Corners, Windows up mod,
BelTronics Rx65 Radar

 

as far as i can tell, its not leaking or dripping....the garage floor is spotless (aside from where my 67 alfa parks, but hey, those are italians for you...). ...i found another thread that discusses this, put alas, no definite answers, just complaints.

btw, the dealer's first question was, have you been using synthetic oils?

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

btw, the dealer's first question was, have you been using synthetic oils?

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oh great

 

I ran through roughly 2.5 quarts in my first 3500 miles which was in my opinion REDICULOUS but the good news is that it has slowed dramatically to about 1 qt every ~3000 miles. The dealer blamed it on the break-in period. I know at least one person on the forum has had their entire engine replaced because of this issue. Hope this is of any help.



2004.5 Black on Black 6MT, Aero, Premium, Navi

"It's a celebration bitches" - Rick James

 

most probably leaking internally, ie, being consumed by the engine itself. this is very bad and you have to get the dealer to perform a leak test. do not allow them to charge you for this test. do not be surprised if you end up needing a new engine, but no matter what, do not allow them to blame this on you.

also remember that every dealer is different, if at all possible, take it to another one.

 

great.....i live in hawaii....i think this is only a 1 horse town...and that horse is not the best

 

Welcome to the club, I have the same problem and many others are having this problem. Trust me, its nothing isolated to your car alone. Find a dealership that is willing to work with you. Send me a pm and I can give you some other info as well.

 

After a little bull from the dealer, call infiniti directly. They know this problem exists. such large oil comsumption is a problem.

 

I'm guessing you guys all were bangin' on the thing before the break in period was up. right? The piston rings need time to seat against the cylinder walls. If they do not seat, you get blowby - oil, under pressure, making its way past the oil ring and the compression rings and into the combustion chamber. Do any of you see your car's exhaust smoking - especially at initial startup? If you get a puff of smoke upon start up - you have blowby.

There could be manf. problems as well, I don't know, I'm only telling you what it could be. Either way - get the dealer to fix it - they will. They have no proof that you did not break the car in properly.

'04 coupe6mt
ivory premium aero

92 plymouth laser AWD
heavily modified for solo II
11.51@118 on 215/55 goodyear eagles

03 dodge ram quadcab 4X4 Hemi

 

The only escape clause the factory has [from warranty] is owners not being able to prove [in detailed legal writing] they had the oil changed every 90 days. Or that they checked the level frequently and never ran the oil low adding makeup amounts to keep it correct.

Just because it uses oil doesn't remove your legal obligation to check and keep it full.

But Infiniti has been pretty easy about engine replacement after the situation gets documented correctly.

Why home/non dealer changes are a problem as the process could be done in error or with wrong viscosity or defective filters, etc.

Just because you have receipts for oil/filter purchases at Walmart doesn't mean your oil was changed.

 

but this doesn't address the issue of consumption. not changing the oil for 6000 miles isn't going to cause the motor to burn oil. The only way for a motor to consume oil is to burn it in the combustion chamber. There are only three ways this is possible. 1. through a crack 2. past the piston rings 3. past the valve seals.

I agree, you still have the responsibilty to maintain the level of oil and if you spin a bearing they may have an arguement. What I am saying is they don't really have an arguement over the fact that it is using oil in the first place.

'04 coupe6mt
ivory premium aero

92 plymouth laser AWD
heavily modified for solo II
11.51@118 on 215/55 goodyear eagles

03 dodge ram quadcab 4X4 Hemi

 

Q45tech, that seems to be your standard response to this issue. Its really not all that helpful, unless you are directly profiting from how many changes your dealership does. It appears like you may know more about the VQ that many of us here. Why not give your opinion on the problem instead the dealer issue? (which is pretty much moot at this point)

 

Changed my oil today... got 3.75 qts. out. So my VQ consumed 1.25 qts in 4K miles; a quart every 3200 miles, seems to be typical for a lot of VQs out there.


<font color=red>chinee</font color=red>
03.5 G35s

 

Look I am an automotive enthusiast above all things and that is the reason that I bought this car. I am quite capable of performing the ever so complicated oil change on my sports car believe it or not. At $80.00 for an oil change at Infiniti they can suck it if they expect me to come in every 3 or 4 weeks at the pace that I drive for an oil change that is easy to perform and costs me less than $30.00 to do myself. Not to mention the fact that I enjoy turning a wrench on my car every now and then.

The way that I look at it is this. I bought this car because I have worked hard enough to be able to afford a car that will not give me too many problems and if it does the dealer will take care of them as they should. If it was headaches I wanted would have kept my Honda or bought an American car but I’m too busy for that crap. Let’s all not forget the Infiniti total ownership experience that I for one thought I was paying for when I decided to buy this car. Quality car and Quality service is what I expected and still expect to this day.

I am currently dealing with the oil burning issue as we speak but I have not made it past the oil consumption test yet for the past 3 months. First because of a crappy dealer and now because they dealer that I am going to has me on my second test of 1000 miles. It’s annoying but I’ll do what they want as long as they fix the problem.

Just so you know this rant is not directed at Q45tech in any way. He has been a lot of help on the forum with the car. It’s just toward Infiniti in general and the thought of having to fight for things that you thought you already bought into. I understand that Infiniti has to watch what they are repairing but to go out of the way to deny claims as they sometimes seem to do seems a little underhanded to me.

As for me I do monitor my oil and perform the changes and no I do not have my Wal-Mart receipts cause If I did I would share the real price of oil with Infiniti as opposed to the ridiculous price that they charge.

K I’m done with my rant. Thanks for listening!!