2002 pathfinder oil consumption

[Kew]

I too own one of Nissan's fabulous award winning oilcoholic 3.5L V6 engines and would also like to know if changing the valve cover + pcv and related gaskets has been successful for anyone that has done it.

I guess since no one has posted anymore complaints after doing it that it might work, but I'm tired of all the guessing. My problem has existed since 47000kms and I'm at 170000kms now. H E L P !

[SherryG]

Here's an update on my 02 pathfinder. I have a new shortblock compliments of Nissan. Changing the pcv and new valve covers did not even slow the oil consumption down. It took a long time and we had to track the oil consumption but the service manager at the dealership stuck with it and eventually I got a new shortblock. My vehicle was still under warranty and all cost were covered. I am happy to say that since then my pathfinder has had no oil issues. We have driven it back and forth from Washington to Arizona twice, and now reside in a new state and so far so good. The info I received off of this forum helped alot in dealing with this. At least I knew I wasn't the only one, and also Nissan is aware of the problem, it just happens so rarely (they say) it took awhile for the service dept. to realize they were going to have to change my engine. Thanks to all who replied to my post, and best of luck to all in need of a new engine. If your vehicle is still under warranty be persistant!

[Ozman]

Originally Posted by dre351

i've seen this before. the valve cover that has the pcv valve gets oil trapped in the baffles and pulls oil through the pcv valve and will cause high oil consumption. 1qt. every 1000 miles is about the amount i have seen with this problem every time. just replacing the pcv valve will not fix it. the valve cover will have to be replaced. i've seen this on all the 3.5 engines.

Hi Andre - Can you tell me if Nissan issued a TSB for the oil consumption issue and did the redesigned valve cover recieve a new part #? Thanks in advance for your expertise.

[coppcar]

I was wondering if I had a problem with oil consumption on an '03 Pathfinder I recently bought. Mileage is 87,000.

In researching this, I came across this thread. Andre's explanation gave me hope, "Could it be this easy?!".

However, I could not get past the fact that this cover costs almost $200 from my dealer. I have since found it at nissanpartsdirect.com for much less. Regardless, I had to find out what breaks in the cover to cause the consumption. Andre said oil gets trapped in the baffles, but why??

After several hours of studying this today and making a valiant effort to clean my cover, I figured it out.

If you're interested, swing over to Nissan Pathfinder Oil Consumption for my write-up.

Thank you everyone for this thread and thank you especially to Andre for sharing his fix.

coppcar
post #1 and glad to be here.

[job247]

I am having the same oil consumption problem as many others. My pathfinder has 58xxx miles and uses a quart of oil at about every two to three tanks of gas. I would like to try the valve cover replacement as it sounds like that may be the problem. Where could I get a new redisigned valve cover and gaskets to do this job? Also great site....lots of good info!!

[job247]

Should I replace the spark plugs when I replace the valve cover? Since it was burning oil I thought the plugs may need replaced and may be easier to get to since a lot of things will be removed and out of the way. thanks