My engine, like a lot of G35s, has rapidly been consuming oil. Note I have a 2005 G35 Sedan 6MT. Last week it completely seized up on the highway and I had to it towed to Infiniti since it is still under warranty. They said the engine is locked up and are requesting a teardown that I pay of $459. Infiniti (not the dealer) wants pictures of valve covers and pick up tube to ensure it wasn't due to sludge buildup. They said sludge build up will cause it to not be covered under warranty. Has anyone had these issues when you had this happen? What do I do??? Anything I should state to them? They are waiting on my decision for the tear down.

Thanks for all help

Personally, they should cover the cost of diagnosing the cause and then implement a solution based on the facts. Making you pay for something like diagnostics is BS especially since the oil burning issue is their fault.

They did say they would reimburse me if it was found to be under warranty, but I agree with you that the assessment should be free. Everytime I have been to Infiniti in the past for anything, the assessment was always free.

How were you supposed to prevent sludge buildup? curious

That's not right. I would turn into an irate customer if they told me that nonsense. As long as you have kept track of your service records then they shouldn't be hassling you like this. Even then, under warranty, they are supposed to do diagnostics at no charge. Sludge build-up shouldn't be a factor for them to say you have to front them the money.

Change the oil at the correct intervals.

OP, at what intervals did you change your oil? Also knowing that your engine Consumed oil how often did you check the dipstick?

THIS.

If your vehicle is still under warranty, then why didn't you bring it in the first time you noticed it consuming oil? Also, it's pretty standard procedure to collect money up front, even if its to cover diagnosis. I don't work for free and neither do you, so if they weren't making you cough up some dough up front, consider it a favor. You dont pay for a movie AFTER you watched it do you?

Sludge is sludge. If its present, you better get out your wallet.

The car was serviced at the intervals below and were all done with full synthetic oil. Dipstick was checked at least once a month too. The car currently has 63,000 miles on it now and I purchased it at 29,580 miles.

1/20/2012 58,957
9/2/2011 53,800
4/15/2011 48,536
11/30/2010 44,613
8/24/2010 42,039
3/5/2010 37,211
11/21/2009 35,819
5/11/2009 32,224
1/23/2009 29,580

Also, Infiniti couldn't get me in for a week to look at the oil consumption and it seized about two days before I was supposed to go in.

Its odd what happened, and in my opinion you should of checked your dipstick alot more frequently before it dropped so low which inevitably caused it to seized,

But you have documentation and proof of oil changes and prior reports of Consumption to the dealer, you should be ok. Use the search uptop you should be able to find tons more info.

Just curious, were you using conventional oil or synthetic?

Mobil 1 full synthetic; that's the reason for the 5000 mile intervals in most of the changes.

Think I am going to tell the local dealer that I am calling Infiniti USA customer service as this seems to have helped others in the past...any thoughts?

Can't hurt, good luck with the fix.