I have an 02 stock sentra spec-v which always burned a litre or two between oil changes and I wasn’t too concerned. I’m alright with checking oil every couple of thousand km. In the last week or two the oil consumption became ridiculous. It burns about 1 litre every 200km.
If this had been a steady increase, I’d call it wear or maybe that pre-cat issue I keep reading about. This sudden change makes it seem like something just broke.
The car has about 140k on it. It’s definitely not leaking the oil. I can see a cloud of smoke when I rev the engine in the garage.
My mechanic suggested I replace the engine. He’s usually pretty good with advice but he didn’t run a lot of tests so I wanted to get a second opinion before spending a few grand.
I know this could be caused by a lot of things but most of them require a rebuild or new engine in which case I’m spending the money anyway.
I’m looking for potential causes which would be easy to fix that I should test for before replacing the engine. Anyone have any ideas? I already checked the PCB valve.
Failing that, the names of any good shops in the GTA that know their engines would be appreciated.
Dude I have a 04 stock sentra spec-v at 140K… It’s definitely not leaking the oil. But everytime i do oild change one liter od oil is grained… so i have to check my oil level freaquantly too… that’s ok… but the pre-cat and butterfly issue is crap…i don’t know it is causing it or if i should leave it (corss my fingers) that it won;t cus engine damage…
so the question is… why change engine now cus i can wait it out and do it when it does breack down…??? :mad:
Just an update. I took the car into the dealership to see what they have to say. I tell them that I have a sentra that’s burning oil. They say 2.5? Standard? I say yes. They say it’s the pre-cat and I need a new engine. So I ask about the recall on the pre-cat. They look up my vin and the computer shows the recall maintenance was performed back in 2005.
I’m not impressed. They knew there was a problem with the pre-cat back then, they performed some recall maintenance, and it ended up failing anyway. Sounds like they didn’t do enough to fix the original problem.
When you take your Nissan in for the official precat recall, here’s what the dealer will do:
Reprogram the Engine Control Module (likely to lean out the air/fuel mixture)
Test the pre-catalyst to determine if it needs to be replaced
Inspect the pre-catalyst to determine if more extensive repairs are needed
Install new heat shields
Change your oil/filter
IMPORTANT: There are numerous instances of precats failing even AFTER the official Nissan recall procedure. The only 100% proven and effective solution is to remove the precat entirely.
:mad: