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Sorry for the terrible quality. Pretty cramped under the Z. So I changed my oil a week or two ago and I noticed some oil on the oil pan, the drain plug had no gasket so I thought nothing of it. Then I was under there yesterday investigating because I was parked in the rain and noticed some suspicious oil looking film coming from the driver side front wheel. That’s when I noted that there was oil in a place I hadn’t noticed before, could potentially be from oil dipping off the dip stick is its right above there after all. (I’ve been checking oil very frequently) just weird it only looks like it’s on the bottom. but I also noticed some fresh looking oil on the oil pan itself. I’m kinda leaning towards potential oil pan gasket because I was speaking to the previous owner and he stated that there is only RTV to seal the oil pan. Which could be true but I see they they make oil pan gaskets for a 350z so might as well use one. Any suggestions anyone? I plan on cleaning up the area with some brake cleaner and looking to see where it coming from after a short drive. I doubt the oil is coming from the gasket at such high velocity it’s able to get on that motor, so really hoping it was just extra oil coming off the dip stick. I’m not hemorrhaging oil so I’m not not too terrified about it, but just looking for second opinions.
thanks.
update: pretty confident there’s no oil leak. Spent 2 hours cleaning all oil and tan the car for 20 mins and nothing. 🫡
check all of the oil pan bolts for tightness but don't over-tighten them. it is a small nightmare drilling out broken oil pan bolts. replace the oil drain plug with a new one, and you might as well get a magnetic one while you're at it, with a new copper washer. Even if you don't think that's the source of the oil, just do that anyway. or save it for your next oil change. also, could you possibly have overfilled with too much oil? you might only be getting an oil leak during spirited driving with higher oil pressures. I would not replace RTV with a cork gasket. but if you plan to take off the oil pan, that would be a good time to install a 1-in spacer. I think it's a great upgrade. gives you almost an extra quart of oil plus a tap for a gauge or an oil cooler. this is a better location than a oil filter insert.
Hey guys, sorry I’ve been busy. What ended up being the cause is I didn’t put RTV on the camshaft side when I redid the valve cover gaskets. Probably because I was doing it in the sun in a parking lot I just got sloppy. So it was leaking out of the valve cover while engine was under load, dripping on AC Compressor and all that goodness. Was kinda a fun job. Now I’m doing wheel bearings.
It's very satisfying how well these cars respond to TLC. replace a few worn out gaskets, bushings, belts, sensors, makes the car happy again. Electrical problems can be annoying though. But that's true of any car.
Does anyone have any idea if moisture could get into the engine oil with a leak like that? Would it be a best interest to replace oil or should I be good to go.
hmm.. it's like a tiny head gasket failure. :-) possible some coolant could have gotten into the oil. If you just did an oil change then check the dipstick for any tan color on the oil and check for white smoke in your exhaust. If it's coming up on an oil change then just go ahead and do it. how often do you do it?
Oil change every 3k miles or less. Also I just drove the car for the first time since I did the RTV on the valve cover. 99% sure I’m still leaking oil, but gonna keep driving to confirm. how much RTV am I supposed to use? I’m pretty certain it’s coming from the valve cover.
Alright so I replaced PCV valve and stuff today, maybe a littleeee better but still leaking. I have a new valve cover coming tomorrow and I’m gonna replace that and do a better RTV job. I was using the FSM for the job but I didn’t do a good job on the “cross” is my guess. I didn’t take any pics under the rocker cover, it almost looked fine to me. but I have this one. As you might be able to tell where it matters the most on the “cross” or “t” my RTV job is horrible and there might be a small hole still causing a leak. I’ll just be more aware of my application this new go around. The red straight line indicates the intersection/where that crackcase rise starts. Ps this job was fun but now it’s more of a nightmare.
10-06-2023, 12:36 PM
Oil leak??
