Hole in oil pan!

[runis]

Sad day for my M. Engine sounded rough at stoplight then died. Started up but still sounded rough so called tow truck and had it taken to local Infiniti dealer.

Dealer called said there was a 3" hole in my oil pan. Couldn't believe it. Went through some construction but nothing bad. It is aluminum apparently so it basically shattered...dunno why this would not be steel or at least covered. The plastic cover has already been removed in pic but the plastic as dented in/cut in front of the hole.

Parts + labor estimate $2,100. They claim they have to remove A/C compressor and a bunch of other stuff...anyone validate this?

Hopefully once fixed there was no damage to engine. Tech said no real way to see if engine is damaged other than to run it a few thousand miles and see if it burns oil. I am very bummed.

[szh]

Yikes!

Sorry to see this bad news. I hope the engine survived the loss of oil ... did the oil light not come on or stay on when then this happened?

Z

[runis]

Yikes!

Sorry to see this bad news. I hope the engine survived the loss of oil ... did the oil light not come on or stay on when then this happened?

Z

No lights until it died the first time...the dealer said with a hole that size the oil emptied in a few seconds. Check Engine light came on during restart but I shut it down within seconds of this. Hoping no engine damange.
Modified by runis at 12:35 AM 8/4/2008

[Q45tech]

Your vehicle insurance should cover damage.

[maxnix]

Your vehicle insurance should cover damage.

Provided you have collison coverage, I presume.

[runis]

Provided you have collison coverage, I presume.

Just got word today...they are covering it as collison. Adjuster recommended entire engine be replaced "just in case". I did not argue.

I met the tech...anything else I should get him to do/add at my cost during engine swap? Whats available? Don't see a lot of stuff out there for the M45.

[szh]

Good outcome!

Make sure to break that engine in properly.

1. First oil and filter change after 150 to 250 miles - use a good dino oil (Castrol GTX 5W-30 or Chevron Supreme 5W-30 or equivalent). Purpose is to catch all the material that is removed during deburring of the metal that might be removed with normal operation.

2. Second oil and filter change at 1750 miles - use dino oil. Same purpose, but not as strictly required as the first one. I did it for my car and recommend it.

3. Third oil and filter change at 3750 miles - use dino oil. You are now on the regular change interval.

3. Do all further oil and filter changes at 3750 mile interval - use dino oil till after the 7500 mile change.

4. At the 11,250 mile mark, consider switching to synthetic engine oil - if you want to. I like Mobil 1 Synthetic 0W-40, but there are plenty of other good ones too.

During the break-in period, don't be too gentle on the engine - this is contrary to what most people tell you, but there is a reason! Do the occasional high-rev WOT (this means accelerate hard, not continuous running at high-rpms) to get the pistons moving a teensy bit past their normal operating motion range.

Z

[szh]

Whats available? Don't see a lot of stuff out there for the M45.

Which model year? If 2003 or 2004, there is not anything available for those years, true ... and not much for the later years either ... unlike the M35.

By the way, in that picture, it looks like the oil got onto a lot of nuts and bolts. I'd make sure to have the tech thoroughly clean and re-torque those to spec - you do not want the oil to seep into the threads and loosen them up later (I doubt it will happen, but better to be safe!). Repeat this re-torquing some miles down the road - like at the next major service point.

Z

[runis]

Sorry...this is an 06 M45 Sport. Good point about the oil...I'll make sure to ask him to do that.

Which model year? If 2003 or 2004, there is not anything available for those years, true ... and not much for the later years either ... unlike the M35.

By the way, in that picture, it looks like the oil got onto a lot of nuts and bolts. I'd make sure to have the tech thoroughly clean and re-torque those to spec - you do not want the oil to seep into the threads and loosen them up later (I doubt it will happen, but better to be safe!). Repeat this re-torquing some miles down the road - like at the next major service point.

Z

[runis]

Thank you...good info...I was not aware of the 150 to 250 mile change but I'll stick to this schedule.

Good outcome!

Make sure to break that engine in properly.

1. First oil and filter change after 150 to 250 miles - use a good dino oil (Castrol GTX 5W-30 or Chevron Supreme 5W-30 or equivalent). Purpose is to catch all the material that is removed during deburring of the metal that might be removed with normal operation.

2. Second oil and filter change at 1750 miles - use dino oil. Same purpose, but not as strictly required as the first one. I did it for my car and recommend it.

3. Third oil and filter change at 3750 miles - use dino oil. You are now on the regular change interval.

3. Do all further oil and filter changes at 3750 mile interval - use dino oil till after the 7500 mile change.

4. At the 11,250 mile mark, consider switching to synthetic engine oil - if you want to. I like Mobil 1 Synthetic 0W-40, but there are plenty of other good ones too.

During the break-in period, don't be too gentle on the engine - this is contrary to what most people tell you, but there is a reason! Do the occasional high-rev WOT (this means accelerate hard, not continuous running at high-rpms) to get the pistons moving a teensy bit past their normal operating motion range.

Z

[runis]

The tech working on it is going the extra mile and fabricating a custom skid plate to cover that exposed section. I'll be writing a "well done" letter to Nissan about him. If any of you are in the DFW area and want a good Infiniti tech to work on your M...PM me and I will send you this guys info.