Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 10:25
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - maximusimo

2007 Nissan Qashqai 1.5 DCI

For the longest time the wifes 2007 Nissan Qashqai 1.5 DCI has been going through alot of oil. Needs filled up at the very least once a month. So it was in for a service the other day and I told the mechanic, independent, to give it the once over and let me know if there are any problems.

Has asked me if it uses alot of oil and mentioned a problem with piston rings and that these were so expensive to replace would nearly be better replacing the whole enging.

Can anyone tell me if this would be the case and if there was any recall because of oil consumption/piston rings on this model as I can find no information anywhere?

I do trust the mechanic but like everything would like a second opinion.

Cheers in advance for all/any advice.

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 10:36
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - gordonbennet

How much is it using, pints per hundred miles please.

Does it use less if the dipstick shows between low and half way points?, it might be worth just topping it up to half way and no more and see if it uses less than filling it completely, if you get my drift.

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 10:57
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - maximusimo

I'd say at the absolute most, on her busiest month, she would do no more than 1000 miles. I would only usually top up to the halfway point on the dipstick at any time but surely once, maybe twice some months, is a bit much?

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 11:18
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - gordonbennet

So whats that 1 pint per 1000 miles?

Nothing in the grand scheme of things, i wouldn't worry at 1 pint per 500 miles either.

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 11:39
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - slkfanboy

I understand this is a know issue. Leaving it only going to make things worse. You will at some point get blue smoke which will get worse over time.

The solution depends a bit on if the car has a full dealer service history. I would take it back to the dealer you purchased it from and get them to diagnose and see if you can get some goodwill

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 17:53
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - maximusimo

The car was only bought from the dealer two years ago and has had very little done on it since, apart from services.

Suppose it can do no harm to get on to them.

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 11:25
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - RT

I'd say at the absolute most, on her busiest month, she would do no more than 1000 miles. I would only usually top up to the halfway point on the dipstick at any time but surely once, maybe twice some months, is a bit much?

A rule of thumb used by many manufacturers in accepting/rejecting warranty claims is 1 litre per 1,000 miles - but this needs to be measured in a consistent way - I check oil first thing in the morning, before the engine is switched on, as this does seem to give consistent readings with the engine/oil cold and most oil drained down into the sump.

I find that following conventional advice to check when engine is fully warmed up, 10 minutes after switching off gives inconsistent readings.

So measure the oil you're adding and note the mileages - it sounds like you're around the litre/1000 miles level.

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 11:38
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - maximusimo

I was being generous with the 1,000 miles and what about twice some months.

Also, oil consumption aside, has anyone any ideas on the piston rings I mentioned?

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 12:00
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - craig-pd130

I was being generous with the 1,000 miles and what about twice some months.

Also, oil consumption aside, has anyone any ideas on the piston rings I mentioned?

Some engines will burn oil, some others will not. It does not mean the engine is 'worn out'. When it fails the MOT smoke test, that's when it's worn out.

Just buy a 5-litre bottle of the cheapest oil that meets the correct Nissan specification for the car, and top it off once every couple of weeks. Also, I would strongly recommend you do NOT wait until the oil level is at or below the minimum on the dipstick before topping up. This will only accelerate wear. Keep the level between the 'full' mark and halfway.

Your mechanic is right in one respect about the cost: the absolute lowest cost you can expect to pay to a garage for removing the engine, partially stripping it, replacing the piston rings, reassembling & reinstalling it would probably be £800 to £1000, and that doesn't guarantee the engine will run forever. Far better to buy a 5-litre pack of oil every 6 months or so.

On a 9-year-old car, I really would not worry about this.

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 17:55
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - maximusimo

Thanks for that although 5-litres will last nowhere near 6 months. I will do the measuring though.

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 18:58
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - John F

Thanks for that although 5-litres will last nowhere near 6 months.

In that case, I wouldn't bother with oil changes, just change the filter every 10k miles and run it till it fails the MoT emissions. How many miles has it done? If more than 100k I would use the cheapest 5 or10-40 I could find.

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Mon 18 Apr 2016 19:18
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - focussed

Manufacturers measure engine oil consumption as a percentage of the fuel used, not by mileage, measuring it by mileage is a useless comparison.

Usually for a diesel, it's 0.5% to 0.75% is ok, over that and up to 1.0 % is tolerable, over 1.0 % is unacceptable.

So for 1000 miles at roughly 45 mpg =22.2 gallons=100.9 litres

Rough estimate =1/2 to 3/4 litre ok over that it's getting towards too much.

Edited by focussed on 18/04/2016 at 19:28

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Tue 19 Apr 2016 13:45
Nissan Qashqai - Oil consumption & piston rings - slkfanboy

I was being generous with the 1,000 miles and what about twice some months.

Also, oil consumption aside, has anyone any ideas on the piston rings I mentioned?

Some engines will burn oil, some others will not. It does not mean the engine is 'worn out'. When it fails the MOT smoke test, that's when it's worn out.

Just buy a 5-litre bottle of the cheapest oil that meets the correct Nissan specification for the car, and top it off once every couple of weeks. Also, I would strongly recommend you do NOT wait until the oil level is at or below the minimum on the dipstick before topping up. This will only accelerate wear. Keep the level between the 'full' mark and halfway.

Your mechanic is right in one respect about the cost: the absolute lowest cost you can expect to pay to a garage for removing the engine, partially stripping it, replacing the piston rings, reassembling & reinstalling it would probably be £800 to £1000, and that doesn't guarantee the engine will run forever. Far better to buy a 5-litre pack of oil every 6 months or so.

On a 9-year-old car, I really would not worry about this.

I was not suggesting the engine is warn-out just there have been issues with the piston rings.

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