2001 Nissan Xterra burning oil

[spkrpro]

I just bought a 2001 Nissan Xterra. I have had it for two weeks and it has burned 5 quarts of oil. There is no dripping underneath the vehicle and I can't seem to find a leak. There is black soot on the end of the tail pipe and every once in a while when I start it up it blows out some black smoke. Does anyone have any suggestions or has seen this problem before. Thanks

I feel for you dude. My 02 v6 s/c started doing the same thing at 114,000 miles. It was most prominent when coming down a hill under compression. When i would apply power at the bottom again, i would puff out huge amounts of blue smoke for about 10 minutes before it would subside. I was told it was anything from bad valve seals to worn rings. Eventually it would overheat and i had the engine rebuilt by a friend of a friend. NEVER EVER DO THIS. i got screwed. the mech did not change the oil pump, saying it still looked good. well 3,000 miles later on a rebuilt engine, my engine started tearing itself apart due to oil starvation. Found out it was due to clogged oil passages and a weak pump. Sorry. got off on tangent. Do a compression leak down check and see what cylinders are weak. could also be worn valve guides. good luck. Please let me know what you find, as I am still in middle of a legal issue with mech. Mike. 909-234-3988