T_Behr904

They have a dry sump system which stores the majority of the oil in a tank Once the engine heats up to a certain temperature, a thermostat opens up to start circulating the oil through the system, similar to a liquid cooled car. Once it's warmed up, you check the level with it running at idle on level pavement and can either use the dipstick or the oil level gauge in the cluster. Let your friend know that having the oil level halfway on the gauge is ideal. You don't want to over fill that.

paradiddle

I always have extreme difficulty reading the dipstick on level ground after 15 mins or more on my wifes oil chugging VQ35. over night is better but oil must run down from somewhere and coat the stick above the line. My best guess is if I see a dry spot above the bottom and more oil above. My wife can't read it well and has missed some crucial oil refills.

We ran Mobil 1 syn since we bought car with 35K miles every 3-5K and it still ended up as a oil burner. I did the valve covers, PCV etc. no change. I'm running dino oil now but it's really no better and I don't believe any oil or treatment will fix this. It needs rings and you can't always check this if the oil ring is bad but compression rings are good with a leakdown or compression test.

This monster motor is very flawed and should have had a recall but for some reason gives up oil at over 100k. we have 170k now and just buy 5 extra quarts on every oil change as it sucks up about once every 1k. cheapest solution. Now we get p0021 codes and I hear that low or dirty oil can make the chain adjuster stuff funky with cam timing and throw codes. We are just going to run it in the ground for another year and dump it. too bad , our previous 99 Max was great and this has been the opposite.

I have a Ford van with a V-10 and it started using oil at 30K. Dealer told me that 1K was "acceptable" and couldn't fix. I had used the factory motorcraft oil and filter and it still didn't stop the inevitable.

TallTom

Just do it 1st thing in the morning while parked on lever ground. Makes life easier.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Are we done here?

MaxinO2

iTrader: (1)

I have noticed that waiting a few hours will give you the most accurate reading or over night. It takes a long time for all the oil to drip to the bottom in our vehicles.

select127

iTrader: (4)

Pour some cold water on the dipstick and then insert it. One side should give the correct reading.

Learned this back in 05 when I worked my first job at jiffy lube.

MaxFiyah

mine sucks also but mine comes out dry wtf right lol

Aviation005

seems like you did the basic repairs already. it could be your oil pressure sender unit. many leak only while the car is running

i have also saw a blown seal inside the timing chain cover that caused a huge oil burning issue.. this is what i think is causing your issue. do you get chain rattle at cold starts by any chance?

the piece the broke in the timing cover didnt even have a part number.. i will try to find that thread later

paradiddle

I'll look at the OPS but I'm sure I would have seen that leak. It is getting noisy at cold starts. Haven't had the code in awhile but I will consider this if it becomes a problem. We will stick with the 5 qts between oil change method for now and I will try that cold water trick on the dipstick. Limp another year out of this. I had fun smoking some unsuspecting dudes at a stoplight the other night. at 178k I really don't care now........ ha ha

Blue Mesa

Id be curious to know if there's a correlation between presumed oil consumption and faulty dipstick readings...

joebangaa

iTrader: (3)

Can we sticky a post that says "leave car overnight before checking" and lock up all these dipstick threads?

paradiddle

I'm glad that many of you can read a simple thing like a dipstick with ease. I don't know why but I think the engine casting retains some oil and it drips on the dipstick, therefore creating an erroneous reading. some times you can even see a clear gap between the bottom and the drippings. It may be we are dolts but in my case I don't have any problem with ANY other vehicle.

The correlation may have been why my wife thought she had a full oil pan when she checked the stick at fuel up. Later I discovered it was over 3 qts low. I don't know if this caused engine damage and made it into an oil burner or the VQ 35 is at best a 50/50 motor where half of you have no problems at all and the other half put a case of oil in the trunk.

If the dipstick is hard to read you will either miss oil fills or or over fill.....overnight is obviously best. On the road hmmmmmm..... just run it 1-3 qts low until you get home and can wait overnight. ha ha

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

sorry to bump, but does anyone know how much a slightly off level grade would effect the reading? could it really effect the reading as much as putting the reading to the extremes ends of the spectrum?

and is it true that when reading the dipstick from High to Low that it gauges 1 quart?

95VQ30

Title says it all

Chris Gregg

iTrader: (59)

Worst dipstick?

YEP.

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D.Stillwell

^^

Inserting your stick all the way in, then taking it out quickly gives a more accurate reading (this method may or may not work elsewhere).

02nismaxlegnd94

iTrader: (6)

I've had my Maxima for seven years now, and i still cant read my dipstick to this day. sometimes it reads, most times its dry, or the oil is only on the back side of the stick.

ACee

I check mine when the motor is completely cold after oil has had time to drain down out of the dipstick tube.