4doordrift Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Hey guys im hoping you'll be able to give me some insight onto whats going on with my Vq35. First off, anytime ive done some mild 4 wheeling with my path, the check engine light has come on, i wish i had the means to check the code everytime, but taking it to the dealer is always way to pricey and just a rip off IMO. I got the light checked once and they said it was a lack of oil in the head or something.. i dunno i forget. Anywho.. the issue im having now is that for the last two weeks or so, my oil pressure light has been flickering on and off at idle, and when i come to a stop, its really bugging me. i dont know why this has started happening out of no where, oils fine. ive noticed that on cold starts, the motor is rather loud and clunky, but after it heats up most of that goes away.. i just took a video of whats happening, on my phone, ill try to upload it tonight. Any help or if anyone has had a similar problem, it would be greatly appreciated to hear what you have to say. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XSrcing Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 (edited) The oil light has nothing to do with the oil level in your engine. It comes on when you have critically low oil pressure (usually 3-4 psi). If it is coming on at idle then you either have a worn out oil pump or excessive wear somewhere in the engine that is allowing excessive oil to bypass. First thing I would do is to pull off the oil filter and cut it in half. Inspect the filter element for any metal shavings. A place told you the CEL was low oil pressure in the head, then I think you did something to starve your cam journals and they are worn out. Edited January 31, 2011 by XSrcing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4doordrift Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 i just recently bought the vehicle, hope its not eff'd... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Nah, these engines are, no joke, effin bulletproof. Find out what the pressure problem is so you don't cause any real damage, then we can look back to see if there's any pre-existing damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4doordrift Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 If the cam journals are worn out, what would I need to do to fix this? New cylinder heads? I'm super stressed out by this problem. It's like it's taunting me whenever I drive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4doordrift Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Nah, these engines are, no joke, effin bulletproof. Find out what the pressure problem is so you don't cause any real damage, then we can look back to see if there's any pre-existing damage. Thanks, makes me feel a little bit better.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4doordrift Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 (edited) Is there anyone around the kelowna region that could maybe help me out with this? Plug it into a code reader or something? Edited January 31, 2011 by 4doordrift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 What year/model Pathy is it? If it's new(er) you should be able to bring it to any shop and have them pull the codes (being OBDII standard and all) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 (edited) I believe VQs have oil flow issues through the heads. I would test the oil pressure, and if it's below 7PSI at idle stop driving it NOW. Hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but VGs and VQs won't tolerate much oil starvation. So oil light came on, and now it ticks and knocks on start up? EDIT: If it's a VQ35, it's at least an '01 and any auto parts store that offers free code checks can read them for you. Edited January 31, 2011 by Kingman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 It could just be the sending unit, but you need to get a manual gauge put on it to check and see how much pressure you have. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 That would definitely be what to hope for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4doordrift Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Its an 02 pathfinder. so to put an oil pressure gauge on there, id have to buy a sandwich plate with a fitting for an oil pressure gauge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4doordrift Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 anyone know how to get a vid of an iphone 3gs, onto here, so i can show you guys whats happening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5523Pathfinder Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 If the check engine light came on, and they are telling you its a oil issue, I imagine you had cam sensor codes. There are two sensors on each side of the engine, neat the front. The are black and held in with one screw. Right bank is on the side of the motor, kind of tough to get to, but not bad. The left is on top of the engine, in front of the valve cover. These sensors have a tendency to go bad. In some cases, you can wipe off the buildup on the sensor(its a magnet), and they may work fine for a while. As far as oiling issues and noise, well, when was the last time you changed the oil? What oil viscosity did you use? Did it go a while without being changed the last time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4doordrift Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Nissan actually did the last oil change a month ago, so they should have used appropriate viscosity. Maybe I'll look for the sensors and see if I can clean em.. Just phoned pretty much every auto part store in kelowna, they are all cheap asses and don't do any free readings.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4doordrift Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Ugh I'm losing sleep over this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Its an 02 pathfinder. so to put an oil pressure gauge on there, id have to buy a sandwich plate with a fitting for an oil pressure gauge? I don't know what a sandwich plate is but I'm not talking about installing a manual gauge permanently. Remove the oil pressure sending unit, screw in a manual gauge, then fire it up. See what kind of pressure you have at an idle, at a rev and in gear where you have been seeing the oil light flickering. If you show good pressure on the manual gauge install a new sending unit. If you don't show good pressure on the manual gauge then you have bigger problems. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 I've been seeing the oil light come on occasionally at idle (in my 91) recently... but it only happens when my truck idles too low (like 500 rpm) for some unknown reason. I have an aftermarket gauge installed and the pressure is always pretty low at idle (correct or not), so I figure that my problem here is just something causing too low of an idle, not an actual oil pump problem. The pressure is good when revved up. Anyway, I'm not trying to get into my problem here, but maybe you could just have too low of an engine speed to get the pressure needed? I figure this isn't really SOOO bad, because the engine really needs the oil pressure when spinning fast, not nearly as much at idle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Nissan actually did the last oil change a month ago, so they should have used appropriate viscosity. Maybe I'll look for the sensors and see if I can clean em.. Just phoned pretty much every auto part store in kelowna, they are all cheap asses and don't do any free readings.. You can buy a basic OBD2 reader (all you really need) for about $50, it will pay for it's self the first time you use it. I don't know what a sandwich plate is but I'm not talking about installing a manual gauge permanently. Remove the oil pressure sending unit, screw in a manual gauge, then fire it up. See what kind of pressure you have at an idle, at a rev and in gear where you have been seeing the oil light flickering. If you show good pressure on the manual gauge install a new sending unit. If you don't show good pressure on the manual gauge then you have bigger problems. James This, but buy a gauge or pay someone to do it for you; which ever is cheaper. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 02 FSM says at 14 psi at idle and 43 psi at 2000 rpm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4doordrift Posted February 4, 2011 Author Share Posted February 4, 2011 Well... officially booked into Nissan for Monday, can't wait to see the thousands of dollars I will be paying in the near future . Wish me luck.. And I looked everywhere for a cheap obd2 reader they're all 100$+ up here in Canada eh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I bought mine at princess auto for 45 dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howie Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I know it's over $100, but this is the cable I use: http://www.blazt.biz/index.php It's specific to Nissan, and they're great with customer support. It does more than reset your light and pull codes. It can shut off your fuel pump, deactivate cylinders, and pulls real-time voltage data from all your sensors. I used it to diagnose a bad O2 sensor without any trouble at all, as well as other stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I know it's over $100, but this is the cable I use: http://www.blazt.biz/index.php It's specific to Nissan, and they're great with customer support. It does more than reset your light and pull codes. It can shut off your fuel pump, deactivate cylinders, and pulls real-time voltage data from all your sensors. I used it to diagnose a bad O2 sensor without any trouble at all, as well as other stuff. This is the one I use, just not for my pathy. http://www.uprev.com/ It does live data and data logging, and the cylinder balance test and lots of other stuff I never used. They are Nissan specific too and it cost me $700! But I can reprogram too! The first time I tried a flash I killed it and had to pull the ECU and send it to them to straiten it out. They don't list pathfinders on their site but I'm sure they can program them too. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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