mystery oil leak?

[Holidazed]

I looked under my pathfinder today and noticed what looks like an oil leak at the front end of the engine. I am not sure if it is a current leak or something in the past that was fixed before I bought the truck in January.

I checked the transmission, engine oil and brake fluid and all levels are fine.

Please check out these pictures and let me know any ideas of what kind of oil this can be and where it might be coming from. Thanks!

splash guard under the front end of the truck.this wire is for the engine block heater.

[W O T]

Well what kind of oil is it? Put some on your finger that isnt to dirty and take a picture, color/thickness specific

Those are definitely fresh wet leaks of that truck has been driven since you bought it, keep on checking those fluid levels, its coming from somewhere

Go back and get that oil pic or give details

[02pathy]

check oil filter and power steering, take off the cover and have a good look, could be a loose hose

[Crutch]

If you take off the cover you can see where it is coming from. It may be your oil filter. Have you had it changed lately?

[Transtek]

I had a leak just like that. Looks a lot, but no change in oil levels. I found out it was the oil filter which hadn't been tightened up right, so an easy solution!If you're thinking of changing the oil and filter, put some new engine oil around the rubber ring on the filter and make sure it is real tight.

[Holidazed]

Transtek: I just got an oil change about 10 days ago, so its possible the nissan dealership forgot to tighten the filter all the way.

I checked it out today to take a picture of the oil color on my finger and it seems to be alot more dry today than it was yesterday, so I couldnt get any pure oil on my finger that wasnt mixed with dirt/mud. But it looks like a darker color than engine oil, and not as slippery.

I guess taking off the cover is the best solution to see where its coming from. Is it easy to take off that cover and put it back on?

when i was at the nissan dealership for the oil change they said i might have a slow leak in the transmission oil from a hose but they werent sure where it was coming from without looking into it further (and charging me for more labor time). Could this leak be what they were talking about? i was assuming a transmission oil leak would be toward the back of the engine.

[02pathy]

could be at the front where the cooling hose for the trans goes into the rad, could b power steering too as it has a cooler in front of the rad

but yeah it pretty easy for the cover to come off all u need is a 10mm socket and rench, might be a lil tricky to get back on if u are not used to it, working off the floor is harder than off a hoist

[Holidazed]

So I took the truck to the dealership today and they said the leak was a slow leak coming from the radiator. I guess there was grease on the splash guard/skid plate and other engine areas down there that when mixed with coolant looked like an oil leak. good to find out for sure though.

the dealership reccomended replacing the radiator with an aftermarket one for $250 plus $175 labor and then a cooling system flush at the same time for another $124 = $549 + tax. Is that a normal price or should I take it to a normal garage or a place that specializes in radiators?

[slickroger]

im not a mechanic but that s*** isnt really hard to do its as simple as flushing then replace the rad.

done it on my friends ford explorer and i have flushed out my own cooling system which was easy as well

[Chuck Tribolet]

Coolant drys out to a white powder. At least the real nissan stuff does.

At least on my '01, there was also a plastic rivet that held the "skid pan" on.Other than that, it's just eight bolts with 10mm deep socket (the two on thesides need the deep). It's easier if you jack one side a few inches.