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Whats this leaking thing?


01silvapathy
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Hey yall, I noticed a small leak the other day, under the pathy. I did some investigating and im guessing that its the power steering pump. The leak is not spewing out fluid, then I checked the power steeing fluid level and it turns out that I have no power steering fluid :chairfall: So im wondering if I can just get a confirmation on what is leaking, before I take it to a shop and they tell me its going to be an expensive repair :doh:

 

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That is your oil cooler leaking coolant or oil. It's a simple (and cheap repair). Usually you just need to replace two o-rings inside. A pretty simple DIY job.

 

Yeah I went to Drivers Edge today, and he looked at it, agreed that it was the engine oil cooler that was cracked and needed to be replaced. He quoted me $561.73 to replace the cooler. I was shocked I just check the FSM and it looks like a simple job, im most likely going to order the part and install myself before making the 4 hr drive back to college next week. The last thing I need is to be stuck on the side of the highway somewhere with no oil and a burnt up engine.

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Cracked? Of all of the instances of leaky oil coolers on an R50 I've seen or head of, this would be the first cracked oil cooler. About 99% of the time the larger o-ring inside the cooler will get a notch in it which allows oil to leak from the cooler. Is it engine oil or coolant which is leaking from the cooler (I can't really tell from the pics)? If it's oil, then you can buy $7 in o-rings and have the job done in an hour (no need to drain coolant, only oil needs changing). If you actually do need to replace the cooler then you can still have it replaced in an hour, most of the time will be spent doing a coolant flush/fill.

 

EDIT: Also, a replacement oil cooler from CourtesyParts is only $260

Edited by PwninOBrien
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Just go to the Nissan dealership and get the two O ring seals and do it you're self, It is as easy to fix, like changing the oil. One seal is about 1.250" in diameter and the other on is 4.000", There's a bolt on the side in the middle of the cooler where the oil cooler rubber hose goes, just loosen it and remember to put a oil pan under it to collect the oil. Also get some carb cleaner to clean the parts as you go. once the bolt is loosen and pulled out, you'll see the old small seal and the large seal, (No need to remove the oil cooler lines)pull them out and put it back together the same way with the new seals and make sure that you clean the area very good where the seal go and put a little oil on the seals, like you would on a oil filter, so that way you have a good seal and don't over tighten it!! Just a good snug. Also that mechanic sound like a crook if you ask me. This is very common problem with the Nissan oil cooler.

 

 

David

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funny how things in life fits together....I saw the very same thing last weekend on my truck while doing my oil change and was almost sure that it was my steering bushings too.. I was presently running a test run without my skid plate , after cleaning everything , to find where exactly it was coming from.. I do remember the oil cooler was full of oil too, but frankly did not know , until now, that it was an oil cooler ! :-) ... it all makes sens now... Thanks !

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I just added that because I was rooting around under the hood checking fluid levels, and I noticed that I had no powersteering fluid. I went to nissan today and they said that it was indeed the two O rings that were teh problem. At first the guy quoted me like 130 bucks for parts labor and the oil change then came back out, and said it would be 350 because he didnt know that it was 4wd at first (even though its lifted on 33's, whoda guess from just looking at it?) I asked how its any different with the 4wd but the price jumped alot. I had to pay cuz I was stuck at the dealership, but im wondering is there really a difference between the 4wd and 2wd? And they charged me 7 bucks for the part and 343 bucks for a 2 and a half hour job :scratchhead::thumbsdown:

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Is this a VQ35 specific issue? I do not recall seing that unit on my 99, but then I'm just getting to know it... :shrug:

 

 

 

B

 

I'm not sure. VQ's started in 01 right? Or was it 02? If this is a VG, then it must be from the body style change. My oil cooler is a front mount cooler (I have a 96).

 

So what's with the no power steering fluid? Just curious since that was part of the original post.

 

Yea, whats up with that part?

 

Jose

Edited by 180sx
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I just added that because I was rooting around under the hood checking fluid levels, and I noticed that I had no powersteering fluid. I went to nissan today and they said that it was indeed the two O rings that were teh problem. At first the guy quoted me like 130 bucks for parts labor and the oil change then came back out, and said it would be 350 because he didnt know that it was 4wd at first (even though its lifted on 33's, whoda guess from just looking at it?) I asked how its any different with the 4wd but the price jumped alot. I had to pay cuz I was stuck at the dealership, but im wondering is there really a difference between the 4wd and 2wd? And they charged me 7 bucks for the part and 343 bucks for a 2 and a half hour job :scratchhead::thumbsdown:

 

No, there is no difference between the 2WD or 4WD models. The two vehicles which differ are the A/T and M/T models (M/T models do not have the oil cooler at all). Two and a half hours of labor is outrageous; the Nissan tech probably spent a total of 30mins. on the entire job.

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Is this a VQ35 specific issue? I do not recall seing that unit on my 99, but then I'm just getting to know it... :shrug:

 

B

 

I've only ever seen this issue on VQ's, primarily on the 2001's. I'm sure there's at least one rubber seal inside the VG's oil cooler so I'm sure it could happen but this is really prevalent in the VQ's for some reason. The large o-ring gets a rectangular notch in it which allows oil to leak past the seal.

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I just added that because I was rooting around under the hood checking fluid levels, and I noticed that I had no powersteering fluid. I went to nissan today and they said that it was indeed the two O rings that were teh problem. At first the guy quoted me like 130 bucks for parts labor and the oil change then came back out, and said it would be 350 because he didnt know that it was 4wd at first (even though its lifted on 33's, whoda guess from just looking at it?) I asked how its any different with the 4wd but the price jumped alot. I had to pay cuz I was stuck at the dealership, but im wondering is there really a difference between the 4wd and 2wd? And they charged me 7 bucks for the part and 343 bucks for a 2 and a half hour job :scratchhead::thumbsdown:

 

I hate to say it, But they screwed you, One is because you're young and they know you're not gonna tell them to shove it, and tell them that there problem for not knowing it was 4wd. (REALLY DOESN'T MATTER IF IT'S 2WD OR 4WD ) You'll learn as you get older. Trust me! If I was you, write or get a hold of the Nissan dealer ship manager and if that doesn't work to you're satisfaction, then go to the Nissan district manager and explain the problem with him on how you felt that you were taking advantage of and if it doesn't get resolve then let him know that you're going to write to the better business bureau and I'm sure there a few others that I can't think of right know. you get what I'm getting at, Don't let those STEALER SHIP SCREW YOU OVER. :angry:

Edited by Thunderbolt
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I've only ever seen this issue on VQ's, primarily on the 2001's. I'm sure there's at least one rubber seal inside the VG's oil cooler so I'm sure it could happen but this is really prevalent in the VQ's for some reason. The large o-ring gets a rectangular notch in it which allows oil to leak past the seal.

Thank you Sir, one less thing to worry about. My VG33 has a significant oil leak at the valve covers (which I tightened) and it is either that or the cam seal that has soaked the alternator. I will simply have to clean, wait and see

 

The timing belt was done at 92k (151 now) 4.5 years ago so I'm not tearing into it just for a seal if I don't have to, especially not outside in the rain...

 

B

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After I finished lubricating some bushings, I noticed I had an oil leak coming from somewhere and found this thread. I have the same leaking oil cooler gaskets. The local dealership quoted me at $7 for both gaskets and $130 for them doing it.

 

Looks like I'm climbing under it again this winter.

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Thanks for the info (or ammo as per how i'll be using it). I called a few more nissan dealers today and they said that there should be no difference between the two. I'm going to call Nissan North America tomorrow and tell them this story, since they have the power to pull the dealers certification. My mom did that once back in Chicago on the pathy for having something done wrong or with an outrageous price and she would up having nissan cut her a check for the price of the work and the dealers hand got slapped also, and we got an appology letter from the dealer manager. So ill make my calls around and ill post back up with what I coume out with.

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Thank you Sir, one less thing to worry about. My VG33 has a significant oil leak at the valve covers (which I tightened) and it is either that or the cam seal that has soaked the alternator. I will simply have to clean, wait and see

 

The timing belt was done at 92k (151 now) 4.5 years ago so I'm not tearing into it just for a seal if I don't have to, especially not outside in the rain...

 

B

 

It's probably from the valve covers. I replaced mine at 147K miles and they were hard as a rock and just broke when I pulled them off. Mine was leaking all over my exhaust manifold and smoking. Not hard to change, driver side might give you some trouble with the intake manifold, but should be easy enough ( I would get new gaskets for the IM if you do this.)

 

Jose

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Called around today, called 3 other nissan dealers and all of them said there is no difference between the 2wd and 4wd. So we obviously got jipped pretty good by this guy. My parents went ahead and stopped payment on this work (since we paid with American Express- pretty neat feature) And we also left a message with the service manager at the dealership where the sevice was done. Nissan North America was also contacted, and a complaint was filed against the dealership. We are waiting to hear back from both the Regional Manager from Nissan North America, and the Service Manager at the dealership. I'll keep yall posted with details of what happens.

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Okay so my dad called me today and he got off the phone with someone from nissan corporate and we wound up having the whole charge dropped by nissan, so all this work was free :takebow: Nissan finally got it right by doin this, stupid stealership, never again going there for anything.

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Okay so my dad called me today and he got off the phone with someone from nissan corporate and we wound up having the whole charge dropped by nissan, so all this work was free :takebow: Nissan finally got it right by doin this, stupid stealership, never again going there for anything.

 

 

:aok:

 

Glad to hear, been following waiting for some resolve.

 

P.S. Speaking of stealership, local dealer wanted $40 + tax for 4 trailing arm bolts. Got grade8 hardware elsewhere for $3.

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  • 1 month later...

Well I just realized that I forgot to update this thread and what happened with it. I did my reasearch and called around to a few different places to see what they would quote us. So me and my dad called the dealer and they stood by what they quoted and did the work for. So we then called Nissan North America and got into it with them. They said they would get their regional manager on the job, and that she would call the dealer and see what is going on then call us. A week later we had not gotten a call back, so we call them again, and Nissan North America was upset that the regional manager had not gotten back to us. Sure enough about an hour later the regional manager called us. We were refunded for the total price of the repair, every cent of it. We also received a letter of apology from the Dealership. So this goes to show if you keep after it, you will get what you want :aok:

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