I was going to do my first oil change on our new 2023 Rogue SL AWD w/1100 miles when I noticed this. My first thought was that this is probably the rear main seal leaking. But looking closer, I'm wondering if it has a defective block. Anyone else having an oil leak early on from rear main seal or other cause? I'm sick to my stomach!

That notch you're seeing is drainage so the bell cavity doesn't fill if the rear main or front tranny seal leaks. It's molded into the casting but they're rarely neatly machined. The KR15's have a crappy baffle at the oil fill which makes it easy to feed it too large a gulp of oil, which then makes its way down the engine until it drips right there. Even after cleaning they sometimes drip for a day or two. Our lube techs found out the hard way and now they know better, but we've seen several with the same drip factory-installed. Give it a good cleaning and see if it goes away. On the off chance that it doesn't, put a little UV dye in your oil and it make finding the source easy. The dye doesn't lie.

I'm going to document it well, then clean it and see if it comes back. I was thinking that it might just be from the original fill at the factory, but then it struck me that it wouldn't be an amber color, if it were fresh oil left over from the factory fill. That oil has come out of the engine. There is a bit of a blackish streak coming out of the weep hole. I'm sending images to the dealer also. Thanks for your feedback, it's much appreciated.

Follow up: This is a brand new vehicle that has not been to the dealer since I purchased it, nor have I added any oil. I'm a bit "old school" in that I change the oil fairly early on any new vehicle that I purchase; in an effort to get those fine metal shavings out of the engine from the 'ring seating' and cam/lifter mating processes that occurs on any "new" engine. So, at 1100 miles I was preparing to change the oil when I spotted this evidence that would indicate some kind of "leak". I did not continue with the oil change at that time.

I sent an e-mail with photos to a contact that I made at the dealership at the time of purchase. He in turn had the Service Manager call me (within minutes of receiving my e-mail). I told the Service Manager that I could bring in the vehicle "right now". It took me about 30 minutes to get to the dealership (our 'nearest' Nissan dealership is 17 miles from our home -- rural Southern Illinois). They got me in straight away. The technician inspected and thoroughly cleaned the area. Diagnosis: perhaps an errant glob of assembly lube was present in the bell housing that then liquefied over time causing it to "leak" out of the "drain" notch at the bottom of the bell housing. I was at the dealer for about 20 minutes. I will now "watch" the area to see if the "leak" comes back.

When I got our Rogue home, I went ahead and changed the oil. There wasn't any further evidence of a leak from the 17 mile drive home: the area was bone dry. I'll keep an eye on it for now and report back if it reappears.

On a separate note: I am flabbergasted by this "new" trend to wait to perform the first oil change until 7,500 miles. The oil that came out of the Rogue engine at 1140 miles was shimmering in the oil catch pan with metallic particles. And that oil filter is tiny! I encouraged a friend with a new RAM 1500 to change his oil at 1,000. When it took it to the dealer and asked them to change the oil, they refused to do it! They claimed that it wasn't required and to do it early was a waste of money. It can't be good to have all those metal shavings running through a brand new engine for 7,500 miles. I'll be performing the second oil change on my Rogue at 2,500 miles. The third oil change at 5,000 miles. At 7,500 miles, I'll bring it to the dealer to satisfy their "We must perform the oil changes or your 'lifetime warranty" will be void". They will perform an oil change every 7,500 miles to keep that warranty in effect, but I'll do one in the driveway in between those 7,500 mile intervals. The best warranty is consistent preventative maintenance.

Production tolerances, materials, and the oil itself aren't what they used to be. In 1970, before CAD/CAM, production repeatability on metal parts of better than 0.005" was hard to maintain, today that repeatability is generally better than 0.001" (and down to ten-thousandths for particularly demanding pieces like lifter shims). Coatings are extraordinarily better (critical for break-in), and so are lubricants in general. Much of the glitter you saw in that oil was deliberately-soft ablative materials doing their job, and none of them actually "circulate" past the filter, for the most part they fall out and splash around in the pan. So while I still change my rides at 3K and share your feeling that 7500 miles is extreme (in an arguably-misguided effort to keep "cost of ownership" low), break-in worries are frankly a thing of the past. Smoke the tires out of the dealer lot these days and the borescope will still show you nothing but shine when break-in is done.

I appreciate the thoughtful reply. I know that the manufacturers have been doing 60 second full-throttle shakedowns at the end of the assembly line for decades, but I still like to baby my engines during the "break in" period. That doesn't mean that after a couple hundred miles that they don't get a few full throttle blasts to seat the rings high up on the cylinder walls and let the bearings know what the engine is all about. It's hard to let go of decades of experiential evidence that has built up pathways in the brain. And -- knock on wood -- I haven't had a catastrophic engine or transmission failure in 45+ years of spirited driving (maybe I'm not trying hard enough!). I'll keep you posted on the "leak" situation. :-)

I continue to hear that break-ins are not required, yet Nissan owners manuals keep including such information as this from my 2023 Rogue.

It also tells you not to bother changing your CVT fluid. 'Nuff said.