If the owner has regular oil changes and there is still sludge and damage to the engine what is causing this and why won’t they honor the warranty?
Mine started having problems at 19000 miles. At 25,000 I could smoke out a parking lot it is burning oil soo much.
Why is this happening?
Perhaps your definition of “regular” is not the same as the manufacturer’s definition of that term.
How much oil do you have to add between oil changes? How many miles elapse between oil changes? Specifically what has the service manager at the dealership said when you requested coverage under the warranty? I suspect that there is a lot more here than has been mentioned so far.
Oil change every 3,000.
The manager says IF any sludge is found, Nissan will not honor warranty on engine.
Right now, we are adding 1qt every 200-500 miles; not being a car expert, that seems like a lot to me.
Check with Nissan, not the dealer. You might even check with a different dealer. I can’t think of a way they could automatically refuse to cover a car with sludge.
You may be seeing a lawyer soon.
Who did the oil changes? Do you have good records? Did the oil used meet the specifications listed in the owner’s manual?
We have just filed a complaint with Nissan and they did not offer us anything other than “Nissan values its’ cutomers and the quality of the car and service. Thank you for telling us” which is basically, too bad for us.
We did the oil changes and no, we do not have records which is where it comes to our word against theirs. We have taken it to another dealership and they have said the same with the sludge…if they find it they will not fix it.
Could sludge be caused by something else?
They have made us feel like total dirt in all of this. Right now, the car is at an independent car shop, who is also a friend of my husbands. We are waiting for an unbiased report from him. I do want to know if the sludge is from us or from something else.
We were also told one other thing from the dealership; they would charge us $700 to fly some expert in and if he found sludge, it wouldn’t be covered.
Glad we didn’t go that route, just another waste of money.
Can sludge come from something else besides oil changes?
Exactly what year model is the car since it’s not likely a 2205 model?
Three thousand mile oil changes are fine but driving habits and time limits also apply. If you do a lot of short hop, stop and go driving (and especially if you have a lot of cold damp conditions) the oil should probably be chnaged every 3 to 6 months no matter how many miles since the previous change.
A quart of oil every 2-500 miles is way too much. Have the PCV valve inspected or replaced. If there is no fault with the PCV then a leak down test should be performed to determine if the problem is related to piston rings.
You did not state if the vehicle was purchased brand new or used. If the vehicle was a dealer demo or program car it’s possible the previous drivers/owners could have done something to it before you purchased it.
I worked for dealerships for 10 years as a tech, two years at Nissan.
The only way that you would have any chance of getting warranty work done is if you have all of the factory recommended maintenance done at a legitimate service facility and have the records to prove it.
I have had customers come to me (I’m a service writer now) with records that were manufactured to look legit and I honored them as proof of maintenance and got the warranty work done for them.
Just get the records made up and clean the sludge out of the valve covers, then take it to a dealer.
I am sorry about the typo. It is a 2005 Nissan Quest and we bought it new in Oct of that year. We bought all the extended warranties, etc b/c we thought that would cover us…just in case.
I do not make many long trips. So when this is all said and done, we will need to change the oil now every 3 months no matter what? Why would not driving far be more stressful on the engine?
Are you sure it has sludge? Sometimes it sounds like you know there is, others it sounds like they are simply saying that if there is they will not honor the warranty.
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The mechanic we have it at now (not Nissan) says so far there is no sludge, we just found out.
But why is there damage? Will the engine sustain damage IF I just make short trips?
If so, I need another type of vechicle OR would changing the oil more often prevent this?
Anyone?
Have the mechanic check the PCV valve to see if it is leaking. The oil may be coming through it.
If there is no sludge, then it sounds like Nissan would cover it under warranty. Sludge is generally because the oil was left in too long or something else is contaminating the oil. Take it to Nissan and have the warranty cover it- they might even cover the costs you incurred with your mechanic.
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