# 2003 Pathfinder - burning oil?



## hutchscout (Jul 11, 2007)

I just bought a 2003 Pathfinder LE with 58K miles. Runs great, but it loses a quart of oil every 1K miles or so. My mechanic sees no leakage, and there's no white smoke coming out the exhaust. I also have a 98 Pathfinder SE, 308,000 miles, and it never took any oil between changes. I don't understand it. Should I be concerned? What should I do?

Thanks for any insights.


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## carman3 (Dec 23, 2004)

I have an 03 bought new off the lot and it burns 1QT every 1500 miles since purchased. I'm using 5w 30w. I suspect if a used a thicker weight oil the consumption may drop but I haven't done that yet. I have also heard similar reports of oil consumption on this forum. So I don't think your oil use is unusual.


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

might check your spark plugs, see what color they are and which cylinder they came from etc...


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

hutchscout said:


> I just bought a 2003 Pathfinder LE with 58K miles. Runs great, but it loses a quart of oil every 1K miles or so. My mechanic sees no leakage, and there's no white smoke coming out the exhaust.


A good way to test for oil burning is to first fully warm up the motor. Stand behind the car. Have someone rev the motor to 4,000 RPM and hold at that RPM for about 15 seconds. If you see a lot of blue smoke come out of the tailpipe, the motor is burning excessive oil


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

I've heard of a couple issues causing excessive oil consumption on the VQ35DE Pathys. One is an issue with the PCV baffle in the right side valve cover; some have replaced the right side valve cover (which comes with PCV) to correct the problem. Another issues is the tiny screws in the power valve sometimes loosen up and can fall into the engine. If it gets past the intake valve, it can beat up the piston and cylinder walls.


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