Hey guys , new here.
I need to get a vehicle to get to work ASAP ,spun a bearing on my truck.

I have a chance to get a 97 Max GXE with 210,000 miles. The alternator belt has fallen off, so I heard it run for just a minute. My concern is the oil leak, it smokes after warming up. There is oil on the alt side(side) and the exhaust side(front). Would assume the smoke is from valve cover leaking on exhaust but what other common oil problems might make it smoke?

Any help would be much appreciated, going to pick up tonight and, hopefully, drive it an hour home.

 

Unfortunately oil leaks are a problem. The valve covers are big culprits. The cover by the firewall is the worst one. It tends to leak at the timing chain cover. It is also the most difficult one, requiring the removal of the upper intake manifold.

After replacing the valve cover gaskets, you could still have an oil leak from another spot. The timing chain cover could be leaking and then there is another one that is less common that leaks down the firewall side of the engine and drips off of the oil pressure sending unit. It is a rubber o-ring that seals an oil gallery that runs from the block into the upper oil pan casting.

Being able to get a good look at the back corner of the engine where these oil leaks like to happen is, at best, close to impossible.

If you are planning to drive the car for an hour with out the alternator working, the odds are pretty good that you won't make it. These cars only go for about a half hour without the alternator. The first thing you will notice is that the performance is fading away. When you detect that, you probably have maybe 5 minutes left before the engine dies.

If you want to consider replacing the alternator belt before you head out, it is possible to do without jacking up the car IF you are not a physically large guy as you have to work from beneath the car. It is still pretty difficult as there is a plastic panel on the bottom of the engine that has to be removed. Jacking the car up is much easier.

An important tip for replacing the belt is that in order to turn the belt tensioning adjuster screw, you first have to loosen a separate locking nut. This nut is the bolt that is in the center of the tensioner pulley that also holds the pulley on. You don't have or want to remove the pulley, just loosen it. A 14mm open end wrench, no room for a socket.

See page 10 in the below link for belt threading and tensioning directions:

http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/1997/MA.pdf

 

No, I bought a belt to bring with me, I'll put on in the driveway. Thanks for quick reply and the link. All my other cars have had spring tensioners.

My hope is its the valve cover leaking right down onto the exhaust.

 

Another possible leak is the low pressure PS hose leading in to the PS pump. Either the clamp is loose or the hose is bad. The PS fluid can drip on to the O2 sensors wire harness and run its way down on the hot O2 sensor which causes smoking too. I had to remove the pump and both high and low pressure hoses to trouble shoot the huge smoking issue after my valve timing cover job. The weirdest part is that I couldn't distinguish the difference from oil and PS fluid (ATF) by smell, which wasted a lot of time for me chasing an oil leak that didn't exist.

 

Thanks, the owner says they would top off the oil weekly

 

Most 4th gen P/s leaks are the suction hose Japanese (OEM) clamps not really sealing to well or being loose! Replacing the hose or just the clamps with an American worm clamps usually solves the problem....

 

Ok so I've never seen this before but the broken belt is fused onto the crank pulley. I can't get it off. Bought the car anyway and towed it home.
Any places to get a crank pulley?

 

So here is the crank pulley! Any advice on how to get the old belt off?

 

I would use a flat head screwdriver and wedge it under the belt to pry it up. Tap lightly on the end of the screwdriver with a hammer if needed. don't be too aggressive..

 

Thanks, I'm going to try that. All I had with me last night was a gasket scraper.

I've also read pulling the pulley off and torching it.

 

If the belt fused to the pulley, that means the engine was running but the belt couldn't move. See if you can spin the alternator and a/c pulleys, one of them may have froze.

In a worst case scenario, if the a/c pulley is frozen, you would need to replace the clutch assembly. You can bypass the a/c compressor by getting a smaller belt. The full size belt, like the one you have, is 1,100 mm or 43.5 inches. The one to bypass the a/c compressor is 920 mm or 36.25 inches.

But looking at your photo, I think that the harmonic dampener is coming apart. I think you definitely want to replace the harmonic dampener. You can get harmonic dampeners from just about any auto parts store, but an on-line place that has good prices is rockauto.com.

 

Harmonic Dampner is that all part of the pulley?

 

Got it sorry brain fart. Advance Auto has it in stock and with the online code it'll be $105

I have air tools - How hard is it to get the pulley bolt and pulley off??

 

Best I can tell the pulley came apart and the rubber is something to do with the balancing part. Anyway getting a new pulley and seal, wish me luck!

 

Many of us have replaced crankshaft pulleys because the outer pulley ring separated from the rubber area.

 

Now I am one among many

Ok so new crank seal, new pulley and new belts and it runs good! Next on to degreasing the engine.

 

You're got it!

 

So I've put about 500 miles on the car and I would guess the majority of the leak was fixed by replacing the crank seal. I would also assume the leaking crank seal caused the pulley to fail.

Thank you to everyone for your help!

 

Congratulations! Thanks for letting us know how it turned out.

 

now thats awesome to stop an oil leak!

 

Alright, still leaking. Time to do the valve covers.

I've read a lot about doing it. What is the Maxima.org preferred method?

RTV in the groove on the vc?
RTV on the covers of the vc?
Felpro vc set?
Do in need the change the intake gasket when I remove it?

Sorry for all of the questions , I have limited time to have this car off the road

 

I'm in a similar boat as you man. The dealer told me my crank seal was bad, but the UV dye test didn't show anything more than a very small amount around it (I think I was getting ripped off too since they wanted 8 hours labor for it). Your photo looks a lot worse than mine though in that area of the engine. So instead I replaced the valve covers myself since it was leaking back there behind the oil pan and lower control arm, but still leaking now. Scary to think it may be those timing cover o-rings. I also have leaks near the rear main seal/half moon gasket area but that doesn't drip onto the ground that bad.

 

I would clean that area off and make sure it's still not leaking. I think both of us are just dealing with multiple oil leaks and picking the correct combo of gaskets/seals to replace is difficult. Heck I noticed yesterday even around the rim of my lower oil pan has slow leaking and I never really considered that since it's not hitting the ground directly below, but I bet it gets blown around down there.

 

A light smearing of RTV on the gasket to hold it in place and keep it from fouling and causing a leak, but you don't want so much that it affects clamping pressures. Just two small dabs on the corners of the front cam bearing caps is all you need for sealing purposes. Make sure you get the sparkplug tube seals, bolt grommets, and intake plenum gasket (the rubber six holer) as well. Mine has been holding oil for many years after doing it this way.

Have you downloaded the FSM yet? It is in my signature at the bottom of my post here.