Have a mystery oil leak diagnosed by a local wrencher as coming from 2 locations: OSU (not a surprise - I can replace this, again) and the "upper oil pan gasket, not the lower". Plausible? Anyone else have this pbm?

tofor

 

Don't know anyone with prob. But If that is where hte oil is comming from(you should inspect yourself), replace it. www.newnissanparts.com

 

yeah it true, there are two oil pan gaskets on the max.
its a pretty common leak, that many of us 4th gen owners.
it the steel pan that can have a gasket, that has the oil drain plug and then there is the aluminum pan that is just rubber sealant.
as your car starts to show its age it will leak.

 

http://www1.autozone.com/servlet/UiB...3d801f48df.jsp

 

yeah it true, there are two oil pan gaskets on the max.
its a pretty common leak, that many of us 4th gen owners.
it the steel pan that can have a gasket, that has the oil drain plug and then there is the aluminum pan that is just rubber sealant.
as your car starts to show its age it will leak.

Has anyone here done the replacement themselves? The quote I received was $78 for the gasket and nearly $400 for the labor

Oy - and the pain continues. Well, I made it to 110K without anything this serious... s'pose I should be happy

Tofor

 

I've replaced many upper oil pan seal. It's just silicone. not too hard to do on a lift. But before you replace the seal check to see if the bolts have loosend up.

 

But before you replace the seal check to see if the bolts have loosend up.

Truly following the KISS principle here - good advice. Will take a look this weekend.

tofor

 

WTF?? There isn't a gasket, per se. It's RTV sealant that's been applied around the flange. Removing the oil pans is a pretty involved process if the engine is still in the vehicle. You have to remove the crossmember, and the y-pipe to get to it. You'll have to support the engine with an engine hoist of some kind.

 

Finally took the time to look @ Jeff's link (great resource btw - is it up in stickies somewhere??) and realize that the job of DIY-ing this one is beyond my capabilities - mostly due to the tools required (tranny jack, engine hoist, etc.)

From their description of the repair, nismology's post is dead on: both the lower and upper oil pans have RTV sealant "gaskets" - kinda makes me wonder if the mechanic had the right info in the first place...

Will try tightening the bolts (a smidge) first - if I can reach 'em...

 

My upper oil pan leaks right above the Oil Pressure Switch.
I kept thinking it was the switch leaking.

 

I just finished replacing the upper oil pan gasket and rear crank seal on my I30. I did it because I had pulled the tranny to replace the clutch, and found evidence of weeping at the oil seal. The book calls for suspending the engine, removing the main cross member and both oil pans (upper and lower) but I did it without removing the oil pan. Basically, I made my own separator tool from a very small pry bar (ground it down very sharp on a bench grinder) and used that to pull the seal. Next, I used a combination of Permatex aviation grade gasket sealer and silicone gasket maker to 'glue' the new gasket (half moon shaped piece of rubber that goes between the rear seal holder and the upper oil pan) to the rear seal holder, and lubricate the whole assembly so that I could push it into place. There are two pins in the engine block that the seal holder fits on to (as well as two cap screws). If you are really creative, you could devise a method for pulling those pins, the putting the seal/gasket assembly in place, and inserting the pins through the seal holder.

Anyway, I just finished doing this, and after a test drive it's not leaking. Only time will tell if I need to do this again (the right way next time).