I got my SC installed 2 months ago and I've never really gunned it or driven it hard. I've actually only fully boosted once or twice. However, somehow I have developed an oil leak behind a pulley high up on the engine. One shop said it might be the oil seal, another says it's coming from behind a pulley on the left side of the SC. It's a small leak, and I lose maybe 5 drops of oil after each time I drive. I checked with Nissan and they said I'm out of luck since I installed the SC. Right now I'm not even sure if the SC is what's leaking or if it's from the engine itself. If I take it to a shop to fix an engine problem, they'll have to remove the SC to get to the leak. I don't really want a local shop to mess with the SC since I had a tuner shop install it. What do you all think?

 

Most tuner shops are ASE Certified and they should be able to tell you if the problem is the SC or the engine. But do not take it to a local shop!

 

Good excuse for a smaller pulley swap?

J/K, Good luck though!

 

Ok I checked Y2KevSE's website and saw the SC. The leak is most likely not coming from the SC. There's a large thin pulley on the left side of the engine about half way down the engine. It's leaking from behind that pulley. The shop I took it to probably doesn't have ASE certified mechanics, it's kind of a tuner hobby garage in Arlington, TX called Alamo Autosports. I'm going to call them to see what they think, but I live in Houston and don't want to drive 4 hours to Arlington to get it looked at, especially since they won't be able to fix the leak, just look at the SC, which I'm pretty sure isn't the problem. I paid $900 to get it installed, so I don't want to pay that again to have it removed and reinstalled just so I can fix the engine leak. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

exactly what im thinkin....

 

Actually I plan to swap the belt, SC pulley, tensioner, and idler pulleys if i have to have the SC removed. But that's another $300 for those parts, and whatever it costs to remove the SC, fix the leak, and reinstall the SC. I still owe the bulk of the cost of the SC and install from 2 months ago!! And my 6 month insurance policy needs to be renewed next month! Arghh, there goes the money for AGXs and Progress springs.

 

Check your oil feed line, oil tee, oil return hose, oil drainback plate, and SC.

 

Well, the local shop guy added a dye to my engine oil and checked for leaks with an ultraviolet light. The leak seems to be behind a large pulley on the left side of the engine about half way down the engine. Only guess as to how that happened is that the additional pressure of the boost caused a seam or seal to break. I'm not sure what the oil drainback plate is, but I'll have them check it. Thanks.

 

Which pulley? Power steering, crank pulley, A/C pulley, alternator pulley, idler pulley, tensioner pulley? Describe more in detail and I'll help you out.

 

hopefully its not the front main seal either, those arnt too fun to mess with. also kinda on the subjet what in the world is the point of this http://www.custommaxima.com/UnorthodoxPulley.html i though that and underdrive pulley on a s/c engine will cause the blower to spin slower and generate less boost. thats not what this thing at gregs site is claiming. think that this is kinda a question that hopefully ull be able to clear up. thanx

 

Heh if i was knowledgeable enough about cars to tell you which pulley it was, I might be able to fix it myself Unfortunately one pulley looks about the same to me as any other. I'll check with the shop and find out what that particular pulley does. Thanks for the assistance.

 

Do a search! Just kidding. You're right, the underdrive pulley reduces the power that turns the belts that run the accessories in the car, and that would slow the SC as well. You don't use the UDP if you have the SC. The claims that CustomMaxima.com makes I assume are for turbo'd or NOS'd engines, since they aren't belt-driven to produce power, which the SC is completely dependent on.

Now, back to the original topic... stay on target.

 

hey it kinda was on target since it did directly invole the way the s/c operated, but i was just curious since there are too many turboed maxes out there, i though it was advertising it for the s/c and i was wondring what is that about. but alright ill stay on target, mybad.

 

See Tan's comments.


Hmmmmmm....... look at these pics and tell me which one it is.
http://www.boostedmaximas.com/y2kevs..._pulley/04.jpg
http://www.boostedmaximas.com/y2kevs..._pulley/05.jpg
http://www.boostedmaximas.com/y2kevs..._pulley/06.jpg
http://www.boostedmaximas.com/y2kevs..._pulley/05.jpg
http://www.boostedmaximas.com/y2kevs..._pulley/07.jpg

 

Well, from the first pic, it's possibly one of the large two black pulleys with the multiple spokes. Check the image below.

VQ30DE

The part circled in green is the timing belt cover (15) and the part circled in red is the pulley (29). The oil seems to be leaking from behind the pulley. The pulley sits on the left of the timing belt cover in the assembled engine, possibly where part 17 (small seal) is.

 

I'm going to try to take a picture of the leak, but it might not be possible without jacking the car up and taking the undercover off, which I might not have room for. So far I've got quotes ranging from $125 just to fix the leaky seal, and up to $500 to remove the SC, fix the leak, and reinstall the SC. The first quote didn't know I have an SC, so they probably didn't figure having to remove it and reinstall it into the price.

The worst part of this problem is that I was planning on going to a smaller SC pulley and higher boost, maybe even a small shot of NOS. Now all my engine performance plans are on halt or cancelled because the base engine isn't 100% seaworthy.

 

not to dis u or nothin but y spend all that money and never get on it? sounds like a waste to me!

will

 

well that sure looks like the front main seal thats circled to me. and one other thing if the s/c is gonna be removed just buy the smaller pulley and have it installed because the s/c has to be removed again for the pulley to be installed so its kinda like takin care of two problems at once. atleast this was u wont have to pay for the romoval and install of the s/c two more times. but good luck(i hate front mains, so fragil ) any other info u got on this kev? like if there is anything else that might as well be replaced since the s/c is out? hoses ect... just to be on the safe side.

 

You have to do more than just slap an SC on your car and go to town. You have to do a lot of preventive maintenance and other mods to protect yourself, the car, your engine, the SC, and all the money you spent on the SC. Unfortunately I can't do everything at once, so I'm not going to push the SC until everything else is ready.

 

Yeah, I plan to go to a smaller pulley, aluminum tensioner and idler pulleys, and a kevlar belt, if the SC has to be removed and reinstalled. My biggest concern is whether or not to trust the local mechanic to do all this. I know they can fix the leak, but aftermarket tuning probably isn't their specialty. Likewise, tuner shops can work on aftermarket parts, but major repair work probably isn't their strong point.

 

You can change the crank pulley seal if you say there's a leak back there. You shouldn't have had to touch the pulley for the SC install.

What you circled was the crank pulley... there's a seal behind it.

 

Cool, that's what one shop said, that it's the crank pulley seal. I'm hoping that's all it is, but the shop just went by what I told them from what another shop found with the oil dye test. Thanks for the information.

 

Kevin,

When they remove the pulley to replace the seal, won't they have to remove the SC belt as well? In your first picture, it looks like the SC belt winds around the crank pulley. That means they have to remove the SC and SC belt when they remove the pulley?

 

They only have to move the SC belt out of the way, not remove the SC belt.

 

So the SC belt doesn't turn the crank pulley? That would be both great news and disappointing. Great because fixing the seal would be easy. Disappointing because then I wouldn't have an excuse to remove the SC to install the new pulley.

Actually, I have a local mechanic shop that's willing to do everything for under $500. The includes removing the SC, fixing the leak, and reinstalling the SC (with the upgraded parts).

 

ok let me explain this, there is only one belt. the belt has to be loosened and moved out of the way (off the crank pulley) then the crank pulley has to come off in order to throw in the front main seal. now the belt could just hang around up there while this whole process is being done. so yes the crank pulley does drive the S/C and no it looks like the S/C is not going to be removed in order to remove and replace the front main seal. now unless u want to have the s/c taken out and put a diff pulley in and get the seal done at the same time, like u said its gonna take 5bills. if u have that much extra to throw done then by all mean do as u want. and btw what size pulley r u runnin at the time being, and to what size r u gonna upgrade to.

 

So if it's that easy to remove the belt to replace the crank pulley, can I replace the tensioner and idler pulleys at the same time as well?

 

it shoulndt be that much trouble to replace them once the crank pulley is out, maybe an extra 30-60min labor off the top of my head ill check out the labor book in about 30min and let u know exactly how long it takes for the front main, the idler pulley, and tension so the mechanic doesnt shaft u. but i think it should be that big of a deal at all. ill post back to u in about 2hr...

 

first of all let me apologize for sayin there is only one belt there is more but still it doesnt change anything. now the main thing is i look up the labor and the book (which is like 5000pages) had no info on the 5th gen max idler pulley or tentioner labor times. so my guess from other cars would be about 1hr for the both of them but this is an approx not exact time for both, kev might be able to help u out with the exact times of the tensioner and idler pulleys. the front main however came out to 1.4 hrs so ull probably get charged for an hr and a half no big deal but if they try to say 2 1/2 hrs or something then u know whats goin on.

 

Thanks for checking into it, I'm trying to decide if I should go to the $125 place (mechanic has never worked on my car before), or to the usual place I go for small fixes, who quoted me $350-500 with the SC removal. If I get the tensioner and idler pulleys in time and a new 3.25" SC pulley, then I'll go with the usual shop and swap out everything. Otherwise, I just want the leak fixed so I can get back to modding.

 

I can pull and put your SC on in about 90 minutes if you have the right tools. Labor rate: a few bags of Flamin' Hot Chee-tos, and a 24 pack of A&W Cream Soda.

A normal shop can probably pull your crank, tensioner, and idler pulleys out in about 15-45 minutes.

 

yes kev, thats very true but u have to know exactly what ur doin, (and in no way am i trying to say that u dont, im refering to the mechanic shops) but with the s/c i would have to say u have done that several times so u have experience in that, which obviously made u get faster each time. tools make a big diff. but the first time install for any1 is always a pain in the @$$. but bottom line is this the shops are still gonna charge u atleast for what is in the book, thats what they work by, even if they finish a 2hr job in 15min. they get pain for their skill in the field, not literally the time put it.

 

Yup, I know how that works. A highly skilled mechanic can charge X hours worth of labor per shop manual and be done in X-Y hours. Once they're done, they go work on another car.


Tan, what's their hourly rate?

 

I'm not really sure, they usually just make up a price and it's always much lower than dealer prices. It's an asian shop, so I get the fellow-countryman discount and treatment, which I like.

So to pull the tensioner and idler pulleys, you don't have to remove the SC, right? I'd really like to swap to the kevlar SC belt and smaller pulley, but if I can get the other pulleys replaced without having to remove the SC, I'm happy too.

 

Tensioner, idler, crank pulleys... no, you don't have to pull the SC.

SC belt... yes, you'll have to pull and unbolt the blower from the bracket. You found kevlar belts?

 

Uh, shouldn't that read: A highly skilled mechanic can charge X hours worth of labor per shop manual and be done in Y hours, where Y is usually 25% of X.

 

Ehhhh.... close enough.

Oh, BTW... "Ban"

 

I thought there was once a group deal going on for the kevlar belts. I know that never went through. I'm guessing that's because Gates doesn't make them?

I have the same belt that DMAN had on the SC for a year. I bought a new belt when they installed the SC, but they couldn't remove the older one, so they left it on there. No visible signs of wear, but I'd still be happier with a new belt.

 

as long as there are no cracks on it, its good enough for now.

 

Crap, the leak might not be the crank pulley seal after all. It might be the timing belt cover gasket that's leaking, which is a lot more expensive and time consuming to repair, and you have to remove the SC in order to check the gasket!
I'm guessing that you just remove the SC with bracket from the side of the engine, but you don't actually have to remove the SC from the bracket, right (ie, no chance to swap the SC pulley)?

I'm curious, which is more likely to be the location of the leak? I've heard from a reliable source that the crank pulley seal is known to leak on the VQ30DE. With the pressure of the SC, it could just as easily be the timing belt cover, right?