# Excessive oil consumption



## Guest (May 22, 2003)

I posted this the Maxima section but did not get an answer, can anyone help?

I purchased a 98 Nissan Maxima 70K miles several months ago. Driving around town is great – good gas mileage and NO oil consumption. I just took it on two trips out of town. On trip #1 I drove several hours then pulled off the freeway and spent 40+ seconds at a stop light. When I started up a cloud of blue smoke completely covered the cars in back of me. This happened every time I would drive for several hours then stop and start again. On that trip the car used 1 qt every 250 miles !!!!! I got home checked things out (no codes from the computer) and replaced a stuck PCV valve. Two weeks of driving around town – no smoke, no oil consumption. Last weekend on another long trip – same problem, smoke after freeway driving, oil consumption 1 qt = 250 miles. HELP! Any ideas of what to try?


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## SergioCR (Sep 18, 2002)

2Mystic said:


> *I posted this the Maxima section but did not get an answer, can anyone help?
> 
> I purchased a 98 Nissan Maxima 70K miles several months ago. Driving around town is great – good gas mileage and NO oil consumption. I just took it on two trips out of town. On trip #1 I drove several hours then pulled off the freeway and spent 40+ seconds at a stop light. When I started up a cloud of blue smoke completely covered the cars in back of me. This happened every time I would drive for several hours then stop and start again. On that trip the car used 1 qt every 250 miles !!!!! I got home checked things out (no codes from the computer) and replaced a stuck PCV valve. Two weeks of driving around town – no smoke, no oil consumption. Last weekend on another long trip – same problem, smoke after freeway driving, oil consumption 1 qt = 250 miles. HELP! Any ideas of what to try? *


That sounds like bad valve seals to me....


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## Guest (May 25, 2003)

I will do a compression check ASAP. If it is valve seals, any ballpark idea what it will cost to have it fixed? This is the middle of race season, I can't afford the time to do it myself.

TIA


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## SergioCR (Sep 18, 2002)

....no idea about the price.... but a compress. test will give you the hint where the problems are... make sure to get the original seals in case they're the problem... good luck!


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## sentra2nr (May 26, 2003)

do you have the previous owners records. usually dependent on what kind of maintence was done on the car previous, could usually indicate what problems you might be having. When you get the white smoke lightning cloud, do you get a clattering noise or funky burning metallic smell? it sounds a little like you have blowby of some sort.


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## sentra2nr (May 26, 2003)

also... does it drip when you dont drive the car? if you get a chance to get under the car, look and see whether or not you have oil on the underside of the car.


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## Guest (May 26, 2003)

No sign of oil under the car on on the garage floor.

When I get the blue cloud of death, it also runs rough till the (no doubt) oil fouled plugs clear - about a block of driving. This never happens with in-town driving, it's only after a prolonged highway speeds that the blue cloud of death occurs and excessive oil consumption.

No prior service records - but sticking a flash light down the oil filler neck indicates a car that was not taken care of (lots of varnish and gunk!).


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## MontyCrabApple (Feb 11, 2003)

Oil leaks suck! It's like if your body had a blood leak. 
I had that problem with my GA16DE. Same as yours about 1 liter every 250 miles. One day I was going really fast on the freeway and the engine seized. It wasn't cause the engine sucked, but it ate all the oil and stopped. My crank seal was the culprit, but still continued to eat oil. Had only 90,000 miles on that engine.

Um, I say just check the crank seal. Hopefully its the seal by the crank pulley and not the one on the inside 'cause that one is harder to replace, of course. Check gaskets maybe or check for leaks around the oil filter. Don't know to much now. I will though in a year. Starting UTI in two weeks


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## SergioCR (Sep 18, 2002)

2Mystic said:


> *No sign of oil under the car on on the garage floor.
> 
> When I get the blue cloud of death, it also runs rough till the (no doubt) oil fouled plugs clear - about a block of driving. This never happens with in-town driving, it's only after a prolonged highway speeds that the blue cloud of death occurs and excessive oil consumption.
> *


....just wondering.... have you checked the PCV valve?? its located at the back side of the valve cover and has a rubber tube going to the intake manifold... this tube sucks air from that valve at certain rpm and there's another tube at the right side of the valve cover connected to the intake plastic hoses... check the tubes and clean inside the connectors at the manifold... i did that on mine with some carb cleaner and the oil seems to be happier now...  .....the PCV valve could be the problem of the smoke since it will suck oil from the valve cover to the intake if it's damaged somehow...


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## Guest (Jun 18, 2003)

Yes, I replaced the PCV valve (and it was full of crude), and all the lines - no luck, still burns oil at speed.


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## SergioCR (Sep 18, 2002)

2Mystic said:


> *Yes, I replaced the PCV valve (and it was full of crude), and all the lines - no luck, still burns oil at speed. *


Did you checked the compression of the engine? could be a leak inside the head gasket, valve seals, etc..... the compression test would help to detect the problem.


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## azkicker0027 (May 31, 2002)

possible sources of burning oil: piston rings, valve stem seals, intake manifold(through pcv valve). based on the posts, do the compression tests, then a leakdown, it seems that is only happens when hot, then it goes away, right??


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## azkicker0027 (May 31, 2002)

one more we do sometimes is an engine flush, this ought to clear up the gunk and crap from the nook and crannies of the engine.....usually add, drive, then drain............depending on the solution......


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## StreEtdraggR (Jul 4, 2003)

Be careful with those engine flushes some are jus' pure Kerosene.


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2003)

Thanks for all the suggestions, I tried most of them then sold that oil sucking pig.


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