tobot Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I bought a 2001 LE Pathfinder a couple months ago. It consumes 1 liter of oil every 400 kms. Yes, four hundred. The coolant is bright green, the exhaust looks normal. No plumes of blue or brown smoke on start up. I've read people blame the baffles in the valve cover for high oil consumption. I deleted the PCV and installed an oil catch can. From the catch can I have a hose going to where the PCV was and the breather on the other valve cover. The catch can vents to atmosphere through a filter. Now the exhaust is choking me out in the truck, I'm getting moisture in the engine, and the only thing I'm draining out of the oil catch can is water. The oil catch can is baffled but does not have a medium in it yet. This weekend I will put in some steel wool. I use 10W30 Castrol GTX and run 87 octane fuel. I am going to switch to 89 which is recommended. Yet this won't help the oil situation. When I installed the oil can I changed the spark plugs. They were covered in a hard white ash deposit. Worse than most pictures I've seen. The intake manifold was also full of oil and grit. I really like this vehicle and am going to be moving from BC to Manitoba in a few months. I cannot in good conscience sell this vehicle to another person without taking a hit. My question is, do you think I can pull the engine and just change the piston rings and valve seals and have this thing last another year or two until I can rebuild it fully. I do not have the time or money to do a full rebuild now. Let me know anymore info you want. Any thoughts or help will be appreciated. I've read the thread "max" has posted. I'm glad he has had things work out. I will likely get the cylinders honed if I can get away with just that, but grinding the crankshaft might be out of the question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citron Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I think if your seals or rings were bad you would be burning oil and see it in the exhaust. Have you done a compression test? If the rings were bad you would have low compression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Wow. I thought the quart per thousand miles in my dad's '03 was bad. I never got the chance to open up my dad's rig and see what was wrong with it. Replacing the PCV did nothing. The more we looked at it, the more it looked like a major undertaking to pull the thing apart and try and diagnose what was wrong with it, let alone fix it. A rebuilt engine cost more than the truck, and none of the VQs in the local wrecking yards had consistent compression. He sold it to a guy who was planning to put a rebuilt engine in it. IIRC the guy had replaced the engine in his R50 due to similar oil consumption, then totaled the truck, so he had a lot of money into the motor and wanted a new box to put it in. Given that I don't know what actually goes wrong with the VQs, I can't say if just replacing rings and seals would do the job. If it's just bad valve seals (what we suspected on the '03), then that shouldn't be too difficult. If it turns out the power valve screws dropped in and chewed up the cylinder walls, maybe not so much. You mention getting gassed out by the exhaust. If the engine has excessive blow-by due to trashed rings, that's all going through what was the PCV line, through your catch can, and then venting in front of the passenger compartment. Hooking the PCV back up wouldn't make the motor any less trashed but might save a few brain cells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinnwn Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 You said the exhaust is choking you but not that it was smoking? Mine was using about a quart per 3000km. It was stinky but only occasional whisp of smoke from the engine compartment. Mine was a leaky passenger valve cover. It is still using a little bit of oil but haven't tracked it down yet. Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgallant Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Check your tail pipe is there a lot of heavy black soot in there, and I mean heavy it will feel "oily". If there is your rings may be shot and your cats will be going basically they will get clogged with oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobot Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 The tailpipe is black. But it is not thick, oily or encrusted. It had snowed here a few weeks ago and I had the truck idling. After 5 minutes there was i decent bit of black splattering in the snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobot Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 You said the exhaust is choking you but not that it was smoking? Mine was using about a quart per 3000km. It was stinky but only occasional whisp of smoke from the engine compartment. Mine was a leaky passenger valve cover. It is still using a little bit of oil but haven't tracked it down yet. Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk I had checked the oil catch can filter multiple times since I installed it last weekend. Yesterday was the first time I actually saw it exhausting smoke or steam. When I was getting choked out I wasn't sure if it was from the exhausting filter or the oil that had leaked onto the engine after I reinstalled the valve covers. I had kinked a gasket and it leaked. I have fixed that issue. No leaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobot Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 I think if your seals or rings were bad you would be burning oil and see it in the exhaust. Have you done a compression test? If the rings were bad you would have low compression. I have not done a compression test yet. I may try that this weekend. Working on this engine is terrible. So little room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuong Nguyen Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Compression test is a start. Your catch can should not vent. You need vacuum to pull the oily mist out of the top end. It being full of water is because it's vented. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpgold Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 I believe this is a basic design flaw in these engines and we just have to live with it. It sounds contrary to the laws of physics, but the oil does not seem to come out in any visible form. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFalconPunch Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 My dipstick is dry around 1500 miles. What I have been doing is just buying 2 of those 5 quart jugs of oil and just adding as needed. Having owned a RX7 at one point in my life, oil usage is not a big deal for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgallant Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Your compression can be perfect or close to even if 1 or more oil rings are shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawairish Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 I believe this is a basic design flaw in these engines and we just have to live with it. It sounds contrary to the laws of physics, but the oil does not seem to come out in any visible form. Of all the vehicles I've owned, my R50 is the only one that consumes oil and shows no proof of it. I'm in the same boat here...I seriously have no clue where the oil goes. I intend to pull the top end off and replace all the gaskets and PCV valve one of these weeks, hoping a freshener may also improve the mileage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petercan1020 Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 I had the same thing I changed out the oil cooler two seals and it went away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petercan1020 Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 I was losing like a Court every 600 miles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinjmpr Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 I had the same thing I changed out the oil cooler two seals and it went away I was losing like a Court every 600 miles I would like to hear more about the oil cooler replacement. I am in a very similar situation (that's what brought me to this board, actually.) 2002 R50, 5 speed manual. Went to fill with gas on Sunday - dipstick was bone dry! Added 2 quarts to bring it up to full. No trace of smoke from the engine and no indication of leaks (we have a new house and I park in the driveway - if there were leaks I would know because my wife would be giving me hell for dripping oil in our new driveway!) I've done a lot of googling and have have heard multiple possible reasons including bad piston rings, something to do with the catalytic converters, etc, but I think your post is the first one I've seen where somebody did something that actually fixed the problem. Where is the oil cooler located? And how difficult was it to replace? Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFalconPunch Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 (edited) I would like to hear more about the oil cooler replacement. I am in a very similar situation (that's what brought me to this board, actually.) 2002 R50, 5 speed manual. Went to fill with gas on Sunday - dipstick was bone dry! Added 2 quarts to bring it up to full. No trace of smoke from the engine and no indication of leaks (we have a new house and I park in the driveway - if there were leaks I would know because my wife would be giving me hell for dripping oil in our new driveway!) I've done a lot of googling and have have heard multiple possible reasons including bad piston rings, something to do with the catalytic converters, etc, but I think your post is the first one I've seen where somebody did something that actually fixed the problem. Where is the oil cooler located? And how difficult was it to replace? Thanks in advance! http://www.nissanforums.com/pathfinder/142468-2001-pathfinder-odd-oil-leak-pics.html#post1251310 I think I paid $15 for both seals at my local Nissan dealer, theres a "kit" on ebay for $12. I need to do mine also, but it can wait until I change the oil again. I don't think its the cause of my oil loss, because there are no spots on my driveway or parking spot at work. Edited March 3, 2017 by McFalconPunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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