chuquison

iTrader: (6)

Hey guys for the past year I have had an oil leak that no one seems to find.. so far two dealers two mom and pop shops.

I have replaced so far:
both valve covers
cam sensors on all banks
crank sensor
vpc valve gaskets.
rear main seal

went to get an oil change today and it was 4qts low after 4 months... ( I thought the leak was fixed guess not)

these guys took the time to look further into it and claim that the upper oil pan gasket is leaking from the drivers side.

first I can find the part, second I wanted to know how hard is it to replace this?

they claim it will take 10 hours, at almost 800 bucks in just labor. I cant keep spending cash like this... I just spent with all other parts almost 3 or more.

the car has 160k miles, paid off and I just don't want to get rid of it.

any advise would be cool.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Not sure about replacing the upper pan gasket if you've already had the rear main seal replaced? Usually that requires you to drop the pan (and thus replace that gasket anyway) to get to the rear main. Who has been doing the work previously?

chuquison

iTrader: (6)

used to be san diego Nissan, then while here deland Nissan then went to longwood Nissan, was pissed about all the over charge then went to two mom and pop mechanics my family use, and now I don't know who else to go to.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

Having worked at a friends shop part time I do know the upper oil pan leak is actually semi common. Never done one start to finish, but I know it's a pain.

Slow and steady, just do it yourself over a couple weekends.

qew

iTrader: (1)

Send it to a reputable dealer and explain your situation.Get a second opinion and see where they find the leak. Ask them if the leak isn't fix then what they can do for you,as far as paying/cost. That is if they end up doing the upper oil pan and it continues to leak. Only place i can think of is Stillen,that is close to you.

But as far as the cost is concerned for the job.It is a hassle to remove the upper oilpan as alot of other components have to be removed including the front suspension cross member.
It actually gives up to about 14hrs to do that job.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

So who was it that actually replaced the rear main? Did you check the R.O. to determine if they dropped the pan to change it?

chuquison

iTrader: (6)

i don't live in san diego anymore I live in central florida for the past 5 years so stillen is out..

chuquison

iTrader: (6)

it was one of the Nissan dealers here cant remember which one.

qew

iTrader: (1)

Im sure there re plenty of performance shops for z's out there. Try one of the ones that specialize in z's.

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

Is there such a thing? In my own experience the upper oil pan gasket is called RTV...

OP - how comfortable do you feel taking your engine out of your car and disassembling?

10hrs seems light actually? I know I spent more than 10hrs getting my engine out and disassembled to that point and I dont have a front clip...

chuquison

iTrader: (6)

to be honest im scared of the Z I have helped friends with their 240's, my first car when I was 16 was a gsr, never had any issues working on them, but I have had my z for almost 10 years, seen a lot of the engines go boom with people who kinda knew what they were doing... the examples I have taken are from here...

I feel that if I do the slightest wrong thing it will go BOOM.

after last night doing more research not sure if this is the safest option, but I was thinking of just adding a qt every month keep an eye on it and save up so maybe next summer I can just take the engine out and get one of those prebuilt blocks or heads, and just have the whole engine freshen up.

Since I have had the car I notice it takes big money to play with the big boys, and I am not sure if its because im getting older but I would be just happy with a reliable supercharger kit setup with a freshen up engine and use the car as a weekend car.

in the last 3 years I have purchased a **** load of cosmetiv parts that to this day I haven't placed on the car, my goal was to have the car repainted with the parts nothing super duper fancy and then little by little start working on the engine and get a daily driver that is cheap...

my options are either go that route even though its expensive since I value my car at 4k max in my opinion... with all the milage and crap...but I have a paid off car that I am happy with since there is nothing really out that I am dying to have.

or pay off a few accounts I have which will free up 600 a month and I can get this done by next summer sell the car for mad cheap and sell the parts, and buy something newer since the car is 11 years old.

I really love the paid off option and paying off my accounts and that will give me 600 a month to do something to the car monthly or save up but the fact is you never get out what you put in and I know its a hobby and I feel like my z is a car I want to keep for another 10 years so its a toss up.

if fixing this junk cost me 1k lets say.... and it doesn't fix the issue I think I am going to give up on it...

soooooo confused right now!

soo many shops that offer built blocks and heads to choose from and don't know which are good or which are dangerous to buy from...

I do a lot of research before I post since you guys are notorious to bring gas and match to every thread... I have been apart of the lynching group myself I just get afraid asking these questions since I don't want to be a new butt end of a joke on this website.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Let me state this as plainly as possible: if you really had the rear main seal replaced, the shop would have to pull the upper pan to get to it. If so, they should have resealed the upper pan when they put it back together to prevent a major leak (like what you have NOW). So I'd figure out which dealership it was and take a close look at the repair order (RO) to determine what they did. With the amount of oil you're losing, there's little doubt there's a major leak that the dealership never addressed properly.

So forget about supercharging and buying a "freshen up" block to make your Z reliable. That's not going to happen. FI puts more demand on the shortblock and reciprocating components- without a special built block, reliability is sure to be shorter than just going with a rebuild. Finally, there's no reason to be "scared" of the Z and working on it. Even if your friends "kinda" knew about the VQs and still blew them up (which means they knew nothing), that doesn't mean it has to be you. Make this Z the car you decide to rebuild RIGHT. Yes, it'll take time, effort and planning, but think of it as a project that helps develop YOU as much as just fixing the car.

chuquison

iTrader: (6)

I will look into that since I keep all receipts... But I have no friends with a z, most experiences I have seen here.

what I don't understand is if the leak is so big why am I not seeing it anywhere on the ground?

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

More than likely, the leak grows exponentially when the engine is being pushed and windage from reciprocating parts increase. You're looking at the Z when it is parked, but most of the losses are when the Z is in motion. Easy way to tell is to jack the car up and look for a telltale streak of oil on the underside of chassis from the engine back.

chuquison

iTrader: (6)

ill check hopefully soon