^ Normally they don't automatically change that. They didn't with mine. Heard some upgrade their clutch/fw since it's all removed anyway during swap and that's the cheapest time (labor wise) to do that.

I'm in the same situation. Went back after 500 miles for an unrelated sensor issue and they did the oil check anyway. Said I was down 3mm and put on the service order that they didn't top it off and I should come back in another 500 miles. Checked it later that day to find they fully topped it off and lied on the service order about not.

Went back today at 2100 miles into the test. Insisted that the car didn't leave my sight and brought my own ruler. 20mm down which according to the chart I also happened to bring is a failure.

Now they are telling me infiniti always wants them to check twice. Seems someone has a tsb reading comprehension problem and it ain't me. Nothing on there about doing the test twice, it's a pass/fail. They topped it off again and told me to come back in another 1000. At least I made sure the service record says 20mm down at 2100 miles. I will call infiniti on Monday and start squeaking. I'm starting to feel this will be my first and last Nissan purchase. I love the car but I hate getting played.

^Yup...don't ya just love that BS :icon22:

Wow...your dealer still yanking your chain. They're either dumb as a rock or really don't want to do your swap. May want to consider a different dealership. I did and got played by them too (topped me off as well and documented as FULL after ~1200mi :mad: ), but they had many master mechanics and swaps under their belt, so stuck with them b/c my other (first dealer who over filled me at start of testing :mad: ) WAS dumb as a rock and no way competent in a VQ swap imo as I later found out with a window issue they couldn't figure out.

Have heard a few times on revup OC threads here and other forums, about each dealer having to keep their warranty to non-warranty monthly ratio in check or Corp will get on their arse. I'm one to believe there is some truth to that assumption and with reading many owners stories...good/bad/being played all with the same OC issue and same TSB in force. Same with our 350Z cousins and their Nissan dealerships.

Whatever the outcome with CS, get a case # (important) and document everything. Trust me on that one bro ;)

just wanted to share my experience so far:

Thanks to the people on this site, I found this TSB after picking up a very low mileage (15k) used 06 6MT coupe. I started checking my oil, and sure enough, it was using quite a bit. I set up an appointment at Elk Grove Infiniti (CA) and started the test. EG infiniti has been nothing but courteous and professional. THe service manager was aware of the problem. They checked my oil, gave me a free oil/filter change and sent me out for 1000 miles. I came back then, dropped off the car, it measure 13mm down, and the service guy said he would order the engine (long block) right away. They are going to try and get me in on Sept 1st.

If anyone in Nor-Cal is getting grief from their dealer, Elk Grove Infiniti has been super painless and easy to work with. I will report back after the TSB/swap is finished.

L to H mark is TWO quarts on my 06 G35 6MT
 

I've read lots of posts about oil consumption on several Infiniti and even Nissan related sites... I'm an engineer and tend to be pretty analytical and after having read about oil consumption issues on these 6MT's I watched my oil consumption like a hawk... The first time it got down even a little bit, I added a certain number of ounces of oil, thinking at the time the L - H marks represented a span of 1 quart of oil... But when I added a small and certain number of ounces of oil and let it sit as long as overnight, the oil only came up half as far as I expected (if L - H represented 1 quart)... Even after driving the car and then letting it sit overnight again, the oil had only come up half as much as I expected... So I kept just adding oil slowly until I got it to full and decided to figure out what was going on when I did my first oil changed... First, however, I did call my local Infiniti dealer and asked what the L - H span represented... He went to double check with one of the service tech and when he came back to the phone he said, "L - H span =1 quart"... And I've seen several posts here (I actually decided to read all 21 pages though toward the end I admittedly started skipping around a bit) that also say L - H = 1 quart... But no... When I did my first oil change, after dropping out all the oil and replacing the filter, I first added 3 quarts and let it sit for quite a while... I didn't start it with 3 quarts in it because that's too low but I checked the level and it was where I predicted it would be, at the L mark... I then added one more full quart (now at a total of 4)... After letting it sit and checking it was now about half way between L and H... And then I added the 5th quart, slowly to make sure I didn't overfill and when I finally got almost all of it in, I drove the car around for a while to move all the oil around, then let it sit overnight... The next morning I checked where it was and it showed that I needed to add exactly the amount left in that 5th quart of oil... In summary, it takes TWO quarts in my 06 G35 6MT to go from L - H... That seems consistent also with what I've seen in the ITB08-002c that is talked a lot about in this thread... Speaking in length, the L - H marks on my car's dipstick span about 24 mm... So half of that, what I am saying is one quart, would be 12 mm... If you look at the middle column on page 7 of that ITB (the oil consumption chart) they say the 12 and even 13 mm of oil used in the range of 2001-2500 miles still qualified as GOOD... But if 12 mm represented only 1/2 quart as many say (those like my dealer who said L - H (24 mm) is one quart, thus 12 mm would be 1/2 quart), that would imply that your car was getting at least 2 x 2001 or about 4000 miles per quart and heck yeah they would call that good... The 14 mm reading on that middle column would be in the NO GOOD but if 12 mm was a half quart, that would say that 14/12 = 1.2 x .5qt = .6 quarts and that would still be at least 2001/.6 = 3335 miles per quart and I doubt they would consider that to be bad... Bottom line is, and sorry for making this so long but I'm trying to make the point clearly, I'm more than convinced that both my measurements and this ITB indicate that the span between L and H at least on my 06 G35 6MT is TWO quarts, not one... It's an easy thing to test... The next time your oil gets down even a few mm (you gotta use a mm ruler to get it right) count the number of mm's down from H it is... As an example, say it is down 6 mm... The L - H = 1 quart folks would say that is 6/24 = 1/4 of a quart below full... I would say that is 1/2 quart below full... So go ahead and add a quarter of a quart when it's 6 mm below full... If it comes up to full, then on your car, the dipstick IS 1 quart L - H... But if it comes up only half the amount it was originally below full, then like on my car, your dipstick represents TWO quarts L - H...

Again, sorry for the long post but knowing how much oil is represented on the dipstick is a pretty important deal, especially in these cars that seem to burn oil... My car, by the way, at 21.6 thousand miles gets 2650 miles/quart... When it was younger it did worse for a while (say 1800/miles per quart) but it has improved to where it is today and seems to hold there so I don't think I would qualify for a new engine...

Does anyone agree or disagree with my statement that the L - H span on an 06 G35 6MT is TWO quarts???

thanks... bob..

it's definatly more than a quart. Anybody who has filled it from l to h can attest to that. What good would a dipstick be if its entire range was 1/5 of capacity?

diitto-bob,

I haven't measured or tried any of this and don't have a consumption problem either. However your analysis makes perfect sense to me.

Both my VQ's were/are not like that.
24mm = exactly L to H lines on my mm ruler.
L/H = 1qt after I add and let sit.
5qts w/filter = H line on stick after 30sec run to fill filter and let sit. No driving it around.
:dunno: what else to say about that.

Just did another oil change at 3757 miles on V2 (fourth one with 2017mi on this oil) Sending off for UOA analysis.

My V2 used 8mm of oil in this past interval and has improved since last interval. Hope it continues to improve.

When I total my consumption with all service intervals done since swap, it = 20mm consumed in 3757 miles.

Could some engines be different regarding dipstick span?
 

Wow... I hear you... I've seen you and enough other people talk about the L-H span being ONE quart that it was always hard to believe that so many could have it wrong... and then there was the service manager at my local Infiniti dealer who told me the same thing... In fact, that is why I wrote such a long post describing my experience because it seems implausible that I could have a VQ35DE that has a TWO quart L-H span... Does it seem reasonable or even possible that at some point Infiniti might have changed over to a 2 quart L-H dipstick design??? I mean I'd love to discover that somehow I've been making some crazy measurement mistake because my oil consumption would suddenly double to over 5,000 miles per quart if mine was also 1 quart L-H... But it just ain't so... As I said in my longer post, from empty, three quarts brings it to L on the stick.. A fourth quart brings it halfway between L and H... And a 5th quart fills it to H... End of story... Gosh, does anyone have any ideas of how or why some engines (VG35DE) might be 1 quart L-H and others might be 2 quarts L-H??? Seems hard to believe... Thoughts anyone??? thanks...

^ I believe what your saying on your observations. Long time ago on 350Z forum OC thread, a few members basically said the same thing as you. L/H=2qts. It was never figured out why when the rest were like mine at only 1qt.

24mm is 24mm, so I rule out your L/H marks as being different than mine and your stick is designed for 2qts and mine for 1qt. Only other thing I can think of (just thought of this since this subject has been brought up again lol and it's a long shot from a manufactures stand-point, but bear with me)....your oil pan dimensions might somehow be slightly different than mine. I now look at this as a total cubic volume to surface level measurement equation formula.

Mathematically, you can change your L/W/D (oil pan in this case) anyway you want and still equal same total cubic volume it contains at a final surface level required (5qts in this situation at F mark on stick), but when you change those dimensions, you change the surface level measurement increments as you add equal parts (in this case 1/5th at a time) and will register differently on stick as you add oil. Hope that made sense. Basic Algebra.

Do you possibly have an aftermarket pan installed with slightly different dimensions but same total cubic volume and final surface level? That's the only thing I can think of or somehow there's a different pan on yours perhaps for a FWD vehicle that also uses the VQ35DE like the Nissan Altima for example. Long shot I know, but maybe that pan dimensions are different and somehow was installed on your VQ35DE. Only logical explanation I can think of from a mathematical point of view.

Maybe it's all about marketing...
 

Hi... Thanks for the response... Here's my theory about why there might be some G35's with a 1 quart L-H span and others with a 2 quart span...

First, before I address that, my 06 6MT is totally stock, including the oil pan... And my dipstick is 24 mm L-H just like your's...

Now for my theory... Perhaps as this OC issue began to unfold and grow larger, maybe Infiniti looked at what it meant to have to tell customers they need to add oil in between intervals even as short as 3750 miles... My car is a perfect example of how marketing and customer relations might play a role in why my car and some others have a 2 quart L-H dipstick... As I stated elsewhere my car gets 2650 miles/quart... If I had a 1 quart L-H span system and if I waited until the car got to 3750 miles to get interested in the oil level (which I wouldn't do but I think lots of folks do do), the oil level would have already fallen off the bottom of the dipstick, never a happy thing to see... So perhaps the Infiniti engineers decided that these cars would be ok if they were as much as TWO quarts low so perhaps, at some point they put in a mod that changed the length and/or width of the oil pan such that 24 mm's of depth change now corresponded to two quarts rather than one... That way, again for my car, at 3750 miles after an oil change, I would be down 1.4 quarts but that would still be well above the L mark on the dipstick... That is likely a much easier sell from a marketing/customer relations stand point even though nothing about the engine itself has changed... Smoke and mirrors, in other words.. You said this was mentioned on a 350Z forum "a long time ago" and maybe they made this change on 350Z's before they changed it on the G35's????

A year plus ago I posted this same question on a different forum and by far most folks responded very clearly with the same answer you've offered, one quart L-H... However, one person who owned an 06 G35 Sedan said this,

"...I have only let the oil go down near the L level once and that was when I first got the G35. I did not initally realize that this engine used oil (2006 Sedan 6sp manual) It took two quarts to bring the oil level up to the H level."

At the time I questioned whether maybe he and I were just wrong but since then I've come to know that's not the case... And now you tell me of others who report the same thing... But clearly there are more "1 quarters" than "2 quarters", or so it would seem...

So my thought would be that Infiniti is making some engines with a modified oil pan... Now you, if I recall, recently got a new engine replacement and you stated it clearly was 1 quart L-H... And obviously that is a newer engine than mine... But perhaps newness isn't the only deciding factor... Maybe they just put out a slug of them at some time or whatever... Maybe engines manufactured in one location versus some other??? Who knows??? It would be interesting to hear from someone who owns say an 07 G35 6MT to see if they have a 2 quart dipstick... But the bottom line is I am now convinced that some subset of at least 06 G35's have a 2 quart oil span L-H... I have another closely related topic to bring up but I think I'll post that separately...

thanks for the feedback... bob...

I have an 07 6mt coupe. I'll let you guys know what L/H is on my car as soon as I can.

James

Converting ITB "mm" readings to miles/quart
 

Since I would guess most people think of oil consumption in "how many miles am I getting per quart of oil consumed" I took the chart on page 7 of the Nissan Service Bulletin ITB08-002c and converted the information there into miles per quart. If, for example, 7mm of measured oil loss was considered GOOD and 8mm was considered NO GOOD (Nissan's words), then I used 7.5 mm as the crossover from "GOOD" to "NO GOOD"...

By the way, others have reported elsewhere in this thread that you can download this bulletin (ITB08-002c) at

www.infinitihelp.com

if you first do a free registration signup...

For my 06 G35 6MT I know (see earlier posts of mine) that the L-H span (24 mm of length on the dipstick) for my engine represents TWO quarts of oil. So using 2 quarts in my calculations, take for example the first entry in that table on page 7 of the ITB. The low limit of that first set of miles shown there is 1001 miles. I take that number of miles (1001) and then divide that by the given crossover point from "GOOD" to "NO GOOD" of 7.5 mm... That gives me miles/mm... Then I multiply that answer by mm/quart on the dipstick and since I say for my car the mm/quart would be that 24 mm is equivalent to 2 quarts I would get 24 mm/2 quarts or 12 mm/quart... So for that first entry of 1001 miles I would simply have

1001 / 7.5 x 12 = 1602 miles/quart... Applying that now to the entire table in that ITB I get...

...for the 2 quart L-H span case

Miles Range-->1001-1500, "No Good" at (mm)-->7.5, Implied miles/qt range-->1602-2400
Miles Range-->1501-2000, "No Good" at (mm)-->10.5, Implied miles/qt range-->1715-2286
Miles Range-->2001-2500, "No Good" at (mm)-->13.5, Implied miles/qt range-->1779-2222
Miles Range-->2501-3000, "No Good" at (mm)-->18.5, Implied miles/qt range-->1622-1946
Miles Range-->3001-3500, "No Good" at (mm)-->22.5, Implied miles/qt range-->1601-1867
Miles Range-->3500-3750, "No Good" at (mm)-->24.5, Implied miles/qt range-->1715-1837

So if your engine has a L-H span of 2 quarts like mine does, then the above miles/quart ranges are where Nissan/Infiniti is saying an engine is "NO GOOD" and can be replaced if the car is still under warranty... So, for example, if you came in at just below 1500 miles since the oil was verified at the H mark and you were down say 8mm (in the "NO GOOD" range)(8/12=2/3 of a quart), your miles per quart for that would be around 2250 miles/qt and Nissan/Infiniti says that is low enough to justify replacement...

But clearly lots of other similar G35 6MT's have engines with a L-H span of 1 quart (again, see previous posts). If L-H represents 1 quart then all the numbers in the last column above simply double to give the following...

...for the 1 quart L-H span case

Miles Range-->1001-1500, "No Good" at (mm)-->7.5, Implied miles/qt range-->3204-4800
Miles Range-->1501-2000, "No Good" at (mm)-->10.5, Implied miles/qt range-->3430-4572
Miles Range-->2001-2500, "No Good" at (mm)-->13.5, Implied miles/qt range-->3558-4444
Miles Range-->2501-3000, "No Good" at (mm)-->18.5, Implied miles/qt range-->3244-3892
Miles Range-->3001-3500, "No Good" at (mm)-->22.5, Implied miles/qt range-->3202-3734
Miles Range-->3500-3750, "No Good" at (mm)-->24.5, Implied miles/qt range-->3430-3674

If I've done the math right this would imply Nissan/Infiniti would be willing to consider an engine to be "NO GOOD" and hence subject to free replacement even though it is getting over 3000 miles/quart of oil and in some case close to 5000 miles/quart (for 1 quart L-H span engines)... Using the same example I used above but now for this 1 quart span L-H, if you came in at just below 1500 miles since the oil was verified at the H mark and you were down say 8mm (in the "NO GOOD" range)(8/24=1/3 of a quart), your miles per quart for that would be around 4500 miles/qt and Nissan/Infiniti says that is low enough to justify replacement!!!??? That part is hard to understand...

Can anyone shed any light on any of this??? V35 Skyline GT, you recently had your engine replaced if I recall and you certainly have told me you had on your old engine and have on your new engine as well a 1 quart L-H span... What sort of miles/quart did your old engine have that prompted it to be deemed replaceable??? Or what number of mm's were you down and at what mile point??? I think you might have stated that in another post but repeat it if you would...

It sure looks like this ITB was written around and primarily for cars with a 2 quart L-H span but those clearly seem to be in the minority (as compared to cars with 1 quart l-H span)... And by having such generous miles/quart engine replacement limits for cars with a 1 quart span it would seem like Inifiniti is agreeing to replace a number of engines that actually would have a relatively low level of oil consumption... 4800 mile per quart isn't overwhelming but I would still say it's pretty good for almost any car...

Any other thoughts???

thanks... bob..

Thanks James... That would be good to know... To ensure you don't overfill your oil reservoir, go ahead and assume you have a 1 quart L-H span.. In that case, since the dipstick is 24 mm long (L-H)(check of course to be sure that's true for your engine), you would have 32/24 = 1.33 oz/mm... So if you're down, say 9 mm, trying adding 9 x 1.33 = 12 oz of oil... It's important to do all this when the oil is cold, preferably after having sat overnight... And then let this added oil sit for as long as you can before you measure how much it came up... I've even found that it appears (and I'm not sure about this part) that you might even need to drive the car around say a few miles to make sure all the oil that might get trapped somewhere after you poured it in all gets kicked around... Then let it sit for as long as possible, again the preferable amount of time is overnight... Then see if the amount you added brought it up to right at full... If so, you have a 1 quart L-H system... If it comes about about half the amount (what I always find) then you have a 2 quart system instead... And for sure check all my numbers because all my knowledge is based on my 06 6MT... I'm only guessing that, for example, your dipstick is also 24 mm in span from L-H... Let us know what you find when you can... And of course all of this is made even more difficult because when the car and the oil are new, man it's hard to see the oil level... Holler back when you can... thanks... bob...