Burning Oil 2003 3.3 not turbo charged. Distributer and timing belt were replaced. Now there are multiple random misfire codes, sludge on the oil cap (looks like water got in the oil but it did not) the oil is black even though it was recently changed. Blue smoke emitted from exhaust. Truck did not burn oil at all before I had the issue with the distributer.

Blue exhaust smoke usually suggests the engine is burning oil. Oil in the cylinders can foul the spark plugs and cause the misfire. Have you checked if the head gasket is OK? Check if there is any oil floating in the coolant bottle or any white 'cream' like liquid mixed in the oil.
If the gasket is OK your issue gets a bit more serious. You could have PCV issues worn valve stem seals, worn piston rings, and depending on the age and engine fitted you could also have a turbo oil supply issue.

P0300 is a misfire on any cylinder and P3400 is variable valve timing deactivation error. You did not post the make model and year but the 3400 would cause the 300.

Burning oil may be the cause of the rest. Bad PCV system? Worn rings? Bad valve guide seals? Fully describe how and when it burns oil.

If you can supply me with all the codes your vehicle is showing, I can assist you. As far as the P1111 DTC goes I have listed the info below with some possible solutions.

P1111- Intake Valve Timing Control Solenoid Valve Circuit Bank 1

Intake valve timing control solenoid valve is activated by ON/OFF pulse duty (ratio) signals from the ECM. The intake valve timing control solenoid valve changes the oil amount and direction of flow through intake valve timing control unit or stops oil flow. The longer pulse width advances valve angle. The shorter pulse width retards valve angle. When ON and OFF pulse widths become equal, the solenoid valve stops oil pressure flow to fix the intake valve angle at the control position. The code is triggered when an improper voltage is sent to the ECM through intake valve timing control solenoid valve. Since the Intake valve timing control solenoid valve uses oil flow to control timing, dirty oil can cause the valve to stuck open or close. Before replacing the valve, change engine oil and filter and reset engine code.

Possible Causes:
- Intake valve timing control solenoid valve bank 1 circuit is open or shorted.
- Intake valve timing control solenoid valve bank 1 circuit connectors
- Intake valve timing control solenoid valve bank 1
- Dirty Oil

Possible Solutions:
- Change Oil
- Replace Intake valve timing control solenoid valve

Low fuel pressure will cause many of those codes to set.

Should have around 3.5bar pressure at idle and full throttle.

Check to see if VW has a recall on the ignition coils. They are cheap to replace however.....you will need your VIN# when you call.

Alternator problems can also trip codes . Check for a/c ripple at BATT + on Alternator...no more the 0.05vac allowed.

Valve train noise common complaint. ...often due to lack of oil services and/or incorrect oil type.

All 1.8T engine will clatter on start up one time or another and is considered normal as long as it goes quiet after 2 to 5 seconds at idle.

You should have synthetic oil in the engine.

P0012 is often timing incorrect. ...check timing belt at tdc.

These engines need a timing belt every 50,000 miles not the 100,000 miles VW suggests. Belt failure is catastrophic.

Transmission codes often corrosion in loom connections under battery. These need checked and cleaned with a solution of STABILANT22A applied to the pins.


If a scanner is available clear the codes and drive for 40 miles or so and recheck for codes. Transmission codes are not always due to transmission faults. They need 200 miles to re adapt after batter replacement or power off.

ROSS TECH site has lots of info' and a scanner program for your lap top.

Oil pressure at idle should be 2 bar and at 2000 rpm 3 - 4.5 bar. Verify the engine oil pressure.

The 1.8t engines have problems with sludge because of the turbo scorching the oil. If engine oil pressure is good you may want to clean or replace the oil supply and return lines and the turbo.

the code P1684 is Metering Oil Pump Position Sensor Circuit Malfunction
and p0300 is Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected

The check engine light and lack of acceleration may be due to a defective solenoid that controls the camshaft that advances or retards the valve timing (thereby physically causing an earlier or later opening and closing of the valves) on either the left or right bank of the engine. One bank will malfinction at a time and the solenoid that Nissan uses is not of the quality of Honda's V-TEC or Toyota's VVT engines. We had the same symptom on our 2001 Pathy with the same engine.

Have Autozone read you the codes (for free!) that the system is reporting and the codes, when looked up, will tell you which side is malfunctioning. The smell of something "electrical " may be due to the solenoid burning out, its wiring shorting out, or the smell of engine oil sludge that may have built up over time under the relevant valve cover due to heat and that heat possibly causing the solenoid to burn out, as well as cooking and eventually damaging the valves. The Pathy 3.5 V6's are high output motors and they get pretty hot pushing a 4,400lb Pathfinder around. The manual calls for plain old mineral (Dinosaur) oil which begins to break down due to heat on the day it is put in. If not changed out under the ridiculously short oil change interval recommended, sludge will build up and fresh dinosaur oil does not have the chemical strength necessary to remove it.

Recommend that if you find my educated guess as to what the problem is to be correct, that you make your next oil change using Shell Rotella 5W-40 synthetic with a new Purolator Pure One oil filter. Keep the oil system topped off. After six months of cleaning with the superior "diesel" detergent package, which can remove sludge, replace the oil with fresh 5W-40 Rotella Synthetic again and another new filter, or switch to Mobil 1 5W-40 Turbo Diesel Truck. You could also use Mobil 1 5W-30 Truck & SUV for gasoline engines but the detergent package is not nearly as capable and if the system is sludged, you will need more than one oil change to remove the majority of it. If sludged and cleaning is not done, the engine will be ruined in another couple of years.

Nissan's oil recommendations are old school obsolete and stupid. Synthetics is the way to go because they are superior lubricants, have superior resistance to heat, do not sludge up an engine because they do not contain parrafin (wax) and also allow the oil changes to made every 15,000 miles or once a year with a quality filter changeover done at the same time.

Our 2001 was sludged and that is what caused the solenoid to burn out. The dealer attributed the failure to the sludge. I attributed the sludge to the dealer's inferior selection of oil (only place we took it) but the Nissan spec calls for that inferior oil that cooks inside the engine and the expectation is for the owner to have the oil changed very, very frequently to combat the effect. Big $$$.

After we paid the $550 to replace the solenoid on one bank of the engine (it was 2005 and the Pathy was out of warranty), I make all oil changes myself and I use pure synthetics, changing the synthetic oil and filter once a year. It is much cheaper than going to the dealer and we haven't had a mechanical or electrical failure since this solo instance.

The 3.5L V-6 in the Pathfinder pulls a lot more weight than the 350Z sport car. Both should require synthetic oil, not mineral oil and both should have oversized 7-8 qt pans (like Audi and BMW) to give the oil a chance to cool off and provide a margin of error for when the system is not topped off. Just as Nissan did with its On Board Diagnostic system (OBD), it made specifications that assures the dealers with an income for "service" and assures Nissan of an excuse if there is a premature failure under warranty.

Take charge of your car's maintenance and assure that it no longer gets inferior lubricants that require an oil change interval that you have difficulty meeting. Use synthetics and extend the oil change interval to a more reasonable frequency. You will save the engine and money making these changes. Good Luck.

The first thing I would do for multiple misfire codes is clean the MAF. The oil likes to leak around the chain tensioner and around the timing cover. Check for visual leaks on the front and back of the motor. A quart of oil burning every 5000 miles is not much at all.

trying setting your dwell and timeing, should correct.