Infinity G35 oil consumption problem

[peng155]

Hey Guy's...

I've been contemplating the purchase of a used G35 coupe, with an auto tranny... I've been doing some research on the car and it appears that the motor in these vehicles have a horrendous oil consumption problem.. somewhere on the order of about 1 quart/1000 miles.

I'm not sure but isn't this the same engine that is used in the 350z, and the Altima 2.5? I've also read on the G35 forums that if you can get the dealership service to do a oil consumption study, and they find that the engine uses more than 1 quart/1000 miles Infinity/Nissan will replace the engine.

I personally think that paying 20~25K for a used car with the potential is ridiculous...

My question is this anyone here with a G35 and have you had this problem occur? And if you have was it resolved, and if so how.

Also if Infinity did replace the engine due to high oil consumption, wouldn't you just end up with the same problem again, if the factory didn't correct the original problem in the first place?

Thanks for the input.....

[MikeW]

Yes, it's the same basic VQ35DE 3.5 liter V6 engine that Nissan has used in many vehicles including the 350Z, Maxima, and Altima 3.5 (but not the 2.5 that you mention which is an inline 4). It's long been considered one of the best engines around so I'd really be surprised if it truly has an oil consumption issue. If by research you mean google searching I think there's a common problem. For any product on the market if you do an online search you'll find a vocal minority with problems. I wouldn't let that sway you as the G35 coupe is a great car. As with any used vehicle I'd have it thoroughly inspected before a purchase.

[spotty]

I've owned an '04' G35 since '06'. I too did a great amount of research on the car before I purchased it as I had heard of the oil consumption problem. I now have close to 80K on the car and use perhaps half a quart every 4K miles between a full synth. oil change. Nissan had a problem with the '03' Infiniti both with oil consumption and brakes, but even then it was only a rare occasion on a few cars. That said, I love the G35 and wouldn't hesitate for a minute to purchase another. It is everything it was built to be.

[BD240Z]

My wife has a 2007 G35 and I have a 2005 FX35, I believe they have the same 3.5 litre engine. Both vehicles were switched to synthetic at the first oil change and neither burns any oil.

Her car is the four door and its really nice to drive, I think it's an exceptional vehicle. Like MikeW said, get it checked out, do the carfax and have fun.

Bruce

[peng155]

Hey Guy's

Thanks for the input.... Most of problems I read were from a G35 forum board, and I guess if I took the number of owners that I read about dealing with this problem as a ratio to all G35 owners, I would suspect that it would be a small percentage.

I do plan on having a full inspection performed if I do decide to purchase from a private owner.... I pretty much narrowed my decision of car make down to either a Acura TL, RSX, Infinity G35, or Honda Prelude or Accord...

Unless I totally get cold feet about spending so frickin much $$$$$ for a new-used car, the 'Z' gets a buddy to keep it company in the garage..

Thanks again... and Happy 4th to you all

[Walter Moore]

I have a friend who owned a 2003 G35 sedan. He didn't have oil consumption problems, but the car was repeatedly in the shop (under warranty) for what he THOUGHT was a recurring transmission problem. To their credit Nissan worked through it with him, replacing things at first, until they discovered the true problem.

It turns out that the automatic transmission in the Infinity, at least in the 2003 model, maintains a 15k mile log of driving history which it uses to predict the driver's intentions under various circumstances. In my friend's case, there was a particular section of a certain road where during rush hour traffic the transmission "thought" that he was about to execute a passing maneuver, and it dropped down a gear in anticipation. Immediately after the down shift the computer observed that he had not increased speed and it went back to the correct gear.

It didn't hurt anything, and it would only happen one time, but he was sure there was a problem, so he kept taking it back.

The local Infinity dealer "solved" the problem by clearing the transmission computer's driving history log at each oil change. My friend solved the problem by trading the car on a Cadillac at the end of the warranty period. (The Caddy has been constantly in the shop as well for different, but qualitatively similar, reasons by the way.)

I just thought that you should be aware of this feature. I am not trying to discourage you from buying any particular make or model.

[Unkle]

I have a 2004 Infiniti FX45 with the V8, 60,000 k's . This particular motor definately has an oil ring blow-by issue . High compression , race rings and a heavy throttle foot can exacerbate this . Some oil will pool in the intake plenum , but the vapour will also get mixed with the air/ fuel mix causing detonation and poor performance. The '' fix '' is to install an ''oil catch can'' before the PCV valve thereby eliminating the engine recirculating it's own puke . Some drivers need to empty their oil catches once a month ! Others report very little after 6 months . Do a search on this topic at infiniti.org or ''infiniti scene'' 's website.

This info is for both the VK and VQ 8 cylinders and sixes. Oh by the way, anybody running with full synthetic oil with these motors, a recent analysis shows higher levels of metal wear than normal . No difference with regular oil - you are practically wasting your time if you think synthetic is actually saving these particular motors from premature wear and tear !

Edited July 5, 2009 by Unkle

[John Coffey]

I've been doing some research on the car and it appears that the motor in these vehicles have a horrendous oil consumption problem.. somewhere on the order of about 1 quart/1000 miles.

Very few engines were affected by this and Nissan replaces them on a case-by-case basis. As with all things on the Internet, the significance has been greatly exaggerated.

[Unkle]

Very few engines were affected by this and Nissan replaces them on a case-by-case basis. As with all things on the Internet, the significance has been greatly exaggerated.

True dat . But for a hundred bucks and less than an hour this bandaid actually works . Only the squeakiest wheels got their motors replaced by Infiniti . Otherwise the blems were rebuilt , top end only with rings. This oil ''catch can'' works on most motors , and the theory holds so true that it's a rule at mini cart racing to keep oil off the track . Maybe they've perfected this on the new FX50 , it's still early.