Smokes on startup

Submitted by i5egan on Mon, 2007-11-05 15:59. 2004+ Nissan Quest

Anybody experience this before? Sometimes, maybe 1 out of 5 times when I start the van, a huge cloud of smoke comes out the tailpipe and lasts for about 10 seconds. The van has only 35,000 miles and uses about 1 quart of oil every 1500 miles. Doesn't matter if the van is cold or hot, or how long it has been since it was last running. I would suspect the valve stem oil seals, but the erratic nature of the symptom is weird. The rest of the time it starts with no smoke at all. I know it's still under warranty, but was looking to see if this happens to anyone else before I go in for this problem.

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You have to be burning oil

Submitted by Quest Owner on Thu, 2008-02-28 05:28.

You have to be burning oil somehow. Have the dealership do an oil service and notify them that you have been losing oil. When your oil is low notify the dealership and have them check the oil, while it is still low.

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help

Submitted by skili11 on Mon, 2008-02-25 22:14.

Please tell me how this went. I am having the same problems in my 2006 Quest. They're telling me that the engine is sludged because of neglect, but I get my oil changes. I had autozone put it on the diagnostic machine, and it says the o2 sensor. From talking to other mechanics this is what the smoke is, and this could also cause sludge. Nissan will not do any tests or look at my engine because they're assuming it's my fault. They're telling me I have to pay out of pocket for a new engine because of sludge, but they haven't even looked in engine. They looked at my oil cap. HELP!!!

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Help

Submitted by Quest Owner on Thu, 2008-03-06 06:20.

Go to the dealership with all your receipts of the oil changes that you have gotten on your vehicle(if you do not have all of them, check with the place that you have been getting the oil change at for copies). Try to organize your maintenance book with all your receipts in chronological order. Once you have proof that you have been getting your oil services as required by the manufacturer, how can they say that your engine has sludged due to neglect.

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if you have records of

Submitted by Quest Owner on Thu, 2008-02-28 05:26.

if you have records of getting your oil change on a regular basis as required by the dealership in the maintenance manual, then your Nissan Dealership cannot deny your claim. In the manual states that the oil service has to be done by a certified mechanic not a nissan dealership.

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sounds like my ex-dealer

Submitted by wakramer on Tue, 2008-02-26 15:18.

My ex-dealer's service writer is a jerk too. Anytime I brought it in he was very reluctant to diagnose problems. On top of that, he would get annoyed that I did my own maintenance. He implied that my warranty could be void because he has no record of any maintenance. I go to a different dealer now. When I got the Nissan survey after my last warranty service, I raked him over the coals, including as much detail as I could in the additional comments part of the survey. I received a hand-written email from Nissan apologizing for my experience. I know dealers take surveys seriously because they affect their status with Nissan. I can only hope the general manager of the dealership was contacted about my experience.

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Find another dealer

Submitted by Low-PSI on Tue, 2008-02-26 09:32.

Find another dealer or contact Nissan directly. Unless your dealer has a psychic on staff, there is no way they could have diagnosed your cars' problem from just looking at the oil cap. My guess is that they were trying to make the point that you were not getting your service at THEIR shop - which it is illegal to require.

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No problems here

Submitted by NYQuest on Tue, 2007-11-06 13:46.

I have over 45,000 on my 2004. I have no smoke and do not need to add oil between oil changes.
You should have your problem looked at and fixed while it is still under warranty. 50,000 on 2004s, but I think it is only 36,000 on the other years.

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