Oil Consumption Test
 

I took my Z in for a oil consumption test. The service department was pretty surprised when I told them that the car was burning oil. Regardless of the matter they took the car and did a oil change for $120(which is outrageous). I left for about 2hrs and came back to pick my car up. They said to come back in 1000 miles to see where the oil level is at, if the engine is burning a lot of oil they said i would get a new engine. Stevens Creek Nissan is pretty understanding kudos to them.

that's cool, make sure you do not check the oil level your self. you'll "contaminate" the test. If you didn't already know the 05-06 vq35's 6speeds had this issue like a pandemic.
on 2nd thought I'll make that clear, it's not cool you might be burning too much oil :(

So your saying do not pull the dip stick out to check the level? I dont wanna screw the test up. haha

exactly, do not pull the dipstick... they should have told you that.

They did no such thing. -1 for kudos(Stevens Creek Nissan). Thank you Danny, +1 to you.

No prob, Good luck! let us know the results.

Stevens Creek Nissan is the same dealer that told me that Redline MT fluid in my 6spd would void my warranty. Maybe its just that one guy.....

How much oil are you burning now. Sorry if I missed it in other posts, but when did you begin noticing a problem?

Huh? How would checking the oil level "contaminate" the test? Do you mean the 2 drips you wipe of the dip stick will make a difference? That doesn't make sense to me...

my last car was a mercedes and the dealer would charge $250 for an oil change (service A) :eek:

$120 sounds fine to me :)

Regarding the "contamination of the test", I think Danny3.7 just means that Nissan may (I say may... you should ask them) believe that any tampering with components which are oil related could make them question whether you did something which may place their test at risk. If you open the dipstick, they could by stretch of imagination argue that you siphoned some of the oil out of the dipstick.

For this reason, when I worked at a shop part time in High School, it was a policy that after changing oil, we put some breakable blue sealant over the drain plug. Anytime someone touches or puts a wrench on the drain plug afterward, the sealant comes off. Thus, if someone accuses us of messing up their car and we see that the blue sealant is gone, we know they touched it after we did. Now checking the dipstick is totally different but same concept...

mine burned a lot of the first batch - 1.5 quarts low at 3K miles. Now at just over 5K miles (and using Redline) and haven't lost a drop.

Davidyan, you're correct, sorry it was late and i didn't have the vocabulary to explain all that!

Man, I sure hope mine doesn't have the same issue... I am going into Nissan tommrow for an oil consumption test!

Most true Controlled tests meant to get to the bottom of a problem generally seal the dipstick against tampering. Otherwise the owner could suck some out to get the results he/she wants. Hardly accurate or scientific. Sounds like more of a Casual consumption test to me..

Why do you need to do this? Unless you've broken in the motor (5000 miles minimum) and are burning a quart or more per 1000 they probably won't give you the time of day. That seems to be the threshold between acceptable and normal (no matter what you the owner think). All engines use oil...Some just more than others.

No, I had mine full, slightly above the H mark, and after 800 miles, it is in the middle again!