I have my first oil leak. VG33E engine, 133,000 miles. The oil is coming from somewhere above the alternator and is dripping off of the alternator’s mounting bracket. Any idea where to look to find the source of the oil?
I’ve seen other posts related to high performance oil filters causing oil leaks, or at least seemingly adding to the volume of the leak. This past oil change, 2,700 miles ago, I used a PureOne oil filter rather than a Nissan oil filter. I am going back to a Nissan oil filter this Thursday. May be that will stop the leak.
At least do the belt, the water pump and both cam seals.
I replaced the timing belt at 100,000 because my water pump was getting pretty noisy the night before I was scheduled to make a road trip from PA to NC. So the pump and belt are new although I don’t plan to re-use the belt.
The "high performance" oil filters can be restrictive ... and can cause engines to leak sooner than they otherwise would have. They can also raise or lower oil pressure, depending on where the sensor/sending unit is located. I avoid Mobil 1 filters ... and do not use Pure-One filters either.
If it's not too bad, you might try one of the higher mileage oils. They contain a synthetic ester (10-15%) which acts as a seal conditioner and may minimize the leak. Just don't expect mircles.
Those oils (and I'm thinking primarily of the Pennzoil High Mileage Vehicle oil in 5W30 and/or 10W30 are actually very good. Good base oil (actually a synthetic blend) and a good additive package for about $2 per quart.
I changed the oil and filter last night. I am back to the Nissan oil filter with Mobil Drive Clean 5W-30 engine oil. I cleaned the front of the engine and now I am waiting to see if my leak continues. The leak had enough volume that driving to work and back home again, 25 miles round trip would leave several drops of oil in the garage over night. I drove around a bit last night after the oil change and cleaning, then I placed a fresh piece of cardboard under the truck. No oil this morning. The true test will be this weekend. I am going on a 700 mile trip to Southern VA.
$8.00 for the seals and a Saturday morning is the proper fix. However, right now I am interested to see if the ‘high performance’ filter really made what might have been weeping leak into a dripping leak. If there are drips or better still if there aren’t any drips, I’ll post when I get home.
I made the trip to Southern, VA this past weekend. I drove well over 700 miles since the oil and filter change. At present there is no sign of a leak. I am pretty sure that the ‘high performance’ oil filter nearing the end of its useful life was creating enough pressure to cause the oil to leak from the camshaft oil seal. On a side note, when the Pure One filter was installed, I didn’t have the occasional lifter chatter that these engines are known to have. Now that I am back to the Nissan filter, I had some chatter this morning.
On a side note, when the Pure One filter was installed, I didn’t have the occasional lifter chatter that these engines are known to have. Now that I am back to the Nissan filter, I had some chatter this morning.
I quit chasing my chatter. It's the Nissan filters that supposedly stop the chatter rather than allow it. I've had mixed results with a few brands of oil filters (PureOne, regular Purolator, Nissan) and they all allowed some degree of lifter chatter.
What is interesting to me...and I'd never believe this myself if I wasn't experiencing it, is I very rarely get any lifter clatter when I run Mobil Drive Clean conventional 10W-30 oil. I used to run only Valvoline (conventional, same weight), but since switching to Mobil due to price -- close to $1/qt usually -- I've noticed that I very rarely get any clatter, and that's in temperatures cold enough that it would do it plenty last spring on the Valvoline. I was always a firm believer in "any conventional oil is really as good as another", but I really do think there is a difference in my particular truck, with Mobil vs. Valvoline.
Good to hear your leak "stopped". I don't remember you saying what oil and weight you were using. Is it a synthetic oil?
Good to hear your leak "stopped". I don't remember you saying what oil and weight you were using. Is it a synthetic oil?
I use Mobil Drive Clean 5W-30 in the Nissan. Although I do use Mobil 1 in my lawnmower only because it is air-cooled and runs very hot, unlike my liquid cooled Nissan. May be I’ll try some 10W-30 at the next oil change.
I'm convinced that if you do 3,000-3,500 mile oil & filter changes, oil brand doesn't mean much ... but Mobil 1 Drive Clean is the least impressive brand-name oil I've ever seen tested. With some of the cheaper 5W30s, I've seen them shear down to a 5W20 in 2,000 miles.
I'd switch to just about any other brand such as Pennzoil or (my fave) Chevron Supreme. I've seen Chevron outperform Mobil 1 in reducing wear as long as the oil change interval was kept to around 4,000 miles or less.
As for filters, I avoid the high-efficiency ones such as Pure-One and (especially) Mobil 1. Too many weird (high-pressure related) failures and I'm afraid that at high RPM they may starve the engines of oil (I've seen evidence of this in a couple instances).
The last OEM Nissan oil filter #15208-9E000 I cut apart had cardboard inner structres ... and that irks me. They weren't nearly as chinsey/flimsey as the Fram filters I've examined ... but for $5 to $7 I expect better.
My fave replacement filters are Wix (same as NAPA Gold) and Hastings (same as Baldwin). The replacement number for Nissan's 15208-9E000 is Wix #51356. Less than $5 each at:
These are a good size, not too restrictive and really well made. As I said above, I also like Hastings/Baldwin and I have a couple on hand but they are a touch on the small side.
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--- Bror Jace
Last edited by Bror Jace : Dec 27th, 2003 at 01:25 PM.
I'm convinced that if you do 3,000-3,500 mile oil & filter changes, oil brand doesn't mean much ... but Mobil 1 Drive Clean is the least impressive brand-name oil I've ever seen tested. With some of the cheaper 5W30s, I've seen them shear down to a 5W20 in 2,000 miles.
People routinely try different brands of oil and post lab anylsis of used samples to see how they are holding up. Traces of wear metals, additives, viscosity stability, etc ...
Try doing a search on the words "Drive Clean" in the Used Oil Analysis - Gas Engines" subsection and you might pull up a few.
"There's no such thing as Mobil 1 Drive Clean. Are you speaking of Mobil 1 "synthetic" oil, or Mobil "Drive Clean" conventional oil?"
Oops, typing a "1" after "Mobil" is a habit. As you might have guessed, I was referring to their budget priced conventional oil.
Thank you for the link to the oildrop. As I read through various links for 5W-30 engine oil; I am finding that the oil weight and engine design have much more to do with the analysis than does the brand of oil. As I understand it a 5W-30 has twice as many additives as a 10W-30 making the 5W more unstable.
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