Unit13 Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Just a quick bit of information i have found on my 87 and 88 Z24 powered Pathfinders. I brought my 88 about 6 months ago with a bad cam chain that snapped on the way back home from picking it up (im a mechanic, i knew the risks). Anyway a rebuild was now in order and when i stripped the engine i found very badly scored cam and main bearings. On further investigation i found a shiny little ball in the black swamp of goo in the sump... the bypass valve ball. This helpful little friend resides in a special fitted tube pushed into the block directly underneath the oil filter. This ball and spring setup is a backup protection in case the engine is not serviced frequently and the oil filter becomes so clogged that it cant pass oil through. To prevent starving the engine of much needed oil, the preset spring and ball lift off their seat and allow UNFILTERED oil to pass through the engine. That's all well and fine, and hopefully the owner of the car would eventually get around to changing the filter therefore allowing the ball and spring to return to their seat and let the filter do its job. NOW after that little bit of info, the problem is, and has been confirmed by Nissan, these buggers have a habit of the ball breaking through the casing and falling through the drain hole in the filter housing and into the sump...as in my case. The reason being primarily having to continually snap on and off the seat with improper servicing...the main concern is that now with nothing to stop oil flowing through the bypass hole it does just that, rendering the oil filter useless... If you dont visually check that the ball is still in its housing and it has in fact popped out your in trouble. Its not easy to see at first, you have to have a proper look with a torch and maybe a mirror in the base of the housing plate where the filter screws on. If it has fallen out, you can use a small spigot puller or tiny slide hammer to pull the casing and spring out of the block and just tap a new one in (the ball in the sump wont hurt anything). I have had to replace both my pathfinders bypass valves for this reason. I checked around and i could only get them genuine Nissan. But the good news is they retail for the hefty sum of around $20 AUD...Cheaper then some oil filters. Let me know if after all that you still dont know what im talking about... Cheers Luke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 good info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unit13 Posted May 31, 2010 Author Share Posted May 31, 2010 Thanks! Ive been meaning to post it on here for a while. I can just imagine the faces of the guys who religiously change their filters every x amount of kms/miles only to find out they have been slowly destroying bearings by not looking quite close enough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 I'm going to pin this in the Z24 motor section. Thanks for the update!! I owned a Z24 years ago, now you have me curious. I never thought I had a problem... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unit13 Posted June 2, 2010 Author Share Posted June 2, 2010 (edited) Thats great. Yeah i dont think many owners would even think about what is controlling the oil down there...I can post a photo if you think it will help? Edited June 2, 2010 by Unit13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyKi Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 is this ONLY for the z24? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayD Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 Dead thread revival... But any pics of said 'ball' and its housing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagndrag Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 just passed this info on to a bunch of buddies with hardbodies. they are all going to check Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siritPathy Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Just a quick bit of information i have found on my 87 and 88 Z24 powered Pathfinders. I brought my 88 about 6 months ago with a bad cam chain that snapped on the way back home from picking it up (im a mechanic, i knew the risks). Anyway a rebuild was now in order and when i stripped the engine i found very badly scored cam and main bearings. On further investigation i found a shiny little ball in the black swamp of goo in the sump... the bypass valve ball. This helpful little friend resides in a special fitted tube pushed into the block directly underneath the oil filter. This ball and spring setup is a backup protection in case the engine is not serviced frequently and the oil filter becomes so clogged that it cant pass oil through. To prevent starving the engine of much needed oil, the preset spring and ball lift off their seat and allow UNFILTERED oil to pass through the engine. That's all well and fine, and hopefully the owner of the car would eventually get around to changing the filter therefore allowing the ball and spring to return to their seat and let the filter do its job. NOW after that little bit of info, the problem is, and has been confirmed by Nissan, these buggers have a habit of the ball breaking through the casing and falling through the drain hole in the filter housing and into the sump...as in my case. The reason being primarily having to continually snap on and off the seat with improper servicing...the main concern is that now with nothing to stop oil flowing through the bypass hole it does just that, rendering the oil filter useless... If you dont visually check that the ball is still in its housing and it has in fact popped out your in trouble. Its not easy to see at first, you have to have a proper look with a torch and maybe a mirror in the base of the housing plate where the filter screws on. If it has fallen out, you can use a small spigot puller or tiny slide hammer to pull the casing and spring out of the block and just tap a new one in (the ball in the sump wont hurt anything). I have had to replace both my pathfinders bypass valves for this reason. I checked around and i could only get them genuine Nissan. But the good news is they retail for the hefty sum of around $20 AUD...Cheaper then some oil filters. Let me know if after all that you still dont know what im talking about... Cheers Luke Too bad, I am going to do away with my z24 and bolt in a TD27T instead.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 I think the VG30 has this ball also, I know my sentra engine does, when ever I replace my oil filters I always wipe the mounting service down before installing the new filter, it is easy at this time to press in on the little ball to make sure it still is "springy" and to tell if the ball is still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarehouseRat Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 as far as i know all nissans have it its a pretty universal part that is keeped on hand in the parts department retail is around $30, this was what cause my first z24 hardbody to grenade but my check ball split in to pieces and got caught in the oil pump a new oe z24 long block runs $1970 from japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHR Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 This is how it looks on a VG30i. Ph. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fast5speed Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 This is how it looks on a VG30i. Ph. So VGs have it too?? I don't think I've ever seen that little ball when doing and oil change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHR Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 May be you should check. And thanks the topic starter Philippe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 My Vg33 Does not have it. but then again the filter is up front. Both my VG30 have it. I think the VG30 has this ball also, I know my sentra engine does, when ever I replace my oil filters I always wipe the mounting service down before installing the new filter, it is easy at this time to press in on the little ball to make sure it still is "springy" and to tell if the ball is still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thank god I don't have to necro this thread as it's latest posts are pretty new. Does this look the same on the Z24 as it does on the pic posted? Can't say that I remember seeing it when I changed the filter a couple of weeks back though I wipe everything down it's not so easy to see with all the rest of the crap in the engine bay.. almost tempted to take off the new filter just to check it, but if it looks the same as the above then I'll definitely have to check it when I next do an oil change - thankfully my oil is changed every 5 to 6,000 kms so it's never 'old' enough to cause any real problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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