Oil leak .. Searched around but did not find answers..
I have two questions in regards to an oil leak on my wife B14 1.6 I think it is the oil pan in which case i would like to fix it. Gotta keep my garage clean.
How hard of a job is it to replace the oil pan gasket. I change my oil always within about 20 minutes. Would this be about the same length of job? Is it as simple as draining, unbolting the bolts, cleaning and replacing? Am i missing something? Is there a catch somewhere?
Also i read about this plastic "thing" that is located above the oil an near the filter that can give the appearance of a seal leak. Can someone elaborate on what this mystery gremlin is?
I have two questions in regards to an oil leak on my wife B14 1.6 I think it is the oil pan in which case i would like to fix it. Gotta keep my garage clean.
How hard of a job is it to replace the oil pan gasket. I change my oil always within about 20 minutes. Would this be about the same length of job? Is it as simple as draining, unbolting the bolts, cleaning and replacing? Am i missing something? Is there a catch somewhere?
Also i read about this plastic "thing" that is located above the oil an near the filter that can give the appearance of a seal leak. Can someone elaborate on what this mystery gremlin is?
Cheers
Jay
well heres a few things to your problem i dont think there is an oil pan gasket when i rebuilt my motor the nissan service manual said to use silicon. this is not a hard job but to get the oil pan off you have to unhook the exauhst that runs accros the oil pan its no big deal. but this might not be your problem. try this jack the car up on jack stands. buy a can of break part cleaner at your local store. spray all under the car around the oil pan and on up the block and whipe it all off. then start the car let it idle for a lil while then rev it and hold it about 3 or 4k rpm as if the car were driving down the road. wich would make hte oil pressure increase if its leaking from anywhere else you would only do it while the car is actualy running. you might have to change the front seal wich is easy. just take the belts off take the crank pulley off you may need a steering wheel puller to get it off or alot of soft prying with a prybar careful not to break the oil sending unit. the seal is like 3 bucks there. watch for it running down the front of the block. there are 2 oil seal guides inside the front cover that if they blow it will cause a major leak. wich is what mine did good luck and hope this helps
Ahh. Is that something that gets replaced or resealed or both. Cant really pin point the leak but the whole oil pan seems to have residue near where it is sealed. There is about 105 k on the car and never replaced any seals except the front.
That is the oil pressure sending unit alright. The front main seal is known to take a crap after a while. I would clean the pan, put the car on stands and run the motor and see if you can spot the leak.
Like i said the front seal has been replaced. The oil is primarily congregating near the oil pan seam. I found this in another post I am a little worried about having to mess with the transmission and even the bolts for the crossmember given the car is 9 years old and those bolts have most likely never been turned. However i called a dealer and Pep Boys both said about 375. of which 260 was labor. I hope i am able to do it myself and svae some green. Are all of those step nesc. or is that a way to justify extra labor dollars?
As stated from the FSM.
Removal
1. Remove engine RH side cover and undercovers
2. Drain engine oil
3. Remove front exhaust tube
4. Set a suitable transmission jack under transaxle and lift engine w/ engine slinger (i did it w/o doing this, except that i supported the tranny w/ a regular jack and a piece of wood)
5. Remove center member
6. Remove front and rear engine gussets
7. Remove rear plate cover (A/T models)
8. Remove oil pan
a. Insert tool between cylinder block and oil pan
*Be careful not to damage aluminum mating face. Do not insert screwdriver, or oil pan flange will be damaged
b. Slide tool by tapping on the side of the tool with a hammer
Installation
1. Use a scraper to remove oil liquid gasket from mating face of oil pan, also remove oil liquid gasket from mating surface of cylinder block
2. Apply a continuous bead of liquid gasket to mating surface of oil pan *allow 7mm (.28 in) clearance around bolt holes
3. Be sure liquid gasket diameter is 3.5 - 4.5 mm *attaching should be done within 5 minutes after coating
4. Install oil pan (there is a certain bolt pattern for reinstalling the bolts, ill try to take a pic of it soon)
5. Install parts in reverse order of removal
Like i said the front seal has been replaced. The oil is primarily congregating near the oil pan seam. I found this in another post I am a little worried about having to mess with the transmission and even the bolts for the crossmember given the car is 9 years old and those bolts have most likely never been turned. However i called a dealer and Pep Boys both said about 375. of which 260 was labor. I hope i am able to do it myself and svae some green. Are all of those step nesc. or is that a way to justify extra labor dollars?
As stated from the FSM.
Removal
1. Remove engine RH side cover and undercovers
2. Drain engine oil
3. Remove front exhaust tube
4. Set a suitable transmission jack under transaxle and lift engine w/ engine slinger (i did it w/o doing this, except that i supported the tranny w/ a regular jack and a piece of wood)
5. Remove center member
6. Remove front and rear engine gussets
7. Remove rear plate cover (A/T models)
8. Remove oil pan
a. Insert tool between cylinder block and oil pan
*Be careful not to damage aluminum mating face. Do not insert screwdriver, or oil pan flange will be damaged
b. Slide tool by tapping on the side of the tool with a hammer
Installation
1. Use a scraper to remove oil liquid gasket from mating face of oil pan, also remove oil liquid gasket from mating surface of cylinder block
2. Apply a continuous bead of liquid gasket to mating surface of oil pan *allow 7mm (.28 in) clearance around bolt holes
3. Be sure liquid gasket diameter is 3.5 - 4.5 mm *attaching should be done within 5 minutes after coating
4. Install oil pan (there is a certain bolt pattern for reinstalling the bolts, ill try to take a pic of it soon)
5. Install parts in reverse order of removal
there is an oil pan gasket. and i dont think you need to support the transmission. just remove the crossmember and front exhaust. use a wide putty knife for seperating the Oil pan
FWIW the B14's use RTV. I have one more than one occasion removed the oil pan without removing the crossmember or engine mounts. You HAVE to remove the secondary from the exhaust manifold other than that as long as you have a 1/4" drive socket set and a swivel attachment you can even get the two nuts that are slightly shrouded by the transmission. Not the easiest thing just time consuming and it takes a bit of patience. Honestly if your car has RTV it is highly unlikely that the oil pan is leaking.
Any tricks or special tools i should get prior to the break down?
Also when i went under the car all of the moisture surruonds the seam where the pan meets up. It almost looks like it could be a wick type situation. I figuerd with ove 100k miles and never replaced it most likely is the oil pan.
Just get a good putty knife to be able to break the pan away, DO NOT PRY OR USE A SCREWDRIVER! It wil damage the pan surface, just work the putty knife around the perimeter and it'll coem loose.
As stated the B14's use an RTV liquid gasket, it is not impossible that it is leaking however it rarely fails and or leaks.
I had my pan gasket replaced under warranty at 75,000 miles under warranty. I redid it again last winter. The cork gasket was baked, as hard as a rock. I used the RTV specified by Alldata #999. I bought it aftermarket at Advance Auto for about $3.00 or so. It was grey. Hopefully, the RTV will not bake.
A few tips. It was a pain after removing the cross member. Engine sagged. Had to jack up the transmission. I would try to remove the minimal parts. Others have changed the pan gasket just dropping the front part of the cross member. It is a whole different ballgame once it is removed the back bolts are removed. Make sure you get a gasket from Nissan where the exhaust pipe meets the exhaust manifold. I had 3 leaks all due to repair shops using the wrong gasket, not to speak of broken studs. I did break one stud when removing the exhaust, so I would recommend using PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench to free things up. They will be rusted tight. I used a block of wood and gently hit it with a hammer to break the seal on the old gasket. Good luck!
My car may be a little different, since it is a different year. One thing to try is to snug the bolts to the oil pan, clean all surfaces, and see if that helps leaking. Also, I get a lot of oil that gets all over after the oil is changed. Don't know if you do your own oil changes, but that could be a source of the oil.
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Last edited by Catman : Feb 2nd, 2005 at 12:55 PM.
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