NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

The max uses oil. I have seen worse but it bothers a lot and it eats it by means on pcv valve to intake. 130k miles on her. I have changed out the valve cover and added a home depot catch can. I am sure it has been installed the correct way its just that the oil gets sucked into the catch at such a rate that it sometimes gets full before I get to it and ends up getting into the intake anyway. I am using clear hoses and you can tell by the oil marks on the inside of both lines. Im sure accelerating hard and jerky shifts cause the oil in the catch can to move into a position to get sucked up. There is a lottttt of suction on this line.

When I changed out the two valve covers I did realize that there was much oil still sitting in the valve train on the rear head. The front head didnt have no where near as much. I have done a good amount of online research and I think I am narrowing this down. The last trip on the pcv system before entering the intake or the oil catch can is the rear valve cover. If there is a lot of oil sitting in the top of the head when the car isnt running I can only start to think how much oil is in there when not running. If there is to much oil in there the valve cover and pcv system will be filled with oil and with the suction coming from the mani there is only one thing that can happen. It will suck the oil up.

With research I have found that the vq series has issues with oil drain passages getting clogged with SLUDGE. This makes a lot of sense why there is an issue here. Sludge wont stop here but continue to harm the motor and it appears I am a victim of sludge. My plan is to try two or three treatments of Auto-RX and check to see if there is still an issue by means of checking the usage of oil in the catch can. If I cant tell that way I will remove the rear valve cover again. Maybe in addition I thought of using oil passage cleaning rods pushing thru the passages but I am not familiar with the system and procedure. (anyone with diagrams?) I do realize I will be pulling the oil pan to clean out the debris. Anything needs to be removed to get the oil pan off? In addition I have read where the oil cooler thing where the oil filter plugs into gets clogged. If this device is the next stop on the drainage train coming from the rear head this would make a lot of sense and cleaning that out might solve the issue or in conjunction with the rest. Again any one with such diagrams of oil passages and such would help me out big time. I am not sure if this would be readily available to anyone other than the engineers who built the motor.

If all else fails I plan to reroute the pcv system to hopefully put an end to oil in the intake mani.

current oem setup is : air intake before maf > front valve cover > rear valve cover > rear valve cover pcv > oil catch can > intake manifold

My Idea to maybe help : air intake before maf > rear valve cover > rear valve cover pcv > front valve cover > some type of inline pcv if available > oil catch can > intake mani

Please anyone chime in and give opinions and feedback and possible help me out lol. I will be puchasing the auto-rx and starting from there and will be sure to update this thread. Thank you to everyone on this forum for supplying much useful information.

crazy97

iTrader: (1)

But if you reroute the pcv, then where does the oil end up other than the intake?

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

The oil that is getting sucked up from the rear valve cover will be dropped into front valve train that appears to be ok with draining the oil back into the oil pan so the suction out of the front valve cover should be oil free.

Bringing back to life my own thread.
So yesterday I took off the lower oil pan, both valve covers, and both cam solenoids (whatever there called). I also replaced the ignition coil lower halfs (the wire kinda). I had my good old air compressor with nozel handy and blew air into passages as well as cleaned up the optical rings for the cam position sensors. I got a lot of nasty crap out from the lil holes. BTW be careful cuz some of these passages end up right where you are blowing and you will end up with a face full of oil just like I did. I also cleaned up the oil pickup screen. This is all after running her with some atf in the oil. That stuff works wonders. I also cleaned out the solenoids.

I am unsure of any change in oil consumption but the car is running smoother. I still have an akward tick coming from her but I have yet to notice a misfire. The car doesnt feel as strong as it once did but who knows.

The answer I am looking for is about the rear head drainage. Has anyone noticed with the valve cover off that there is still a good amount of oil sitting in there? I could only begin to think of how much oil sits in there when the engine is at idle or even wot. If my guestimate is correct then there is noooooooo way any pcv would work under that amount of fluid. It would act as a straw in the liquid not above the liquid.

So how the hell can we get the rear bank to drain properly? I am tired of catch cans. Is the engine not sitting right? Are the oil drain back passages clogged? How do we unclog them? Anyone know exactly where this is? I think it may be towards the timing chain side of the bank. I seriously want a clear valve cover to watch this but it wouldnt really work that way. Please anybody got any input or ideas on this?

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

Maybe try and see if a rear valve cover will fit on the front and use that one to thread in the PCV?

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

I can look into that. Thank you. I would still have to change plumbing. If you really look at the design it makes no sense. On the front valve cover air enters at a medium level side and exits at the high point of the valve cover. The rear valve cover air enters at the high point of the valve cover and exits at a lower level. If there is any flooding in the rear it is sure to get sucked up. The way the heads are slanted create the high low points. So I could maintain the enter and exit points of each valve cover but have the front be the last on the path to the intake mani. so the oil passed the pcf will now have to travel to the front valve cover and not the front. When the oil and air reaches the front valve cover it will all dump into the head and most likely make its way down to the bottom without a flood. At this point the exit path is at the highest point it could be. exiting the front valve cover put an inline pcv for safe measure and then to the intake mani and I think we will be good. I will be trying this soon. This setup will deff add to the amount of lenght needed to run and wont make things look pretty at all. but it may be functional. anyone who has take off the valve covers and or the intake mani will understand the flow of the pcf system as it stands. Time to go against nissans crappy design here. There is no oil catch can large enough or good enough to catch all the crap that gets sucked in. I hated emptying the catch at ever full up and noticing that its full and didnt even catch it all.

SOOO. I re routed the pcv system as stated earlier. So far she ran the same upon startup and got a little better but could very well be the placebo effect. Originally I didnt think to put my oil catch in line but when I thought about it, it would be the only real way to tell if it is working. I also put a pcv valve inline before it got to the oil catch.

So far I drove about 20 miles and not a drop i the pcv. We shall see. I did do some pretty spirited driving. One thing I did notice is that the smell I used to get when I got all over her is now diff. Before I couldnt out my hands on it but now it is most deff the rotten egg smell. OBX are getting ordered tomorrow hopefully. The only thing I could think of is that maybe before from sucking in the oil the burning of it was masking the rotten egg smell. Who knows. However there is a difference in acceleration but not sure yet exactly how. I hooked up my obd2 usb scanner and my bank 1 fuel trim went up a little since the work. No idea what that means.

Second and third pic shows inline pcv. I forgot the clamp when taking the pic but I did get it on. And no my oil catch is not full. Its jut really dirty. For now enjoy the pics. I know u cant tell much but here ya go. Any ideas questions comments anything is welcome. I will even take a thread jack.

OnOiShNo0dl3Z

iTrader: (2)

Hey,

Sorry to say, but I don't have any good suggestions or advice to offer but I'm really glad you're trying to figure out a solution to the problem. This would definitely be a great contribution if you can come to a good solution. Thanks for continuing to update this thread. I'm subscribing right after this post. I applaud your efforts.

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

Thanks man. Will deff keep this updated. Reading this wants to check my oil level right now and I think I will.

Gizm0

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for your efforts man! If you notice no oil loss after a few thousand miles, then I'll definitely do this mod.

ahilto3

iTrader: (1)

i think i may be having the same sludge problem. This weekend im gonna pull both VC and see what i can find. I think i have a sticky valve on one of the cylinders, and i have a 1qt/1000mi oil burning problem. Ill let you know what i find

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

I got a tiny tiny tiny bit of water in my oil catch as of right now. I think I drove 50 miles or so. NOOOO oil as of yet but I need to drive more to confirm this is a fix. I would think a tiny bit of water is normal and confirms the proper operation of the pcv system. The air is going to have moisture that my catch can is going to catch. So win so far. I bought same size hoses not noticing that there is actually 3 different sizes for the pcv system. I made it works with no leaks that I know of but will be replacing lines and doing it the right way. If this system works well I may even consider putting a kit together for little profit to me. I would just like to help other members. I would deff put up a parts list at the least. I am looking to buy a set of wheels so I will deff test while driving that far. Most 100 mile trips I would end up with a full catch can.

I most deff need to get a set of headers.


Before oil catch it got as bad as a quart ever 400 miles eaten.
After the oil catch maybe a quart every thousand
Hopefully I am way less then that now. I will most likely report back around the 1000 mile mark. For now still open to suggestions and a tip to nissan to possibly make a tsb or recall off of this.

Anyone know if this is the correct OBX header to get? Its about time I just do it. Also I should get the oem gasket for just the heads? Anything else? I should get the o2 sim from 02sim.com? Dual output? Does the header come with bumg plugs for the 2 I wont use? If not where should I get it from?

I thread jacked myself but I figure why not. If I dont get a response in here I will start a new thread. But figured its a related issue.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OBX-E...Q5fAccessories

Gizm0

iTrader: (1)

There is just one thing I don't understand though... Why would only some and not all 5.5s have the oil burning issue if the problem was indeed coming from a bad design of the PCV on the rear valve cover?

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

Very good question. Who knows. Maybe something to do with the manufacture line or time. maybe a sneaky assembly worker playing a game. Maybe since its normally 6 speeds that have the issue because we lack the electronic motor mounts so maybe our engines sit diff.

Id be willing to bet its a clog that happens the first or second time an oil change is neglected or a harsh oil change cycle.

crazy97

iTrader: (1)

Absolutley!

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

Thanks guys. Anything on my previous post on the headers?

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

NismoAce Since doing this mod have you been taking daily readings on our crappy dipstick? How's your oil level is it cycling back to the pan after a day of drive?

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

Its only been 2 days of work and back driving totalling about 50 miles and so far 100 percent on dipstick. Did an oil change at the same time. Still need to wait till more miles to confirm anything.

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

Well yes I do agree more mileage would make for a better reading, but I am interested to hear if you are continuing to burn/loose oil or if the mod is actually working better for the oil to properly be return to the pan with minimal burn off.

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

So far in 50 miles I have not burned any oil. But that is very little so I am not calling success yet.

ahilto3

iTrader: (1)

Im curious, ok on average, how long would your gar generally be running for each day? Im asking about do you take many <30 minute trips, or do you drive long distances at a time, in an average day/week I myself ususally dont drive more than 15 mins to work and 10 mins to the girlfriends, and i walk to school, so all of my trips are very short, which can cause very bad sludging. You get sludge when all of the water in the oil doesnt evaporate off because the engine is not being brought up to full temp. Then the water emulsifies iteself in the oil changing the viscosity and making it way thinker.

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

I remote start my car 15 to 20 min before each trip even if its a short drive.

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

Pretty creative solution! Hope it works as well as your initial impressions indicate.

crazy97

iTrader: (1)

So basically you just flip flopped the 2 hoses on the rear cover?

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

Thank you guys. Not just the two hoses. I will have to draw a before and after diagram. I used the same in and out of each valve cover as it was designed but instead of air flowing from intake to front head to rear head to intake manifold it now travels from intake to rear head to front head to intake manifold. I still have an oil catch before the intake mani for verification that there is no oil traveling by and also right before that oil catch I installed a pcv valve inline that I found at explodozone that worked for my hose size.

A33user

This is crazy, as a new owner im really not liking this oil problem. its stupid, but will figure something out.

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

Yeah it does suck. But its still the sexiest car ever.

trooplewis

iTrader: (1)

Wow, about 50+ cars pop into my mind that are glaring exceptions to that statement, but OK. Maybe you meant "the sexiest 10 year old, slow, generic Japanese family sedan that has about 10 major known issues"

On a different note, why do you have to warm your car up for 15 minutes before you drive it? Seems like 5 minutes would yield the same results without wasting gas and putting unneeded wear on the engine.

OnOiShNo0dl3Z

iTrader: (2)

Seems like things are going well so far, although early to tell. How often do you do oil changes? It'd be nice if we know if you drastically cut down the rate of oil consumption. I mean, if you see significant improvements over 1000 miles even, then that's great news!

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

I drove 100 miles since the mod. No oil at all in the oil catch. Lots of water. About half way filled with water. i know the PCV system is supposed to recycle gasses and remove moisture. Im guessing what im catching is normal. Can anyone confirm? It seems like at the slow rate this water would have made its way into the intake mani then into the combustion chamber would be normal. Anyone confirm?

Its so watery that its actually cleaning my filthy oil catch all on its own. I am sick so there wont be much driving for me within the next few days. but updates will continue to come.

When all is confirmed to be a better system I will be doing a seafoam cleaning on the intake mani.

JonBlz

iTrader: (11)

Sounds very interesting

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

I wish I felt better and it was warm to really dig into this. I had a diagram of oil passages that I cant find anymore. it would really help out. I would like to see how we would go about passing gally brushes thru.

Gizm0

iTrader: (1)

NismoAce > Is this how you "plumbed" everything?

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

Yes the second one looks exactly how I did the setup. Damn who beat me to it? I just did drawings as well lol. Posting in one min. I thought I was the first lol. Oh well still a great idea. Was this you or someone else that did this mod? Is there a link to another thread?

Gizm0

iTrader: (1)

I just drew it a few minutes ago based on how you described your setup in your first post.

I don't think anyone ever tried this before so all the props go to you if it solves the problem man!

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

Factory route:




factory route with oil catch can:




My new plan rear valve cover then front with catch can and inline pcv:




Thank you very much. So scary you drew it and posted like all of 2 min before I did lol.

I'm glad I described it well enough for at least one person to be able to understand and draw it. For the rest there goes my images and there goes Gizmo with a better drawing lol. Looks like I had parkinsins when I was drawing.

Gizm0

iTrader: (1)

I’m just one of these people who understand a lot better if I can look at a picture/schematic rather than reading a description. Hope you feel better soon man, so you can put some miles on your car and keep us updated! Thanks again for sharing your ideas.

Gizm0

iTrader: (1)

If the new setup works, then the oil catch can be taken off?

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

np man. Thanks for keeping my updating interesting. I do think I can remove the oil catch if there continues to be no oil in it and may be the best thing to do actually so this water / gas mixture enters at a normal controlled as it comes rate instead of being collected in the catch can and being sucked up at a large amount when there is a bump high acceleration braking or anything like that. I am undecided but I am pretty sure the oil catch will come out if I dont see oil in there.

crazy97

iTrader: (1)

I really really look forward to the updates on this.

crazy97

iTrader: (1)

On this picture from when I changed the rear cover you notice some oil staying at the top of the valve area even after several hours of not running the engine.

NismoAce

iTrader: (6)

See thats what I mean exactly. Do u eat oil or catch it in ur catch if any? Did u take off the front valve cover as well? Notice the difference. I barely saw any oil in front and a large amount in rear. Thanks for the pic crazy.