jordandalley

Hi All - I have recently installed matty's V1 plate kit and it has a bolt which goes through the plate and bolts in above the thermostat housing. I'm sure you guys know which one it is.

Well.. its leaking. Not seriously leaking, but bad enough that the belt screetches every now and then and the oil is pooling on the underside covers.

Is it not done up tight enough or am I missing something? I put loctite thread sealant on it when I put it in, so there shouldnt be a problem right?

Your help is much appreciated.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Did you remember to shave the ear of the alternator slightly so the plate can sit flush to the timing chain cover?

I'll have to double check with Ptatohed, but I think we shaved/sanded the thermostat housing every so slightly too when we installed VIP Maxima's supercharger in order to get the plate to sit flush...

jordandalley

Yeah we shaved it perfectly I'm pretty sure.

It wouldn't bolt onto the plate otherwise right?

The oil seems to be building up around the end of the bolt above the thermostat housing. I have my doubts that that is what's causing it.

meximax

iTrader: (19)

There is bolt that "hides" aft of the idler pulley and sandwhiched between the blower and the timing cover. This bolts literally sits above the thermostat housing. Did you have this bolt installed?

jordandalley

Yeah this bolt is installed. The belt on the front side of the car runs right past it. You actually have to remove the stock bolt that sits above the thermostat housing for the plate to fit in properly right? There is a stalk weldered to the plate that sits where the bolt is. I have bolted this in with one of those bolts included in mattys bolt kit, but it seems the oil is coming out of that point around the head of the bolt. Maybe I didnt do it up tight enough. It seems flush with the plate and I used loctite on it.

Maybe I should take a picture? It's dark here at the moment so it makes it difficult.

I'm beginning to wonder if I could be mistaking it for an oil seal leak on the blower and its just a big build up of sludge on it. The blower hasnt been reconditioned since buying it second hand. It's in my todo list as soon as I get my wedding out of the way.

matty

iTrader: (54)

I have that EXACT same leak on my New motor and cant figure out how to stop it. I had it on my old motor with 140K on it and figured it was the timing chain cover leaking a bit. Got my motor with 10K miles on it and it still leaks there. Its odd

My leak is more a Seap, not a drip.

-matt

Old Motor: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....&highlight=oil

jordandalley

Yeah mine seeps too. Definitely not a drip. My oil is overfilled at the moment so it may be contributing to it somewhat. I always overfill a little bit since I have another leak somewhere around the back of the timing case that has been there for a while.

The leak is so small it's probably not even worth worrying about. I dont like to over torque the bolts going into the timing case. Since the block is alloy i'm always afraid im going to de-thread it.

I guess since yours does it, then its normal. I probably dont need to worry about it particularly much. Just keep and eye on the oil.

I'm due to take my car into the local turbo specialist in town to get it rebuilt with new bearings and seals - when I take it in there, i'll mention it to him and see if he can custom something up to stop it from leaking. For the mean time I really don't care. lol.

ps. Loving your plate Matty! No belt shredding at all. Stable as a rock. The V1 was also a stack easier to install. Thanks heaps.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Having oil leak is not normal.

When you pull the blower for a rebuild or upgrade, take care of your oil leak then.

Take another look at the alternator ear/thermostat housing....I bet your problem lies there.

jordandalley

How can it be the alternator when the oil isn't coming out around there? Plus it's not coming out from around the thermostat housing. It's coming from a completely unrelated bolt above the thermostat housing. It's obviously just coming through the timing case, through the plate and out the end of the bolt. Simple I think.

When I was putting the plate on, my mate was in charge of that bolt. This is the same guy that forgot to plug my alternator in, so it might pay to check its done up tight enough later on. heh.

Can't be bothered with fixing it at the moment. With all the belt shredding issues i've had and installing the V1 plate recently, i'm completely over it I can tell ya :P

lol

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

If the alternator ear isn't shaved properly, and the plate is rubbing even the slightest bit on the thermostat housing, your plate isn't going to sit nice and flush on its own. Then, when you're tightening the bolts that hold the V1 bracket to the timing case, you could very well be pulling the timing case ever so slightly thus causing the leak. When Josh and I installed Mike's supercharger, we spent hours on this step alone. Test fitting/grinding....test fitting/grinding... over and over. To this day, Mike has no leaks. That's my theory, take it FWIW.

ptatohed

iTrader: (12)

J.D., are you sure it's not from the drainback hose? Take another look. Wipe away all the oil and monitor the first few drops of the oil carefully. Pics?

jordandalley

ptatohed. I thought you may be right. So this morning I took to the car to check for leaks. Obviously the oil has been landing on the belt because there is oil absolutely everywhere. Sprayed up the through the pulleys, on the covers.. just absolutely EVERYWHERE.

I wiped down what I could but noticed a huge residue over the lower clamp on the drain back hose. So much so, that the band around the drain back hose couldnt been seen. It was camoflaged to the pipe.

I looked at the bolt I was mentioning and then with a torch looked behind the plate to see if there was in fact any oil coming out of that place I was mentioning earlier. It looks to me like the oil is running onto the belt, and since the belt runs past this bolt, its just building up a layer of gunk on it more than anything. So.. not a leak from that point.

I got a swivel joint and a ratchet together and managed to tighten the upper drain back hose without taking the blower off. I did another 3-4 half turns on it before it felt tight. Maybe this was the issue. I've put it all back together and I guess there is only one way to find out. Drive it and see what happens.

ptatohed

iTrader: (12)

Good. Let us know how it goes.

Also, I'm not sure if you switched from conventional oil to synthetic recently but that got me. At the same time I installed my charger, I switched to synthetic. Low and behold, I got a leak. Unrelated to the supercharger install (other than identical timing) but I got a leak from around the timing chain cover plate. You know, the black plate with 4 bolts, above the power steering pulley and left of the drain-back plate. Not sure if I am helping any but I thought I'd bring it up just in case.

jordandalley

Thanks ptatohed. It doesnt matter much now anyway. I blew my auto tranny the other night, so it's not moving at the moment. It'll be a garage dweller for the next few months while I get married

ptatohed

iTrader: (12)

Jordan! Good grief man!! You are just having the worst luck with this supercharger. Sorry dude.

jordandalley

Nah it's ok. I'm not touching it from now on. I think it's got something to do with me being cursed. lol.

I'll drop it off at the tranny place in a few months when I have money again. It just so happens the turbo/supercharger shop is next door and they know each other quite well. They have agreed that one will fix the tranny while the other will fix the blower. Just need a quote for the turbo shop to give me a good exhaust. Then I think we'll be rockin'!!

STRICTTLYNISMO

IM HAVING A OIL LEAK I CANT FIND, BUT IT ONLY SEEMS TO LAEK WHEN I GO IN TOO BOOST. COULD THAT BE THE RETURN LINE

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Yes, it could be the return line. Spend 20 minutes and check it/under the car.


And please turn off the CAPS LOCK when you type.

hoodibaba

Hey guys..I joined this forum and am a newbie..But anyhow here's the story. I bought a 1998 Maxima GLE. Lo and behold it has an oil leak so I asked the dealer what the problem is and he said it was the valve cover gasket..So I got it replaced. Incidentally both front and rear gaskets were bad. But that didn't fix the leak it just made it leak less. When I went back he said the leak was coming from the seal inside the timing chain cover. I had that replaced also. But the leak still remains..I notice that the car leaks after its driven..Do you guys have any ideas where this leak could be coming from? Regardless I am going to take the car back to the dealer and tell the mechanic to fix this dam thing once and for all because its getting frustrating now..I just need some ideas that I can bounce off the mechanic when I see him next week..Thanks alot.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Oil can leak from many, many places. Have you checked the obvious, like the oil pan, oil drain plug, oil filter? Check the crank pulley?

Just raise hell when you go back to the dealer, and don't pay a penny more.