Man, I'm sick, I think my oil pump is going out, or went out, My gurl drove my car to work this morning, (First mistake) and she said that it was making noise, so I went to swap out cars with her and when I started up my Max, it started fine but it was making some clattering noises from the valves, I checked the oil, it was full and the oil light was on the entire time I drove it, (19 miles)(probably my second mistake). I know it has to be the oil pump, especially for the valves to just start clattering, and the oil light to be coming on, so my question is this....where is the oil pump??? I've heard that it is on the outside of the motor, if it is, where??????? God I HOPE it is, that would really save me alot of time. HELP pleasse.

 

I've never known a passenger car to have the oil pump outside the motor. And for the next question, your answer will depend upon how much you're going to hate your car.

If you have the VG30E. It's in the oil pan. I have list here that chiltons says you have to do.

If you have the VG30DE. It's part of the front cover. This one takes even more steps to complete.

Of course, I'm sure that someone on here has done one. And they know a few short cuts.

 

I don't know about all that VG30E, Or VG30DE and all that stuff, I just know that it's a V-6 single overhead cam engineany idea which one that is????? I'm trying to learn all of this (new) lingo, ( been a Chevy Man for years) but I'm getting into all the newer stuff like my Maxima (great car). I really hope it's in the pan, I think I could deal with that better than taking all the covers off of the front of the motor, atleast that's what I've heard. Oh yeah, does it matter where the oil filter is, cuz it's around the back side of the motor close by the top, just underneath the valve cover, looked at this one on a werb site that had a picture of a guy replacing the timing belt but it showed the oil pump housing also, I think the pump might be in the pan.

 

It's in your oil pan. You have a VG30E. The DOHC are known as VE30DE not VG30DE. VG30DE's are found in 300zx's and pathfinders (I think)

 

So it is in the pan????? Do you think it will be hard to replace/??? know any short cuts?????? got any pics??????? let me know cuz as of right now you are my new best friend!!!!!!!!

 

vg30de in 300zxs and infinites only

 

Sorry bout that, hit the wrong key.

 

This is kind of a desperation log shot but if you have a Fram oil filter, change it and see. They use cheap s*** construction and it may have turned to mush inside.

 

the oil pump on your engine is driven off the end of the crank and goes into the oil pan.
in order to change it, you will have to remove the crank pulley, timing belt, timing gears, and oil pan in order to get to it. after you have all of that out, it can be removed at that point.

hold on and I'll post a pic of it..

 

 

Can this be done without pulling the engine?

 

read exactly what I said. it doesn't mention anything about pulling the engine.

 

If it's the SOHC, then you have the VG30E, it doesn't require pulling all that stuff.

This is what it lists in the chiltons

1. Remove all accessory drive belts, and the alternator.
2. Remove the timing chain (cam) belt covers and remove the timing belt.
3. Unbolt the engine from its mounts, and raise the engine up from the unibody.
4. Drain the oil, and remove the oil pan.
5. Remove oil pump assembly-to-engine bolts, along with strainer. And remove the assembly from the engine.

The VE30DE requires pulling the crankshaft pulley and dampner off.

 

Ummm, think about it for a minute... you just repeated EXACTLY what I said many hours ago.

 

I'm hoping that is a few years old, lol.

 

GOodluck!!!

 

Except for the clattering, which could be a huge clue, the oil light might just be a problem with the sender. Just a thought, but I'm sure you already checked that...

 

Umm, NO! I didn't EXACTLY REPEAT what you just said. Try reading what you put, then what I put. You'll notice some differences. Especially on what he asked you about having to pull the engine or not.

 

Ummm dude, realize that Matt has a lot of first hand experience, which is 1000X more valuable than the half **** Chilton manuel.

 

Okay check it out, I pulled all of the stuff off of the motor, it's all one piece, so far as I can tell, and the rest of the front of the motor looks different, like the water pump housing, it looks different, it's got the pump and then it's got the water inlet right above it, and then another one above that one that looks like the thermostat housing. Anyways, after I took all of the stuff off of the front of the motor and seemingly discovered that the pump may be in the pan, I have since then started to get ready to drop the pan, and then, my other car, a Mazda 626 V-6, decides to burn up it's tranny, so now everyday I wake up I feel like throwing up, but anyways, I'm going to look at the front of this motor again and see if it looks similar to the one posted by Matt93SE and see if it's possible that I overlooked anything, I hope so I'm tired of ruining all of my white T-shirts by crawling under this damn thing. Also I pulled the rear valve cover to try and see if there was any oil getting up there, but all of the oil that was up there was dried up and caked on, like it had been overheated really bad, I mean it was like crust almost, crunchy on the top soft in the middle, so I don't think it's getting any oil at all on the top end, especially since it started making the clattering noise.

 

Hey jacka$$....
1. Remove all accessory drive belts, and the alternator.
2. Remove the timing chain (cam) belt covers and remove the timing belt. These two steps are the SAME as my statement above. In order to remove the timing covers and belt, you must remove the crank pulley.. the timing gear is the next step, and it much be removed from the crank before you can pull the oil pump off.
3. Unbolt the engine from its mounts, and raise the engine up from the unibody.
4. Drain the oil, and remove the oil pan. I said you have to remove the oil pan. I didn't say that the engine has to be lifted- which a smart person would figure out since they have to remove the crossmember, and you can't support the engine by the crank pulley, oil pan, or the engine mounts.
5. Remove oil pump assembly-to-engine bolts, along with strainer. And remove the assembly from the engine. "after you have all of that out, it [the oil pump] can be removed at that point.
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Don't even bother dude. you're looking at instructions written in a book by someone else who's done that job ONCE. I've got two engines sitting in my garage right now, and I've worked on dozens more than that. I KNOW what I'm talking about. If I didn't, I wouldn't post it.

 

Trust me. it's the same engine. the one that I took a pic of, I personally pulled from a 90SE Maxima. it's a VG30E, just like yours. the only differences will be the color. that one is discolored from the water pump and oil leaking all over it.

 

maybe the strainer got clogged or something... that seems very odd for the pump to just go out like that. i've never heard of it happening to anyone before. also check the filter.

 

It is the same motor, I checked it last night when I got home from work, but since I already pretty much got the pan off, I'm going to check the strainer, and filter and see if it might be one of them also, I also talked to a guy that builds motors for a living and he said that a more common problem with these is that where the oil pump meets with the crank, can either come off or break and then you would have to buy a new crank, I'm a little nervous about that, but I don't know about that, has anyone ever had that happened to them??????????

 

yup, this guy http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=327966

 

If your crank pulley and timing belt are still firmly attached to the car, then your crank isn't broken.