Nissan Maxima burning LOTS of oil

[BackFromTheDead]

Hi everyone,

My father has a 2003 Nissan Maxima with 120,000 miles or so. He drives a lot on the highway in stop and go traffic, and has been burning about a quart of oil per week.

Granted, he's driving several hundred miles a day, but we didn't think this car should be doing that.

Surprisingly, the Nissan dealership mechanic said that "just happens" to the Nissan engine after 100k miles, especially with the daily driving in stop and go traffic. This response bothered me...seems like today's engines should be able to go longer than that before they consume that much oil.

I just feel bad, and want to help him, since my '85 FJ60 doesn't burn an ounce of oil, no matter what It may go through gas like there's no tomorrow, but that engine it tight. (knock on wood

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[aedavis]

My 85 4Runner uses a lot of oil also. I was able to cut the consumption in half by switching from Castrol 10W40 to Castrol High Mileage 10W40. I have now switched it to WalMart Supertech High Mileage 10w40 and while it goes through it a bit faster than the Castrol HM, it is still a big improvement over regular oil.

I have a 99 Maxima that doesn't use any oil between changes, so I call BS on the line that 'all Nissans do that'.

Allan

 

[Gumby]

Check the PCV system. A bad PCV will suck oil out of the engine and into the intake

The earlier 1.6L engines had the PCV system running through the valve cover. The gasket between the v/c and the oil galley by the valves would crack and suck in oil.

Those engines were damn hard to keep oil tight, but they don't burn much.

 

[grant5127]

What are the oil change intervals?

 

[Zack1978]

Hi everyone,

My father has a 2003 Nissan Maxima with 120,000 miles or so. He drives a lot on the highway in stop and go traffic, and has been burning about a quart of oil per week.

Granted, he's driving several hundred miles a day, but we didn't think this car should be doing that.

Surprisingly, the Nissan dealership mechanic said that "just happens" to the Nissan engine after 100k miles, especially with the daily driving in stop and go traffic. This response bothered me...seems like today's engines should be able to go longer than that before they consume that much oil.

I just feel bad, and want to help him, since my '85 FJ60 doesn't burn an ounce of oil, no matter what It may go through gas like there's no tomorrow, but that engine it tight. (knock on wood

Anyone have any suggestions?

Totally not true! Nissan makes great engines, tell the dealer that he is a dumb fawk! My 1995 Pathfinder with 172,000 miles does not burn 1 drop of oil!

Zack

 

[Zack1978]

Totally not true! Nissan makes great engines, tell the dealer that he is a dumb fawk! My 1995 Pathfinder with 172,000 miles does not burn 1 drop of oil!

Zack

But I should ask, how well was the car taken care of since new?

Zack

 

[lexusman450]

Have you done a Compression test. I say one of the oil rings are shot.

 

[BackFromTheDead]

The car has been taken car of great since it was first bought....oil changes every 3000 with synthetic, regular tune-ups, tire changes, etc. etc.

Recently, we switched it from synthetic 10W-40 to synthetic 20W-50. This seemed to cut down the oil burning a little bit, which leads me to believe its a leak such as an oil ring as mentioned above. But, there are never any oil spots in the driveway, even if the car is left running there for a while. I will definitely do a compression check to see, though. Any more ideas?