need help with an 02 oil leak

[Mr.Duck]

hey guys i just got an email from my sister who forwarded it to me from a friend, here is the jist of the email

The leak is on the passenger side of the engine, close
to the firewall (ie: near the back of the engine) and
down very low, in the area of a driven pulley I can't
easily identify (water pump? power steering pump?).
He's been told the leak is from the timing chain cover
but, to me, it appears that the timing chain is at the
front of the engine, not at the back where this leak
is.

There are a couple of other covers on this side of the
engine and I'd guess these are covering one or more
belts, but it just looks too far back to be the timing
chain, unless the oil is weeping a long way backwards
and down from the actual timing chain cover, possibly
inside these other covers.

He's losing a quart of oil every 2200 miles, so this
seems to be something that's got to be dealt with.
His Nissan dealer is telling him this is $1300-1500
and, as a guy who works in our garage, this is real
money for him.

Can you suggest a good independent mechanic who knows
Maximas? This guy lives on the northwest side of
Chicago, so someone up north is probably OK.

Cliffs- oil leak from the rear of the engine, is it the timing chain? i know there are known problems on the 3.5 for oil leaks and shit...

thanks

[walec05]

id have the person ask the nissan dealership where the oil leak is commin from. they have to tell him if he paid for the inspection.

[DasTeknoViking]

Most likely just a valve cover gasket leakin really bad and the dealership is scamming them over. I never seen a VQ leak from the timing chain cover.

[Goldtooth]

someone has to check my oil leak out, it doesnt drip or anything, but i notice that the oil pan, and the whole area above the oil pan is shiny, after i wipe it down every other oil change

[Mr.Duck]

you guys have any suggestions for this guy?

[walec05]

someone has to check my oil leak out, it doesnt drip or anything, but i notice that the oil pan, and the whole area above the oil pan is shiny, after i wipe it down every other oil change

if its above the oil pan, it might be the oil pressure switch, its directly above the oil pan. now, you might need to reseal the oil pan with rtv, there is no gasket that nissan sells.

[Goldtooth]

ill get under there when it gets warmer and investigate the source

[vqpwrd240]

I would check the following after raising the car and spraying it down with a degreaser.

oil pressure sender
crank seal
lower oil pan (rtv gasket)
rear valve cover ( look up front under the car to the head)

If the timing chain cover is leaking, it won't be from the water pump cover or the tensioner cover. The T.C. cover is not hard to remove but does take time to do. These things need to be removed for the T.C. cover to come off.

lower oil pan
upperoil pan
pass motor mount
center support beam (under engine and trans)
P.S. pump and belt
A.C. compressor and belt
alternator
crank pulley
Then you can remove the T.C. cover to re-gasket it.

The price is probably right at the dealer.

Ferhan

[Ketchup83se01]

Is it me or was there a couple people on the org that posted something similar to this and that it was a crack rear valve cover or it was a leaking rear valve cover.