okay so here it goes...i've had this persistant oil leak for the 3 yrs ive had my maxima. i just got the valve cover gaskets done and i have a new oil pan and new oil pressure sending unit. BUT NOW there seems to be a new oil leak. the spots on the ground seemed to be further up front? i'd prob have to provide a pic.

any suggestions? insight plz. mechanics fault? didn't tighten something?

 

Your description gives no help. Get a pic or better description.

 

haha ohhhkay

but i'll have some difficulty takin pics of drops of oil on the ground. i just want OIL LEAK insight

 

Driver or pasenger side? Front of motor you say? Where are the TC Orings at guys? Front or rear?
http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...k-o-rings.html

 

i'm a noobie when it comes to my engine

but passenger side frontish. so here's some pics to help my explanation better:

 

Check your camshaft position sensor o ring. Mine was leaking down in that same area around the pulleys. Its a small leak, but over the course of a few years it could easily build up and look like that.

 

I cant see the pic. Company firewall.

First off u sure its oil and not PS fluid or coolant? All other fluid levels remain the same??

 

okay i'll check on that. except last night it almost looked like a puddle underneath which i'm freakin out about lol

 

isn't PS fluid like a redish/dark color? and it's def not coolant lol

 

check the color of your P/S fluid in res. Turns out mine isnt red like others.

 

oh jeez yeah i read ur whole thread. but i think it's a mechanic f*ckup because i just got the valve cover gaskets done and now there's a puddle of slick kinda goldish fluid

 

I would say oil pressure sending unit which is right there but it looks to be too far out. Otherwise that is the same area for the rear valve cover. Before you say the mechanic didn't do it right make sure if they cleaned the area afterwards. If you were leaking there for that long it could be pretty built up. Give the area a wash/spray/scrub and make sure it's not residuals dripping. Then you should be able to see that area to note fresh leaking from the VC. Then you can go nail his *** to the wall for a free re-do.

 

could be the intake gasket

 

hey that looks like my oil leak and i did an oil change and use this and no leak ever since (White Shepherd Stop Leak) here is where you could get i can show u the pics of my leak to prove it http://www.autobarn.net/white-shepherd.html

 

ehh idk because theyre a professional place i went to they replace the intake gasket along with the valve cover gaskets.

anyway i brought it today we'll see how things turn out tomorrow. he looked a little scared lol

 

My 97 is leaking between the middle and drivers side and i cant smell it burning off the engine what could be causing this kind of leak

 

know its a old post but for the record some vehicles have a red coolant as well

 

hey i have that leak too. I guess its common for maxis. I took it to a mechanic last summer once before to have the oil pressure unit replaced along with my cv shafts, crankshaft seal, and the ps/ac tensioner bolt. He cleaned it real good and the leak still came back. he is guessing that it is from the valve cover gaskets. This summer I am going to get the gaskets replaced and see if that will remedy the leak.

 

Maybe they botched it when they replaced the Upper Valve Cover. That's the same place my car leaked before I changed mine out.

Of course it could be something else, but there's always the chance of something going wrong.

(yes I realize his problem was probably solved a LONG time ago, but I had this same problem so figured I'd chime in).

~UNdefy

 

Mine is leaking in the same or similar place. I checked with dealer and they said if its the upper oil pan gasket it is five hours labor cost! Ouch. I am getting it checked later and hope it is just the lower gasket.

 

How much is average cost for replacing valve cover gaskets? Dealer price vs small shop price vs shade tree mechanic?

 

to get mine done on a VG it was $500 IIRC, small garage though so it could be done cheaper im sure

 

wow i didn't realize i never updateddd...well when i went back the guy said he cleaned the area again and didn't see a leak. i haven't seen a leak since then soooo idk lol anyway the valve cover gasket job cost me like $360

 

^ so other than getting the above fixed/replaced and having bringing it back to get it cleaned etc. the leak is now gone?? or did the mechanic seal it up somewhat?
enlighten us so we too know what you did to get rid of the leak.. thanks

 

It says the mechaninc CLEANED the area. So it was probably just a buildup from where it was leaking before

 

no he did my valve cover gaskets BUT i had to bring it back after they were done because i saw it was still leaking so i guess maybe there was just still some buildup idk he seemed embarrassed soo

 

lol yeah what he said!!

 

UPDATE MY REAL MECHANIC FOUND THAT MY FRONT VALVE COVER IS LEAKING RIGHT WHERE THE MANIFOLD MEEETS...LITERALLY SPITS OUT OIL. SO PISSED I EVER WENT TO SOME OTHER GUYS INSTEAD OF MY MECHANIC. I GUESS I'LL CHALK IT UP TO A LOSS AND HAVE MY MECHANIC REDO THE JOB.

 

good thing you went back to have it redone/looked over. I would too if the leak started coming back or building up again. I am looking to tackle a similar leak on my car. Thanks for the update.

 

Maybe from oil pump

 

quick question to whomever may know! I smell oil burning off on my 99 SE but I do not have any leaks! what might that be,and is it a major problem?

 

hmm do you have a cel? i just checked another thread a 99 had the same problem and someone said coil packs.

 

whats a cel? i jus changed the front three coil packs...!

 

Rear valve cover slowly leaking onto exhaust manifold. Burns off before it has a chance to run down further.

 

check engine light or SES (service engine soon) light

 

I just started smelling burning oil while driving about 2 weeks ago. With rear valve cover leaks being so common that's what I predicted. Standing in front of the car, it leaks in the left rear corner of the rear valve cover that you cannot see because of the firewall.

After driving stand in front of the engine leaning over the passenger wheel. To the left of the power steering resevoir feel the corner of the engine about 4" down between the firewall and engine. This is where the rear valve cover mates onto the engine bay. If you have a rear valve cover oil leak you'll get some oil on your hand.

 

Are you 100% sure they replaced the rears? When I bought my car, the motor was swapped recently. Nelledge (org member) and I were doing my valve covers today, he showed me both gaskets. My front gaskets were pretty new and retained the rubber characteristics (implying they were changed when the motor was swapped). Now, the rear gaskets, pretty much plastic brittle that crumbled into pieces. I visited the shop the previous owner where the swap was done, looked like a well established "professional" place.

 

yeah apparently the place i went to that looked like a well established "professional" place really wasn't. they f*%!d my gaskets up it was a hack job. i just chalked it up to a loss and took it to a guy i know personally (should have gone in the first place). he had everything apart before he worked on it and showed me the job the first place did (which was NOTHING). anyway glad i found someone i can trust with my maxima who actually had to REDO the valve cover gaskets/intake gasket again.

 

I just did my VC gaskets, oil pressure sending swicth, lower oil pan gasket, an dthe ish is still leaking...now I am tripping some evap/emiis codes too...f'n hoses everywhere, and stuff...my guess is mine is the o-ring on the timing cover, and I am not bothering with that overhaul...F it, just keep er leveled and topped off.

OP you stated you had this leak for 3 years b4? It obv isn't too big of a prob then, wouldn't worry...but makes me feel better knowing I will let mine drip a bit, after I put all the work into it and got minimal results. LOL

 

mine leaks a little to,but sometimes you have to tighten the valve covers from time to time depending on how and how much you drive it, it works for me and if you still smell oil clean up any oil on the exhaust anything with vast amounts of heat. ill start smelling it after every other few weeks for me but i do drive it to school and everywhere else every day. i got a lot of miles on my vq and it still runs like its new.