Hi Fellas, '98 Maxima here...at 234,138 miles, holy cow this things a beast and still running. Have been waiting for it to die since 2012 but it just wont go.

Anywhoo, it recently developed a very bad oil leak, and I'm not sure where its coming from. Please see the image I just took. Is this indicative of the dreaded Rear Main Oil Seal? Oh gawd I hope not... It seems to be coming from inside the flywheel area as I checked all around the top of the engine and do not see anything suspicious. My RMS has never been changed btw (and yes, I'm original owner).



Thanks for your help.

 

Do you know about the seals that are named half moons? The half moons seal against the upper oil pan.

Here's a picture of the front half moon seal. There is a similar seal on the rear in the next picture.




Area for the rear half moon shown in the upper oil pan pic below.

 

So what you're saying is that the half moon seals are the ones that need to be replaced and not the RMS? Or if I were to replace the half moons, shouldn't I just replace the RMS also?

I went ahead and took the car into my mechanic and was quoted $1500 to fix this leak. He did say it was most likely the RMS and there's a lot of work involved. Thanks for your insight.

 

It could be half moons in addition to the RMS. It would take a through inspection to rule out either.

i take it you are not planning to do the job yourself?

 

Just from what I've read on this site, Its more often the Half moon. I would drop the trans and do both.

 

Dam $1500 to fix the leak, but being at 234k miles.. thats to be expected

 

This is what they call the rear main seals that are leaking,this is gonna take some good man hours taking the tranny apart from the engine to get the rear main seals on the car. If your gonna do any tranny related jobs,now is the time. The oil pan get some seals on there as well since your in there with this much miles on the car.

 

these are the very few jobs that cost alot to repair... unfortunately, but then again, once fixed.. it will last another 234k miles.

 

I doubt it is the rms. Mine was the half moon.

I did it myself but it was time consuming. I also have pretty much all the tools I need. Was prepared for the rms, but that wasn't it.

From what I've seen, the rms only goes if the oil has been overfilled. My 96 has 300k and my 00 has 234. Both had half moon seals go. RMS was fine in both. I left the RMS in place based on what I know from this forum.

Generally, I replace everything so I don't need to open it up again. However, I recall that doing the rms was a decent bit more work. And sometimes, it is best not to mess with something like that if it isn't leaking.

 

You're sure this isn't a rear rocker cover gasket?

 

I do a lot of stuff myself, but when it comes to taking apart a transmission, I try to avoid these things.

Did not look like it, and these were replaced just a few years ago.

From what everyone is saying and from my search around the forum, I'm certain now it may be the half moon seal, but looks like its the same amount of work regardless.

I'm still thinking about if I should get this repaired or not...it costs more than what my car is worth at this point. Maybe its just about time to lay the Max to rest.

BTW, I found this video on YouTube which has a good video of the transmission off and how these seals look if anyone is interested. This is exactly the leak with my car. Start at around 12:30 minute mark.

Thanks all! You've all been very helpful.

 

I'd advise you to have a close(er) look.

I just replaced mine a few weekends ago ... myself this time ... after having paid ~ $500 to have a shop do them ... about 26 months ago.

From under the car, a leaking rear rocker cover gasket looks just like a leaking RSM and/or an oil pan gasket failure.

It may not be the culprit but I'd sure hate to see you pull the trans when you just needed to pull the UIM.

 

Take the car and get a very good pressure wash top to bottom with soap than see where and what's leaking,go from there.

 

I thought a leak falling from that area in his photo had to be either the half moon or RMS...Can it really be the rear valve cover gasket? That would leak near the passenger wheel or just a bit inwards towards the middle of the car I thought, not at the bellhousing

 

Don't confuse resale value with actual value to you. How much would a car payment be, and consider that any used new to you vehicle would need repairs.