Towncivilian Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 What are the consequences of having a leaky rear main seal? Just small oil drips, or can oil mix with the ATF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 (edited) Just oil leak. If the seal goes entirely you lose all your oil. If that happens and a friend of yours is driving and doesn't pull over when the oil light comes on then you need to replace your crankshaft (or other things) Yes, speaking from experience. edit: if you have a manual then theoretically oil could get on the clutch, which would be bad, but probably it would just drip down. Edited June 13, 2011 by sewebster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortysmash Posted June 13, 2011 Author Share Posted June 13, 2011 general condition of the car is pretty good. no visible signs of rust. everything else is in great working order. just some minor trim repairs are needed like the strips that fill the gap between the body and fender flares, but other than that its just high mileage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarehouseRat Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Ok as a ex ASE/ASA certified master tech i say take the hit if you ignore the problem it will only get worse ie saturate the friction plate and warp the flywheel due to clutch slipage, i say pull the tranny fix the rear main, and resuface flywheel and replace the clutch/TB/PB/ output shaft seal while your there, also check any softplugs while the tranny is out, also easier to replace any bad ex. manifold studs, i would do this repair for 600 just for the labor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortysmash Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Ok as a ex ASE/ASA certified master tech i say take the hit if you ignore the problem it will only get worse ie saturate the friction plate and warp the flywheel due to clutch slipage, i say pull the tranny fix the rear main, and resuface flywheel and replace the clutch/TB/PB/ output shaft seal while your there, also check any softplugs while the tranny is out, also easier to replace any bad ex. manifold studs, i would do this repair for 600 just for the labor Its an automatic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarehouseRat Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Well then you just have a mess and oil usage to contend with, as there wont be a issue with clutch system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I got a copy of my Pathfinder's service history from the local dealer, and it turns out that the rear main seal was replaced at 1720 miles! Why did my RMS go bad again?!? I don't know exactly when the leak started since I've only been driving and maintaining this Pathfinder since 109k and I'm currently at 126k. I also found a quote for $800 (parts & labor) to replace the RMS back in 2007. Why did the price suddenly jump to $1800? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarehouseRat Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 price jump due to goverment bail-outs and lack of parts from japan as most were washed out to sea during there wave festival Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Alright, makes sense. I'm just wondering why my RMS went bad twice now, especially the first time with such low mileage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Factory installation problem? Having a seal die after 125k miles doesn't seem so crazy to me... that's a fair amount of driving! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Yeah, true. What exactly makes seals fail, anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Yeah, true. What exactly makes seals fail, anyway? I think the rubber hardens and gets brittle? On my 93 Dodge Colt the RMS actually totally popped out and all the engine oil came out in a gush. Too bad my buddy driving the car didn't pull over when the oil light came on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 But it is a dodge colt? Weren't you happier without it Yeah the rubber hardens. Some people also say that the crankshaft could have a worn spot in it but I've talked to several mechanics and engineers that say that this never happens/is very rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 But it is a dodge colt? Weren't you happier without it You'd think so, but I still have it! I replaced the crankshaft and now it won't die. I might let it go at the end of the month though when the insurance runs out... My in-laws are trying to give us a free 96 corolla, but it's in Ontario... I'm not sure we really need any more than the truck, but my wife doesn't drive standard yet, and the city gas mileage does leave something to be desired... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5523Pathfinder Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Fix it and be done. I think the quote was so high becasue,IIRC, the seal is in a housing, and you cant replace it seperately(Alldata quotes time as 16hrs). This means you have to pull the trans and the oil pan. You have a 3.5L correct? If it was a 3.3l, just removing the trans is all you have to do. Pulling the trans is the easy part. Its the oil pan thats is difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) Yeah. The service adviser thought I had a 3.3L so he quoted $560, but then he realized his mistake after I dropped off the PF and called back, told me it'd be $2000 (18.5 hrs of labor he quoted, IIRC) but could offer a 10% discount so it'd come out to be $1800. I think that's too steep for a small leak. If it gets worse then I'll have to replace it of course. Edited July 21, 2011 by Towncivilian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5523Pathfinder Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) If its leaking pretty good, like dripping more than 1 drop overnight, I would get it fixed. You will have to spend time and money checking and adding to your oil all time. Plus, looking at it from a different angle, its not really good for the enviroment. Plus, its just nice to have a vehicle that doesnt leak! Remember, if you were to have it fixed at a Nissan dealer, you get a 1 year, 12,0000 mile warranty with the repair! Oh, if you are still making payments, did you purchase a extended warranty at all? Most would cover this repair. Edited July 21, 2011 by 5523Pathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I think a key thing here is to try to combine this sort of repair with any other conceivable jobs that require removing the transmission or oil pan. Do you need a new transmission? Oil pump? Check rod bearings? I'm basically making up random junk here, but the last thing you want to do is take the stuff apart twice. The annoyance of paying $2k for an RMS is that you're basically just paying a ton for "easy" labour. There isn't anything particularly complicated about it, practically no parts costs etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 (edited) I haven't spoken to any other shops yet... I should just take a weekday to go around asking some of the trans shops around here what they'd charge. It seems the leak is getting worse judging from the oil puddle after two days of sitting, and this is with Mobil 1 High Mileage 10W-40 in for close to 2000 miles now. Should I wait some more to see if the HM oil will help? I was planning on running this M1 oil for 5 to 6k (I know the VQ engines are hard on oil) and running the same oil again. I know a nonfunctional PCV valve could have caused an RMS leak, but to get to the PCV valve I'd need to remove the upper and lower intake manifolds. Why couldn't Nissan put it in a more convenient place? Although, it's not exactly a difficult job to replace it, and at nearly 130k miles who knows if the valve is still working... Thoughts? Wait a while? Should I change the PCV valve either way? Edited September 11, 2011 by Towncivilian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Holy crap, you need to remove stuff to change the pcv valve? Crazy. Anyway, I really don't see how running this different oil is going to stop your RMS leak unfortunately... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Yea, I doubt it would stop it. I was just hoping to slow it down, but it appears it isn't helping. I still really like this M1 HM oil though, it's the smoothest oil I've ever run... can't tell the engine is on at idle (with A/C off, of course). I'm sure it's doing its fair share of cleaning things out a bit, too. It'd take probably two and a half hours to replace the PCV valve... since the top 3 gaskets are pretty new I could likely get by with replacing just the lower intake manifold gasket, or maybe just replace em all again since they're pretty cheap. But seriously Nissan, worst positioning ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 AAMCO wants $1041 or so, another local trans shop wants about $980. I don't think I'll be able to get it much cheaper than that. Should I just jump on one of these offers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 (edited) Alright well, I'm gonna drop the PF off at AAMCO Friday morning most likely (gotta call tomorrow to confirm price and set up appointment). I'll provide them with printouts of the relevant sections from the FSM (removal/installation of oil pan & auto trans) and a gallon of Nissan OEM coolant with "FULL STRENGTH" Sharpied on (don't want them using all makes/all models Dexclone crap) on the passenger seat. I've only ran this M1 HM 10W-40/M1-110 EP filter combo for 1800 miles now, so I'll buy a $2.50 SuperTech ST7317 filter and spin it on before dropping it off, no use in wasting a still usable $10 filter. I'll run whatever oil/filter the shop throws in for 3,750 miles I guess. Anything else I should suggest or do? Edited September 15, 2011 by Towncivilian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 I was going to say that the price seems somewhat reasonable to me... but I've never paid to have that done. I just get the impression that just removing and installing a transmission is about $1000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Well, per the FSM they gotta hoist the engine up (which involves disconnecting a bunch of other @!*%, and apparently draining the engine oil & coolant) so that's more labor right there. Their Alldata printout says 11.5 hours of labor (wtf, Nissan dealer said 18 I think?). The seal itself is like $40something according to the guy, I sure hope they use an OEM seal. I'll ask when dropping it off I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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