Thought it was a oil leak, now its the trans....

[trigger_storey]

So ever since I got my car brand new right behind the flex pipe there has been some build up. Just kinda dirty stuff that looks like how oil looks after about a month or sitting on something and caking up dirt. I figured it was just from road grime and it being new etc. So I sprayed the entire underside of car. Then when I was put my exhaust on about 2 months later I noticed it was built up again in the same spot with some very small spots of residue right on the bottom of the engine next to the y-pipe. I cleaned it off didnt think anything about it. Figured maybe just some extra oil from when I had my first oil change dripping or something. Then last week I noticed it again. Cleaned it off. Checked my oil. Oil level is fine, car is running great. No problems. So last night I parked my car in the garage like I sometimes do, and come out this morning and there are 6 drops of oil on my garage floor. Now my garage has been coated and everything so it is always clean and I mop it from time to time. No other oil or anything anywhere resembling oil. It just looks like 6 drops of regular motor oil like if someone had spilled it. I got my car up on the ramps and took a look at it, of coure right where there is always buildup there is once again and some small residue on the same spot as usual. Right on the bottom of the engine next to the y-pipe and its definitely oil. If it is leaking it can only be coming from one spot because the residue isnt anywhere else on the entire bottom of the engine case. Just the spot where there is some kid of relief spot or hole in the bottom of the casing. Right next to some black plate that is held on by only one bolt. This hole however is not some kind of break or crack. It is made to be there and for the life of me I cant figure out why the residue is building up and now Its leaking oil onto the garage floor at night. Im thinking of taking it to the dealer and asking them tomorrow to see whats up since its something that has been happening since I first got the car in May. Btw...my car just now has roughly 3000 miles. I barely drive it maybe 500 miles a month. Im stumped and wandered if anyone has any feedback on this. I am fairly mechanical and do all of my own projects right in my garage so it isnt something simple that I just would be a idiot about. Something is up and I dont know if its something thats been wrong since the car was brand new or what. Its definitely driving me crazy though. Brand new car leaking oil on my ******* floor.

[wade001]

wait a little for it to build up again and take it to the dealer and claim ur warranty. don't try it yourself when you can have them fix it like they should

[BamaCoupe]

wait a little for it to build up again and take it to the dealer and claim ur warranty. don't try it yourself when you can have them fix it like they should

I agree even if you found one of the bolts loose on your seat I'd make them fix it; oil leak on a brand new car with 3,000 miles is insane, so put them to work. I also agree with waiting till more builds up, so they can't give you the run around saying they didn't see a leak while trying to make you fill dumb.

[trigger_storey]

No leaks when I got out in the garage this morning. Thought maybe it was a fluke. Went to town to run some errands. Came home. Parked the car and came back out and there was some oil on the bottom of the engine case again. Here are some pics. You can see that little bit that accumulates right under the case and then drips down on the floor.





You can see where the buildup is burnt onto the flexpipe. All oil. Let me know what you think. I gotta wait for it to build up again before I can take it into nissan. They looked at it today for just a second but said they didnt see anything wrong. And of course the kid that looked at it looked like he maybe does oil changes there at the most. So Im gonna let it build up again and take it in there. I tried calling them first but they wont talk to anyone on the phone. Appt or walk in only.

[wade001]

exactly what is the problem im not sure, my best guess is it's the oil pan gasket is bad or not properly sealed at the factory. the reason why it seems to happen after you drive it is that the oil is heated up, when this happens the viscosity goes down and the oil flows better into parts, at the same time it's getting through the gap wherever it is and leaking out.

[wade001]

another thing it could be is the bell housing after looking at that pic better, the flex pipe is under the transmission right?

[BamaCoupe]

another thing it could be is the bell housing after looking at that pic better, the flex pipe is under the transmission right?

As in the rear main seal? If so they will have to pull the engine/trans to fix that, and the steelership may get a big case of denial. lets hope not.

[wade001]

another thing it could be is the bell housing after looking at that pic better, the flex pipe is under the transmission right?

As in the rear main seal? If so they will have to pull the engine/trans to fix that, and the steelership may get a big case of denial. lets hope not.

yup

[trigger_storey]

Well Im just going to have to let it leak over the weekend because Im out of town with the wife and in her car. Im gonna take pics when I get back cause Im sure it has leaked on the floor, and then Ill take it in to the dealership on monday and see what they have to say again. Hopefully they dont get a case of denial cause there is nothing I have done to my car that would cause this to happen. Id hate to have to be a d!ck in there and start having to call Nissan over the whole ordeal. Im hoping they just fix it if something is wrong.

[trigger_storey]

Dealer took a look at it today. They basically diagnosed it as the rear main seal with just looking at a few things and not tearing into anything. Of course I had to take it to the dealership I bought it from which is an hour away cause the pos dealer here in town wont give me a rental or loaner car because I dont have the extended warranty that covers rental. For all instances in which a car is 5 months old with only 3100 miles and is leaking oil, I think there should be some kind of clause or something to work out. This is not my only vehicle but its impossible for me to take the wifes car because she uses it to take the kids to school and then herself to work. Kind of rediculous in my opinion and even though Id like to say its the local dealers fault, Id have to say this is the one time I have lost my faith in nissan. Only once did my F250 ever have to go in for warranty work, and I had a loaner for the 5 days it was there. So kudos to Ford for the factory loaner program. Needless to say luckily the owner at the one I bought it from is a stand up guy and he is lending me one of his used cars while mine is in their " temporary custody". I talked to him directly on the phone and he said not a problem. So we will see what happens and hopefully this doesnt take forever and they let me know everything is fine besides that. The tech said most likely it is a manufacturers defect and had been slowly leaking the entire time Ive owned the car which would explain the residue since new. I know one thing. Im gonna be keeping an eye on it for awhile once it returns to me.

[wade001]

Dealer took a look at it today. They basically diagnosed it as the rear main seal with just looking at a few things and not tearing into anything. Of course I had to take it to the dealership I bought it from which is an hour away cause the pos dealer here in town wont give me a rental or loaner car because I dont have the extended warranty that covers rental. For all instances in which a car is 5 months old with only 3100 miles and is leaking oil, I think there should be some kind of clause or something to work out. This is not my only vehicle but its impossible for me to take the wifes car because she uses it to take the kids to school and then herself to work. Kind of rediculous in my opinion and even though Id like to say its the local dealers fault, Id have to say this is the one time I have lost my faith in nissan. Only once did my F250 ever have to go in for warranty work, and I had a loaner for the 5 days it was there. So kudos to Ford for the factory loaner program. Needless to say luckily the owner at the one I bought it from is a stand up guy and he is lending me one of his used cars while mine is in their " temporary custody". I talked to him directly on the phone and he said not a problem. So we will see what happens and hopefully this doesnt take forever and they let me know everything is fine besides that. The tech said most likely it is a manufacturers defect and had been slowly leaking the entire time Ive owned the car which would explain the residue since new. I know one thing. Im gonna be keeping an eye on it for awhile once it returns to me.

I thought it might be that, sometimes this happens, 100% of the cars that come out of the factory are not always perfect. it happens even if it is rare. i wouldn't blame anyone for this. it is unfortunate this is happening but at least they'r going to fix it. it shouldn't take too long to fix thought, a week at the most. they might just replace the motor but who knows. but im glad the problem is solved and they'r going to fix it though. keep us posted.

[trigger_storey]

I dont blame anyone for it. I cant expect every car to come out of the factory with no problems, or why else would automakers have warranties in the first place right. The thing that made me mad was that the dealer in town wouldnt offer a loaner car etc. This car is my daily driver and I felt like if I paid $30,000 for a new car, someone should at least give me something to make it back and forth to work. Anyways I dropped the car off today at the dealer I bought it from. They got me driving a sedan 4 cylinder automatic. ALOT different! LOL... Part should be in by saturday, tech said its a 1 day job. Start on monday. They'd give me a call monday afternoon or tuesday the latest to come and pick it up. So heads up, if your car starts leaking oil out the bottom of the engine right next to flex-pipe. Most likely rear main seal. Thanks all for the feedback.

[trigger_storey]

Called today to check on the progress on the car since it was originally supposed to be done today. The answer I got was once they got the engine and trans out and everything pulled apart, they realized it wasnt the rear main seal after all. Turns out to be the main seal in the transmission that was leaking. So all they told me was they have to disassemble the entire transmission as the seal is a press in seal from the inside and put everything back together. New time for supposed pickup is thursday afternoon now.

[Ranga14]

Yeah, that leak looked like it was right next to the transmission. Sucks but at least it's being fixed for free.

[CrimBlk3.5]

Was about to post a simliar question to everyone when icame across this post ( sry to jump on post). i also have a new 2010 3.5 ..took it to my mech since Stealeship wanted to rape me on the reg oil change.. nevertheless while car was in the air the mechanic pointed out some oil that collected on bottom of engine ( right on bottom of seal).. wasnt much but enough for mech to say something.. so we cleaned it of and going to see if it cont to collect..
added info car has 8700 miles on it already and this is the first i seen it .. not like the dealer would say anything to me on the first 2 oil changes..
Wondwer if anyone else besides us has a leak on the 2010

[trigger_storey]

For everyones sake that owns a 2010 I sure as hell hope not. My dealership service dept has been helpful thoughout all of it but the dealership itself has been a headache trying to say that maybe some of my aftermarket parts could have caused it and threatening that warranty wouldnt cover it etc. Needless to say they are cause all I told them was I know how the Magnuson-Moss act works. After that they just shut up. Lol... so if anyone elses is leaking, id say take it in and hopefully they give you a loaner cause mine has been there for over a week so far and Im not exactly sure when it will be done. Ill also point out that I noticed very small amounts in the beginning too but just thought it was blowby or some spilled from oil change etc. But it continually got worse. Id say definitely check right where mine was leaking and verify that your isnt.

[07wHiTE 3.5SE 6sPD]

another surprising story of nissan and blaming something on aftermarket parts. I swear if you have aftermarket wheels and your trunk light goes out, they'll attempt to void your warranty. It is genuinely surprising though that the VQ has any type of oil leak other than reported problems of the oil pan sweating... good luck trigger

[Ranga14]

lol, I guess I'd be boned.

[trigger_storey]

Car is good to go now. Everything was fixed. Luckily my dealership service manager is nice as hell and knows about modifying cars. He drives a 700hp evo 8. So everything was covered under warranty and they said if I have any more problems or anything leaks after this just being it right back. I was glad cause I was tired of driving the 4 door 2.5. LOL

[obstacle]

great to see its fixed. hopefully this problem will not resonate further fro you.

Maybe its jsut a AC 3.5 thing? lol

[trigger_storey]

I hope its just a fluke on my car. Thats what they said anyways. They said when they really looked at it, it was if the seal wasnt properly seated from the factory so it had been leaking trans fluid the entire time Ive owned the car but as such a small amount that it never damaged anything in the trans. They had to pull the entire trans assembly apart to replace the seal and they said everything still looked new so Im hoping this is a once and done kinda thing.

[QR25DE]

Yeah as along as the fluid wasn't way down and it was shifty fine I wouldn't worry about it. New seal. New trans fluid, all under warranty, yea I say you lucked out .

[trigger_storey]

Plus I got a free oil change cause they thought it was the rear main seal at first and had to drain all the oil. Lol. I never even would have noticed unless I was under the car prolly until it was too late. Shifting and clutch feel etc never changed and I didnt know anything was wrong. I was under the car messing around trying to measure the stock pre cats for a project I might get into and noticed the leak. So I consider myself pretty lucky I caught it before s**t hit the fan.

[Amays U G37S]

lol you had to fight to get a loaner for warrenty work?

if i pretend to bring my car to infiniti they have a car already lined up for how many ever days i need it lol

matter fact, my car went in for service, the windshield was messed up, and i got a g37 sedan loaner, no problems

eh, weird

[trigger_storey]

I tried to take it to my local dealership first, cause the one I bought the car from is about an hour away. No loaner from there. They stated unless I purchased the extended warranty when I bought the car then the stock nissan warranty doesnt cover warranty or rental. So I got ahold of the dealership I bought it from and ask to speak to the owner. I know just from the few times Ive met him that he seems to be a pretty good guy, hes a local preacher etc. He said no problem, bring it on in and we'll get it looked at and Ill get you a car off the lot. So thankfully that guy happens to appreciate that I bought it from him and takes care of his customers or I would have been out of luck. If I had the money I would have gotten a G37 though and then maybe I wouldnt have had this problem. LOL All is good now though. Car is back to no leaks and running goof.

[Amays U G37S]

Lol dont count your chickens

some major problems with the engines in the G37's and some have transmission problems

Not all, but an oil leak is an oil leak, s*** does happen

just get it fixed under warrenty, and be good to go

something like the rear main seal is simple, so....

lemme explain this to ya, all cars off the assembly line put down different tq/hp numbers.

You may of gotten a car that was built on friday, when everyone was in a rush, where some people got a car that was built during the middle of the week when everyone was at work and wanted to be at work, and some people get the s*** monday cars that have tons of problems etc.

i for instance, got the 122,440 numbered G37S coupe off the assembly line. Now did they build this many coupes before mine? but based off the VIN number, and some other research, I probably have the 2008 122,440 off the line. Not for sure if they used the VIN on other production models, and 100,000 cars before mine were different coupes, or G37x coupes or something

The motor is strong, but it has some defective stuff on it. Its in for warrenty repairs right now, but my 2010 G37 loaner, is smooth as glass, with 3700 miles on it.

So, you know, maybe you got a friday car, they were pressed to get out, did a crappy job, and you got a rear main seal leak...

s*** happens.

[trigger_storey]

Well that is alot of information to learn from the vin, I never even realized you could get all that out of it. I knew you could figure out different engine configurations and transmissions etc. But not how many had been made. Thats cool. Im guessing mine was a friday car then. Hopefully the rest of it was built on a wednesday. LOL