Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W30 - 2002 Nissan Maxima VQ35DE

[kbohip72]

Interesting reading through this thread. It seems these VQ's or either hit or miss when it comes to oil burning? Unfortunately I'm in the burning category. Mine used up to 1qt of PP 5W-30 in just a few hundred miles once! It normally slurps about 1qt every 1k miles with conventional oil.

I just switched to M1 High Mileage 10W-40. I'd planned on going the with my usual 5k miles OCI, but now after reading this thread I'm wondering if that's too long, even with synthetic, for these engines?

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: 2002 Maxima SE
My car doesn't burn oil, uses a paper air filter (non modified OEM air box), GC 0W-30 oil (previously M1 Syn for 50k miles) and a Purolator PP oil filter. I had "similar" high Fe readings on my last UOA with no signs of Si or Gasoline in the oil sample.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...true#Post969591


Good advice here. I drove an 04 G35 for a couple years and fed it GC for most of the time. It sounded great on the stuff, and produced a couple very nice UOAs (posted here). I would strongly recommend giving GC a try in this engine.

 

[dmac4321]

One more update.. I figure more information is always helpful.. Anywho my 02 Maxima, like most with VQ have said, is just an oil consumer. It hasn't mattered which Oil brand or weight I use.. Today I heard my lifters knocking, so it could be my oil pump is going bad now.

I did some research regarding oil pump issues and ended up reading a bunch of forums on the Maxima where the VQ burns oil because of the Valve covers going bad, and oil getting to the spark plugs.. People were saying it happens when the car gets to high mileage, or if the driver pushes the car to high rpms more often, it will wear down faster.

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generation-...lem-please.html

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generation-...m-please-2.html

Bottom line, changing to synthetic oil in my 3.5 VQ probably didn't start my oil burning issues, it was just parts in the engine were wearing out over 140K miles and it was coincident that when I changed to synthetic, that I started having oil consumption.

Would anyone go back to using conventional oil, and just change the oil every 3-4k? I did that for 7 years without problems, and people say it is a myth that going back from synthetic to conventional oil is a "no no"..

Any thoughts?

Thnx!!!

 

[Nick R]

I'm going ot get blasted to this, but these Nissan engines just don't seem to like this stuff. Seriously, even if it's low, the engine is still getting oil. And then look over the past 2, 3 weeks and we've seen a slew of great UOAs from these Nissan engins with other oils. Just my observation from the sidelines.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

I don't think the valve covers are your problem. Maybe only one spark plug is affected. Not enough oil goes in to cause a consumption issue.

My car uses ~.5 qts/3k miles. I normally put in 5 qts of oil when I change it and it kind of provides a safety margin in between top ups. I don't mind dealing with it since it puts a smile on my face everytime I punch the accelerator, even after almost two years

 

[The Critic]

Even at 6,000 miles, our VQ35DE burns 1/4 qt every 3,000 miles. Some oil consumption seems to be common with these engines.

 

[FCobra94]

Originally Posted By: dmac4321
Would anyone go back to using conventional oil, and just change the oil every 3-4k?

I don't see why not. Castrol 5w-30 GTX should do the trick as most VQs seem to like this conventional oil in particular. It would be intersting to see how T6 would do in this motor, but it will probably end up being a waste given such a short OCI...???

With 48k on my VQ35HR, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones to not have any consumption issues.

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
I'm going ot get blasted to this, but these Nissan engines just don't seem to like this stuff. Seriously, even if it's low, the engine is still getting oil. And then look over the past 2, 3 weeks and we've seen a slew of great UOAs from these Nissan engins with other oils. Just my observation from the sidelines.


For what it's worth, which may not be much, there are several engineering papers which discuss the relationship between oil consumption and wear. The results are always the same;more consumption=less wear. I researched this, after my trusty Volvo mechanic explained to me that the consumption was a feature, not a bug...

However...there's also a significant increase in wear while running the oil low; this is also well-documented. There are a few different reasons why this is the case, but in a car with a small sump to begin with, 2QT low is very low, and I think it's pretty clear any additional wear in this particular engine is from the quantity of oil in the sump, not the brand.

Bottom line: if you have an engine which consumes oil, you have to be really diligent in keeping it full.

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: JOD

Bottom line: if you have an engine which consumes oil, you have to be really diligent in keeping it full.


That's all people with oil consuming cars need to do.

 

[thescreensavers]

Castrol Edge, Syntec , and GTX are great for the VQ motors, I personally have done UOA's on Syntec and they came out great. I am running edge right now but someone ran it for 8k and it came out great as well.

The VQ motors seem to love Castrol Oils.

 

[unDummy]

Don't expect your engine to last too long if you run it 2 quarts low on oil. I wouldn't even waste the money on a UOA. Invest in top-off oil at EVERY fill up. Don't blame the M1. Don't blame the KN. Blame your lack of dipstick exercising.

I'd also consider M1 EP or HM, or 0w30 Syntec, a bump in visc to M1 0w40 or any 5w40.