I have done all the oil changes on my 00 Maxima for the past two years of owning it, and I never knew I was supposed to use a gasket on the oil drain plug. But I've never had any problems. No dripping or leaking whatsoever. So the last time around, I ordered a few of those metal gaskets from Courtesy Nissan and used one on the drain plug.


It was fine for a week, but I started to notice little black drops on the garage floor. I looked under the car to find that the drain plug was loose. So I re-tightened it. After two more weeks, I noticed that the dripping continued. I tried retightening it again. I made it a little more tight this time. This morning, I found a huge black puddle on the car! I looked under again to find the bolt was still tight but dripping anyways. I know it's coming from the drain bolt because the bolt is wet and dripping.


Has anyone else had this problem? Do you guys even use gaskets, or is this a waste of time and oil?

 

I use a new copper gasket from Nissan every time I change my oil and I've never had it leak. It's possible your drain bolt is in rough shape so the gasket doesn't seat properly. Try replacing the bolt and use that with a new gasket.

 

I've never replaced the gasket on any car I've owned. Never had an issue.

Are you certain the bolt had no gasket!? That thing can get mashed and pressed into the bolt to the point it will look just like part of the bolt. Copper gaskets are reusable by design. If you've tried to add a second (assuming my scenario is correct) gasket on top the first, yes, it makes perfect sense why you now have a leak.

 

the gasket IS there for a reason

some drain plugs have a rubber seal kinda built into the mating surface of the bolt (like Chevrolet usually uses), some have the gasket separate. either way you need a gasket or else youre gonna get leaks

 

13 years of changing the oil on my 01 max and never used a new gasket, never leaked a drop

 

5 years on mine never messed with gasket and never had a leak. I think the above soulition if two gaskets could be possible

 

mine has no gasket, but I used rtv on the bolt flange when I lost the old gasket and now the bolt essentially has a built in gasket

 

i have never once replaced the copper crush gasket and have never once had a leak. 12 years of maxima ownership.

 

Alright I'm back with more info.



I took another look under the car today and confirmed that the leak was coming from the drain bolt. So I decided to change the oil and put on a new drain bolt. As soon as I started taking off the bolt, I noticed how loose it actually is. Plus I could see how oil was splashed back onto the control arm behind it. When the bolt came off, I first looked for a double or broken gasket. The copper gasket looked perfectly fine. But I noticed that the drain bolt (which btw is an aftermarket blue magnetic one from Courtesy Nissan) was almost completely stripped! The threads were mostly gone. The blue paint and chunks of the threads were just peeling off. I have no idea how this happened. I always check the bolt during oil changes and it looked just fine the last time. I put on a spare drain bolt I had laying around and its nice and snug now. But from now on I'm replacing the drain bolt once a year.

 

the blue paint is just from quick lubes, they mark the bolt so you cant drain your oil, seize your engine, then claim that they forgot to put oil in your engine and want a new engine. if the paint is chipped, someone obviously touched it after them so it gets them out of liability

drain plug threads go bad over time, the copper gaskets dont but the felt and rubber ones do as well. dont need to change it once a year, maybe every 4-5

 

Sorry I forgot to mention that the bolt was blue originally. It's an aftermarket one that Courtesyparts.com sells. And the one I had was hardly a year old (I think I got it September 2012). I would just advise people to stay away from this type of bolt because they seem to have quality issues.

 

What I do is wrap teflon tape around the end of the bolt, not the thread,
but close to the head so it acts like a gasket.

This fixed a leak problem I had on a bmw.
it just became habit on every old car I do the oil on.

 

Is that blue drain plug from Courtesy made of aluminum? Can't torque aluminum nuts and bolts as tight, you'll strip the threads.

 

^^ That drain plug reminds me of eBay oil filler caps (not the expensive brand name ones) that get loose after some driving/vibration.

Good advice to stay away from those, and I'm sure you're right about the quality/material issues. Just use a good steel/OEM drain plug and no problems. Like others ^^ I've also never touched gasket on mine.

 

In regards to the magnet, a small round magnet could be added to the end of the stock bolt if one felt they needed it/was having accumulated metal shavings in their oil. Of course, with so many aluminum components, not sure how much help that would be. Even when breaking in a new engine, you just change the oil within a short time period.

Glad you got the issue resolved. Makes sense now that we know it wasn't a stock drain plug.

 

I replace them always as a best practice (we use the exact same washer for our 5th gen ATF drain plug), but you usually don't need to. Most dealers replace them also as a best practice (and to make an extra $1-$2), but independent shops or quick lubes never do.