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Help on Oil Consumption: 2 quarts last oil change

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latour

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
07 SL AWD 72K miles.

My last oil change is about 5 months and 6K miles with mobil1 synthetic, 5 quarts poured in, only about 3 quarts +- drained. Previous oil changes may be a little low but not by much, didn’t measure carefully.
Emission test was just passed with no problem. Never had a smoking issue. The car drives very smooth on some days, but a little rough on other days. Going to the dealer tomorrow for a unrelated axle leak. Have about 1200 miles and 2 months left on extended warranty. I see a few people here reported same issue, but no real fix other than engine rebuild. Don't know what if any dealer will offer, but at least have them document this.
 
#2 ·
Remember that some oil was retained in the oil filter. I would recommend asking the dealer to have a look for leaks and evidence of oil consumption just so you can get it on record that the concern exists. Make sure that oil consumption is noted on the service record so that you can show it was checked at this time.

If you had the vehicle in heavy service such as towing, oil consumption have increased slightly during that period in the normal course of things, but it should not persist.

I think it's important to make sure you have a new filter and precise fill of oil, then check oil every 1000 miles or so during the next service interval. I'd change oil and filter at 5K miles, and document any oil consumption carefully.

I recommend a service record book in every car. My favorite is the At-A-Glance Auto Record: Amazon.com: AAG8013505 - Auto Record: Camera & Photo

The price is excessive, but it's only one per car, so over the lifetime of the car it doesn't matter much.
 
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#3 ·
Good idea to get it documented. If only 3 qts came out you probably couldn't get a reading on the dip stick. Check that more often and when you take your car in ask them to do a leakdown and compression test. An oil analysis can be helpful too.
 
#4 ·
The VQ engine seems to be an oil eater. Rumors are that if you put an oil catch can in series with the PCV valve tube then it won't consume anymore oil. Or at least you'll know it's not consuming oil via your pcv valve.

I've read other places that the oil will get sucked into the intake manifold via the pcv valve and slowly burn it off. Nobody has confirmed this from what I've seen, but putting in an oil catch system seems to at least reduce the issue.

Don't know how else to contribute on this one. :confused:
 
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#5 ·
A catch can keeps oil or most of it anyways from going into the intake. It doesn't do anything for consumption unless you dump what gets caught in the bowl back into the engine. That is if that is your only source of consumption.
 
#8 ·
@ BOBAFETT & LATOUR

Did either of you guys have a dirty engine compartment in the area of the leaks. If you're loosing oil from the areas you mentioned your engine should be filthy! That plus lots of oil leaking onto the ground.
 
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Discussion starter · #9 ·
Warhammer said:
@ BOBAFETT & LATOUR

Did either of you guys have a dirty engine compartment in the area of the leaks. If you're loosing oil from the areas you mentioned your engine should be filthy! That plus lots of oil leaking onto the ground.
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The engine compartment is clean, I will remove engine cover to look closer. No stain on the drive way.
 
#10 ·
Here is something I learned today, not regarding a MO but could apply to it. I drive a Prius which uses some oil. Turns out this is common for the Prius, and cause is apparently loose rings purposely designed that way to boost horsepower. Wonder if this is true of the Murano.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#11 ·
MOs engine is known to eat some oil after a few years -- it started on the 4th year onmy 04. Sounds like you neglected to check the oil in between changes that time so that is on you. Also once you lose that much oil there is no coming back. Meaning you need to always watch your oil level. However, if you are only consuming 1 quart per 5K miles then its on the normal range and nothing to worry about. But be vigilant in filling up/topping off to full atleast in between changes. Good luck. BTW, my 04 consumes about 1/2 quart per 3k miles.
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
nitely said:
MOs engine is known to eat some oil after a few years -- it started on the 4th year onmy 04. Sounds like you neglected to check the oil in between changes that time so that is on you. Also once you lose that much oil there is no coming back. Meaning you need to always watch your oil level. However, if you are only consuming 1 quart per 5K miles then its on the normal range and nothing to worry about. But be vigilant in filling up/topping off to full at least in between changes. Good luck. BTW, my 04 consumes about 1/2 quart per 3k miles.
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Engine consumes about 2 quarts per 5K miles right now. I am near the end of extended warranty, I was looking up the details of parts covered, which included many engine parts, crankshaft etc. I wonder anything I can do now to avoid costly repair later. Will have dealer document it at least.
My car was at dealers for a passenger axle seal leak from the TC, they called me in to show it was dry. I had taken picture just a few day before see attached showing clear leak to no avail. Since I did a lot driving last few days may be oil was burnt off or the TC is empty?

On a separate note, the front end passenger side is making a thump noise at slow speeds, may be struts or ball joint, I will see what they can find.
 

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#13 ·
That looks like a new leak to me. If that has been leaking for a while there would be a lot of stained metal with black grime all over the place. Best thing to do is to physically point out to the mechanic where that leak is while your MO is up on the lift. That is how I showed the dealer my TC leak long ago. Mine was way more obvious and they still like saying they don't see anything unitl I pointed it out to them. Then they will do a dye test to confirm. Good luck.
 
#14 ·
The photo on the left is somewhat out of focus (tough place to get a shot, I know) but what I think is oil looks fresh and hasn't accumulated dirt. The right-side photo looks like a longer-established minor seepage. Not perfect, but not an immediate problem, although clearly that seal isn't holding properly.
 
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Discussion starter · #15 ·
Pilgrim said:
The photo on the left is somewhat out of focus (tough place to get a shot, I know) but what I think is oil looks fresh and hasn't accumulated dirt. The right-side photo looks like a longer-established minor seepage. Not perfect, but not an immediate problem, although clearly that seal isn't holding properly.
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They actually called me in while the car was on the lift and showed me the area was bone dry. I have no clue what happened. The picture was taken a week ago. But I did quite a bit driving last 3 days and smelled burnt oil. Now the questions is the oil burnt off dry or is the oil leaked empty.

I am going back again tomorrow for front passenger side noise they claim couldn’t hear. It’s a quick thumbing noise most evident around 20-30 mph, but easily masked by road / engine noise. I will ask them to do a TC oil drain / fill, I’m sure the leak will appear soon. The TC CVT seal was changed about 3 weeks ago so the TC oil must be full that time.
 
#16 ·
I kept Murano for 4.5 years and put 94,000 miles. Engine never used any oil, or if it did i never had to add oil. Same with my FX35 - with 134,000 miles on th eodo engine does not consume oil, maybe a litlle bit but I still do not have to add any oil between changes.
 
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#17 ·
Cars differ. Most modern engines use very little oil because tolerances are so tight. I think that's one reason some people get unnecessarily freaked out when their car uses ANY oil. I understand that but try to lend some perspective.

I remember a weird habit of Chrysler V8 engines in the 60's and early 70's - especially the 383 V8.

Some of them would immediately burn the first quart of oil after an oil change, and then never use another drop between oil changes. Really a weird habit. If you kept filling them up, they'd keep burning the top quart. If you just left the oil showing one quart low and drove it, it never dropped any lower.

Why? No idea. Go figure.

I checked my oil at lunch (remembered to do it before starting the car) and it shows about 1/2 quart down after 2500 miles or so. My Murano has about 89K miles on it now.
 
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#19 ·
Hi all, my murano started to consuming about 2qts of oil between oil changes. It's a 2007 with 80k and I also noticed it felt like the idle was different. It wasn't missing or stumbling but like it had a bad pcv valve so I changed the pcv valve and spark plugs. I noticed 2 plugs had ash deposits and there was a puddle of oil in the plenum. Afterwards the engine still felt like it did before but oil consumption dropped a bit but not completely gone.

I was wondering if anyone else had any deposits on their spark plugs and if they noticed their murano's idling any different?
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
latour said:
They actually called me in while the car was on the lift and showed me the area was bone dry. I have no clue what happened. The picture was taken a week ago. But I did quite a bit driving last 3 days and smelled burnt oil. Now the questions is the oil burnt off dry or is the oil leaked empty.
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Update regarding the axle seal leak passenger side. When it was dry at the dealer last time. Here is what I asked them: “could it leaked dry?” They: “ no don’t worry about it, it’s nothing.” , I: “ could the TC oil be too low for it to come out of the axle which sits higher up?” They: “No there is a pump to circulate, don’t worry”. I: “ Can you top it off?” They: “no we are too busy.”
Refusing to let it go, I changed TC oil myself and it was half empty, only 150-175ml were in there. Should be 300-320ml. Sure enough 3-4 days later, the leak resumed.

Regarding the front end noise they said “ we test drove it, and nothing is wrong considering the age of the car.” All while the struts was leaking all over.
http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/...ms/82-1st-gen-2003-2007/20478-help-diagnose-front-end-noise-passenger-side.html

Frustrating the way warranty repair is handled, this board helped a lot. Thanks. BTW the cut top water bottle sits in there catching the oil hands free, works great.
 

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Pilgrim
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