Oil leak upper oil pan

[9899pathfinder]

This will be my last update on the oil seal leak unless something new & major occurs. The reason? It has now been 2 more mos. since my last update and not one drop of oil has sullied my garage floor. Can only say I am very glad and a big fan of Valvoline High Mileage.

[9899pathfinder]

Well, the small leak reappeared again this spring. Took it to another shop & had the valve cover gaskets replaced as there was considerable oil in that vicinity regardless of whether or not there are other leak areas, ie RMS. But there are still small stains periodically on the garage floor some two weeks after the VC job. The shop also suspects the oil pan is not sealed properly as oil shows up there too but it could be dripping to that site from somewhere else, say the weep hole. Rather than just throw more $ at the problem, I decided to do a test. I stuck a small shop towel piece in the weep hole to block it TEMPORARILY. Will update in a few days after I have a chance to evaluate the results. If oil appears at the oil pan seam (I cleaned it before the test) then probably that's the source. If the towel becomes soaked then it is likely the oil seal again ... yes? Or if neither, it could be the last residual residue from the leaky gaskets (hope, hope) or some other area not yet revealed. Appreciate any thoughts from you guys.

[9899pathfinder]

Update. After leaving the shop towel "plug" in the weep hole for 3 days, I removed it and it was completely dry. No oil around the oil pan seal either & no spots on the floor. Still watching ... but maybe the source was the VC gaskets after all. If so, my experience may be instructive to others who may get a mechanic's cursory reaction to an oil leak ... "you need a rear main seal." A second opinion may be called for prior to forking out big bucks for the RMS job.

[04STi208G37]

I have a 2000 pathfinder with 262,000 miles and the same rms leak except mine is worse. Considering the cost of the repair, I just keep adding oil (about a quart every 800-1000 miles). I use Walmart brand 5W30 and the cost is only $2.64/qt. I have to buy over 400 qts to equal the repair cost so can go at least another 320,000 miles before equaling the repair expense!

+1 . I just purchased a 2002 with 184K on it. It came with new belts, hoses , tires, starter but no spare and no spare well rod AND the RMS leak. I rigged up a little catch cup under the weep hole and will see if I can capture most of it that way. If I knew for sure I could get 100K more I might fix it but a have a new driver using it 6 days a week so......we shall see. If the catch cup works I will post a photo. I may also try some high mileage oil but I'm not betting on it.

[9899pathfinder]

Really looking forward to seeing that photo.