Ive noticed my oil cooler has alot of oil buildup around it and has begun leaking on my driveway. All I can see from looking underneath the car is a big nut in the middle of the cooler and 2 oil lines.

Do replace that o-ring gasket, can I simply drain the oil (doing oil change anyway), then remove that large center bolt, pry the 2 oil lines off and the unit will just come off??

Or is there more to it??

Im trying to not make a mess of my new driveway here, so far some old rags are keeping hte oil contained

thanks

The two lines coming form the oil cooler are actually coolant lines, the ones used to cool the oil that passes through the oil cooler; those coolant lines don't need to be removed to replace the two cooler o-rings. All that you need to do is drain the oil, back off the bolt holding the cooler to the block and pull the cooler off the block, then pull the two o-rings off and put in the new ones. It should be a pretty straight-forward and simple process taking no more than 30mins. to an hour.

Also, could you please post some pictures of the bad o-ring causing the leaking? Generally the issue is the large o-ring will get a rectangular notch in it allowing oil to pass, I just want to see if yours is the same issue.

Well when I went to nissan with this problem they only recomended or even told me about 1 oring, so I thinkg thats all I purchased for the $6

I guess Ill see which is broken

longhornsqx4 wrote:Well when I went to nissan with this problem they only recomended or even told me about 1 oring, so I thinkg thats all I purchased for the $6

I guess Ill see which is broken

Yeah, the large o-ring is usually the only problematic one, the small o-ring is just a precautionary replacement.

Ya pretty sure I was given the large one, its about 2.25" diameter and pretty thick.

I'll be changing it tomorrow and hopefully stop this pesky little oil leak

Check this thread.

Oil Cooler

I suggest you buy the small ring and replace it while your down there it was kind of frustrating at times just trying to get the cooler in a position to removev and replace the ring but other than that it was a pretty easy job.

Good luck

I tightened my center bolt about a 1/4 turn which stopped the leak (2 weeks now, no more drip). New O-rings on the way.

Ya I problt coulda tried tightenning but for 6 bucks Id rather just fix it

Rained today, do it tomorrow

Hi Everyone,

Whats the trick to getting that bolt off?

What tool works best?

And since i was unsuccessful in getting it done today during an oil change, is it best i wait till the next oil change or is this not neccessary as no oil will come out?

Thanks

Bolt comes off easy as pie. Im in burlington aswell and just did mine today. Just a 17mm simple ratchet wrench i all I used...

Leak is fixed now to.

I did not have enough room for my socket , I ended up using a ratcheting wrench, also I pressure washed the entire area around that cooler, you do not want grease grime and road dirt getting into that area while you are replacing the gasket , remember this is your oiling system !! Be very carful not to get anything in there. I also used brake cleaner to clean the inside of the mating surfaces, I also gave the gaskets a light coat of oil, it seams to be about 50-50 in the video's , whether the person doing it coats the gaskets, but the way I look at it we always coat the oil filter gasket when installing a new one , so I gave a light coat to mine. I positioned the cooler from under my QX4, coming in from the rear , then once the bolt is started I went to the front of my vehicle to access turning the bolt to tighten with my ratcheting wrench. Fired it up took a trip around the block and NO LEAKS !!!

Reviving a not so old thread. I have confirmed its my oil cooler leaking I see the drips and the saturation of the boot below and frame etc.

I have ordered the 2 o rings but did see any pics/videos to replace as others have noted seeing. Looking at the car and the FSM its not real clear how to remove as the videos I see show removing from filter but looks like on QX4 you need to remove at the pump.

Is this correct as the space between the frame and the bolt is tight, theres enough room to get a regular socket and wrench in there to remove?

Thanks in advance.

Ahh I reread post from Brightstar and use of ratcheting wrench was the key. I misread that, thanks.

Any clue on torque or hand tight?

On an '01 QX the hollow bolt is 26~32 lbs/ft, the cooler base screws are 12~16, the filter is hand tight unless the filter mfgr recommends otherwise. See LC-7 here:
https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... 5%2Flc.pdf

Values are identical for the half-year model.

Thank you Vstar. I found that page as well and saw those numbers and wasnt clear those were torque specs, thank you for confirming.

You're most welcome. In Nissan FSM's, torque specs are practically always found in the exploded drawings. Very convenient once you're clued in to how it works.