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Common causes of oil leaks?


Nay-Sayer
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I have a 2001 Pathfinder with 211K. I bought it @ about 207k miles and the previous owner explained that it has an oil leak. Looks like it might leak somewhere around a quart or so every 1000 miles. Does anyone know what are common causes for oil leaks on these vehicles?

 

Thanks.

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Seals...

 

Does it mark it's spot? (drip oil when parked)

Generally speaking, the possible sources of an oil leak are the valve cover gaskets, the cam seals (not easily accessible), the front and rear crank seals (not easily accessable), and the oil pan. With the valve covers and oil pan, the first thing is to snug the bolts/screws, but lightly (5lbs?). There is the possibility of it burning oil, but lets start with if it drips, and where...

 

B

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Seals...

 

Does it mark it's spot? (drip oil when parked)

Generally speaking, the possible sources of an oil leak are the valve cover gaskets, the cam seals (not easily accessible), the front and rear crank seals (not easily accessable), and the oil pan. With the valve covers and oil pan, the first thing is to snug the bolts/screws, but lightly (5lbs?). There is the possibility of it burning oil, but lets start with if it drips, and where...

 

B

 

It drips on the passenger side near the front wheel...

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I would try to get under the car to figure out where exactly it's coming from, try to trace the path of the drip. If it does happen to be an oil cooler (round thing with ribs on the passenger side of the motor above the PS rack, to the left of the oil filter but towards the bottom of the block), you're lucky because that's a very easy and simple fix, I just did it on mine.

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If you want to find every leak, put a bottle of UV dye in the oil and run it for a few days. Then poke around at night with a black light. The leaked oil will show up green or orange.

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It very well might...

 

Since the Intake valve timing control solenoid valve uses oil flow to control timing, dirty oil can cause the valve to stuck open or close. Before replacing the valve, change engine oil and filter and reset engine code.

http://engine-codes.com/p1110_nissan.html

http://engine-codes.com/p1135_nissan.html

 

Odd, it didn't list the codes in the 2002 FSM, I had to resort to Google.

 

B

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  • 2 weeks later...

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