Here we go finally got underneath my car and took some pics http://photobucket.com/albums/v374/D...lti=6&addtype=

take alook for your self. Im just trying to find out the exact problem of where it may be coming from.

 

maybe valve cover, or the oil temp sensor I hear those can cause leaks after time too.

 

i am pointing very much towards the valve cover. Just trying to get some others opinions

 

yea looks like valve cover

 

valve cove gasket for sure. You might as well replace both so you dont have to deal with this again later on. You will have to remove the intake manifold to get access to the back valve cover gasket.

 

haha oh boy

sorry to laugh at your misfortune... I went through that...

Rear valve cover gasket is going to run you about $50.. it includes front and rear valve covers, spark plug tube seals and rubber grommets for the bolts
Upper intake manifold gasket... which is optional is another $15 or so

Plan to spend about 5 to 6 hours on the entire project if you've never done it before.
To take off the intake manifold remember these 3 things..
1. There are 2 bolts behind the intake which you cant see, which are secured to a bracket on the exhaust manifold
2. The EGR valve.. have fun putting the gasket back on
3. There is one small coolant hose that makes a U turn on the very back of the intake... DONT FORGET IT when your taking it off and putting it back on again.

Enjoy and if you need help with the job PM me

 

dont fix it if its not broken right ? :P ill wait till the rear breaks but thanks for the tips lol

 

any more advice ?

 

I thought you were going to wait til the rear seals go before fixing everything? I agree with everyone else here, valve cover gasket! If you are going to wait, just make sure you check the oil level every week or two but don't wait too long. Also, pull out all 3 spark plugs on that same side. If the plugs are soaked in oil, its 110% valve cover gaskets and plug 'O' rings. Which in this case if you neglect it, the ignition coil boots will end up splitting and cracking. Eventually, this will result in very poor performance.

 

oh no i meant ill wait on fixing the rear valve cover cuz thats too much work :P . I just changed my spark plugs about a month ago and they were in near perfect condition no oil just a little worn. My car doesnt seem to be very responisve either if i push the pedal to the floor my car doesnt start going faster for a few seconds. so im assuming the tranny is on its way out too :\

 

If you feel it slipping you might just be looking at a worn clutch. But there is a difference between sluggishness and tranny slipping. Sluggishness is obviously performance issue. Just changing plugs isn't enough. You got many more things to fix. Its all wear and tear and maintenance.

 

ACTUALLY i need to get my trany fluid flushed cuz i have an automatic but i think that will make a big improvement my fluid is like brown, its not burnt sm elling though so i need to get that done soon. Heres 2 more pics of maybe another possible oil leak ?
http://photobucket.com/albums/v374/D...t=DCP_1072.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/v374/D...t=DCP_1070.jpg

 

Seems like you need quite a few things done but you are not along on this. Many 4th gen'ers will go thru the same thing sooner or later. Worse case scenario, it still isn't the same as paying a grip for a new car every month. Try to get them done asap because an older car quickly develops problems and before you know it, everything wrong has snow-balled on you.

 

Trying not to get really off-topic, I thought you might want to read on this: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=368146 . This will really help your engine performance in addition to fixing the leaks and tranny issues. I figured that is a very good and least expensive way to start things off before getting into replacing major components and stuff.

 

did everything put the pcv valve thanks though

 

We'll I guess you can't keep running away from fixing that leaking gasket can you?

 

is it possible its the timing chain seal?

 

Perhaps you should steam clean the engine real good first. Then, start looking for oil leaks and chances are you will find the source if it since an area that will show leaks will be more obvious instead of seeing oil under the engine.

 

yea i should do that.

 

Since you cant see back there, the way I found out was just by sticking my hand and seeing where the fresh oil comes from... even if you clean the engine your not going to be able to see.. TRUST ME.

I went for about a year trying to figure out where the leak came from, I changed the oil pressure sensor, oil pan gasket, even my control arm bushings since they got soaked in oil.

 

damn but i think it might be my timing chain seal too though. Are these the exact same parts where excesss oil was on your car ?

 

If I looked up at the car from the bottom, there was oil falling from the back of the engine onto the axle and control arm... with a flashlight I could see the wet oil next to the power steering pump and it would seep all the way down and just soak the entire oil pan... it was weird.

 

Did you notice this from the right side of the car? I got into my car yesterday for my drive home and notice the oil smell in the cabin when the heat was on. I opened the hood and smelled it there too. I drove to a well lit gas station and took a flashlight to the back of the engine and didn't see any leaks on the left side but saw what could be oil on the exhaust manifold shield plus a litter dirt stuck to the side of the rear valve cover where it meets the engine (gasket area). I'm going to have to deal with this for a few months. It's just too cold and nasty out now.

 

Hey Ant did you ever figure out where your leak was coming from. I have the exact same leak, and I really hope it is just a valve cover gasket and not the timing cover gaskets (which were supposed to be fixed some 5000 miles ago but it still leaks). You gave the walkthrough up top, and that actually fixed it?

 

i did some more digging and i looked directly above the oil filter and noticed a bolt was missing wtf ? well whoever was ****ing with my car they used silicone to seal whatever that thing is up there and its missing a bolt and it is all wet that area looks like its dripping down their so hopefully its something simple ?

 

Deezo...
yes its from the right (passengers side) area behind the engine. and it seeps all the way down and covers the oil pan and rear of the engine. If you follow the wire for the rear 02 sensor in my car you can still see the oil on it.

96GreenMax What actually happened is the rear valve cover gasket has silicone on the cam journals... its a part of the head where the camshaft sits under. The stock silicone dried to pieces causing the rubber gasket to leak. Stock, there is only silicone in that area.

 

so by pulling the rear valve cover redoing the gasket and putting it back on should work, cause I would prefer not to pull the head. Thanks

 

Your not pulling off the heads, your pulling off the VALVE COVER.. hence the name Valve cover gasket

 

96GreenMax,

The valve cover sits ontop of the head. The gasket we're all referring to is between the valve cover and heads thus, in your case, you need to remove the intake manifold first to get to the rear valve covers.

 

Ok just wanted to make sure as I will probably do this next week. Totally verify what exactly I am taking off and make sure I get this damn leak gone cause it is pissing me off

 

If your doing the rear valve cover, read post #6

Remember to also torque the bolts down properly in the proper order as the Haynes manual illustrates.

Basically you have to take off the entire upper intake manifold to gain access to the rear valve cover. You also have to remove the rear coils, the wiring harness on top of the intake and unplug a few sensors on the throttle body

 

Here are a couple of pointers to ease the removal process a bit for the rear valve covers:

1) Remove air filter box and disconnect from the rest of the air intake plastic assembly (up to TB), disconnect air temp and MAF sensors. This will expose the TB and let you see clearly which vacuum hoses to disconnect before you can remove the TB

2) Remove IACV, mark and disconnect 3 harnesses (diff color sockets). This will expose the water pipe attachment to the manifold, you have to remove this.

3) You don't have to remove the TB separately since this will come off with the intake manifold but I took the TB separately for the ease of seating the manifold back down once your done replacing the valve cover gaskets. Don't forget to disconnect the accelerator cables from the TB also.

4) In addition to removing the coilpacks, you also need to remove several small components on top of the intake manifold that gets in the way of the manifold removal. Make sure to mark all electrical connections before removing them so you don't confuse any of them when you put it back together.

5) There are two, very well hidden bolts behind the intake manifold that attaches it to 2 support brackets. You need to remove this, expect to get a few cuts behind there. I used a short rachet-type closed wrench to remove these bolts.

As Ant96GLE mentioned, when you are putting the valve covers back on, you need to observe the torquing order (working from the middle to the outter of the cover). You need to torque each bolts down twice, first pass at 9-36 in.lbs. and second pass at 47.7-65.1 in.lbs. The intake manifold needs to be torqued down at 3.6-7.2 ft. lbs. (first pass), 20-23 ft.lbs. (second pass). Torque specs provided by my Chilton's Manual. The front cover is a piece of cake, you'll do it in a third of the time that the rear cover took. This is intimidating at first but once you've done it, its easier the next time around but hopefully you wouldn't have to do it again ever.

 

damn you explained it a little too well... I wish I had that kind of help, I would'nt have had so many damn bruised and scraped knuckles

 

Just trying to help a fellow DIY'er. BTW, everytime I see your sig I laugh because of the guy that actually believed that there is a clear spray enamel to turn the red tail lenses to clear.

 

You guys rock, thanks a lot.