Our 1998 GLE has about 230k miles. It has been a wonderful car that still runs great. It needs some cosmetic work, mostly new paint, but otherwise it is sound. Several of you unknowingly contributed know-how to turn it into a delightful performer that is a fun sleeper. It has surprised many a speedy European sedan and sports car with its performance.

But it leaks fluids like a sieve. The most annoying issue is the primary oil pan which was originally sealed by a factory RTV that is no longer available from Nissan. A factoid about Nissan's decision to build the engine this way is that an upper pan like this is more common on diesel engines. Doesn't explain why they built it with the additional pan. I'm sure they had their reasons. As I see it, it just created another place to leak. I have tried twice to re-seal it with a high quality, after-market RTV while the engine is in the car. That involves removing the sub-frame which is a pretty big task. It failed to seal both times. I think the problem is gravity. I suspect the engine was assembled in the factory on a stand with the upper pan being installed while the engine is inverted. Gravity makes the pan press down and stay in place while the RTV cures. The car has a modified automatic transmission that also leaks a lot of fluid. When it has the right fluid level, it shifts great. When it is low, it doesn't. I'm embarrassed to say that I keep the car on the road by simply adding oil and ATF all the time. That means we leave evidence of it peeing its pants all over the place.

I think the only way to fix these leaks is to pull the engine and transmission to get access to all the gaskets and seals. A car that old with all those miles approaches being worthless so paying someone to do this work isn't economically feasible. I've never done anything like this before but we love the car and I hate to just junk it. I want to try. My question to you guys is where do I find a list of all the gaskets and seals I should be replacing "while I'm there"? I'd like to drive it a lot more miles without leaks.

 

Find a HIGHLY reliable transmission place and let them reseal the transmission and rear seal on the engine when the transmission is out. And maybe the upper Oil Pan gaskets as well if necessary.

A couple years ago, I had the guy I used to rebuild my transmission 12 years ago reseal it like new and do the rear seal on the engine and all four motor/transmission mounts for $1300. Probably less in CO, even if you need the upper oil pan done and don't need mounts. The rest of the places that leak, you can do yourself. And Find some overtime to pay for it rather than have your old maxima kick your ssa.

 

ultra grey on the upper pan, timing covers, etc. ultra black on the lower pan.

 

Thank you for your input. What is it about the transmission reseal work that requires a vendor versus doing it yourself?

 

Laying on my back under the car in the driveway alone for much of the work I've done was frustrating enough... But pulling the transmission was where I drew the line, especially because it was in the COLDER months.

If you've got real experience and the right tools, go for it! If not, it will be quite painful and take way longer. Lotsa surprises!

Hope that helps.

 

OK I was more asking if there is some secret sauce to the sealing work itself that a DIY guy could never master. You're saying the shop pulled the engine and transmission and that was included in their $1,300 charge? I fully agree! That's a real bargain. I thought you meant that you pulled them and took them to their place. Count on $3k today to have that done in our post-COVID world. $1,000 is the new $100 in the modern day car repair paradigm. As I mentioned, the car is not worth much money. $3k going toward a newer car is a better use of funds. If I can do the work DIY, it is feasible since I also work on cars for the fun of it. We have a heated two car garage. And buying the tools at Harbor Freight also makes things affordable compared to $3k. The only downside is tool storage. One of our autumn projects is a new storage shed. Ha ha.

BTW, I had the car's mileage wrong; it has 268k miles. What a great car!