Increased oil consumption at ~65K miles?

elhombre

I check my oil every time I fill up my car...however how did they know that the galley gaskets were failing?

Misnomer

I will start doing these. When the guy at the shop recommended the MOA he said he didn't want to go so far as to recommend that I start using Mobile 1, but I think I just might. Makes for expensive oil changes, but cheaper than a new engine/car.

Yep; in moderate weather I'd keep an extra quart or two in my tiny trunk.

It just didn't sound right when he said that oil consumption increases dramatically around 65,000 miles. I mean, why would it?

The oil pressure light started flickering last month. At first I misunderstood the light and thought it was for the oil level, so I got an early oil change, but the light kept flickering from time to time so I finally checked the manual and searched here and realized it was the pressure. I got it to the shop immediately. They hoped it was just the sensor, but discovered it was the gaskets.

BettyZ

Umm... definitely get a used oil analysis. You may have engine damage.

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JARblue

Hope your engine is still good... I would send in a sample of your oil to Blackstone for analysis like BettyZ mentions. The oil pressure light coming on at all is typically a sign of doom for the engine because the light doesn't come on until the pressure is ridiculously low. Hopefully you were just idling in the parking lot or something like that and not on the highway when the light came on.

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JARblue

It doesn't have to be expensive. An oil change with Mobil 1 provided by a shop is often upwards of $90

My oil changes are about half that with Mobil 1 if I take it to a shop because I can always find 5 qts of Mobil 1 at Walmart for $25-28. BYOOil to your favorite shop and you should only have to pay labor - typically between $10-15. Add a few more $ if you don't bring your own oil filter.

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Misnomer

Yep, already planning to.

It tended to flicker during long drives that included a lot of stop-and-go, and then also sometimes during idle (while at a light or something). It wasn't coming on during every drive.

Yeah, the guy at my shop said a Mobile 1 change would run about $100. If I switch, I'll definitely look into bringing my own oil. Thanks!

JARblue

Make sure you trust the shop or at least tell them you need to keep the empty oil container. That way you can at least be pretty sure they used the actual oil you provided. I've heard of the shop guys keeping the Mobil 1 for themselves and just tossing in whatever oil is cheapest.

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Misnomer

The shop I use is close to where I used to work, but is 16-17 miles from where I live and work now. I've used them regularly for the past few years, after problems with both the local dealership and a local Meineke. I was relieved to feel like I'd found a good place: as a woman who doesn't know much about mechanics (and sees no point in trying to act like I do) it can be hard to find a shop to trust, and it's been worth the 30-minute drive a few times a year. But now I'm wondering (a) why the guy said the thing about the car using more oil after 65,000 miles, and (b) why no one there mentioned the possibility that my engine could be damaged. Might be time to head to the Mid-Atlantic Region forum and see if there are any recommendations for shops closer to me.

RamseyJ

This just makes me want to swap that useless clock or battery gauge to an oil pressure gauge even more now. Good luck on the oil analysis, keep us updated!

Z's

Another M1 user here, 10w30 and when I traded in my 09 with 107k miles it never used a bit of oil between 4k changes. And I heat the ghost out of that car. I think it's luck of the draw, regardless of oil brand or even variations in viscosity. Mass produced or hand built every engine is different in it's own microscopic way. Just keep up with checking it and don't worry about it. Now my girlfriend's 05 DE, that's another story lol...

vtec to vvel

This right here is grounds for an @$$-whoopin’. It’s sad what society has become. I’m sure there are hard-working/honest mechanics still around, but the ones that give them a bad name will either:

1. Half@$$ the work
2. Do the work, but break something else and scare you into fixing what is already working to begin with
3. Claim and charge the work was done, but really wasn’t
4. Take your car for a joyride

I remember there is a member on this forum who would tell stories about how they worked at Nissan as a mechanic, but had that “not-my-car-so-idgaf” mentality.

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JARblue

I heard about a guy who had it happen to him. He called out the shop on the oil switcharoo and got a refund. But he wasn't happy about being out the 5 qts of oil he bought. So later that evening, he drove over to the shop with tools and did an oil change on his car in the parking lot right in front of the shop entrance. I drove by and saw the results the next morning. He didn't bother to use an oil pan when draining the oil

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BettyZ

A refund? "Looks like you caught us trying to cheat you, I guess we'll refund the $15 in labor."

I like his retort; I would have brought a couple extra gallons of cheapAF oil and dumped so much their parking lot looked like Deepwater Horizon II.

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Misnomer

Yesterday afternoon I was 10 min early to an appointment, so I hung out in my (running) car for a while. After 5-6 minutes, the idle got rough/low and the car shook a few times. Like, if I'd had a drink it would have spilled. It nearly stalled but didn't, then it smoothed out and went back to a normal idle. I've had some times in traffic when the idle would get a little low for a second or two, but never the shaking thing -- that was new.

A (different) guy from the shop called yesterday to check on things, but I wasn't able to call back before they closed. I'll be calling him today, and asking about the possible engine damage thing, mentioning the curbside shaking, and asking about the other guy's comment that this car starts needing more oil at 65,000 miles.

(Oh, and did I mention that when I picked her up there was a washer fluid hose sticking out from under the hood? I had to wait for them to put that back where it belonged. And they hadn't bothered to reset the automatic windows, so they had her parked in the rain with the windows not all the way up. *sigh*)

The shaking episode made me a little nervous; between that and the concern about possible engine damage, I'm wondering if I should scrap plans to take my nephew to Baltimore this weekend (50 miles away; I don't want to have a problem on I-95/with him in the car). I might need to take my Gray Lady back to the shop instead.

I'm also wondering if I need to start thinking about getting another car...ugh.

BettyZ

That shaking is a badness thing. I'd do some research on here for reputable shops that can check the motor - "check for engine damage" to most shops is code for "charge 2k in labor and say we didnt find anything."

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