92 Maxima SE with 141,000 miles, 5-spd VE30DE

I just got back from my mechanic's shop, he says the oil pump is leaking at a pretty decent rate. My question to you is, how much am I looking at to replace the oil pump with labor included, usually. Am I looking at $200, $500, $800...what? My mechanic's always been on the high side ($700 for a rear brake job with calipers, pads, and rotors - Midas did it for $414.), but he's saying I'm looking at a horrendous amount of money to do this job, and that rather than fixing it, just drive my car until it dies. I bought the car for $2400 less than 4 months ago, and I don't want to hear "drive it until it dies", especially when I'm insanely poor and barely making enough each month to pay for all my bills.

What do you guys think? Am I screwed, or do you think I could get a better rate somewhere else?

Thanks for your help.

 

The actual oil pump or the oil filter housing? If it's the oil pump, it's a pretty big job as most of the aluminum timing covers on the front of the engine have to come off to access it. I wouldn't be suprised if labor alone is $400.

 

yeah, what he said. it's not an easy job, but it's doable. I'd look for another mechanic and get them to diagnose it and give you a quote. I'm guessing it's the oil filter housing or the front main seal- they're both known to leak on these cars, but i've never heard of an oil pump failing.

 

if you're insanely poor it might be time to drive until it dies. make sure it's really the oil pump because it can be leaking from the oil pan seal. (the u shaped seal)

 

It could definitely be the housing or the seal, because he just put it on a lift and looked at it for about 10 minutes and he said the leak is coming from the oil pump...so what would I be looking at for a seal or the housing?

 

clean the leaky/greasy area w/ some brake cleaner.

run the motor and watch where it's dripping from.

a crank seal is pretty eazy on the VE.
oil pan is not that bad either.
oil pump is a problem.

have someone hook up a oil psi gauge and see what pressure you're running. if pressure is good i doubt it's oil pump.

 

the seal isn't too hard to replace at all- not sure on the housing.
to replace the seal, you just remove the drive belts and the crank pulley. seal is right there. about $8 part, 30 min labor- they'll probably charge you an hour labor.

If it's the lip seal (u-shaped seal on the oil pan), you can do a few things. the easiest (and cheapest) thing is to clean it really well with degreaser, then glob a bunch of RTV silicone around the seam between the oil pump and the pan and hope it stops leaking. If it still leaks, then you'll have to pull the oil pan off to replace the seal (which is a PITA).

 

Yup. You had better confirm where the leak it. I would think it's almost impossible to determine if the oil pump was actually leaking as it's behind a bunch of covers.
If it's coming from the front of the engine:
1) Check right under the front crank pulley. A front main seal leak is very common. But fortunately is very easy and cheap to replace. Might as well replace the accessory belts at the same time. Cheaper to do now.
2) It could be the oil pan but it's less common of a problem.
3) If the leak is from the oil filter, it could be the housing that's leaking. It could be mistaken for a pump to a mechanic not familar with it. It also shouldn't be too expensive to replace. I've never heard of one leaking though.

 

is it hard to drop the pan on the motor ? (to replace the pan seals) i think the cross member has to come down right ?

 

it's easier w/ the crossmember down. it's still doable w/ it in place..just a HUGE PITA.

 

yup.. I'd rather not pull the pan if you don't have to, but if you gotta, you gotta.

 

Here's a pic of where I can see the leak. I'm assuming it's dripping down from some part of the engine above whatever this part is that's soaked with oil.



Again, thanks for all the insight. I'll definitely seek a second opinion tomorrow.

 

you sure it's not power steering pump leaking?

that big bar is the sway bar.

 

Well at least it doesn't look like a rear main seal.

 

Yeah, what he said...I know leaks are funny things, and tend to run places where they aren't actually leaking from, but I'd be amazed if that wasn't power steering fluid...that strut bar is pretty far back to be getting oil on it unless it's a gusher of a leak and is blowing back there while he's driving or something.

 

Could it be power steering fluid dripping on the sway bar and possibly coming in contact wtih some grime and grease that makes it look black? Because I know for a fact that when I put my finger on the sway bar, it's pretty black and looks alot like oil. Also, when I washed my driveway down after the leaks, it made the whole oil slick thing.

But, as you can tell, I'm not too good at this thing.

Are there any other pictures I could take from a different angle that might be a bit more conclusive?

 

take one more at the crank. around the crank pulley. like IN the engine..not what you see on the body of the car...you might have to remove the splash panel.

well are u using ATF in your power steering or did someone use power steering fluid in there? check the cap to see what color you have going.
also ATF has some oils in it...so you'll see the oil slick swirls when u add water..weeeeeee!

 

Is this the power steering fluid? I can't find anywhere else that looks like it might be that.

Sorry, I'm not very competent with this.

If that is the power steering fluid, it's almost like cherry red colored.

I can't get under the car enough to take a picture near the crank, but that entire area looks pretty soaked with oil, should it be like that?

Also, I'm not sure what I did to get that custom title, sorry about that. It's kind of hard with the search feature being disabled and everything.

 

How is the level inside the PS pump resevior? If it's low, it's probably what's leaking. There are two lines coming to/out of that tank. It goes to another connection right behind the shock tower in the picture. Then it goes down to the ps pump mounted on the engine. (mounted low/front/left as you look at the engine from the p side). Basicly the pump is directly over the previous picture leak you posted.

 

You may have a leak in both spots, but it's going to be hard to tell until you clean it up a little so you can pinpoint exactly where it's coming from. Like I said, if either place is leaking enough, just driving the car can get it (oil or ATF) everywhere. PS fluid (ATF) is the worst. That stuff is nasty, and it's thin enough to run all over the place.

You are probably going to have to get up under it to really tell, and also to get it clean enough to do any good.