Needle in a hay stack

[Riley2.4L]

Hey I think......scratch that I know I have an oil leak. There no puddle under my car or anything but about a month ago I (luckily) check my car's oil and found out it was bone dry. I refilled it and 3 weeks later it was damn near dry again. any one know where I should start searching for the source of the leak

[Kenrik]

Wherever there is a amber (or black if you're bad at maintnence) Liquid where it should not be... Seriously though... check your oilpan, check your valve cover (you would easily see a leak there) check your lines... just well... check!

[Tulsa_S-13]

Check your exhaust.... My car goes through oil a little more than I'd like it too, although it only smokes on occasion, probably when oil sneaks past my valve guides.

[240DRFT]

its burning off somewhere, look for smoke under the hood. my friends ka has a leaky valvecover gasket and it leaks onto the header and burns off.

[DjPantsSpecR]

no puddle anywhere? i wonder if its oily anywhere where the crankshaft might be throwing oil

i always worry about the front and rear main seal. Of my four KA's i had to replace three, and the other one I havent ran yet, but its low miles. Anyway, when it gets really bad it will start to puddle, fling oil on the bottom of your hood, all over the timing cover, etc.

I replaced a rear one only once during a rebuild but you could tell it was leaking. i would honestly recomend replaceing at least the front main crank seal, its cheap, adn they are readily available at any nissan dealership, because nissan has a gang of problems with them

[1991S13]

I agree with him, definately look into the front and rear main seals. I had oil all over the oil pan/bellhousing and after I replaced it I cleaned it off and it has stayed clean since then, so Im guessing that was where the leak was from.

[tiger]

Yeah, sounds like a main seal leak to me.. probably rear... my brother's honda is doing that... not leaking anywhere underneath the car... maybe a drop here and there ...it doesn't smoke.... just needs a couple quarts of oil about every 2 weeks... hahaa... it's still going strong though...

[Riley2.4L]

ok I'm heading over today to check the price of getting the front main seal replaced. thanks alot guys

[matt4pl]

i had to do that. the oil being thrown burnt out my alternator also. the repair was very simple however

[DjPantsSpecR]

honestly, there is no way i would pay to have this job done. It will take you about an hour to do yourself, depending on how much stuff is in your way.

Instead of wasting money on dealer labor, spend 35 bones on a gear puller to pull the crankshaft pulley.

if you want more info on how to do it yourself, ill do it up, but otherwise enjoy wasting money

[matt4pl]

actually i already asked about how to do this. you can also just rent a gear puller. the gasket set was like $11 at a local parts store. getting the old gasket out wasnt too bad either, just took a little ingenuity and a screw driver.

zerothread?id=119962

you'll need a mallet or a block of wood and a dead blow hammer to pound the pulley back in, just sticking it in and bolting it in will not be a good idea as it will not seat the seal properly,

it makes it a lot easier to have everything in front of the engine out of the way, and radiator pushed up, but not neccessarily removed, just so you can get a good swing at the pulley. getting it off... well have fun with that one, worst case scenario you can crank the engine to loosen the bolt

[Riley2.4L]

or it could only take 30 seconds because it's not the main seal me oil pan just needed a little tightening. thanks though...

[matt4pl]

haha, that works i guess. if the oil pan needed tighetening i'd be a little worried about the seal on that maybe. never heard of oil pan bolts loosening themselves, but hey, dont fix it if it aint broke

[Riley2.4L]

haha, that works i guess. if the oil pan needed tighetening i'd be a little worried about the seal on that maybe. never heard of oil pan bolts loosening themselves, but hey, dont fix it if it aint broke

yeah you're right that is a little strange. I'll have to watch me oil pan and see if it starts up again.