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Blue Streak
join:2002-02-06
Moreno Valley, CA

Blue Streak

Member

2006 Altima - low oil

My daughter has a 2006 Altima with the 4-cylinder engine. Lately it has started to use lot of oil. We have check to see if she has a leak but can' find any oil spots where sh parks or stops for a couple of hours. A mechanic said he couldn't find any leaks and the tail pipes look clean so it doesn't seem to be burning it. So we are at a loss as to where to go from here. Any ideas out there.

John
bgraham2
join:2001-03-15
Smithtown, NY

bgraham2

Member

What's a lot of oil? A quart every 300 miles or so , or a quart every 1000 miles?

How many miles on the car?

WK2
Premium Member
join:2006-12-28
united state

WK2 to Blue Streak

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to Blue Streak
Has the oil been changed lately?

aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA

aurgathor to Blue Streak

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to Blue Streak
Just add oil -- take it to a mechanic when you have issues with 'smoking', or you see an easily noticeable oil leak.

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

1 recommendation

Doctor Olds to Blue Streak

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to Blue Streak
Change the oil and filter now using a quality brand in the weight for the vehicle (usually seen on the oil filler cap and also found in the owners manual. Ask her if she mixes different brands of oil in the engine and if she does, tell her to stop that bad practice (mixing different formulas/brands/weights can increase consumption, cause the oil to foam or even break down prematurely leaving carbon deposits in the entire engine) and explain to her how to use only one brand/one weight oil based on the Owners Manual climate zone chart temp range that the vehicle is driven in.

Then get it up to operating temperature and follow her on a short trip out on the roads to a highway. Have her drive it at 35, then 55 and finally 65 and even have her get on it from 35 up to 65 (in a safe area to do so) so you can watch for any blue smoke out the exhaust pipe during driving, acceleration and deceleration/braking and finally check it at idle after the short road trip look for any light blue oil based smoking from the tail pipe. If you do see the smoke, determine when it is seen the most to help pinpoint where is is being consumed in the engine as it could be intake guides/seals or even the oil rings/scraper rings not sealing properly anymore.

Oil is the life-blood of all engines.

EGeezer
Premium Member
join:2002-08-04
Midwest

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What does the engine coolant look and smell like? Normal?
Blue Streak
join:2002-02-06
Moreno Valley, CA

Blue Streak

Member

This is really an answer to all and not just Doctor Olds. First off she changes the oil regularly 3-4K per change. She had to add 2 quarts of oil to the engine after 3K. She has had 2 people look at the car for her. One is a friend and also a mechanic who checked the car out as a friend and claims he doesn't see any leaks. The second is the place sh gets the oil change, a actual mechanic shop not just an oil change place, and also claims they don't see any leaks. We haven't noticed any smoke from the tailpipes but will try to set up a time where I can follow her like Doc Olds suggested. BTW: She has the oil changed at the same place every time, a mechanic shop, and they use the same type of oil and filters. The engine coolant looks OK so don't think its going there. She has 142K on the car but it shouldn't be that bad at that mileage.

John

Juggernaut
Irreverent or irrelevant?
Premium Member
join:2006-09-05
Kelowna, BC

Juggernaut

Premium Member

Just a suggestion, change/ check the PCV valve, and see if it makes a difference. 2 quarts in 3K is huge.
bgraham2
join:2001-03-15
Smithtown, NY

bgraham2

Member

said by Juggernaut:

Just a suggestion, change/ check the PCV valve, and see if it makes a difference. 2 quarts in 3K is huge.

I really don't think 1500 to a quart is that bad after 140k miles.
My wife's 2000 LeSabre with 135k miles on it does 1500 miles to a quart and I would never give it a second thought. The car only did around 2k miles to a quart when it was new.
My 2002 century with 105k miles on it does about 2500 miles to a quart of oil and has never changed from new.

My brother in law's 2007 Caddy with 50k miles on it only does about 1000 miles to a quart and the dealer tells him that is common.

Juggernaut
Irreverent or irrelevant?
Premium Member
join:2006-09-05
Kelowna, BC

Juggernaut

Premium Member

Really? I use half a liter in 3K in my '95 3.8L at the most.

WK2
Premium Member
join:2006-12-28
united state

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The Chevy Lumina X or Z burned through oil like crazy. I had one, I had to get rid of it due to the oil. Dealer said it was common

But this was in the 90s

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

Doctor Olds to Juggernaut

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to Juggernaut
said by Juggernaut:

Just a suggestion, change/ check the PCV valve, and see if it makes a difference. 2 quarts in 3K is huge.

Along those lines check the air filter and filter housing for oil also.

I still suggest a fresh oil change then run a oil consumption test.
Blue Streak
join:2002-02-06
Moreno Valley, CA

Blue Streak

Member

We just had the oil changed so I will monitor the oil consumption now. Never thought of the air filter and filter housing so will give that a check.

Thanks,
John

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

Doctor Olds

Premium Member

No, like described in this thread:

2005-2006 Nissan Altima SE-R Discussion
Oil consumption test is done.
»www.nissanclub.com/forum ··· e-2.html

EGeezer
Premium Member
join:2002-08-04
Midwest

EGeezer to bgraham2

Premium Member

to bgraham2
said by bgraham2:

I really don't think 1500 to a quart is that bad after 140k miles.
My wife's 2000 LeSabre with 135k miles on it does 1500 miles to a quart and I would never give it a second thought.

My brother in law's 2007 Caddy with 50k miles on it only does about 1000 miles to a quart and the dealer tells him that is common.

"common" to use a quart of oil in a thousand miles?

My 3.0 liter Ford V6 Aerostar with 215,000 miles and a rear main seal leak only uses a quart in 3000 miles.

My 3.0 liter Avalon 1MZFE V6 with 330,000 miles on it uses about a half pint in 3,000 miles. I use WalMart oil and Fram filters for both vehicles.

If a using a quart every 1000 miles is 'common" for a Cadillac, then I'm never going to consider one.
Blue Streak
join:2002-02-06
Moreno Valley, CA

Blue Streak

Member

To All,
Thanks for all your help. My daughter decided to solve the problem the brute force way. She traded the Altima in for a new Toyota. Never did get to actually check the oil consupmtion. But thanks to all for all your comments.

John
mob (banned)
On the next level..
join:2000-10-07
San Jose, CA

mob (banned)

Member

Hopefully nothing fails for the next long term owners.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

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2.5s has a known issue for eating oil since the 2002 model (including sentra's SER 2.5)

also get the cat and pre cat checked out as they sometimes have pre-mature failure. known issue since 2002 model

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

Doctor Olds

Premium Member

said by Anonymous_:

2.5s has a known issue for eating oil

On 9-21-12 the OP posted that the car had been traded in on a new Toyota. See above your post.