Spec V using oil?

[stonewall]

Any of you Spec V owners experiencing oil usage problems? My car is an '02 model. I will use about a quart in 1,000-1,500 miles, then suddenly use two quarts in 200 miles. Nissan is running an official 1,000 mile test on my car. The dealership acknowledges there is a problem. Am I alone?

I love this car. I have made made some tasty upgrades. But what about the durability of those seats? My "fuzzed up" once. The dealership replaced the covers. They have fuzzed up once again. Is there no end? Any of you have a similar situation with your Spec V seats.

Hey, we will have taillight options from APC within two months. And NISMO is coming on stream with a line of Spec V performance/handling parts. If I can keep my engine from burning up, it ought to be sweet.

[sr20de4evr]

it sounds like you're next in line for a new engine, check out the other thread in this forum called "Engine Shot" for more info. The stock seats do have a problem with fraying, no one is really sure why, I guess it's just the weave or stiching that they used, maybe the thread....who knows. The dealer should fix them for free, as it's a defect and not abuse. Actually there are taillights out now, just do a search on ebay. There are chrome ones and black ones, personally I don't like either, they just look too cheap to me, but many do and some have got them.

[red 02 spec v]

my seats are doing that too but not burning oil. but my windsheild did crack all by itself. i thougt that was cool.

[navygz19]

hell yeah i think those seats are definately cool (i still got the red ones from '02) but they too are fraying like hell on the edges. actually only on the passengers side on the right bolster. no oil problems yet, but i am taking it back to the dealership on tuesday to fix my trunk that leaks like a motherf*cker!!!

[Nissan Sales 310]

Most new nissan motors will burn oil for frist 5,000 or so miles you just have to keep an eye on it. This is one reason not to run car so hard at frist it pulles oil right past rings.

As for the seats i have a 03 and i have same problem.

[stonewall]

Sounds like I am not completely alone with an oil guzzling Spec V. Dave Coleman, "Sports Compact Car" explained a situation Nissan is experiencing, where chunks of the cat are sucked into the cylinders, scoring them. Naturally, this allows oil past the rings and voila- oil usage. Nissan has been very courteous and concerned. At 1,000 miles, the oil level was fine. But it always is. It's between 2,000-3,000 miles on an oil change that the level drops like a rock. Try to explain that? I can't.

The taillights I mentioned are from APC. They are called "Retro" and come for the Spec V (Sentra really, not the Spec V specifically) in black, satin and fake carbon fiber. These don't look cheesy or become hazy and yellow like the cheapies. These look sharp.

see ya,

Stonewall

[warcries]

those tail lights are on ther se-r show car right?....there badass...as for the oil usage...you guys are friggin scaring me man iv got 6k miles and nothin yet....but im terrified about the pre cat dumpin som ceramic shit into my cylinders...

[stonewall]

Warcries:

Man, I'm telling you, keep an eye on your oil. I drove four hours, and the oil went from high within the operating zone, to almost off the dipstick altogether. Another 30 minutes and I would have burned up the motor like a piece of toast. And it happens late in the oil's life cycle. So between 2,000 and 3,000 miles on an oil change is where my oil plummets.

If I can keep the motor together, I want to get the APC retro lights for the Spec V. The back of the car is weak-looking, I think. These lights help a ton. I saw the prototypes on a Spec V at the SEMA show. They make all the difference and they don't look cheap. They are very trick.

[warcries]

thanks stoney....gonna go check oil now...lmao but serious...my buddy had his engine replaced already because it was eating oil...i garuntee its from that ceramic dust from the pre cat....i dont wanna go through this shit man..

[jpalm]

The only time my 02' (build date 10/01) is when I got on long highway trips. I check my oil about every other fill up at the gas station

[TurboB15sentra]

There's a lot of debate and discussion going on with the QR25DE. I can tell you from lots of experience, and discussions with many Nissan tuners.. that it's the combination of sleeve hardness, piston ring design, and the stroke of the engine that all make for an engine that won't seal. I recently took apart a 2002 model QR25DE with about 15K on the odometer. The rings had STILL not seated in this engine. Here's the problem and why it's occuring.. I think the cat getting sucked back into the engine is a load of crap.. and Nissan's way of trying to fool people. No doubt that pieces of a converter in the engine would hurt it.. but reversion pulses can only do so much. I hardly think that pieces of converter could make it that far back up the exhaust and into the cylinders on deceleration. It's just hard to believe.. but anyway.. here's my and a few other tuners take on it..
First of all the new engines have a nodular iron sleeve.. instead of cast. This is VERY hard.. and should make for a strong, and long lasting sleeve. This, teamed with the right conditions, could make for an engine that should last a realy long time. But, when Nissan designed the first engines, they decided to use several different aftermarket parts to build them. The first run of engines used Federal Mogul bearings and piston rings... while the Japan Version of QR engines got genuine Nissan stuff. The piston rings used were too hard... and combined with the hard sleeve... they couldn't seat correctly. Both were too hard and couldn't cut into each other to seat properly. The third problem.. that sorta adds fuel to the fire... is that the stroke of this engine makes for some VERY high sidewall loading pressures. This tends to push hard on the thrust side of the cylinders.. It has to do with the angle that the rod goes out on when the engine is rotating. This makes the piston want to "wiggle around" in the bore. So, these three things.. are making for an engine that just won't break in properly. Nissan knows this is the problem.. and they're going to do something to fix it. But, I don't doubt that we will see a recall eventually on these engines. I know in August of 2002, Nissan secretly made changes to the parts in the engine.. switching them back to the genuine Nissan stuff. If you look up bearings, rings or pistons in the parts book.. from July of 2002 to August 2002 production dates.. you will see a different number for those parts. 1 other thing that has me disturbed... is the make up of the main and rod bearings.. and the oiling holes in them. The main bearings have TINY oil feed holes in them! This starves the rod bearings for oil.. as they're next in line for oil after the main bearings. This is why we are seeing so many bearing failures. People are also running these engines low on oil.. not realizing that they're burning all the oil out because of the ring seal problem. These bearings in this engine are alluminum! So, they won't tolerate any lack of lubrication at all. Not like a tri metal bearing will... So, this is my take on the engine... Something definately needs to be done about it! Here's a pic of a QR25DE piston out of an engine with 15K on it. If you look at the rings, and amount of burnt oil/carbon build up that's past the rings and down the side-skirt.. this further proves my point. You can also see that the rings are dull in look. This shows that they are not seated correctly. Good seating would show up as a good, shiny pattern all the way across the ring's surface.

[TurboB15sentra]

Another reason I say that the precat story is BS.. is because this engine had a HS header on it since almost day 1. So, there was no cat on the car to cause the problem.

[sr20de4evr]

ah I knew you'd chime in on this thread eventually...listen up boys, Trav knows way too much for his own good

how is chill's spec coming btw? I'm anxious to see the final product

[TurboB15sentra]

I've got Dion's engine in pieces.. and we're sending the block to get sleeved next week at AEBS.
Travis

[NginzToast]

I have a 2003 Spec V which I purchased in Feburary '03. I babied the car for the first 800 miles or so. Then at 1400 miles I noticed some vibration/engine rattle. I took it in to have the noise checked and the occasional oil light flicker. I got it back later that day after they claimed that they could not reproduce the same sounds/issues I was facing. Basically they just shined it up and bounced it out the door.
For the next 500 miles or so things were back to normal, maybe they dumped a quart of oil in to hush things up a bit. Then the noise came back again. I popped the hood and thought that maybe the plastic 2.5 shroud on the engine was rattling with the wind (I noticed the rattle was worse when windy or at higher speeds). After I took it off I went to a work trip about a 100 miles. On the way back (about 2000 miles) the noise REALLY started up. Knocking so bad the car was shuttering, but I had to get home so I kept driving it. When I got home I checked the oil (a few hours later) and not a drop of oil on the stick. Then I added almost 3 quarts and still the tip of stick was bone dry. I went straight back to the dealership and haven't seen the car since. This was April 25. They agreed to ONLY replace the small block, not even a plug more. The issue is the oil pan is on back order. Personally I think the whole engine is shot at this point and I'm nervous to get the car back only to find something will fail down the road. I applied at a few firms for the lemon law, but haven't heard anything.

I should have just drove the car back on the highway and blown the piston(s) through the hood. At least then I'd be driving a new car.