uptownsamcv

i ended up resealing my upper oil pan but now my oil light stays on. i was wondering how delicate is the pressure switch? i had the pan cleaned at a local machine shop to make sure it was real clean when i reinstalled it. now im wondering if it was cleaned with the oil pressure switch on and could that ruin the sensor? im not sure if it was hot tanked or cleaned in the high pressure spray machine that he has. its a machine shop that mainly deals with heads..

i used vaseline to hold the 2 O-rings in place during install and used to headless bolts to guide the pan in as advised by another member on here. i primed the pump real good and oil is getting to the filter but when i started it the oil light stays on.

first i put in 4 quarts than i pulled the fuel pump fuse than dry cranked the motor. than i checked the level and had to add 1 more quart. i turned back the oil filter and oil did reach it. than i put the fuel pump fuse back in and cranked the motor up. oil light didnt come of after around 5 seconds.


ive never had issue with oil light before.....

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

It's possible the sending unit has failed. Maybe it was on the oil pan when it got cleaned, maybe it got bumped too hard, who knows. But it is a simple electric switch.

How about testing it? If you take the wire off of the sending unit, the light in the instrument cluster should go out. Ground the wire and the light should come on. If this works, then you need a new sending unit.

uptownsamcv

i changed the pressure switch and now everything is ok. i just hope this car doesnt need any repairs for a while after all this work i just did. i pretty much took care of anything i could find wrong with it. also put in megan racing lowering springs...

slo-ryde

I'd be interested in knowing how hard it is to get the upper oil pan off. While replacing the alternator recently I noticed oil weeping out along the front edge of the pan, probably not enough to worry about right now.

uptownsamcv

to get the upper pan off you have to do a bit off dissassembly. i did it during a clutch job heres a lit off what you should remove and in order:

always unhook the battery!
lower sub frame with mounts
y pipe
front precat with O2 sensor
remove all oil cooler lines
unplug oil pressre switch
remove any wiring bolted to the pan
remove the AC/alternator belt and tensioner
lower oil pan
oil pick up tube

*you may want to remove the driver side cv axle but im not sure, i did mine while they were still off.


thsi part may seem tricky but its simple you have to unmount the AC compressor. what i did was use some laces and hung it frm the atlernator. than tie it up against the radiator fan so it tucked away.

make sure to remove the oil pan bolts in reverse order.

to break the pan loose you want to tap it with a hammer, theres a good spot directly under the main pulley that extends out a bit.

one thing i stress it to make sure you get the pan cleaned out real good. i took mine to a machine shop and had it hot tanked. also want to clean teh mating surface on the block. i used brake cleaner and a ton of rags untill no sign of oil was coming off on the rags. i didnt want to do this again. i used ultra black. you will also need 2 O-rings that go on the block and oil pump, use vaseline to stick them in place. the last thing you want is to have those o-rings come out of place. plus you will need the 2 moon shaped gaskets, put rtv on the ends of those and on the center than stick them in place on the motor theres groves that line up.

i used a premade gasket for the lower pan.

tighten the bolts in sequence andwhatever you do do not overtighten the bolts. i actually use a ratchet with a 4 inch handle to tighten small bolts and i only tighten it as much as my wrist can tighten it without putting my entire arm into it. i have a habbit of stripping bolts and im paranoise about it, especially on aluminum!!!!

doing it ypourself will save you a good $500 minimum. once you do it the first time you will see how difficult it isnt....

my maxima i waitd liek 3 days before i even put oil in the motor to let the ultra black dry out.

slo-ryde

Thanks for sharing the info, maybe if I'm in there for something major I'll add it to the list. For now it's not leaking bad enough to justify this amount of work. My car also has a weep coming from the rear crankshaft oil seal, the dealer quoted $1200 and that's not going to happen.

uptownsamcv

from what I heard the rear main seal hardly goes bad. its usually the oil pan ends that leak. same with mine mine , has 175,000 miles and the rear main was ok. but I still changed it since the tranny was out.

slo-ryde

That's good info, I just assumed it was the crankshaft seal. And I already know the upper oil pan has a slow weep behind the alternator so maybe that's all there is to it.

Thanks.

Max_Gator

Looks like we were doing the same job. I just did clutch and upper oil pan.

I would suggest purchasing proper torque wrenches. It is a good investment and one that could save a lot of money.

Also, to get the upper pan off, there is a rectangular hole to put a tool in. The FSM says don't use a screw driver so I used the end of an old pair of pliers.

I would personally use ultra grey and I would also not use a premade gasket for the lower oil pan since Nissan didn't.

uptownsamcv

the lower oil pan is so easy to take off I figuered ud try the premafe gasket wich comes off easy. I drove 40 miles to work and so far no leaks. but I think I nead a know hose clamp on one of the oil cooler hoses. I see a small coolant leak...