J_Swaleh

97 Max
I have had a steady oil leak for the past year or so and I thought that I had reaplaced anything that would stop the leak, but its actually getting much worse. I have replaced the valve cover gaskets, the oil pan and gasket, and regular oil changes. What am I missing? Any ideas where to go from here. One point I thought might be causing the increased leak is that the car has 261000 miles on it and at about 234000 miles I switched to full synthetic oil. Would that have any affect on the leak?

abomb1987

iTrader: (6)

its a real good chance that its your oil pressure sender unit, its located on the rear of the oil pan, i think its like 6$$ at auto zone, that solved my oil leak problem

J_Swaleh

I will get on that asap. thanks for the tip, i hope it works, anyone have anything else I am missing?

CRiME

iTrader: (21)

where does it appear to be coming from? if you're sure that you've eliminated everything else, it might be leaking from the timing cover, which basically means

99BlackMaxMS

iTrader: (85)

Rear main seal?

andrei3333

i would guess first most likely is oil pressure sensor, second is rear main seal

Are you auto or stick ?

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Common oil leaks on our VQ come from the oil pressure sensor, upper oil pan seal and timing chain cover.

heynow

iTrader: (1)

Here's my two cents:
I only had a leaking oil pressure sender that i've replaced, and the leak stopped. I then switched to fully synthetoc M1. Shortly thereafter, my rear valve cover started leaking! Took care of that, got a spark plug tube seal leak. (because the original tube seals were re-used). After getting that fixed, i was dry for month. At that point got a pretty bad oil leak. Checked all the previous spots and it seemed like something was leaking on the oil pressure sensor. It turned out to be the rear timing chain cover. Which the shop quoted me $400 to fix.

I had 127K miles on the clock when i made the switch to synthetic. I now have 134,500. Oil leaks in three different places? I now know better than to switch to synthetic on a high-mileage engine!!!!

A lot of members will agree with me when i say that @ 234,000 miles, you're asking for trouble if you switch to synthetic.

heynow

iTrader: (1)

^^^^ Totally, with a addition of valve covers. Most common seems to be the rear.

MDeezy

iTrader: (27)

clean up all the areas and watch the car closely and see where the oil seems to be coming from.

smell the oil and make sure its engine oil and not gear fluid.

check the oil pressure sender it could be coming from there (as stated)

J_Swaleh

The bulk of the leak seems to be comimg from somewhere above the oil pan b/c its all over the rear of the block and dripping down. Thats why i thought it was the valve covers, but that didnt work. Its an automatic trans(to whoever asked). why would i be screwed if it was the timing cover?Any other ideas. What would you do?

Maxima_Joe

iTrader: (384)

Are you sure it's oil? Could be ps fluid.

watut

Hey guys, I can't post a new thread, so Ill ask about my oil leak in here. I seen to have some oil leak around the drain plug/oil filter area, it is neither of those 2 though. I have some harness over there that's 1 wire and it's plugged in under the oil filter then the other end is not plugged in. The safety shield around the wire is full of oil.. Any advice?

vqmaxman

I was going to say that this Is on of the most common failures. In my case I did not tighten up the Oil filter so,I had a huge oil spill in that area.
Wipe out the area with a dry rag and check for leaks again.

mevjen

Sounds like the rear timing chain cover. I have the same problem, it looks like it's the valve cover or oil pan, but it is the timing chain cover

heynow

iTrader: (1)

+1

dgbear

Where do you see the oil if its comming from the timing chain cover ?

Mine is leaking just above the OPS. The oil seem to leak just above where the the upper oil pan meets the engine block. I cannot see an oil above this. So I assume its the upper oil pan... but why would it start leaking. I checked the bolt in that area and it is tight.

titanbk

iTrader: (3)

yikes....this thread is from january. No need to post is threads this old. Check the last date on the thread before posting. Its ok to start your own thread if you have a question. Just read the noobies forum first and your all set.

over time gaskets leak, could be due to wear, engine/suspension vibrations, road conditions where you drive.
Put the car on jackstands and pull the e-brake, a rock of something behind the rear wheel couldnt hurt. Clean it all up with some brake clean(dont get it in your face,no fun) let it dry, start the car, crawl underneath with a flashlight, and look for a path of oil.

dgbear

Thank for the info... I did the things you mentioned. I've searched quite a bit trying to find details on the oil leaks before posting. I removed the under covers, power washed the area and observed the path of the oil leak.

The oil seem to leak just above where the the upper oil pan meets the engine block (in the area above the Oil pressure Sensor).

Hower it is a bit difficult to fully see all the nooks and crannys in that area and I wanted to explore the possibility that it may be comming from the timing cover / o-rings.

This is why I asked where one would expect to see the oil when it is leaking from the o-rings / timing cover prorblem ?

Should I start a new thread ?

titanbk

iTrader: (3)

ya man definetley should start your own thread about this. I have a leak from my timing cover, my gle is leaking behind the rear cover so all the timing components will have to come off. At that mileage I dont think I'm gonna go tearing it apart. I'm gonna try some RTV sploog and hope for best. Also until you find the leak there really isnt much we can do to help you. Try some engine oil dye and a black light. Works wonders!

modenaf1

iTrader: (3)

I completely agree. The switch to synthetic with that mileage is a bad idea. The reason this is so is because conventional oil builds up a slight sludge around all of your seals. This causes the seals to dry out because they loose lubrication. This is fine because the sludge acts as a seal.

When you switch to synthetic after this has occurred, the synthetic breaks down this sludge and cleans the inside of your engine, in which case there is nothing but an old dried out seal to prevent oil from spewing out.

Nozama

iTrader: (1)

Or it could just be the size of the molecules.

http://www.aircooled.net/gnrlsite/re...s/synthoil.htm

Synthetic oil causing oil leaks is another commonly spread myth. The truth of the matter is that if all your engine seals and gaskets are in good condition, synthetic oil will NOT leak in your engine. The myth started because on occasion, an engine will leak with synthetic oil, but not dino oil. The reason for this is that the smaller molecules of the synthetic are able to get past very small crevices, where the larger molecules of dino oil cannot. But this does not mean that the synthetic oil has caused the leak, it simply has "discovered" an infant leak, and regardless of what oil you are running, this infant leak will eventually grow to a size that will allow dino oil to occupy and pass also. Synthetic oil has not been shown to deteriorate engine seals or gaskets. It is not some evil solvent that will break down sealant, or anything like that. Like was said earlier, it is just a man-made base stock, that is uniform and smaller in molecule size than dino oil. Nothing more, nothing less.


http://www.castrol.com/castrol/gener...tentId=7017050

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/..._Vehicles.aspx

http://www.synlubes.com/about/faqs.html#7

And the list goes on. The fact is switching doesn't cause a leak. My car was switched at 160k+ when I bought it and no leaks.