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Ticking when oil 1 qt low


colinnwn
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I have some occasional ticking which has been debated on here whether likely valve lifters or exhaust manifold loose bolts.

 

I've also noticed when my oil is 1 qt low, but still on the end of the dipstick, the ticking lasts longer and is more pronounced. For example I heard it when pulling my camper out of the driveway up a very slight incline. I immediately stopped and filled it up.

 

But it isn't a horrible racket. If I fill the oil up, it immediately goes away. Then I only hear it sometimes when decelerating at high speeds.

 

I'd there anything likely to cause poor pickup in the oil pan?

 

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It’s your lifters. Only way to fix it is replace them.
Will they likely last a long time like this making slight noise? Or more typical gets worse fast?

Thanks

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As far as I know they last a long time making noise. I read somewhere Nissan changed the lifter design for 02 and up but for the rest of us it’s just part of owning a VG or early VQ Nissan engine.

 

I have found that my lifter noise closely follows oil health and oil level. 3000 miles into an oil change and mine become quite noisy. Very recently, since I can actually tell where my oil level is, I’ve started adding a thing of Lucas Oil Stabilizer at 2500-3000 miles (or two weeks into an oil change interval since I loose about half a quart in that time) and it greatly reduces the noise until it’s time to change the oil.

 

Oh and I use the Supertech Walmart equivalent to Lucas Oil Stabilizer

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Thanks for the tip. I've considered trying 10w30 to see if that helped quiet it down, but I'll try the Supertech additive instead.

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10w30 might not be a bad idea. I think what’s happening is that the viscosity improvers in the oil are breaking down from heat shearing and also fuel is probably entering the oil causing even further viscosity loss. So when you hit it with a product like Lucas your replenishing a lot more of the viscosity improvers than if you had just added another quart of oil.

 

So if we start out with 10w30 then maybe we can skip the added cost of an “Oil Stabilizer” in hopes that by the time the oil change interval is up we’ll be inside the viscosity range where the lifters aren’t making noise. And even if we start getting a little noise maybe we could use half a bottle of the “Oil Stabilizer”.

 

Interesting. So are you gonna try 10w30?

 

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10w30 might not be a bad idea. I think what’s happening is that the viscosity improvers in the oil are breaking down from heat shearing and also fuel is probably entering the oil causing even further viscosity loss. So when you hit it with a product like Lucas your replenishing a lot more of the viscosity improvers than if you had just added another quart of oil.
 
So if we start out with 10w30 then maybe we can skip the added cost of an “Oil Stabilizer” in hopes that by the time the oil change interval is up we’ll be inside the viscosity range where the lifters aren’t making noise. And even if we start getting a little noise maybe we could use half a bottle of the “Oil Stabilizer”.
 
Interesting. So are you gonna try 10w30?
 
I have 2 more qts of 5-30. That will last me about 2 months. I think my oil change will be due about then too. Sure I'll use 10-30 probably around late October when I change it. Until then I'll throw in some of that oil enhancer.

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On 8/20/2019 at 12:46 PM, colinnwn said:

I have 2 more qts of 5-30. That will last me about 2 months. I think my oil change will be due about then too. Sure I'll use 10-30 probably around late October when I change it. Until then I'll throw in some of that oil enhancer.
 

 

I have always used 10w-30 on my nissans. I used to own a 98 frontier with ka24 and it ran so much better with heavier weight oil. My 04 frontier with vg33 runs a lot quieter with 10w-30. On the vq35 I haven't noticed any difference from 5w-30

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I have always used 10w-30 on my nissans. I used to own a 98 frontier with ka24 and it ran so much better with heavier weight oil. My 04 frontier with vg33 runs a lot quieter with 10w-30. On the vq35 I haven't noticed any difference from 5w-30
Thanks for the feedback. 10-30 is a Nissan approved weight for this engine under some temp ranges. I had been running 5-30 because 10-30 is right on the edge of officially acceptable for the temp here, and I was trying to eek all efficiency possible out of the engine. But it has 260k miles now. I think it has earned the heavier weight.

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My 03 Xterra, 11 Pathfinder and 11 Armada love the Subaru synthetic 5w30. The X used to tick pretty bad until I switched to the Subaru oil. A mechanic buddy of mine was complaining about his Miata ticking after 2k miles and he had tried everything out there. (Mobile 1, Royal Purple etc) He tried the Subaru and it would go 5k miles before ticking just slightly.
It's made by Idemitsu. It's a very high quality oil.

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My 03 Xterra, 11 Pathfinder and 11 Armada love the Subaru synthetic 5w30. The X used to tick pretty bad until I switched to the Subaru oil. A mechanic buddy of mine was complaining about his Miata ticking after 2k miles and he had tried everything out there. (Mobile 1, Royal Purple etc) He tried the Subaru and it would go 5k miles before ticking just slightly.
It's made by Idemitsu. It's a very high quality oil.

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I suppose you have to get that stuff at the Subaru dealer or Amazon? I see you can also get Idemitsu branded oil on Amazon. I may have to try that.

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I put in half of a bottle (16 oz) of the Supertech Walmart oil stabilizer. It says use up to 20% (or the whole bottle for a Pathfinder.) I was a little scared of using that much since it's almost like mayonnaise. But it quieted my engine right down.

I'll probably try Idemitsu 10-30 at my next oil change to compare.

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26 minutes ago, onespiritbrain said:

I just put a bottle in mine also and the lifter clacking ceased immediately. I usually see a solid 2 weeks before the clacking returns and I have been changing the oil at that point which happens to be around the 5000 mile mark.

did you mean 2 months?

 

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On 8/27/2019 at 6:06 AM, prmanke1232 said:

I usually just go to the dealer. It's worth a try.

Paul


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amazon shows 1 gal (4qt) is $40. obviously the dealer charges more.. how much do you pay for oil?

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No. This is how my OCI goes:

0 Week:                                                           4 Quarts Supertech "Full Synthetic" Oil is added at oil change

3-4 Week (or when lifter noise appears):  1 Quart Supertech "Oil Stabilizer" is added (this is usually at 3000 miles)

5-6 Week (or when lifter noise returns):    Oil is changed using 4 Quarts Supertech "Full Synthetic" Oil (this is usually at 5000 miles)

 

I do wonder what sort of reduced wear protection I experience after the "Oil Stabilizer" is added until the next oil change...

Edited by onespiritbrain
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2 minutes ago, onespiritbrain said:

No. This is how my OCI goes:

0 Week:                                                           4 Quarts Supertech "Full Synthetic" Oil is added at oil change

3-4 Week (or when lifter noise appears):  1 Quart Supertech "Oil Stabilizer" is added (this is usually at 3000 miles)

5-6 Week (or when lifter noise returns):    Oil is changed using 4 Quarts Supertech "Full Synthetic" Oil (this is usually at 5000 miles)

Thanks for clarifying. So I take it you are burning 1-1.5 qt every month? How much degradation do you notice for that specific brand of oil in 5k miles?

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You're spot on. When the oil is about a quart low the lifter noise begins to appear. Originally I was just adding an additional quart of oil but the lifter noise was quieted for a day or so before returning and then continuing to get louder as I approached the end of my OCI. So I tried the "Oil Stabilizer" in place of the additional quart and the lifter noise was well controlled for a much longer period, coincidentally to the end of my desired OCI. 

 

by 5000 miles the oil is black. this oil stabilizer doesnt help with that at all. the oil begins to turn quite dark at the 3000 mile mark and continues to become darker until the 5000 mile mark where it is hard to discern whether its becoming any darker. 

Edited by onespiritbrain
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3 minutes ago, onespiritbrain said:

You're spot on. When the oil is about a quart low the lifter noise begins to appear. Originally I was just adding an additional quart of oil but the lifter noise was quieted for a day or so before returning and then continuing to get louder as I approached the end of my OCI. So I tried the "Oil Stabilizer" in place of the additional quart and the lifter noise was well controlled for a much longer period, coincidentally to the end of my desired OCI. 

I asked about the degradation because I am not familiar the quality of the oil. It seems in your situation at around the 3k mark the oil has thinned out enough to cause the ticking and by that point you've lost oil so you include the additive to compensate. Would it not just make more sense to change the oil entirely? 

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I edited in my response about degradation. And yes it would totally make more sense to go ahead with the oil change but changing the oil monthly is too frequent. I dont like 6 weeks either, its also too frequent but its better than 4 weeks. I am thinking about using a 10w30 instead of 5w30, if successful then I will save myself the additional cost of the "Oil Stabilizer" over a quart of oil, since I have to add one anyway. That's $2 every 6 weeks which isnt much but I am more concerned about increased wear from diluting anti-wear additives by adding an "OIl Stabilizer".

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2 hours ago, onespiritbrain said:
I edited in my response about degradation. And yes it would totally make more sense to go ahead with the oil change but changing the oil monthly is too frequent. I dont like 6 weeks either, its also too frequent but its better than 4 weeks. I am thinking about using a 10w30 instead of 5w30, if successful then I will save myself the additional cost of the "Oil Stabilizer" over a quart of oil, since I have to add one anyway. That's $2 every 6 weeks which isnt much but I am more concerned about increased wear from diluting anti-wear additives by adding an "OIl Stabilizer".


Have you used other oils? I specifically use mobile 1 on my vg and vq but use rotella t6 on turbo subaru. I am curious how t6 would work in either.


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I used to put T6 15w40 in my Frontier to combat smoking and it worked wonders. I have played around with different brands some and viscosity a bit also, but I had some extremely bad valvetrain noise using Castrol 10w30 so now im scared to mess around haha but I may give the Supertech "Full Synthetic" 10w30 a try. 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

In the past couple days I noticed a hint of clattering when lifting off the gas. Last night on the way home it started doing it loudly, for a half second, every time I lifted off the gas. I put in the 2nd half of the stabilizer bottle. Oil was already full, now it is a bit over full. Haven't had a chance to test drive it yet. But given the progression of symptoms, the engine sounds like it is in its swan song. 

 

This weekend I may try doing an oil change with the 10w30 I had already purchased. Since Idemitsu/Subaru doesn't sell 10w30 except in very expensive quart bottles for their rotary engines, I was going to try Shell Rotella T5 10w30 for diesels, which I've heard good things about using in gas engines too.

 

Don't think it would be worth putting in a junkyard motor. So we are also looking at replacement Pathfinders.  R50's are pretty scarce and lower mileage ones are getting expensive. I suspect we will end up with a R51. Would be open to a Toyota, but those are generally more expensive than I want to pay. I'm going to ask on the R51 board what to watch out for when buying a used one.

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