# Where do I look?



## jerseygearhead (Dec 13, 2012)

Okay, so I have a bit of a problem. I just bought this 2002 Altima yesterday, and it seems like it's a little bit of trouble. The car is absolutely fantastic, inside and out. 

However, there's a mechanical problem that is concerning me. Reading all the reviews about these models of Altimas I decided to check the oil and see if I have the problem where it's leaking/burning. When I checked the dipstick, it was clean as a whistle. Not a drop of oil on it. How I got it home from the dealer (which was 65 miles away) is beyond me. I put 4 quarts of oil in and it looked to be full when I was done. I drove to work and back (a distance of 50 miles round trip) and when I checked the oil when I got home it seems to have gone down 1/4 of the way. I immediately informed the dealer from which I bought it (which gave me 6 mos or 6000 miles as a warranty) and am keeping a close eye on the oil before I can bring it in next week. 

So the dealer doesn't screw me out of my time and gas money, what are the common places where the oil could be leaking/burning? My mechanic took a look at it and he said he seen oil somewhere near the exhaust side of the engine, near the alternator. I haven't smelt burning oil, so hopefully I can rule out that it's burning, and the temperature gage hasn't changed, so hopefully I can rule out the head gasket. The only thing that I noticed out of the ordinary was when I was bringing it home last night, I noticed a large amount of steam/smoke when I accelerated. I would notice it out of the rearview on the highway if I were to speed up. I can think it would be the oil pan, being the smoke and everything...or maybe it's leaking from the valve cover into the exhaust. I would be smelling it then, no?

If it helps any, I have a 2.5L 4 Cylinder with 96k miles. I know these engines have oil problems, but if there's anything at all I can do to fix it before I have major engine damage, it would be greatly appreciated.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Compression check...
You can speculate all you want, but a compression check, a correctly done compression check will verify and/or rule out a lot of things......bad head gasket or cracked head, rotten rings, cylinder damage, etc.etc.etc.
Good compression all around almost completely rules out internal engine damage, and you can concentrate on leaks.
But, when you say


> " I noticed a large amount of steam/smoke when I accelerated. I would notice it out of the rearview on the highway if I were to speed up.


that tells me you've got bad rings...really bad rings and your "major engine damage" has already been done.


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## jerseygearhead (Dec 13, 2012)

jdg said:


> "major engine damage" has already been done.


It hasn't happened since the night I brought it home.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

So, you're saying this oil burning and smoking and being low on oil only happened once? And you've been driving the car and checking it since and the oil level has been good and the smoking hasn't happened since that time?


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## jerseygearhead (Dec 13, 2012)

jdg said:


> So, you're saying this oil burning and smoking and being low on oil only happened once? And you've been driving the car and checking it since and the oil level has been good and the smoking hasn't happened since that time?


Yes. I've only had the car two days now. Since I put oil in it, when I drove 50 or so miles, it has not happened. It's just going through a lot of oil.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Yep, going back to the original answer....compression check. A compression check with good solid numbers will almost positively rule out bad rings and likely a complete engine teardown.
Just 'cause you can't see it burn or smell it burn doesn't mean it isn't burning.


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## jerseygearhead (Dec 13, 2012)

jdg said:


> Yep, going back to the original answer....compression check. A compression check with good solid numbers will almost positively rule out bad rings and likely a complete engine teardown.
> Just 'cause you can't see it burn or smell it burn doesn't mean it isn't burning.


I'm aware of that, I just wanted to get a little more insight before I bring it back to the dealer and they give me the runaround.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

What I'm getting at is do you own compression check beforehand and if those numbers suck, you've ammo for the dealer. Heck, even if they're good, you might have something to go on.
If you take it back without doing anything and they do something (or don't do anything), you'll never know one way or the other what they did or didn't do...if anything.
After all, it's a 10 year old car. 6 month or 6 minute warranty...how far do you really expect them to go whether it's in writing or not?


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## FriendlyNismoTech (Oct 28, 2012)

These early 2.5's have a bad issue with the Catalytic converters turning to dust on the top end, when this happens the dust is sucked into the chamber during the intake stroke when the exhaust cam opens to allow some exhaust gas back in. When this platinum and rhodium is sucked into the chamber is destroys the cylinder walls, and oil rings. The only fix for this is a full rebuild if the walls aren't scored to bad, but typically it's a replacement engine.


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## Outkast (Jan 29, 2006)

The early QR25's had a bad issue with converters breaking up and damaging the rings. Alot of dealers would just replace the cats and send them on, when they should have replaced the engine too. A compression test is good but a leakdown test is better.


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