mora2818

No CEL thrown, just crappy gas mileage over the last 6 months. Figured $22 bucks was worth a shot. So far it should pay for it self very fast. Could O2 sensors cause a similiar issue with gas mileage if they are reading wrong thus causing switching back and forth between loops? And I should specifiy, could they read wrong and not throw a CEL?

So I replaced my Coolant Temp Sensor after I saw this post and noticed 3 more MPG on average with the first tank. What causes this drastic change?

Spencer Low Racing makes a headers that will mount to our blocks however they don't have the cat inside the header like ours do. You would have to get a oxygen sensor simulator otherwise from my understanding your ECU won't like things. I went to a couple local shops who were not interested in making my exhaust illegal. Basically it came down to the fact that it would be an expensive pain in the arse to get some headers and exhaust. I guess if I want more power I'll have to trade up to a VQ35.

118k on the engine. $600 I assume just for the engine. What does it cost to have the engine installed?

Are you serious? What does a new engine run? I didn't think of that but I guess I could look at that angle.

Yup, RMS leak. Front Crankshaft Seal is leaking. Both Valve Covers leaking. Although the Front and Valve seals aren't leaking that much. So $800 for RMS. $1000 for the Front. $400 for the valves. That is a lot of dough to replace some gaskets. Now the question to me is, 9 months ago this car didn't have a leak. Now it has many....Is there something that can occur that can cause the seals to all break down? Is it possible that somehow there is increased pressure in the engine and therefore all the seals went bad all at once? My real concern is if I get the RMS or all of the gaskets replaced and 1 year down the road I am back in the shop for the same problem.

Well my decision is easy. Get it repaired or trade her in. I got a sweet deal on her so an equivlant would be more at least in my area. Even though it is 1k I will probably do it. The question is do I maybe have them pull the engine and do all the seals for something like 1.5k and ensure she last quite a long time. I wish I had a slow leak but I leave puddles...... I'll have to write up one of those ironic stories about how a $1 hose turns into.........

Awesome. Funny how a $1 part goes and turns up into $1000. Probably just masking the real issue. Mine drips enough that I now have to check my oil level everyday and you can watch the drip...drip...drip when running. Maybe I should try one of these "thickeners". Thanks for the help. I'll have the official word Monday when I take it to the shop.

New Oil Leak Added pictures are where the oil leak has surfaced after replacing the PCV hose and valve. These pictures are taken only a couple seconds after I wiped the area clean. And from my looking around they aren't streaming down from some other area yet whatever seal/gasket that is around the housing is where the oil is coming from. If I am not mistaken that is the Rear Main Seal? The black area under it is the oil pan.

I hope so. I keep looking at the valve covers and don't see anything. Hence why I am assuming RMS. Either way it looks like I am out 1k.....

Replaced the PCV valve. Still have the leak. I had a co-worker take a look who is a gear head. The bad news is the leak is so prominent that he thinks the rear main seal is blown due to the lack of oil coming from any other place except dripping down the Bell Housing. Definetly not smiling. Called a mechanic and that is going to run 11 hours to fix if that is the problem. Speaking of, what is a fair price per hour for mechanic work?

Actually a quick search came up with suprising results for "PCV Valve Oil Leak" indicating that if your PCV system is hosed you are going to leak oil like a mother. So how do I replace the actual valve? I believe it is at the tube on the Drivers Side Intake next to the coolant hose? EDIT:Found this link in a search: http://groups.msn.com/LewisPictures/shoebo...Photo&PhotoID=6

Definetly not laughing. Whatever that did has caused leaking oil like a mother. I haven't had a chance to see where it may be coming from. But I am guessing the tear was releaving pressure that was built up somewhere else. I looked and it is mainly dripping down off the Transmission and Oil pan housing area which would lead me to believe that somewhere on the back side of the engine I have a substantial leak. With the car running it is a constant drip...drip...drip... Any ideas on what could possible be going on? Seems strange to me that fixing a torn PCV hose would aid in a oil leak somewhere. Thanks, Kevin

FF is not working either? Hmm, my account is a public web photo album link. I'll have to look into why HL isn't working. I am off to the parts store to see if this doesn't fix my problem. Thanks for the help all. I am going to laugh my a$$ off if a $1 part fixes my pain for the last couple months.

Strange about the pics. Firefox works fine whereas IE doesn't. I didn't bother to check because I figured it wouldn't make a difference. Maybe Google doesn't like Microsoft PCV hose, would this release exhaust fumes in the engine bay?

Torn Hose Pictures I have a tear in this hose and maybe it is the cause of my stinky and oil dripping pathy. It sits atop the passenger side valve cover. What does this hose do? Thanks, Kevin Update: Google has help me narrow this down to maybe a Valve Cover Breather Tube? Is that correct? And what does that do if that is correct?

Ding

I don't hear anything out of the ordinary but I am not sure I know what to listen for.

So sometime ago guessing about 4 months when it started getting colder when I turn on my heater it smells like exhaust when my Pathy has been running for a minute or 2 and when stopped. So basically everytime I hit a stop light I would get the faint smell of exhaust. My engine was also making some fairly annoying knocking noises and from reading on the forums it sounded like the famous exhaust manifold problem. So I take it in to a local muffler/exhaust shop in town that is known for being a pretty good company and have them take a look. Yup Drivers side exhaust manifold leak. $300 at least to fix unless it is cracked or studs are sheered off, etc. After searching for the possibility of doing some kind of legal and cheap header setup it was my only option to get the manifold fixed. I had this done 3 weeks ago however the exhaust smell still is there. Mind you the manifold was cracked so the fix ended up about at $500. I thought it might be the paint finish burning off however after 3 weeks of driving everyday I would imagine that would have burned off by now. The thing is when I rev the engine with the hood up it isn't like it is billowing out and however you can definetly smell the exhaust although not much. What I do smell from outside hovering over the engine is about what I smell on the inside as well. Annoying but not gagging you to death. At this point I am not too happy so before I go back and start asking questions and getting fired up if figured I would ask could the problem be something else? Maybe the smell is normal for the engine but the seal from the hood to the HVAC is bad and needs replaced? Oil leak and burning that I am not aware of? any ideas or is it back to the exhaust guys. Sorry for the long write up, Thanks Kevin

Cats all the way! I just talked (3 weeks ago) to several shops about custom making some exhaust system with SLR Headers and cats or fake sensors and without cats. Basically shops weren't willing to mess with it or if they were it was way too expensive. So I just spent $500 to fix a cracked exhaust manifold. Headers with cats and a custom exhaust probably wouldn't have been too much more to be honest. I would have much rather spent the money on headers and new exhaust. Not to mention I had to pay $200 for the POS OEM exhaust manifold to begin with. With that said to replace both sides would have been $800 or more. I hope someone makes headers with Cats at a reasonable cost. It hurts me to see an engine with so much potential dumbed down. Kevin

Next week I am going to talk to a couple exhaust shops and possible some performance shops and see what they can do and get a breakdown on cost. Hopefully they are familiar with O2 simulators and this project will be cost realistic and effective. I'll let you know what I find out.

At least with my experience with Car Tires tramlining seems to be related to sidewall stiffness. I have had some that Tramline like a mother (Sumitomo and Pirellis) and some that don't (Falken and Continental) all being 225/40/18's. I by no means am an expert but that is my observation. Kevin

How do you get a fake sensor or more importantly will local shops have fake sensors and install them. I would guess Emissions should be easy here as most places where I live just plug in and read the ECU. My Subaru WRX has been reprogrammed and throws all sorts of CEL's and doesn't pass emissions however my ECU programmer clears all the CEL's. Last time I had the emissions checked I left my Fule maps at Stage 1 and passed emissions so I imagine the same would appy here, however you never know. Any suggestions on the fake sensor? I am hoping this is possible since it seems it will be about a wash either way around here to replace my exhaust manifolds with Stock or Headers.

http://www.spencerlowracing.com/products/headers.htm What I am wondering if these SLR headers would work with our Pathfinders. According to SLR these headers will bolt up to our blogs but what about our ECU's and oxygen sensors. Reason I am so curous is that I have some bad exhaust manifolds that need to be replaced anyway so why not get a little more power and effeciency. Anyone have these or know if we can use them? Thanks, Kevin

Thanks guys, good stuff to know. I'll look into rock sliderz. Forgive me for sounding dumb, but are rock sliderz an actual product or just reference to a type of more durable/functional step bar with many different product names? Kevin