So I just got back from the Infiniti dealership with Janik (wannabe6mt). As maybe a few of you know, I was looking at an 04 G sedan 6mt and was planning on taking the trek down to Grand Rapids tomorrow to look at it and potentially pick it up.

Well, the Infiniti dealer made me second guess myself on this car.... Some good, and some bad. The good, all maintenance was performed timely at the dealership there in Grand Rapids. All scheduled maintenance (tranny, coolant, etc) done at every interval. The bad, second to last maintenance at the dealer, they reported it to be 3 quarts low (maybe just really late on the change??), and they found some sludge in the engine.

I thought that the DE motor was safe from the 'oil consumption' issues, or was I mistaken? Is this normal??? I am really bummed because I was excited about picking up this car tomorrow, but now I am not sure if it will be worth it. Any insight would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

Some guys have reported the DE to use oil.

My engine, per every 4k miles uses about 1 quart of oil each change. It's done this since new, and been consistent through 85k miles. In fact, I get the same amount of oil out each time. So I haven't worried about it.

However, 3 quarts...is excessive

 

Regular VQ motors can burn oil as well just like any other motor out there. The non rev-up motors do not have as high of a chance of burning oil but none the less every motor is different and look at all these cases of non rev-up burning oil. I would worry about the sludge on the motor since there is probably sludge all over the engine which is creating a seal. I would imagine over time the sludge will break down if you are good with oil changes but then might create a leak that the sludge was sealing up.


https://g35driver.com/forums/5939018-post9.html.


SLUDGE

https://g35driver.com/forums/5925370-post4.html

 

You should feel lucky you caught it vs the dealer topping off the oil level and not saying anything about it.

 

This is very true, I was just really anxious to buy a car finally. Then having to find this out put a damper on the day

I am glad that I found this out before buying the car I am just really sick of looking for a car at this point.

 

Take your time. They will only get cheaper as time goes by. You'll find a good one

 

Run away, not just walk... lol 3 quarts low and sludge = person waited too long to change the oil.

If you have the history report, when was the last time it was in for an oil change before sludge was noted?

Also without taking apart the motor always check the dipstick for sludge also open the oil fill cap and shine a light in, if there is anything that looks like sludge then you know to run away. Here is a pic I took a bit ago of the fill cap (PIC)

before you drive to see the car, get the Vin# and check the service history at a dealer near you.

 

^Thats what we did this morning and thats how we found out about the sludge.

 

Yeah.. definitely pass on that one.. It's not worth the trouble that it may cause you later on down the road. In time you'll find one! Took me awhile to find mine, friggin manuals and in good condition are so rare

 

yeah tell me about it, I have been looking for a while now and just haven't found anything. It just sucks not having a mode of transportation other than a motorcycle.

 

Correct me if im wrong but does sludge in the engine mean that the engine is burning oil?

I mean what if the car has sludge but doesn't burn 3 quarts of oil like the one the OP saw.
Then can someone just use and engine oil cleaner or pre oil change engine cleaner to remove the sludge?

Oil changes at 18K intervals is just plain sad.

 

So what is your budget?

Have you thought of maybe using an Auto broker?

 

Buy mine! Its 5at though lmao

 

Mine never came with manuals either but searchable PDF is so much better lol. I also have it on my dropbox so if I need to see it I can on my phone.


Conventional motor oils or anything with "dino oil" once they are used too much they break down and sludge build up happens.

You can get sludge in the piston rings which can cause Oil consumption due to bad sealing. On the piston walls, bearing..ect

if the car was 3 quarts low, then there is a possibility that up to 3 quarts of oil sludged up in the engine.

I am no expert but if I were to guess, good conventional motor oil can at least at max if I were to guess 2 to 3 missed changes (8kto 12k) before sludging up really bad 12k is already pushing it very hard, I would cry if someone went 12k on conventional, having 3 quarts gone can mean more then just 2 to 3 changes missed.

 

^+1

Mine uses oil at just about the same rate.

When I first bought my car, before signing anything I checked the oil, but couldn't really tell what was going on due to the fact I didn't know about the retarded design of the VQ dipstick and the fact you have to wait about 30+ mins after you shut the car off before you can get an accurate read

Anyway, I changed the oil a few days later and only got about 2.5 QT out, which worried me a bit. However, I did change it on an incline (found out later the G don't like that)
But the car did fine, and I checked it regularly, noting that it did use oil at a higher rate than I was used to from previous cars.
However, I switched to 10-40 and a better oil and it's rate of consumption went down.

That was all at around 100K and I'm over 130k now with no problems.

One thing to note though, I did have a valve cover off not long ago and there was no sign of sludge. Cams looked practically brand new. So yeah... the sludge thing would concern me too.

How much are they asking for it?