My cousin owns an autoshop so I have seen one of these first hand. It had a dial like a one handed clock that rotated ticking off the quarts going into the engine.

And yeah I think they ought to check the stick before giving you your car back. Man maybe I better go out and check my oil level.

2003.5 5AT Sedan Black/Black Premium/Winter Packages

 

It seems members are confusing the necessity of keeping the oil level full and changing the oil at warranty intervals.

Just because it is changed doesn't relieve you of checking it frequently enough to understand the usage rates and refill as necessary to maintain warranty.

The problem seems to be that members rely on some kind of previous history as to oil consumption. What you previous engine used has nothing to do with what your current engine does.

Getting an engine replaced because of excess oil consumption is another case entirely from letting an engine fail because the oil level is low. Till [when] the engine is replaced you still have the obligation to check the level frequently and add oil to keep it full.

 

Important to understand the few minimal things owners must do besides keeping ALL fluid at correct oem level is ABSOLUTELY not to drive a mile when a problem is indicated.

Call roadside assistance and have it towed to dealer.

Driving it in with no oil or coolant or a broken fan belt or other prohibited USE is evidence that you mistreated the car by driving it in a broken condition!
So you contributed to the damage.

 

Q45tech, how do we check the oil level on the G35? Seriously... have you ever tried to get an accurate reading off the dip stick?

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Not sure if I agree its our responsiblity to check the oil often, after all if my mom 68 years old buys a new G35, she will have no clue how to check the oil. As long as she takes it in for its routine oil changes at the right time, it should not be her responsiblity to check the oil. Its up to Infiniti to figure out what the consumtion rate of oil is in there car and base the mile/time schedule around that.

This is the first time i've ever head someone say its our responsiblity to maintain fluid levels in a car that is serviced regularly by Inifiniti.

Now i can see if all you do is race your car all the time, then I can see it being somewhat your job to keep tabs on the mainatance of your car. But if you dont, then the regular mainatance should be fine and if the car sucks up the oil between a 3000 mile oil change, then there is something seriously wrong with that car. And should fall on Infiniti to fix it.

2003.5 G35 Sedan White/6MT - 2004 350z Roadster Black/6MT

 

If he said that he checked the oil on the dipstick and in was "coated", that means either he didnt wipe it down prior to reinserting for the proper reading, or it had enough oil. Hard to say, but the fact is that he had intermittent low oil pressure and continued to drive the car. And it was making "awful sounds" while driving to the dealer. Awful sounds are metal/metal contact and its already too late. This will be a tough one since there appears to be negligence on both sides. Good luck. BTW, the old rule of thumb was to check oil level every other fillup. This is the second G I've read about that was killed by low oil pressure. Shame.

 

Since when did checking oil level at gas fill-ups become OK? I have always been under the impression that you are supposed to check the engine oil when it is cold. It has been suggested on this thread that we need to check the oil when filling up with fuel.

I see a couple problems with this.

1. the Oil does not have time to get back into the pan so you do not get an accurate reading.

2. The reading you do get when the engine is warm is skewed by the fact the oil is all over the dipstick.

3. The damn dipstick is hot, so unless Infiniti gives me a set of mechanics gloves to check the oil level with, then I will never do it.
BTW, a lot of gas stations in Southern California do not stock papertowels because people either steal them or it would cut into their profit too much, so papertowels are not an option.

Please tell me if checking oil during a fill up is good or bad to do.....

I would hate to overfill the oil at a gas station because the oil level is at the bottom of the crosshatched level, which generally means you are a quart low. Then I would add a quart, but then I would think the engine holds approximately a quart in it when it is not in the pan. Therefore, by me adding another quart, I would be a quart over.

F.Y.A.

 

It doesnt have to be checked AT the gas station. Its just a rule of thumb interval. It is hot in there and it does take some time for the oil to drain back, but even then, you have to worry if you check while hot and nothing shows on the stick. There's not that much oil topside. The main thing is to not assume anthing. Check the dealers work, and DO NOT assume that you can drive with abandon during service intervals without any owner diligence. Theres no way for Infiniti to predict oil consumption on every G. Break-in difference, driving style, oil type, etc. can make consumption vary significantly. Its safe to say that being 2-3 qts. low on a VQ and driving aggressively is bad news. Going through a couple qts. between service can and does happen all the time especially with stop/go in hot weather.

 

I gathered all my service invoices and I had the 30k service done on 08-06-04 @ 28,081 miles on the odometer. I had the "engine failure" on 09-03-04 @ 29,006 miles. I find it hard to believe I burned 3.5 quarts of oil in 925 miles of normal driving. Wouldn't there been large volumes of smoke coming from the exhaust???

 

You burned ~~ 200 quarts of gasoline to go 925 miles......3.5 quarts of oil would be 1.75%-2% oil if it was evenly distributed.

The new cats might cover this much up!

2 cycle engines [weedwhackers] use 32:1 oil to gasoline ratio .........3% and they smoke little and have no cats and the exhaust is in front of your eyes.

Don't get me wrong that is extreme oil consumption, 4,5,6 times what could be considered worst case normal and 15-20 times what I am use to........less than a quart in 3,000 miles.

But not checking the oil in 925 miles is negligent not checking it in almost a month is negligent.

Try to give them [Infiniti] the impression that you checked it once a week and it looked ok to you. You saw oil on the stick.
Owners are not legally expected to be experts just to perform normal diligence.

Hopefully you don't get a judge that checks his every morning [like me].

 

He should not have to prove that he checks his oil monthly, thats absurd. I know the majority of the people on this board are into there cars more then the average person. But this brings up my question again. Is my mother who is 68 years old, expected to check her oil every month? I GURANTEE you that if you ask anyone at a infiniti dealership that, they will say no. That as long as you bring it in for its regular oil changes / tune ups, that is all that is required from you.

Now if she put a supercharger on it, or modified the engine itself in anyway, then I agree with you 100% that you should check your oil and other fluids every few weeks. But if the car is stock (even if it just has an aftermarket exhaust on it) you should not have to keep checking the oil every several weeks.

Is it a good idea to check every few weeks? Yes

Is it required of you in order to maintain warrenty? No (as long as you bring it to the dealership as required for regular maintance and oil changes)

If Nissan can't make a car that can go 3000 miles without burning up all its oil, then there cars are complete junk. and there engineers are pathetic. Now if the car had like 200,000 miles on it then thats a different story...

2003.5 G35 Sedan White/6MT - 2004 350z Roadster Black/6MT

 

#1 I'm not going to lie and say I checked the oil when I really didn't.
#2 If I have to check the oil every time I fill up my gas tank, I don't want the car. I don't know anyone that really does that.
#3 I had every single scheduled maintenance performed on my car.
#4 I took the car to them as soon as I saw there was a problem.