Good evening to all. I've had an oil leak for a year now but it's starting to get bad. So I decided to get under the car and see where it was coming from. I thought it was coming from the oil pan but that part of the undercarraige was clean. So I started thinking that maybe it wasn't engine oil (even though I did notice a decline in engine oil with the dipstick), so I tested the color of the leaking fluid against all the car's fluids and surely enough, my first hunch was right...Engine Oil!

The leak seems to be dripping along the side of the engine but I can't seem to figure out where it starting from. Has anyone had any experience with this?

A friend of mine told me it might be the gasket on the top of the engine block, which I think is called the valve cover gasket. From the front I can't seem to see a leak but maybe it happening on the back side of the valve cover which is hard to see with all the hoses and cables. I would hate to try and replace this gasket if that's not the problem. Could it be something else?

I appreciate any insight you might have to offer, since I'm a pretty new to fixing my car. The most I've done is change the oil.

Thanks to all in advance.

 

dump some UV dye inside the crankcase and see where its leaking from, strongpossibility is the oil pressure sending unit, its known to leak on our cars, should be like $10 at Napa orsomething

 

Be more specific about where you DO see it. I would not go jumping into changing the valve cover gasket (which is at the top of the cylinder head not the cylinder block). If you end up taking the valve cover off you will most likely have to replace the spark plug seals as well.

 

mansurxk,

Where do I buy UV dye and how do I use it?

adroitcaptor,

Well I only see it under the car, but it's definately not on the oil pan or around it's gasket it's on the part of the engine that the oil pan is screwed onto. Sorry but I don't know the part name, but I'm pretty sure it's the engine. It's silver colored not black like the oil pan. The actual drops are about 2-3 inches from the edge of the oil pan. If I get home from work early enough so that the sun is still up, I'll take some pics and post them. Should I take off the ignition coil cover to check for the leak?


Thanks.

 

What do you mean it's starting to get bad? If you talk to any Nissan stealership, they will tell you oil consumption on the VQ30DE is NORMAL. What are we talking about, how much oil do you have to add and at what interval?

What is normal however is a leak from the reverse switch on the 5-spd, which is gear oil, not motor oil. Replace the switch and you're good to go.

 

He's not talking about oil consumption, but rather an oil leak, as evidenced by oil underneath the engine somewhere.

In regards to the oil pressure sending unit - it went on my 00 maxima, and the 97 I just bought apparently has a bad one too. In both cases I was not leaking enough to see any marked dripping on the ground, but in both cases the unit is covered in oil. Silly things!

 

Frank,

As SkoorbMax mentioned, I am sure it's an oil leak since I can see it under the car and on the pavement of where ever I park. It only seems to leak when the engine is on or if it's been just turned off. When the engine is off for a while or warming up after a cold start it doesn't appear to leak. I haven't measured the leakage, but I would guess it's about a quart every 2 months. Not horrible, but bad enough to make me worry that the problem is going to get worse, not better.

Just to give some more info, I have a '95 GLE automatic. No mods. Just under 100K miles.

 

I'm thinking it could be one of two possibilities:
1. The oil pressure switch. It's on the side of the oil pan, and is known to go on the 4th gens. A write up on how to fix it is here.
2. I doubt it's this: but by some chance if you're mistaking the transmission pan for the oil pan, and it's on the driver's side of the car, then possibly the rear main seal on the engine.

 

My guess is most definitely the oil pressure switch. I have had problems with mine in the past and experienced very similar problems to what you describe. I would buy one from NAPA, because that is where I bought mine from and it has been reliable and leak free for quite some time now.

 

Well I finally got some pics taken today. The oil drip is circled in yellow in both pics. The black dome is the oil pan and the silver part where the drips are gathered is actually the A/C compressor, according to page 1-4 of the Haynes Repair Manual. My bad and I was calling it the engine. I've got a lot to learn, but that's what I'm here for. Click the link to view the pics.

pics

It doesn't appear to coming from any switch to me, but maybe the experts out there have more experience with this.

 

I GOT THE SAME EXACT LEAK! thats definatly not the oil pressure switch, i've changed that anyway, plus this leak is about 1.5-2 feet closer to the front bumper than the oil press unit. i also have another more leaks that i would like you fellas to look at im going to post pics asap. btw, thats not the ac compressor i dont think, its like a mounting support for the compressor. not actually part of the compressor.

 

eturnl,

I hope that some of the pros here will be able to help us. I would hate to get raped by the dealer.

 

^bump!

 

BuMp..........

 

that fluid looks red in the picture, doesn't look like oil. Manual or Auto transmission?

 

I have teh same leak i am pretty sure. Replaced the sender unit... thats wasn't it. I was told by the nissan dealer taht it might be the timing cover gasket leaking... which is a costly repair. I have 2 distinct spots on the driveway.... they are right next to each other.... is it the same for everyone else?

 

Tort,

I'm sure it's engine oil. On a white cloth I color checked the dripping fluid with all the fluids in the car, including the auto tranny fluid. Then after I found a match with the engine oil I did a texture and smell taste. Everything checked out. Nothing beats the human senses, so after going through sight, smell, and feel I can't be wrong.

LudeAEM,

My driveway is ashpalt and already badly stained from previous owners, so I can't really tell the number of spots or there exactl location for that matter. The only way I was able to figure out I had a leak was because I changed the oil and saw it. But please let me know if you ever get your problem solved.

Anyone else out there have any ideas what could be the problem?

 

I am interest as well, I have the exact same leak

 

me too...same leak
cmon pros help us out here, lol

 

I have this leak to, I think its the upper oil pan and where the upper oil pan meets with the front timing chain cover? I put this stop leak stuff in my oil and it has stopped dripping on my garage floor. But I don't think its a permenate fix.

 

I have had this problem for about 3 years now and it is now getting bad- oil leak from one day will be about 10 inches in diameter, from a nickel size a day 2 years ago. I have seen the problem with my own eyes when I had my transmission rebuilt. They showed me where the engine is bolted together from the bottom by 6 bolts and sealed with a silicone seal (and paper gasket- they weren't sure) anyway, they wouldn't touch the problem because they had no experience with anything other than tranny- and the mechanic I took it to afterwards quoted me $800-1k because of the time it takes to drop the transmission and fix properly. Now- It has gotten bad- I can't find a mechanic willing to do it because they don't know if they trust themselves dropping a transmission which is not even 20k miles old. So I'm just waiting to hear if this last guy can do it or not- or else I'm gonna bite the bullet and take it to Sewell Lexus here in Dallas where I know they will do it right and guarantee it ( and make me pay for it ). SUCKS- my question is- has everyone with this problem been in an accident with their car? I have, but repairing is less than getting a new car since it is an obvious problem anyone looking to buy will see not to mention the fact that I am honest.
YES- I have had the oil pan seal replaced/checked and the sending unit

 

Sorry it took me so long to respond. For some reason this thread did not post to my email or my moronic accidently deleted it. I will go put the max over my pit and see what I can find. (No not my arm pit, stinking up my car will not help.)

BTW "capture the monkey and win a FREE digital camera". I do not know if that add came up for anyone else but it still has me laughing! lol ehhh

 

Since this problem seems to be more common than I thought, i hope that someone can offer some solutions. I have a lot of faith in the people on this forum so we should all be driving leak-free Maxima's in no time.

adroicaptor,

I wish you luck investigating this. If you have any more questions just let me know.

 

yes definitely get some uv dye and a good uv light. I've got a leak, that looks simliar to yours...but alot of engine oil leaks will look similiar to yours (to the guy who posted pics).

Could be a timing cover seal, upper oil pan, lower oil pan or in my case...the timing cover o-rings behind the two-piece timing cover. I've read on another forum, where one mechanic has seen alot of those little cheap o-rings leak on a maxima after tearing the motor apart.

Heres a pic of those o-rings....they are labeled A: http://www.elpasolink.com/203031_81_full.jpg

As you can see...it's a major PITA to get to those little buggers.

 

i just had a leak and it was the oil pressure switch i got it fixed at the stealership for around 40 bucks all together

 

One thing you can try is to wash down your engine, and get all the crap off it. Then drive the car, then go look around. Oil always leaks down. So if you find some start looking up. Or do what the others said and buy some UV dye. Then all you need to do is drive the car and then go under there with a black light. The stuff should glow plain as day, form your leak.

 

Where do you get UV dye from? is it used specificly for this purpose?

 

fellow maxima owners i feel your pain

i find the same leak coming from my car, at first i thought it was the oil sensor.
but with a closer look, it looks like the upper pan gasket

 

^^^bumb^^^

 

double bump

 

Well, I've had enought of this damn oil leak. Can someone that has experience with this UV dye point me to a good place that sells it. I've looked online and found one that uses yellow glasses, but I have not come across one that uses a blacklight. I'd rather buy the one I know someone else has used and has worked. Any info will be helpful.

Thanks to everyone for all your interest and I hope we can solve this problem. The only problem I see with using this dye is that I'm sure the leak is in a hard to see area of the engine. I doubt it's anywhere easily visible so the dye might even be hard to detect.

 

^Bump

 

Well still praying someone here has some insight.

 

Well I just did a quick search for the UV Dye and found this. I think it is what you are looking for.

http://www.tracerline.com/dyesforflu...-specific.html

They do not sell to the public so click on the "Where to Buy" link.

Hope it helps you guys out!!!!!

Warner

 

well- i just got my leak or should i say leaks fixed. It got bad to the point that I really had to do something about it- so now- 1 new rear main seal, 1 new front crank seal, and new valve cover gaskets. Mine was getting to the point of sweating oil everywhere and leaving about a 10inch wide pool on the ground every night and confusing the hell out of every person I had look at it because it looked like oil was coming from all kinds of places. But 12 month unlimited miles warranty will allow me to push this as hard as I can to make sure those seals will hold for atleast a few more years. BTW- I'm poor now.

 

not for nothing, but do you mind posting how much it cost? Could you break out the items vs labor? I'm sure some of us are heading down the same road and want to get a heads up as to how much/how long I should pimp myself out for!!

 

Some prices don't sound bad...

 

hey,
i have the same problem, and i was told that it was the oil pan gasket had a leak. get it checked, its embarrasing
ntice: when you put on your air conditioner in the summer, the car starts to bring out smoke from underneath the car.

 

its ur oil pan gasket.
and its ******* expensive to fix
about $400 man
start saving.

 

seems to many people including me with same problem im just a few drops but not every day