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Hi, I have a 2001 Maxima that I've recently had some issues with handling with the passenger side. I decided to have a look and the passenger side lower control arm was covered in oil. Basically, about a cubic foot around and slightly above the oil pan has a layer of oil and dirt on it. I've cleaned it up some and am going to check again after driving to try to try and pinpoint it.
It looks exactly like the issue in this video (sorry the guy made the video unviewable outside of youtube apparently). I couldn't find any common reasons for this but the car is fairly old and has around 200k miles so it's to be expected. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.
Last edited by GreeneMan42; 07-07-2016 at 10:16 AM.
I decided to have a look and the passenger side lower control arm was covered in oil. Basically, about a cubic foot around and slightly above the oil pan has a layer of oil and dirt on it. I've cleaned it up some and am going to check again after driving to try to try and pinpoint it.
Have you tried to find the place where the oil is coming from??
If you did, you should have come to the conclusion that it's coming from some place on/around your Power Steering Hose. BTW, this is a well-known problem. Your PS hose is leaking the PS fluid (same as the AT fluid) all over your LCA, damaging its bushings.
Originally Posted by GreeneMan42
It looks exactly like the issue in this video .... I couldn't find any common reasons for this but the car is fairly old and has around 200k miles so it's to be expected. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.
You need to replace your PS hose (and your LCA bushings). There is a very informative (and fairly long) thread on the on the subject. Do you think you can find it?
Why don't you try. Then, you can let us know what your plan is.
The most common oil leaks are valve covers and main seals. You should be able to see oil around the valve cover gaskets if they're leaking.
At 200,000 it's probably time for the front main seal. That's the seal behind the main pulley. It's not that bad to change.
Clean the area up with a couple cans of brake parts cleaner. Watch your eyes!. Make sure you get behind the main pulley. Drive it for a few days and inspect it again. You should be able to find the source. My guess is it will be coming from behind the main pulley.
The rear main is probably leaking too. That will show as oil leaking from between the block and tranny. That one is a lot more work to fix.
This oil will eat the rubber bushings and mounts so it should be fixed before you do the suspension work. Otherwise you'll be doing it again in a few months.
Have you tried to find the place where the oil is coming from??
If you did, you should have come to the conclusion that it's coming from some place on/around your Power Steering Hose. BTW, this is a well-known problem. Your PS hose is leaking the PS fluid (same as the AT fluid) all over your LCA, damaging its bushings.
You need to replace your PS hose (and your LCA bushings). There is a very informative (and fairly long) thread on the on the subject. Do you think you can find it?
Why don't you try. Then, you can let us know what your plan is.
Thanks? I couldn't find the article but I did find some nice videos about replacing the pump itself. I placed some thick paper underneath the car last night after driving it and weighed them down with some old tools. This morning the drips seemed to be right below the Power steering pump. It's also the most wet. I guess the drips are more PS fluid than oil. The pump is completely covered and I'm wondering if I should just replace the pump? Is it possible that it's leaking or just the hoses?
Originally Posted by Derrick2k2SE
The most common oil leaks are valve covers and main seals. You should be able to see oil around the valve cover gaskets if they're leaking.
At 200,000 it's probably time for the front main seal. That's the seal behind the main pulley. It's not that bad to change.
Clean the area up with a couple cans of brake parts cleaner. Watch your eyes!. Make sure you get behind the main pulley. Drive it for a few days and inspect it again. You should be able to find the source. My guess is it will be coming from behind the main pulley.
The rear main is probably leaking too. That will show as oil leaking from between the block and tranny. That one is a lot more work to fix.
This oil will eat the rubber bushings and mounts so it should be fixed before you do the suspension work. Otherwise you'll be doing it again in a few months.
Thank you for this information. I think that there may be more PS (atf) fluid coming from the PS pump but it's also got some oil in it too. Most of the fluid is down a bit lower and may not be from valve covers but I'm not positive. Thank you again, I really hope to get this fixed around the same time as the suspension which the parts will be coming next week! I just need to decide on replacing the pump or just the hoses?
Last edited by GreeneMan42; 07-08-2016 at 10:07 AM.
Thanks? I couldn't find the article but I did find some nice videos about replacing the pump itself. I placed some thick paper underneath the car last night after driving it and weighed them down with some old tools. This morning the drips seemed to be right below the Power steering pump. It's also the most wet. I guess the drips are more PS fluid than oil. The pump is completely covered and I'm wondering if I should just replace the pump? Is it possible that it's leaking or just the hoses?
Thank you for this information. I think that there may be more PS (atf) fluid coming from the PS pump but it's also got some oil in it too. Most of the fluid is down a bit lower and may not be from valve covers but I'm not positive. Thank you again, I really hope to get this fixed around the same time as the suspension which the parts will be coming next week! I just need to decide on replacing the pump or just the hoses?
You shouldn't have to replace the pump. The pumps are usually pretty solid and the hoses are prone to failure. If the hose is leaking it will dump all the fluid right on top of the pump.
The hose will usually leak somewhere between the bracket by the strut tower and the pump. As cornholio said, pull back the cover on the hose. If it's full of oil it's coming from the hose.
Remember. Oil nearly always travels down and back so always look up for the leak. I would still clean it all up and drive it for a little while before doing the suspension work. Even if the hose is leaking I'll bet the front main seal is leaking too.
Thank you very much for the replies. This has been a whole lot of useful info. Also the main seal looks pretty inexpensive and easy to fix. Tomorrow I will inspect the PS hose for any leaks and hopefully find it. Also the main seal looks really easy and inexpensive and probably wouldn't be a bad idea to just go ahead and replace I'm guessing.
Edit: Here's a pic I took to help show what's going on, I also highlighted where there are actual drops of fluid were at the time.
I since cleaned it up pretty well and am going to wait until tomorrow and check again to see if I can tell for sure it's from the banjo bolt of the hose or somewhere else. The return line looks to be leaking but I'm not sure if it's just residual from the high pressure hose, with it being right above the axle, I'm sure it gets slung everywhere while driving. The actual high pressure hose doesn't seem to be leaking because it's clean above the banjo connector but I guess I'll wait and see.
Last edited by GreeneMan42; 07-09-2016 at 05:24 PM.
Just a small update if it helps anyone out: It looks like the leak is not from the Power steering pump at all but rather the rear valve cover. I cleaned up the pump as much as I could and photographed it. Then, ran the engine for about ten minutes and allowed it a few hours to cool off and photographed it again.
It seemed odd that the return line would be leaking and also the fact that I haven't been losing much PS fluid but a good bit of oil over time. Basically the return line rests against the valve cover corner and allows oil to flow down and onto the pump. I ordered a set of Fel-Pro gaskets for the front and back and will hopefully be okay after that.
Yeah, that does look like oil instead or ATF from the PS. Losing that much fluid from the PS would show as a loss in the reservoir as well.
How long have you had the car? At 200,000 you should be seeing both valve covers leaking as well as both main seals. It makes sense that the rear VC would be leaking now. Someone probably changed the front since it's easy and left the back since it's kind of a b!tch to do.
I'd wait on the front main for now. If someone already did it then there's no point. It's not too hard but it's still a fair amount of work and it's not tied in to the VC gasket job at all. My rule for oil leaks (unless it's something obvious) is to fix one at a time starting from the top and working down. Once you fix this and clean everything up it will be obvious if the front main is leaking or not.
Originally Posted by Prophecy99
use 6th gen valve covers ! they wont leak
This is great advice for a 3.5 liter car but the metal valve covers on your 3.0 will be fine. Just get a gasket kit with the tube seals.
Yeah, that does look like oil instead or ATF from the PS. Losing that much fluid from the PS would show as a loss in the reservoir as well.
How long have you had the car? At 200,000 you should be seeing both valve covers leaking as well as both main seals. It makes sense that the rear VC would be leaking now. Someone probably changed the front since it's easy and left the back since it's kind of a b!tch to do.
I'd wait on the front main for now. If someone already did it then there's no point. It's not too hard but it's still a fair amount of work and it's not tied in to the VC gasket job at all. My rule for oil leaks (unless it's something obvious) is to fix one at a time starting from the top and working down. Once you fix this and clean everything up it will be obvious if the front main is leaking or not.
This is great advice for a 3.5 liter car but the metal valve covers on your 3.0 will be fine. Just get a gasket kit with the tube seals.
Thanks for the info, I'm really getting a lot of good advice here. The car wasn't really used for about 6 months while I lived outta state and admittedly, I've kind of ignored some of its issues. That's why I'm trying to do a bit of an overhaul because both of the valve cover gaskets are leaking the rear one is just a little worse.
Make sure you grab the FSM by searching here on the forum. While replacing your valve cover gaskets it specifies locations on the corner of the gasket that need a little rtv to help prevent a leak. It would suck to do all this work only to have to go back in a second time.
Make sure you grab the FSM by searching here on the forum. While replacing your valve cover gaskets it specifies locations on the corner of the gasket that need a little rtv to help prevent a leak. It would suck to do all this work only to have to go back in a second time.
Thanks for the info. I saw that too on a couple of how-to videos. I actually just got done replacing the valve cover gaskets and I did remember the rtv in the corners. It went pretty well except for getting the plug tube seals in of all things. I could get them started, but getting them flush against the cover was really difficult without one side getting outta wack. I think I got them all about 2mm shy of their max depth but I did rtv around their bases so hopefully it works out. I'm gonna wait til the morning to actually get it running up to temp but it started up fine tonight with no check engine lights or leaks after I got it all back together.
The only problems were a couple of broken vacuum lines that I'll have to replace as well as the hose for the air cleaner was rock hard and basically broke in two when I removed it. Both of the 1/2" lines running to the front valve cover cracked around their bases and another probably 1/4" line snapped at its base. Is it possible to just use any vacuum line for this?
I'll check it in the morning and get it warmed up checking for leaks, thanks a lot for all the information.
Last edited by GreeneMan42; 07-13-2016 at 10:02 PM.
Yeah, that does look like oil instead or ATF from the PS. Losing that much fluid from the PS would show as a loss in the reservoir as well.
How long have you had the car? At 200,000 you should be seeing both valve covers leaking as well as both main seals. It makes sense that the rear VC would be leaking now. Someone probably changed the front since it's easy and left the back since it's kind of a b!tch to do.
I'd wait on the front main for now. If someone already did it then there's no point. It's not too hard but it's still a fair amount of work and it's not tied in to the VC gasket job at all. My rule for oil leaks (unless it's something obvious) is to fix one at a time starting from the top and working down. Once you fix this and clean everything up it will be obvious if the front main is leaking or not.
This is great advice for a 3.5 liter car but the metal valve covers on your 3.0 will be fine. Just get a gasket kit with the tube seals.
In my experience with several high mileage maximas, I havent seen a main seal leak. As I understand it, they are very long lasting and really only leak If it was overfilled. I understand that you have no way of knowing that.
If you THINK the main seal is leaking, it is likely the half moon seals or the upper oil pan gasket.
My 00 and my 02 both started leaking from the main seals around 200,000. There were no other oil leaks so it was clear where it was coming from. The upper oil pans were leak free as well.
I repaired both of them within a few months of each other. With the flywheels removed you could see the oil coming from the rear main on both cars. Everything above that was dry.
I just did my upper and lower oil pan with RTV (the black stuff). I was loosing half to a full quart every two weeks and an oil coating underneath the car. When I dropped the pan and looked at the half moon gasket on transmission side it was hardened to the point it had a crack in it. When I inspected the pan I could see where the oil left a residue where it was leaking.
Great information here, thank you for posting. I have a 2000 Maxima with 145,000 miles and the original owner. I too have a nuisance oil leak at the bottom of the engine. Looks like rear main as well as upper and/or lower oil pans. Bushings will probably need a good clean or replace too.
I wish I had the tools to do this. Dealer wants $$$$, and I'd rather use those $$$$ for a great vacation....
07-07-2016, 10:13 AM
