Replaced parts myself:
-Clutch
-Flywheel
-Resurfaced Flywheel
-Rear Main Seal

Oil was leaking from through a little slit at the bottom of the transmission so I decided to replace the rear main seal at the time of replacing the clutch.

Finished replacing everything, bolting everything to spec with torque wrench using the right greese/sealant/lubricate.

Go to start the car and it has a hard time turning over. Finally get the car on by jumping it and it dies about five times going around 2 blocks. Pull into the garage pop the hood and it smells of burning oil. Oil is leaking from same spot where it leaked earlier from the little slit from bottom of transmission.

Any suggestions? No misc. screws/bolts/nuts left over. Plugged everything back in and sanded/surfaced battery/connections/grounds. Light for my check engine light is out so I can't tell if it's throwing codes. Although before the light went out, it was throwing oxygen sensor codes only.

1997 Nissan Maxima GXE, 226,000miles. What should I do? I'm out of ideas, so should I take the car to a mechanic/sell/scrap/part/tradein?

 

Did you clean the mating surfaces between the tranny and motor with a wire brush when you put it back in? If not, there's your starting problem. I just went thru the same issue. Once the tranny was pulled back out and cleaned up, the starting issues were fixed. The oil leak was not caused by your rear main, it was caused by the half moon seal located on the upper oil pan. That seal is located just below the rms, which is why you thought rms, but you have to drop all different parts to get to it. You can't replace it by dropping the tranny.

You got some work to do...sorry to say but if you didn't clean the mating surfaces, you need to pull the tranny back out and clean them...extra grounds wont help. If you want to fix the leak, you need to drop the upper oil pan. Good luck.

 

First off. Thanks bro. You really know you're stuff and I appreciate your reply.

Are you able to quick explain why having the clean the mating surfaces between the tranny and motor would help with the starting/dying problem? Able to take a quick pic of location you're talking about cleaning also?

Dang looks like taking out the upper oil pan is going to be a pain. Found a write up on the .org and it looks to be a quite long-ish replacement.

I'll see when I'm able to get back working on the car.

 

The mating points are a major grounding point for the car. Basically the spot I am talking about is the left side of this pic which is the tranny side. Like I said, you'll have to pull the tranny back out to do this.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj..._id=880000500F

This pic is also the tranny, but from a different angle showing the surface that needs to be cleaned up (where the bolt holes are)

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj..._id=880000500F

You also need to clean up the motor side as well. Basically where the tranny bolts to the motor all needs to be clean. Don't sand it, just use a wire wheel to clean ay corrosion etc. Not sure if this will fix your dying problem because mine was not dying, but it most likely will fix you starting problem.

See my thread I started here which has a video of how mine was starting when I didnt clean the mating surfaces. Post #8 has the video.

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...hen-start.html

As for your upper oil pan, if you are not losing a lot of oil or dripping onto the ground, I wouldnt worry about it. Mine has been leaking for quite some time and I don't have any plans of fixing it until it gets real bad.

 

Okay. I see now where I need to clean it up. As for my oil leaking. It's leaking quite a bit after a quick drive around the block. It smells like burning oil like no other after the quick drive also.

 

Well if its leaking that bad, you have a big job ahead of you should you choose to fix it. It may actually be cheaper to just get another motor with less miles and put that in instead. How much oil are you using between changes?

Is it coming from the same spot as in the pic in the first post of this thread? http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...d-leakage.html

I'd say tackle your tranny first and get it running again then worry about the leak since the leak will require removal of completely different things. Good luck