Oil leak help!

[GrubyFngaz]

I was just wondering if someone could tell me what are the most probable causes for an oil leak. B/C mine is leaking and I don't want to take it somewhere for them to tell me what's wrong.ThanksJosh

[bp2ooo]

Where does it look like the oil is coming from? front of motor? back of motor? is the oil filter not on tight ..... Anyways if you put a crank pulley on, or messed around in that area, chage the cranks eal. Like 3 dollars for one from nissan.

[GrubyFngaz]

I'm not sure what a crank seal is, but yeah the oil filter is on tight. But it looks to be coming from the back side of the engine, but I'm not positive. Got any other ideas?Josh

[Just another 240]

mine was leaking last time, and it was the an oil pan gasket.

are you sure it's not gear oil ?

[GrubyFngaz]

I think it is the oil pan gasket, how would I know if that was it? and how do I fix it if it is? Also, it is oil, not gear oil.Josh

[bp2ooo]

if its coming from the back of the motor it could also be the rear main seal. Which would suck.... Its really hard to tell where the leak origontaes because it can easily drip down, run down something and actually appear its coming from the other side of the motor. When my crank seal was gone, i thought it was a rear main seal, but saw it was coming from the front of the motor. The crank seal is right by the crank pulley. If you havn't changed the pulley, its not your crank seal.

[Just another 240]

wipe it clean, drive it, and take a good look at it again and see where it's coming from.

If you determined that it is the oil pan gasket and wnat to do it yourself, go to autozone buy the gasket(cost me 13 buck), take off all the bolt on the pan, take off the motor mount NUT, jack up the engine slowly and then pry the pan off carefully(cause you dont' want to damage the block or pan. Then while the pan is off and 1/2 way removed, it's gonna get stuck. That's because your oil pump will be in the way, put your hand in there and remove the oil pump and then remove the whole unit.

I think you can use gasket maker as a gasket, but i went to buy an actual gasket.

[Just another 240]

o and i have a 91 s13, the procedure should be the same for the s14, i think.

[UncleBen]

mine had a leak when i got it. was the oil pan gasket. i think it is relatively common on 240's. costs a pretty penny to get fixed though, because of having to lift the enigne up the get the oil pan off and everything. i went ahead and had the motor flushed out and new belts put on though, also. was about $600

[red240ne]

Yep, I would have said oil pan gasket too. Mine is leaking from there and the valve cover gasket currently. It's not bad enough for me to worry now, because I'm poor.

[GrubyFngaz]

Hey Ben do you think it is something I can do myself?Josh

[sixxdeuce]

you can take it to a shop and have them add a special dye to your oil and then get under it with a black light and trace the leak, because the dye in the oil will make it glow, so you can tell the fresh oil thats leaking out from the stuff thats been there 6 months. It might be worth it to spend a few bucks to pinpoint the leak before you replace something you dont need to

[red240ne]

It's not hard at all to replace the oil pan gasket. I don't know what the shop did for you Ben, but they shouldn't have raised the engine.

All you have to do is jack your car up..Then remove the 8 or so, don't know for sure, screws that hold the oil pan on.

Use a gasket scraper to get the old gasket off.

Use some gasket sealer, put the new gasket on.

Put the oil pan on, and you're done. Don't torque the screws down very hard on the oil pan though. You don't want to strip them. They're small, and break easily, especially after 13+ years of wear.

[Just another 240]

It's not hard at all to replace the oil pan gasket. I don't know what the shop did for you Ben, but they shouldn't have raised the engine.

All you have to do is jack your car up..Then remove the 8 or so, don't know for sure, screws that hold the oil pan on.

Use a gasket scraper to get the old gasket off.

Use some gasket sealer, put the new gasket on.

Put the oil pan on, and you're done. Don't torque the screws down very hard on the oil pan though. You don't want to strip them. They're small, and break easily, especially after 13+ years of wear.

I think you lift up the engine becuase then you'll have more room. if a gasket scraper isn't working well, get a brittle brush.Oh yea the torque spec for the oil pan screw is 3.something! so don't turn them hard!!!