Jools

So I'm helping a family member get a neglected and abused '96 Maxima GLE auto back into more or less driveable condition. The big issue I'm dealing with at the moment is an intermittent stall that I haven't been able to track down, but I've discovered a pile of oil leaks that need to be addressed while working in her engine bay.

The big one right now is somewhere on the front of the engine, dripping down near the crankshaft pulley and all over the crankshaft sensor on the front of the engine. I've cleaned the hell out of the engine in that area, but I can't figure out where the hell the oil is coming from. Are there any common oil leaks in that general area that I should be aware of or look for? This seems to be a fairly major leak since she's losing close to a quart of oil every 200 miles. The rear main seal is leaking too, but that seems to be pretty minor by comparison.

Daniel VQ30life

iTrader: (2)

could be a lot of things, clean the bay out nice and good and maybe dye the oil, go from there

I love my A32

TurboA32

iTrader: (36)

Over time there are many spots that will leak oil like valve cover gaskets, crank pulley seal, rear main seal (located behind the flywheel) timing chain cover, upper and lower oil pan. All these spots will be visible to see oil coming out if them over a period of time

TurboA32

iTrader: (36)

Your stalling issue could be the crank pulley sensor can be dirty try checking that out

LWilspeed

Can you send a picture of it? I would say most common leaks are from the valve cover gaskets. But could possibly be the oil filter running back down the front of the engine - or your front main like earlier post said. I think I had an issue with a cam sensor leaking oil above that area - a new oring sealed it up. The key (as Daniel VQ30life said) is cleaning everything and then run the engine and watch it - requires more patience than I usually have but that is the key. You may need to take it on a quick 5 mile trip to get it warmed up well. Leaks usually get stronger when the oil gets hot and thins out a bit.

Jools

I appreciate all the advice, guys. I'll try to take some pictures as soon as I can get my hands on the car again. I've already cleaned the general area up pretty well, although after a week of being driven it's probably a mess again.

So far I've already done the valve covers (they were visibly leaking). The camshaft sensor was also replaced since it was throwing a code, but the o-ring had failed and it was leaking oil as well. Now that I've done both of those, there aren't any visible leaks from the top of the engine bay at all. Whatever this big leak is, it's most obvious around the bottom of the crank pulley and not really visible at all unless you're looking from under the car. I'm thinking it's the crank pulley seal, but I can feel oil above the pulley as well.

Thanks again!

uttadms31

How many miles on it? I'm guessing a car run hard at high rpm or abused is more likely to get a crank seal leak over time. Assuming you can rule out valve covers/camshaft area (which should be obvious if leaking near the pulley) i don't see what else it could be other than the front crank seal. There's that front half moon gasket but I don't think that one fails as much as the rear side, and you're getting some oil above the pulley so it could be whipping the oil up there a bit. If it's still not obvious when you check, try out uv dye