370Z oil consumption

TypeOne · 11-16-2010, 05:27 PM

Off topic but my car just turned 14k miles and with the 2500 miles on it since the last change, looks like it has used less than 1mm of oil off the stick.

Seems pretty good to me... *whew*

WarmAndSCSI · 11-16-2010, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FricFrac

..and saying that your rings are seated within a few seconds is just as much misinformation. Sure if you are cutting limbs off a tree with a chainsaw you can go through them in a few seconds but when you are wearing in rings which are very hard against your cylinder wall that are suppose to be resistant to wear you are going to "seat" in somewhat but definately not fully. You are basically machining materials which are resistant to wear and it doesn't take seconds. Show me ONE profesional racing team that races a car after a few seconds of break in.... not qualifying but a full race.

I agree with you that there is a lot of misinformation in this thread but going to the other extreme doesn't help.... there is enough exageration going on here. There are a hand full of motors that do suffer from oil consumption - just like any other manufacture.

For the record my oil consumption has significantly reduced in 15,000Km...

Any engine with plateau honed cylinder walls and pre-lapped piston rings - all of which have been properly cleaned before assembly - is essentially broken in the second you fire it up. As soon as the engine is flushed of whatever residual loose metal that was still present, it's ready to go. I can point you in the direction of hundreds of drag racing teams that break in their engines for the first time with full-out quarter mile passes. This is even the case for multi-thousand-horsepower top fuel engines. In fact, it's quite essential that such engines get run full-out very soon after they are fired up for the first time.

The wear-in items you have to be concerned about during break-in of a properly prepared race engine do not include the piston rings and cylinder walls. (think more of camshafts, oil pumps, and other machined parts that have high-load contact with other metal components which do not use bearings but only a hydrostatic layer of oil). You explained yourself how hard both of materials in the piston ring-to-cylinder wall interface are - it should be easy to understand why a few hundred or thousand miles of break in SHOULD NOT cause any kind of measurable wear on them when they're designed to last hundreds of thousands of miles

Engine break-in is predetermined by how an engine is assembled. Speaking of a modern OEM-built engine, you'll find they are built to not need any significant break-in period. I'll do a nice analysis of the next OEM shortblock I receive for a build... should be in a few weeks. I can guarantee you that the cylinder walls will be plateau honed and very clean, along with the piston rings being pre-lapped.

alcorrea · 12-15-2010, 10:52 AM

I had my short block installed 2 months ago, after 1200 miles I'm missing 2 quarts of oil so this short block thing is not the fix.
I'm taking her back on Friday to see what's going to happen next. I only have 11,000 miles and is been a nightmare.

6MT · 12-15-2010, 10:56 AM

Mine stopped "using" oil around the 5000 mile mark. I'm now at just about 9000 miles and it doesn't use any oil at all. These oil "usage" stories just seem to be bad luck to me.

Mine is just perfect.

Dreezy562 · 12-16-2010, 01:28 PM

Well I checked my dip stick and Its smack dead in the middle after 500 miles... I didn't check what was in there before I left the dealer but I'm going to check at 800 miles and if there is a significant drop

onzedge · 12-16-2010, 01:51 PM

Does anyone know if there is an accurate cross-reference between mm's on the dipstick and quarts?

Z2nv · 12-16-2010, 04:12 PM

service bulletin: NTB10-090
vehicles biult before: JN1AZ4FH(*)AM303670/ 05-APR-2010
If your vehicle was built before than, then go get it checked out!
the new short block has fixed the problem, the oil scapper piston ring is a different design/material. ive done 3 of these short blocks since ive worked at nissan, and the oil scapper ring is a completely new design, hope this helps.

PS- the engine in break in mode will burn oil!! until 5000-7000 km's

onzedge · 12-16-2010, 04:37 PM

So, I think that I may have an issue with oil consumption. At 12,400 miles now on the car, I am using about 1.25 to 1.50 quarts per 3,000 miles. I just started using the "measure the dipstick" method as specified in the TSB so I am not yet sure about my consumption against the chart in the TSB.

I am a bit concerned though about warranty. I have changed the oil 4 times so far -- the first change was performed at the dealer (at 2,000) and the other three by me. Nissan Ester was used the first two and Redline 5-30 the second two. Oh yes, I also change the filter at the same time as oil (K&N or PureOne). Is there going to be a problem, warranty-wise, because I performed my own oil changes?

I also have a GTM Motorsports 19 row oil cooler installed.

I appreciate your comments. Thanks and have a great day.

IDZRVIT · 12-16-2010, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onzedge

So, I think that I may have an issue with oil consumption. At 12,400 miles now on the car, I am using about 1.25 to 1.50 quarts per 3,000 miles. I just started using the "measure the dipstick" method as specified in the TSB so I am not yet sure about my consumption against the chart in the TSB.

I am a bit concerned though about warranty. I have changed the oil 4 times so far -- the first change was performed at the dealer (at 2,000) and the other three by me. Nissan Ester was used the first two and Redline 5-30 the second two. Oh yes, I also change the filter at the same time as oil (K&N or PureOne). Is there going to be a problem, warranty-wise, because I performed my own oil changes?

I also have a GTM Motorsports 19 row oil cooler installed.

I appreciate your comments. Thanks and have a great day.

You don't have an oil consumption issue.

onzedge · 12-16-2010, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IDZRVIT

You don't have an oil consumption issue.

What leads you to this conclusion? I hope you are right.

spearfish25 · 12-16-2010, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onzedge

So, I think that I may have an issue with oil consumption. At 12,400 miles now on the car, I am using about 1.25 to 1.50 quarts per 3,000 miles. I just started using the "measure the dipstick" method as specified in the TSB so I am not yet sure about my consumption against the chart in the TSB.

I am a bit concerned though about warranty. I have changed the oil 4 times so far -- the first change was performed at the dealer (at 2,000) and the other three by me. Nissan Ester was used the first two and Redline 5-30 the second two. Oh yes, I also change the filter at the same time as oil (K&N or PureOne). Is there going to be a problem, warranty-wise, because I performed my own oil changes?

I also have a GTM Motorsports 19 row oil cooler installed.

I appreciate your comments. Thanks and have a great day.

Unless you have an oil leak due to your cooler, Nissan shouldn't give you a hard time for doing your own oil changes or having the cooler. Neither would explain oil consumption in the absence of leaks. If Nissan did hassle you, I'd suggest you start moving up the chain and call Nissan North America.

IDZRVIT · 12-16-2010, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onzedge

What leads you to this conclusion? I hope you are right.

Normal consumption of oil is considered to be up to a quart per 1000 miles. Anything more than that is probably considered excessive. Your answer will be found in a phone call to Nissan or your dealer. You're going to get all kinds of "opinions" in here. Mine is just one of them.

Z2nv · 12-17-2010, 08:12 PM

if the car burns any oil, theres a problem. Who evers saying its fine for your car to burn oil is wrong and is giving out false information. The car should not burn anything! and if its burning up oil, where do u think its going? its getting by the oil scapper ring and burning up. For example - i put a short block in a g37s under warranty, the car was burning up 1 qrt per 1000-1500 ml's, we changed the motor and now its not consuming ANYTHING, hes been back 5 times and the oil is always at the top of the cross hatchs.

GTLAW · 12-18-2010, 05:41 PM

Your so wrong! Go talk to BMW and Audi Owners. I also own a 2008 TT 2.0 FSI Turbo and in the owners guide Audi will tell you this car, can use up to 1quart of oil per 1200 miles if the car is run hard.

My TT goes 10K miles on oli changes and I have to add 1quart of oil every 4500 miles or so.

Also go look at Lamborghini they also burn oil.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z2nv

if the car burns any oil, theres a problem. Who evers saying its fine for your car to burn oil is wrong and is giving out false information. The car should not burn anything! and if its burning up oil, where do u think its going? its getting by the oil scapper ring and burning up. For example - i put a short block in a g37s under warranty, the car was burning up 1 qrt per 1000-1500 ml's, we changed the motor and now its not consuming ANYTHING, hes been back 5 times and the oil is always at the top of the cross hatchs.

Totus44 · 12-19-2010, 12:46 PM

Just an update since this is still an active thread, after having my oil consumption issue diagnosed by my Nissan dealer, they replaced the short block (that didn't work) and so they replaced the long block (along with another short block...the entire engine) at 15K. Just passed 20K on my '09 and it's running beautifully!

Seems we still have some confusion around here. Let me try to clarify. the '09s had an oil consumption issue related to the seals not properly setting upon break-in. Oil consumption was in fact oil escape into the exhaust system. Nissan still won't say the volume they measure, I'm sure it's designed that way so you go to the dealer for servicing. There seem to be a lot of folks here that change their own oil and thus have no idea if there consumption rate is normal or if they too have the seal issue. If you are changing your own oil and not servicing with your Nissan dealer than there really isn't anything anybody can really tell you. Your oil consumption is going to be a product of the amount of heat you put your engine through. Where you drive, how you drive and distance/duration are all going to contribute. For some 1 quart per 5K may be fine, for others that track their car the distance will be much less.

12-15-2010, 10:52 AM	#213 (permalink)
alcorrea Base Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Redondo Beach CA Posts: 17 Drives: nissan 370z white Rep Power: 16	I had my short block installed 2 months ago, after 1200 miles I'm missing 2 quarts of oil so this short block thing is not the fix. I'm taking her back on Friday to see what's going to happen next. I only have 11,000 miles and is been a nightmare. __________________

12-15-2010, 10:56 AM	#214 (permalink)
6MT A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2009 Location: ITU Zone 2 Posts: 22,459 Drives: Reliant Robin Rep Power: 1790	Mine stopped "using" oil around the 5000 mile mark. I'm now at just about 9000 miles and it doesn't use any oil at all. These oil "usage" stories just seem to be bad luck to me. Mine is just perfect. __________________ Andrew 2009 370Z Sport/Touring 6MT sold 2013 Honda Civic Si coupe D/D

12-16-2010, 01:51 PM	#216 (permalink)
onzedge A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Battle Lake MN Age: 64 Posts: 183,964 Drives: 370Z 240Z Rep Power: 2684736	Does anyone know if there is an accurate cross-reference between mm's on the dipstick and quarts? __________________ Koni\|Swift\|Michelin\|Motordyne\|Berk\|RJM Performance\|Gates\|SPL\|Motul\|Technafit\|Ate Super Blue\|Hawk Tommy Kaira\|Momo\|Optima\|Hella\|Hotchkis\|Red Line\|ZSpeed\|Stillen\|B&M\|H&R

12-16-2010, 04:12 PM	#217 (permalink)
Z2nv Base Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Edmonton, Canada Posts: 65 Drives: 2010 370z Rep Power: 15	service bulletin: NTB10-090 vehicles biult before: JN1AZ4FH(*)AM303670/ 05-APR-2010 If your vehicle was built before than, then go get it checked out! the new short block has fixed the problem, the oil scapper piston ring is a different design/material. ive done 3 of these short blocks since ive worked at nissan, and the oil scapper ring is a completely new design, hope this helps. PS- the engine in break in mode will burn oil!! until 5000-7000 km's __________________ STILLEN G3-STILLEN EXHAUST NISMO HDRS COBB TUNE ADV1 deepkoncave 10.1.........2010 370z Sportpackage 6mt..........2004 MustangCobra SVT 495whp - Forsale..............2004 G35 sedan 6mt VIP status - sold.

12-16-2010, 04:37 PM	#218 (permalink)
onzedge A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Battle Lake MN Age: 64 Posts: 183,964 Drives: 370Z 240Z Rep Power: 2684736	So, I think that I may have an issue with oil consumption. At 12,400 miles now on the car, I am using about 1.25 to 1.50 quarts per 3,000 miles. I just started using the "measure the dipstick" method as specified in the TSB so I am not yet sure about my consumption against the chart in the TSB. I am a bit concerned though about warranty. I have changed the oil 4 times so far -- the first change was performed at the dealer (at 2,000) and the other three by me. Nissan Ester was used the first two and Redline 5-30 the second two. Oh yes, I also change the filter at the same time as oil (K&N or PureOne). Is there going to be a problem, warranty-wise, because I performed my own oil changes? I also have a GTM Motorsports 19 row oil cooler installed. I appreciate your comments. Thanks and have a great day. __________________ Koni\|Swift\|Michelin\|Motordyne\|Berk\|RJM Performance\|Gates\|SPL\|Motul\|Technafit\|Ate Super Blue\|Hawk Tommy Kaira\|Momo\|Optima\|Hella\|Hotchkis\|Red Line\|ZSpeed\|Stillen\|B&M\|H&R

11-16-2010, 05:27 PM	#211 (permalink)
TypeOne A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Posts: 2,682 Drives: BSM 370 Rep Power: 1851	Off topic but my car just turned 14k miles and with the 2500 miles on it since the last change, looks like it has used less than 1mm of oil off the stick. Seems pretty good to me... whew

12-16-2010, 01:28 PM	#215 (permalink)
Dreezy562 Enthusiast Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Long beach, ca Posts: 419 Drives: 40th Rep Power: 15	Well I checked my dip stick and Its smack dead in the middle after 500 miles... I didn't check what was in there before I left the dealer but I'm going to check at 800 miles and if there is a significant drop

12-17-2010, 08:12 PM	#223 (permalink)
Z2nv Base Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Edmonton, Canada Posts: 65 Drives: 2010 370z Rep Power: 15	if the car burns any oil, theres a problem. Who evers saying its fine for your car to burn oil is wrong and is giving out false information. The car should not burn anything! and if its burning up oil, where do u think its going? its getting by the oil scapper ring and burning up. For example - i put a short block in a g37s under warranty, the car was burning up 1 qrt per 1000-1500 ml's, we changed the motor and now its not consuming ANYTHING, hes been back 5 times and the oil is always at the top of the cross hatchs. __________________ STILLEN G3-STILLEN EXHAUST NISMO HDRS COBB TUNE ADV1 deepkoncave 10.1.........2010 370z Sportpackage 6mt..........2004 MustangCobra SVT 495whp - Forsale..............2004 G35 sedan 6mt VIP status - sold.

12-19-2010, 12:46 PM	#225 (permalink)
Totus44 Base Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 9 Drives: 09 Nissan 370Z Bk M6 Rep Power: 15	Just an update since this is still an active thread, after having my oil consumption issue diagnosed by my Nissan dealer, they replaced the short block (that didn't work) and so they replaced the long block (along with another short block...the entire engine) at 15K. Just passed 20K on my '09 and it's running beautifully! Seems we still have some confusion around here. Let me try to clarify. the '09s had an oil consumption issue related to the seals not properly setting upon break-in. Oil consumption was in fact oil escape into the exhaust system. Nissan still won't say the volume they measure, I'm sure it's designed that way so you go to the dealer for servicing. There seem to be a lot of folks here that change their own oil and thus have no idea if there consumption rate is normal or if they too have the seal issue. If you are changing your own oil and not servicing with your Nissan dealer than there really isn't anything anybody can really tell you. Your oil consumption is going to be a product of the amount of heat you put your engine through. Where you drive, how you drive and distance/duration are all going to contribute. For some 1 quart per 5K may be fine, for others that track their car the distance will be much less.

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