Newbie from Armenia (Eastern Europe)

[Aussie Mitch]

Hi everyone I'm Mitch, a 63 yr old Aussie currently living in Armenia. Last year (2019) I bought an '03 FX35 from an ex KGB officer, who'd apparently looked after the car very well. He imported it from California in '05 and has been the sole owner since. The big problem in Armenia is that no one keeps service records, so I had to take his word for it that the car was regularly serviced and no expense was spared on anything the car needed. It's done 140k miles and runs beautifully, although city fuel consumption is woeful! I had a full service done 3k miles ago and everything seemed fine until the other day when I checked the oil, to find it was way down. The car took 4 litres of oil! Yes, I know I should have checked it more often, but my back is a big issue for me, so it's not so easy, especially with that awkward dip stick! I took it to my mechanic, who wants to pull out the engine to discover what's going on. It's a radical step I reckon, considering the car runs fine otherwise. The good thing is that the labor rate is very low! So, thoughts anyone? No oil leaks detected. Oh, and it's nice to be here btw. Stay safe everyone during these crazy times. Regards, Mitch

 

[Denis McGuire]

Hi Mitch, Welcome to the forum. I don't think that the engine really needs to be pulled. Your mechanic could do a compression test, or a leakdown test to determine if any oil might be getting by the piston rings. I would asked him to do one of these tests first before pulling the engine. Also, have a look at the PVC system as this could be a cause of oil consumption as well. Are there any leaks from under the car. If it is leaking you should see evidence where you normally park the car. If the mechanic insists on pulling the engine, it really is the best way to refurbish all of the seals and hoses that are hard to get at with the engine in the car. Whatever you decide to do, try to keep up on the maintenance checks.

Best of Luck

 

[Aussie Mitch]

Your mechanic could do a compression test, or a leakdown test to determine if any oil might be getting by the piston rings.

Thanks for your reply Denis, I really appreciate the advice. Yes, my first thought was a compression test also! I've learnt about the PVC system being another possible cause, so I'll ask about that too. There is no oil under the car and the engine seems pretty much spotless. I have spoken to an English speaking friend and he's advised me to seek after another mechanic, as he suspects the one who wants to pull the engine might be a bit suspect...i.e. assumes I'm an easy target from overseas, therefore I can be taken for a ride! Unfortunately you get those types everywhere. Anyway, I'll do some searching around and try to get a proper diagnosis from a good workshop. Thanks again Denis. Regards, Mitch

 

[Denis McGuire]

If the car is running fine and you don't see a lot of blue smoke coming from the exhaust, it could be that the oil wasn't filled properly at your last oil change. For now, I would do a complete oil change and just keep a really good eye one it. Check the oil level every 1000km to see how much you are actually burning.

 

[Ozzie]

Hi everyone I'm Mitch, a 63 yr old Aussie currently living in Armenia.


Hey Mitch, here's another Aussie living in the Netherlands! you're oil consumption isn's that exceptional, just look it up on YouTube. I've had my FX for 5 year's, bought it at 89k, now at 145k, about a year ago I noticed mine was burning oil too, about 0.5 L every month, engine runs great and zero leaks! so what give's?? I spent hour's on the net looking for info because I want to run this car forever. This is what I could dig up, our engine is one of the most reliable you could buy! but........ if it has a issue, it's excessive oil burning! there are ton's of YouTube video's about this issue and most will advise you to change the PCV valve or run catch can's, which might help a bit, but the real problem seem's to be caused by the cat's and that they should be swapped for high flow versions. I know it sound's weird but just check out these link's and you'll see what I'm talking about.......Nissan VQ35DE Engine (VQ35HR) | Performance tuning, problems and VQ35DE – Everything You Need To Know. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Aussie Mitch]

Hey Ozzie, glad to hear from another Aussie in this neck of the woods! I can live with the car burning oil if there are no other more sinister problems. Thanks so much for your advice, I'll definitely check out those videos...you've been a great help. BTW during my last service (before I discovered the loss of oil) I watched the mechanic put in 5.5 litres of oil (Bardahl fully synthetic 5W-30 engine oil). Could he have over-filled it...and if so, might that be the cause of the excessive oil loss? I'm a very careful driver and use gentle acceleration around the city...Yerevan is a crazy place to drive anyway, so being extra cautious is my motto around town. Regards, Mitch

 

[Aussie Mitch]

If the car is running fine and you don't see a lot of blue smoke coming from the exhaust, it could be that the oil wasn't filled properly at your last oil change. For now, I would do a complete oil change and just keep a really good eye one it. Check the oil level every 1000km to see how much you are actually burning.

Hey Dennis. As I mentioned to 'Ozzie' (great coincidence), I watched the mechanic put in 5.5 litres of engine oil, along with a new filter. I believe he might have over-filled (according to what I found in the specs) the engine, could that have caused a problem? I think I'll just keep driving it and carry some oil with me, especially if I go on a long trip. Just to be on the safe side, I'll get a compression test done and check for any blue smoke. Thanks so much for your reply. Regards, Mitch

 

[Ozzie]

Hey Ozzie, glad to hear from another Aussie in this neck of the woods! I can live with the car burning oil if there are no other more sinister problems. Thanks so much for your advice, I'll definitely check out those videos...you've been a great help. BTW during my last service (before I discovered the loss of oil) I watched the mechanic put in 5.5 litres of oil (Bardahl fully synthetic 5W-30 engine oil).

5.5 L??? Thats half a liter too much! But that's not the reason you lost 4L. Read those links I sent you(they are not video's) when you get around to it!

 

[VLADIMIR BONEV]

Hi Mitch,
I think you may have carbon build up at the oil control rings causing the oil consumption. There is an old trick all mechanics, from that part of the world, know, but i guess, as you mentioned, they want to pull the engine so they can make money...
The trick is:
Take all spark plugs out and pour just a small cap-full of kerosene in each cylinder and then reinstall the plugs.
DO NOT START the car - let it sit at least for overnight, or even better 24hrs, then start the car, let it idle (DO NOT rev the engine) till it reaches operating temperature (5-10min), then shut it off and drain the oil.
Next:
Change the oil filter and pour some new oil - preferably a good quality 5W40, or even 5W50 - REDLINE or MOTUL.
5W30 is too thin in your scenario.
Drive the car hard, if possible, and observe oil consumption daily - keep record and you should see a steady decline.
Group V oils, esters, like Redline and Motul do a very good job cleaning deposits.
A good detergent gasoline, like Shell, is also recommended.
No need to pull the engine

Hope you have luck !

 

[Ozzie]

Hey Vladimir,
Thanks for the tip! never heard of that trick. Here are some individual quote's I found on the net about excessive oil consumption with the VQ35DE..........

1) "As with most engines there are problems and malfunctions. They do suffer from high oil consumption. The VQ has a catalytic converter that is very sensitive to fuel quality. They produce a ceramic dust which can result in damage to the cylinder sleeve and piston rings. As a result, the engine can suffer from low compression. Realistically this can be cured by changing the catalytic converters for a high flow version."

2)"Why do VQ35DE burning oil? The problem is caused by catalytic converters. They are very sensitive to the quality of gasoline and may get out of order quickly. Once it happens, ceramic powder gets into the bottom catalytic converters. And then it gets into the engine and grinds off cylinder walls. As the result, compression diminishes and oil and fuel consumption increases. To prevent such troubles, you need to change the upper catalytic converters for high flow cat converter. It will decrease toxicity standard, but then the problem mentioned above will not happen.
In general, this trouble is more popular in the countries, where the fuel is of low quality."

Is this what you are referring to? and would your "trick" work in this situation?

 

[VLADIMIR BONEV]

Hey Vladimir,
Thanks for the tip! never heard of that trick. Here are some individual quote's I found on the net about excessive oil consumption with the VQ35DE..........

1) "As with most engines there are problems and malfunctions. They do suffer from high oil consumption. The VQ has a catalytic converter that is very sensitive to fuel quality. They produce a ceramic dust which can result in damage to the cylinder sleeve and piston rings. As a result, the engine can suffer from low compression. Realistically this can be cured by changing the catalytic converters for a high flow version."

2)"Why do VQ35DE burning oil? The problem is caused by catalytic converters. They are very sensitive to the quality of gasoline and may get out of order quickly. Once it happens, ceramic powder gets into the bottom catalytic converters. And then it gets into the engine and grinds off cylinder walls. As the result, compression diminishes and oil and fuel consumption increases. To prevent such troubles, you need to change the upper catalytic converters for high flow cat converter. It will decrease toxicity standard, but then the problem mentioned above will not happen.
In general, this trouble is more popular in the countries, where the fuel is of low quality."

Is this what you are referring to? and would your "trick" work in this situation?

No,
That "trick" would not work if the cylinder walls are scratched. It only works on sticky oil control rings.
I have the V8 engine, VK45DE, and there is the same theory going on about the cats falling apart, causing cylinder wall scratching and so on...
Actually, that theory goes on for a lot of modern Nissan vechicles, however, in my 20y+ working on cars, I've seen only one Nissan with the cylinders scratched from a bad cat - it was a 4 cylinder Altima.
If you're, however, worried about that - do a compression test, or put a camera through the spark plug holes and check for visual scratching.
Honestly, i don't think you'll find any - almost all oil consumption issues i've seen were due to sticky oil control rings.
That said, this is experience i have is on US driven cars - out here the laws allow for crappy hydrocracked group III oils to be branded as synthetic, effectively causing those issues.
All that mentioned - i did have bad oil consumption on my own FX45 and, after using that "kerosene trick" and switching to REDLIINE 5W50 i have NO consumption at all !
Before that it was using 1 quart every 500mi.
After all - its your car and you should proceed however you feel comfortable.
I'm here just sharing my experience rather than going through the internet's claims about "known" issues.
Hope that helps!

 

[VLADIMIR BONEV]

One detail i forgot to mention - if the compression is low, from scratched cylinder walls, you'll feel a noticeable lack of power and the engine would not idle very smoothly.

 

[Aussie Mitch]

Hi Mitch,
I think you may have carbon build up at the oil control rings causing the oil consumption.

Hey Vladimir,
Thanks for the great tip re the kerosene trick...that sounds very plausible to me! Also, the quality of petrol/benzine here in Armenia is not the greatest either, so I use the highest octane, which I think is 95. I also wondered about the oil viscosity, as we have extremes in temp here...sometimes -15C in winter to +35 and above in summer. So, I'll follow your advice if I can find a mechanic willing to follow the steps you mentioned. If I was 20 years younger I'd attempt it myself, but the old body ain't what it used to be! Thanks for your advice and take care. Regards, Mitch

 

[Ozzie]

Thanks Vladimir for your input, I'll discuss your idea's with my mechanic, will also do a compression test. FX idle's super smooth and no loss of power as far as I can tell, will check that oil out you mentioned! Thanks again!

 

[VLADIMIR BONEV]

You're welcome guys,
I'm always happy to share a simpler and cheaper solutions to a known problem, plus, I'm originally from Bulgaria, so I know, for a fact, that most mechanic shops in that part of the world like to take advantage from the non-locals...

 

[Aussie Mitch]

You're welcome guys,

Just a quick update. My wife works for an American organisation in Yerevan, who have a large fleet of modern cars. They have an excellent mechanic, who's happy to have a look at my car, and has all the diagnostic equipment to boot! He informed my wife that we've been conned into thinking the engine must be dropped and that the garage who advised this has a reputation for ripping people off. The current level of oil (re-filled) by the aforesaid garage is 6mm's below the high mark on the dip-stick. I think that's a bit too much, but I don't think it will hurt the engine. The oil looks good to me and as I said before, the car runs beautifully and does not blow any smoke. We'll take the car to this new mechanic on Friday and suggest he performs the kerosene trick overnight. As I just spent $50 USD on replenishing the oil (5W30 @ 4 litres), I think I'll live with it over spring/summer and carry some spare oil with me. Thanks to all of you for your great help, the result of which, I'm now at peace and enjoying my beautiful FX35 once again. Regards, Mitch ...

 

[Aussie Mitch]

Just a quick update.

I just realised, if we do the kerosene trick, I'm going to have to throw away all that newly replenished oil! Oh well, we'll wait and see what our new mechanic has to say! Regards, Mitch

 

[Ozzie]

Good luck with that Mitch, keep us informed on how that works out! I'll see what my mechanic says, will be doing this also.

 

[VLADIMIR BONEV]

I just realised, if we do the kerosene trick, I'm going to have to throw away all that newly replenished oil! Oh well, we'll wait and see what our new mechanic has to say! Regards, Mitch

Mitch,
If you don't want to throw away good oil, the one you just replenished, don't use the kerosene "trick" until you're ready for an oil change.
Instead, since you're gonna have to top off the oil level, buy some Motul or Redline 5W50 and use that to bring the oil level to where it should be.
Group V oils are very good at cleaning your engine + the thicker base stock would slow the consumption.
Good luck!

 

[Aussie Mitch]

Mitch,
If you don't want to throw away good oil, the one you just replenished, don't use the kerosene "trick" until you're ready for an oil change.
Instead, since you're gonna have to top off the oil level, buy some Motul or Redline 5W50 and use that to bring the oil level to where it should be.
Group V oils are very good at cleaning your engine + the thicker base stock would slow the consumption.
Good luck!

Thanks for the advice Vlad...but please excuse my ignorance...I was of the understanding that you shouldn't mix different weight oils...or is that just a myth?