craigsmailbox

HI i just bought my friends maxima a week ago and its leaking already??.
a little history.
the other day i saw some smoke coming from the engine compartment, i open the hood and there was what appeared to be oil splatters on the actual hood where the tubes feed into the windshield wiper squeerters( you know where im talking about?)from the left to the right side. So i wiped it up as good as i could. I have not seen the oil since.
BUT
i looked under the car and on the drivers side like on the -control arm? there is oil dripping....from three bolts it looks like? but its on the control arm too and farther towards the middle. Its not a lot of oil, very little in fact maybe a couple of drops a day??
anyways im not even sure if they are related but can anyone help me out with ideas of to where its coming from? all of the liquid levels seem to be alright? so im a bit stumped

thank you in advance from a new maxima owner

craigsmailbox

a bump geez help a brother out.

NismoTunin

u sure its not Tranny oil??? wat color is? cause i had coller hose probs but that was a fast fix... and oil was all over the place on that side ur discribing...

bigx323

rack and pinion licking?

have u checked the power steering fluid too?

or maybe your oil filter isnt sitting tight enough?

SMX95

iTrader: (8)

umm buddy he said drivers side not passenger side. Your not giving us enough info. Are you 5-speed or auto? If you are 5-speed then Gear oil looks a lot like Motor oil. Check your Driver side CV shaft for any rips. Check the side that the Driver side CV shaft goes into your tranny. Usually A leak can occur there from a bad gasket. That was the case with me. Get it on a lift, use some brake spray cleaner, clean the area and look for the leak.

Take care

craigsmailbox

i took it to mechanic...and im not sure i totally trust him.
this is what he wrote

oil is coming from right side valve cover gasket -rear?-....replace
oil is coming from breather hose on transmision...replace whole tranny??
oil from shift selector seal....replace
oil from shift cable seal....replace

so what do you guys think? i just have a fishy feeling about the whole thing i think i will take it somewhere else but im afraid the more places i take it to they are all going to tell me the oil is coming from different places.

p.s its an automatic transmission 96

craigsmailbox

oh yeah and under recommendations he said....
replace the rack and pinion there is a tear in the boot??? what does that mean? and the rear motor mount...which i guess is feasible

FR8RFLYR

I'd say the "mechanic" who suggested everything needed to be replaced is fishing for a sucker. Don't bite. When things go wrong, the the least complicated things are more likely to be the root of the problem. Always check the simple things first. This problem could be as simple as residual oil from the slob that did your recent oil filter change. Wash the engine with degreaser and the pressure washer at the car wash. Carefully inspect it with a strong light and a mirror as needed, then drive. Inspect it again, looking for weeps and drips from all the usual and simple places first such as the oil filter, valve cover gasket, etc. I think you'll find your leak fairly quickly, it probably isn't a catastrophic or expensive problem unless you really abused the powertrain.

I doubt your problem is anything other than engine oil. ATF in the steering rack and from the transmission is high temp stuff, not likely to smoke and if it did, it would smell totally different from oil.

Torn boots admit road dirt and grit which can lead to seal failure and bearing failures. If caught almost immediately, CV Joint assemblies can cleaned and greased with moly-disulfide extreme pressure grease and boots can be replaced without paying for new joints. That grease is very tacky and extremely black. Not likely to have gotten somewhere that it can smoke. Plus it doesn't drip. The CV joint might sling this stuff around, but it is totally different from a pourable oil.

Boots on the steering rack keep the rack clean and the seals intact. Again remove the damaged boot, clean the assembly and replace the boot. Don't let anyone talk you into replacing the rack unless you watch it leak! Let us know what you find.