dont forget to drain out ur spark plug holes while ur at it if ur lookin for that oil

 

All internal combustion engines burn some degree of oil just by nature of how the motor is designed. Seals and rings aren't a 100% perfect seal, and engine internals are subject to extreme heat variances and subsequent expansion/contraction of internal sealing parts, so some oil will burn off over the course of time between oil changes. A healthy, newer, low-millage car will usually burn a near negligible amount per oil cycle... something like a fraction of a quart of oil every 3500 to 4K miles (maybe 1/4 to 1/8th of a quart).


As far as what to do about the situation.... I would just keep driving it normally and try to pay close attention to the oil level to make sure it's not burning it off at an increased rate and keep yourself from running into a situation where your oil gets dangerously low. If your motor needs a rebuild, there's nothing you're going to be able to do easily or externally to fix the problem and the only real solution is a rebuild, a new short block or a whole new motor.... but that would be an extreme conclusion to jump to at this point in time.

Running 5K oil change intervals with low oil is extremely bad. When your oil gets low( say 3 quarts), the oil that is in there is subject to more abuse per measure of oil than it would in a car with 5 quarts in it, comparatively speaking. That small amount of oil needs to perform the same level of lubrication that 5 quarts normally does, so the oil wears out quicker. Coupling that with an extended oil change interval is really the worst of both worlds. If you ran 3 Quarts of oil in your car for an entire 5K oil change cycle, by the time you changed the oil, your remaining oil in the car would be equivalent to having done between 8400 and 9000 miles on a full 5 quarts of oil from the get-go. Hopefully you're starting out with a full 5 quarts like you should be, and ending up with 3, so it's only low for a portion of the oil change cycle rather than the whole thing.

 

^^well said..u gave him more time than i wanted to..

 

like i have said to the op...change the oil then go 3k miles and change it again and see where ur at..dont let it go to 5k anymore thats not going to do you any favors..keep track of your oil just to be sure its not getting too low but i think if u just change it at 3k instead of 5k you would be much better off and surprised at what you might find.

 

Yea I would just monitor the dipstick and add fluid if it gets to half on the dipstick. I would forget about measuring how much you get from a drain as it will vary.

 

Oc Issues are due to bad piston rings. A problem solved with a rebuild if u want to go that route. A few that have had their engines replaced by warranty still run into the OC problem. Even if u were to replace ur engine with a used one u should have it rebuilt just in case so u dont run into the problem again. High quality aftermarket rings and pistons are easy to find.

 

if i ever run in to the oc prob. im just going to build the engine.

 

lol at all Shane11's recommendations... Stroker kit to fix oc.

 

Agreed. i change my oil every 3k and get about 4.5 qts out of it. here's definitely oil consumption going on hence the 3k mi oil change...i dont mind changing it that often if it minimizes the risk of not having enough oil while driving hard and cornering. ppl will tell you that todays motor oil lasts over 10k mi but i wouldn't risk it to save $25 of oil.

 

So thats the reason behind Nissans poorly designed oil dipstick so that we would be too lazy to check and notice the oil consumption.

 

Thx for all the helpful replies guys. I just changed my oil today ill wait and see what happens in the next 3k miles hopefully its not OC issues and i get closed to 4.5 quarts back after 3k miles oil change. I tho it was fine running synthetic oil up to 5k miles maybe that's where my problem is hopefully changing it every 3k fixes the issue.And out of curiosity around how much does a engine rebuild typically cost with new short block? Just in case i need that in the future .Thanks guys.

 

Idk if id rebuild with a stroker as im not near a tuner. Id probably go with light weight pistons rods in stock ratios then maybe a flywheel and clutch. Im seriously thinking the steps and whats needed for the rebuild and this is much cheaper than a stroker too.

 

If youre using mobil1 extended life (they say every 15,000) I would still change at least every 4,000. 15,000 would mean you drive the car like grandma in nice cold weather haha. but do 3k here to check your oil consumption. I have a little, i eat about a 1/3 quart every thousand miles which sounds similar to you. just keep an eye on it and start slowly putting a little money away each day for that ls1

 

I spit my coffee on my keyboard when i read that lol

 

You should switch over to German Castrol 0W30..... see how your car does with that oil. That's all I run in my G after doing some research years ago over on the BITOG forums (Bob Is The Oil Guy) and people had good results with that oil on our motors based on a plethora of used oil analysis reports. Many people were reporting less than desirable results using the modern Mobil-1 formulation of synthetic oil on VQ engines.... excessive valve-train wear, if I remember correctly was the common culprit on more than a fair share of VQ engines that ran that oil consistently.

German Castrol, although rated as a 0W30 oil, is not a super-thin oil... it just flows well at low temperatures. You can only buy it at Auto-Zone and you have to look on the back label specifically for the little insignia that says "Made in Germany".... which is different than the "European Formula" Castrol Syntec that says "Made in the USA".