inyoface

Exactly what i was looking for.thanks

joseph.mcgowen

what else do i gotta do to get to my rear main ???

usablue53

Great post very helpful, answered a lot of my questions. I have one, do I have to do all this to get to the infamous two bolts that need to be removed for the timing chain cover.

Trini Boom

iTrader: (5)

You only need to remove the lower oil pan to get to the two bolts for the timing chain cover.

usablue53

Once I remove this, the steel one yes, are the bolts for the timing cover easily seen. Thanks for the original response, I am really trying to get all my ducks in a row before I start. Is there a step by step as good as this one for the timing cover on this forum, I need to get to the o rings daniel had replaced in another thread on here. Thanks in advance anyone.

Trini Boom

iTrader: (5)

Yes the steel one is what I was referring to. The bolts will be easily seen for the timing cover. As for the instructional for the rear tioming cover o-rings, I haven't found one.

aackshun

iTrader: (3)

Just used this to great success, yes.

Also... I envy how clean this guy's motor was/is.... Mine looked like it was wrinkled painted black

White Shadow

iTrader: (11)

I believe I am going to go ahead and tackle this since the car is already up on jacks while I'm repairing something else. What is the recommended or preferred gasket sealant for this job? I see several different ones mentioned in the thread. Which one is supposed to be used for the job.

BTW, awesome job on the write up SrgScott. Thanks.

Trini Boom

iTrader: (5)

Permatex RTV Grey is what I used in this area.

ShocknAwe

iTrader: (3)

Probably that massive oil leak you have. I dont know who would let that go on their car.....what kind of owner.......

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

I will have to disagree with you. To me the engine looks dirty. Mine looked way cleaner when I opened it up. Everything was just gold-ish color.

boyomarga

Hey guys I noticed I have a small leak and I know its coming from the real main seal.

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

If it's small live with it. If it gets big then it will be good amount of work to get to.

MysterE

Felpro RTV for upper oil pan...?
GREAT write up on upper oil pan removal. I couldnt have done it without this info !! I have a couple of questions...

1) I bought the Felpro brand gasket kit and it came with 2 small tubes of black RTV. Is it a good sealant for the upper pan or should I go with Permatex ultra black?

2) While cleaning the upper oil pan of sludge, I took off a small unit from within the upper pan that is basically hollow and is nearest to where the driver would sit (engine rear--near transaxle meet). It has 2 Allen bolts in it and I took it off without noticing the position of it . The hollow part of it is wider on one side but where it meets the engine, the engine hole is rectangle and even-sided. Just wondered which way it actually goes back in?

Thanks again for a terrific write up.

2brosgixxer

I am getting ready to have a shop do my upper pan leak cause I don't feel like doing it. Anything else I should replace while I am in there? Obviously lower pan gasket, half moon seals and some RTV...but anything besides the obvious?

TequilaTim

Also replace the two o-rings that are on the upper oil pan. if those o-rings leak, you will have low oil pressure.

2brosgixxer

Looks like I have bigger problems. Rear Valve Cover is leaking, upper oil pan leak, and tranny leak from somewhere...its leaking/showing right beside the weep hole on the driver side where the tranny and motor mount. It does not appear to be coming from the axle seal. I know it's not upper pan related, but anyone have thoughts where this leak might be from??

PasswordIsTaco

Very good write up!!!

mikeyen

Thank you for your write up, it will really help.

I started this task today, because I have a visible oil leak -- I can see the dripping -- at the "corner" of the pan, behind the power steering pump. My leak is severe -- about 1-2 drips/minute while it's warming up, and then it calms down.

Frankly, working on this job today, I was pretty paranoid about a couple things. I think I made one mistake -- I put the car on a jackstand. I hate working under a car that's on jackstands. My car is a 1996 with nearly 200k miles on it, and I still haven't had to remove the Y-pipe -- until today. But once I got under the car, I noticed it was awfully wet near the rear half-moon gasket. I immediately thought it was an RMS, and figure I don't really have the expertise to remove a transmission.

I've done a lot of work on this car. Halfshafts, the alternator, the valve cover gaskets, water pump, struts, brakes, etc. It's not like I can't do major tasks on this car; I'm just very uncomfortable working on a car that's on jackstands -- and so, I was wondering if anyone has tried to do this job with the car on ramps instead. I think I can get to everything I need with the wheels installed, even though it might make things a little harder -- it all looks reachable with the wheels on.

Is that possible? If I can do this job on ramps, I'll do it. If I have to do this on jackstands, I'm just so paranoid about having 3200 lbs of car right there, that I won't do it.

Also, that technique of using a jack where the engine and transmission meet; is that really safe? Is the jack there "just in case", or does it have 600 lbs (or whatever) of engine and transmission on it? Can I damage the transmission case or the block using this technique?

I really just need reassurance more than anything else. I had it to the point today where the A/C compressor was unbolted, the front connection to the Y-pipe was disconnected, the drive belt was out, the lower shields were out, the crankcase was drained, the filter was out... And then the thought of crawling around under an engine that was supported only by a jack found my inner claustrophobe. With ramps, I will get over that; with jackstands, I'm paying someone.

Thoughts?

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

Do your jackstands look like the ones pictured in this writeup? If so, I would trust them over ramps any day. With ramps the car runs the risk of rolling off if not secured properly. Tires may be wet etc. With jackstands, once the car is up, that car ain't going nowhere.

No damage to worry about. Maybe a scratch on the case which hurts appearance only, in which case use a wood plank between the jack and the car. The cross member, center beam as described in the writep-up pictures, supports the 2 main motor mounts. With the cross member removed, the engine and tranny put all their weight on the other motor mounts (passenger and drivers side). That could potentially damage them since they weren't designed to deal with that. The jack is put there so they don't have to.

Also bear in mind that the point where engine mounts is tranny is where the engine transfers all of its 200+ horsepower to the tranny, then the wheels. Members on this board have even pushed their engine to 300+ horsepower using the original engine parts. So any force you and your jack put on that region is absolutely nothing compared to what those parts were designed to handle.

Make sure the car is in park, e-brake is on, sitting on level ground. Jack the car up with 4 jackstands on each corner, using the right jack points, leveled of course, and your good to go. If you download the FSM here;

http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/

goto GI page 40. Even Nissan engineers say to "always use safety (jack) stands when you have to get under the vehicle." There's even a picture of the correct jack points.

Reassured now? OK, get to work!

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

^jack stands are safe enough for me and others not to worry..Why so serious?

jholley

iTrader: (13)

As Dave said lifting the trans and motor to relieve pressure on the front and trans mounts will do no harm. When you raise the engine and trans place a piece of wood on the lifting jack. With it temporarily raised place a jackstand under the trans with a piece of wood for cushioning. As stated in step 7 you need the jackstand placed only under the trans so the upper oil pan can be removed.

mikeyen

Thanks for all the assurances. Frankly, I hadn't thought of using 4 jackstands -- only 2. I guess that could explain my paranoia.

Later in the day yesterday, after I'd undone about an hour's worth of work, I drove it onto ramps and changed the downstream O2 sensor (with an OEM Denso from rockauto), and felt way more secure with the car on ramps. My ramps are way overrated for the car I have, and that car wasn't going anywhere.

I'm also wondering if there's an easy way to tell if this is the pan vs this being the inner seals behind the timing chains. Further reading sure makes it seem like it could be that 12 hour job to replace 2 $3 seals. Just to repeat, I can see drips above the PS pump -- the leak is so bad to where I can see it dripping. If this means coming home with a $1,500 bill because of 15 hours of labor, that's another condition where I'd rather do this job myself, and get around by bicycle for a couple weeks instead.

mikeyen

I've decided to wait on this job until after my son's HS junior year is over. He needs my attention. Priorities.

More daylight hours and warmer days will help me, too. My plan is to monitor this, and if it suddenly gets a lot worse, well, I suppose I'll have to do it right away. But I suspect that won't happen.

I think one or both of those two O-rings are cracked and/or have shrunk, so I have two of the O-rings, the two half-moon seals, and the RTV on-hand.

I now have a bad KS, too. Dangit. I've done that job once already, so I have a handle on it. I can get that air intake off in about 10 minutes now. Piece of cake.

Would it be wise to change the center motor-mounts while I have the cross-member out? The ones in there are the originals.

Quickywd01

iTrader: (16)

Fill them and let them dry while you're doing the other stuff.

mikeyen

I have at least 2 bad motor mounts (the two that mount to the cross-member).

Dangit.

I started the pan job today, but I have to be the slowest mechanic in the world. I'm fired. Well, after this job, anyway.

mikeyen

By the way, in the name of all that is holy, those motor mount bolts are EXTREMELY tight.

I wish I had an impact wrench. I bet the guys that charge $100/hour to work on cars have those bolts off in 10 minutes, Max.

CS_AR

Great Job!

mikeyen

Car is back together (except for the lower plastic covers), and it still leaks.

Does anyone have any knowledge of the so-called "Blind Plug" and its gasket?

http://www.courtesyparts.com/maxima-...1785_1795.html

Parts 13035G and 13307F.

I wish I could become a more organized mechanic. I spent so much time doing stuff that wasn't necessary, such as taking the Y-Pipe all the way out. Things like that waste an hour. I probably looked for the third stud for the rear manifold for an hour. I spent an hour looking for the little "L-Bolt" that holds the alternator in place (I can't see how to do this job without removing the alternator). Also, the first time I put the upper pan in, I took stock and realized I had two rear half-moon seals -- the new one I put in had somehow fallen out. I discovered that error pretty quickly, but still, add another hour.

And on and on.

I'm just so slow.

One more thought: Is it possible it could be leaking this much from the tensioner cover plate? I can see seeping around that plate, but nothing actually dripping. There's a drip that seems to land directly on that ledge below the oil pressure sending unit that seems to be coming from up higher, which is why I thought this was the upper pan. I gotta say, that part of the upper pan directly above that looks pretty dry.

I'm so perplexed. Any help? If it's the O-rings behind the inner timing cover, that's about where I surrender.

On the bright side, reconnecting the Y-Pipe was nowhere near the nightmare I was expecting. Once you know where that nut is, it's not that bad.

Vibration at idle is pretty noticeable with the manual transmission front mount.

mikeyen

Well, I surrender. I've concluded after reading a little more around here is that this is the infamous inner timing cover leak. I think I have enough skill to do the job over the period of a month, but I just don't have the desire.

Combine this with a fact that I have the timing chain rattle. It's the original chain. Those parts appear to be around $200-$400, depending on the eBay seller I decide to trust most.

This is a 1996 GLE with about 200,000 miles. Original owner.

I think it's engine-swap time. I would take my time and look for a 97-99 engine. Since I live in CA, I'd be determined to keep the manifolds, exhaust, EGR, etc, as stock as possible.

I see a few on eBay between $400-$1,000, but was wondering if someone has advice on where to buy. Also, while that engine is out, I wouldn't mind doing an upper-pan job then. A far easier job while the engine is on a stand.

In fact, I was wondering if the inner TC job would be easier with the engine out. I know some people can get an engine out in 2 hours, and not having to bend over a right fender for hours at a time to do the inner TC job might make pulling the engine I have and working on it out of the car a physically less-demanding task.

I'm not married to any solution, but would like opinions on this.

1) Look for as good an engine as I can and replace it, or
2) Take my engine out and do the inner TC and the chain update, or
3) Leave my engine in the car and do the inner TC and chain update, or
4) Gobs of JB Weld in the appropriate place?

(Not sure how much I like Option 4)

Advice, anyone?

I had a shop do an engine swap on a Ford Escape, and it ended up costing less for a sub 40k mile engine (imported from Japan) than it would have cost to fix the head on it... But it turned out the old engine had a loose connecting rod anyway, and you cannot officially buy new internals for that engine -- short-blocks only.

mikeyen

Can anyone explain to me why this engine would not work in my 1996?

Yes, I understand that the exhaust would not hook up directly, and that the wiring harness and fuel rails might be different... But wouldn't I just be buying it for the mechanicals? In other words, I'd transfer the stuff from my '96 engine to this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/99-NISSAN-MA...-/181046974854

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

You're asking for more work by putting a 99 Cali VQ in your 96. When Nissan made the 99 Cali motor they were preparing for the (at the time) new 5th gen model, and so they experimented with some new stuff on the out-going motor, like NATs, swirl valves, emissions control updates etc. These differences, while do-able, will contribute to engine harness differences. For example, despite the same VQ30DE motor, my 98 Cali I30 is way way less complicated than my buddy's 99 Cali I30. With a little work, I can see my knock sensor. On his car, no way. Gotta remove the IM. That's just 1 example.

Get yourself a 1998 or below motor if possible to reduce compatibility differences.

mikeyen

Exactly the sort of answer I was looking for. Thank you.

sdunker

mikeyen

I am a very slow mechanic; that's the first thing I learned.

My inner-cover needs to come off, and the deal is that having a mechanic do the job would cost probably $1,500. The car's worth about $2,000, and we can't afford a new car. So it's worth it to me to do this job.

In order to not slow myself down more than necessary, I need to ask this: Do I have to remove the upper-pan to get to the inner cover? It sure seems like that might not be necessary.

If it is, it is. If it's not, that will save some time and effort. Anyone know?

Everyone's saying 15 hours. For me, that means 30. Still worth it to me if it means 2 hours here and there. Better than watching TV for hours at a time.

CS_AR

Do we recommend RTV or use a gasket for the smaller steel oil pan? I see gaskets offered for that oil pan. However, I've seen Nissan mechanics coat the mating surface with RTV.

ORG Opinions?

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

RTV if you don't want it to leak.

dongatta

To the OP, I would like to say thank you for your time and effort for the post and write up. I will be attempting this this weekend. I have a few questions. In the post I didn't notice any torque specs or anything about thread lock. Any more input would be appreciated.

mikeyen

I have all the bolts off the upper pan, but it is extremely stubborn about coming out; I think I used too much black RTV to seal it last time.

What have others done when this thing is so well attached? Geez, I wonder why it even needs bolts (okay, I'll let you try that first).

Any hints would be welcome. Thank you.

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

Put a screw driver between the engine block and upper oil pan and gently hummer it in.