Small oil leak on a 3.0 ltr TD, help required please....

Hi,

Why would you argue with them if they're trying to fix it?
On the other hand, it's only a drop now and then, why bother?
Cheers

Martyn

Looking at the photo I am not sure what this hole is for, but most of the oil is in front of the hole, which means one of two things; either you drive really fast in reverse or that the oil is coming from somethwhere in front of the stain, the crankshaft seal maybe? The oil that sprays back may acumulate in this hole, so that when you stop out comes a small drip.

Cheers

Snowy

Martyn,

I had the same problem on my Nissan and what a drama. 2 separate mechanics advised that it was the pulley seal. After having the seal replaced and the belt (because they said there was oil it) there was still a leak. Took it to Nissan who said that one of the 'blanks' had a crack in it and that it was from wear and tear. Found out after quite an argument that it was a fault during the casting of the sump. Apparently not a warranty issue. After much tooing and froing Nissan pulled off the sump and advised that the sump seal was faulty. Again, not a warranty issue. They advised that they would have to reseal the sump etc.. which they did. At my expense. I went to the head office in Melbourne and complained to no end. I got zip. At the end of the day you will have to get someone to pull off the sump, have a look at the blanks for cracks and then have the sump seal assessed and quite possible replaced. The seals are not like the old gasket ones it is some form of hard setting glue. After mine was replaced I have not had a leak but I was out of pocket.

hope this helps.

Hi Martyn,

I'll have a look at CD manual tonight to see if there is any more detail on this. I haven't had a close look at mine so unsure of function of that part of the sump, however the hole looks to me like a cross drilling. These are often sealed with a ball bearing pressed into the hole (cheaper than machining and plugging and very effective in Al). If it really is leaking from there then perhaps integrity of the seal in question but I'd be suprised if this is so. How far up hole can you reach?Assume only a couple mm.

Anyhow, I'll get back to you tonight.

Regards,
Hugh

No mate I never found out what the 'blank' was for, in the end I just got sick and tired of being run around. I think Nissan rely on that fact.

They didn't have to take the motor out. I believe they had to drop the front diff and gearbox to gain access. While they were in there I had them do a service and the bill was around the $900.00 mark. When I went to pick the car up one of the guys told me that this was in fact wrong and I should not have been quoted that figure. The cost was more like $1200.00. Old mate wasn't going to give me my keys. After a mexican standoff I got my keys.

Looking at your picture that leak is higher up and is in the exact same place as mine was.

Good luck.

zd30's have two "sump plugs"

one at the front , one at the back....

the front one shouldn't be touched.. they are a tapered thread and when you screw it back in, it will generally crack the sump.... plenty of people have made this mistake...

not sure if this relates to your car but as earlier posts suggest, leak may be coming from nearby and pooling at this point

Martyn
Mine has the same oil leak, but I can see that it's comming from the plug at the front (on mine). I can't find any referance to this plug in the manual either and I assume its some sort of casting from manufacture and they've just put a screwed plug in to block it. I've been meaning to remove it and seal it with thread tape, but ......you know..... next oil change ... or maybe the one after that. It's been that way for 3 years now, doesn't drip oil on the driveway, so I haven't been too concerned about it.

Rob

Sikaflex = solved :-)

I had a 2.5" crack in my compressor sump on the little GMC (compressor fell on it's side). Didn't even clean the oil off, whacked some sikaflex on it and it's never leaked since! HAHA. If all else fails, just do that.

Forumites,
Thanks for the reponses, I'm taking the sump off. The engine was due an oil change and there doesn't seem to be much in taking the sump off. For the sake of a couple of hours work and a gasket this seems to be the easiest option.
Yes it is a bit of a cross drilling as mentioned but for the life of me I can't see what the function of the cavity behind the plug is. This plug can't be the second sump plug, nothing came out when the engine was full of oil.
I like the Sikaflex idea but it's just not the way I want to do it, off road somewhere isolated no home comforts, pass me the tube I'm in. Garage easy access bit of time, do the job right first time etc etc.
Hilly if you read this say nothing OK.............

Hugh, if you find out that would be great I'm interested. I'm sure this never used to be a hole because the oil used to try to leak out of the plug I fixed this with Ultra Blue, I like the idea that the ball bearing fell out, if this is the case I'll be welding it up, end of problem for ever. Yes I will check the gasket face for straightness.

Again thanks to all for the responses, good effort. any further ideas "bring it on"...................

Martyn, this hole is not where the oil is coming from. Mine has oil around the same area as yours.

I had the area cleaned at the major service [80,000] and it has taken until the next major service [120,000] to get as bad as yours which means whatever is leaking is very slow and personally it can stay that way.

I got better things to do than naff around with sump gaskets and phsuedo sump plugs because of something so innocous.

Martyn,

Same 4wd same oil leak. Nissan had several attempts at resealing the plug but the leak continued. Finally they suspected that the sump may have a crack in it and the dealer got approval to replace the sump under warranty ( no this was not the well published larger sump as it does not exist, that fix was simply making the dip stick shorter to increase the oil required reach the required marks).

Involved obviously removing the sump but they "discovered" the leak was coming from further up the front of the engine due to inadequate gasket sealant. Had to remove the pulleys and a section at the front of the engine immediately above the sump to "fix" the problem. They also replaced the timing case oil seal (I think) anyhow the whole job took them 3 days and they still put the new sump on even though there was nothing wrong with the old one.

Everything was fine for a few months but eventually the leak returned and continues today. It is only very small and I keep a regular check on it. The main problem as I see it is the nissan dealers do not know enough about the patrol and the 3.0lit engine and attempt cosmetic fixes in the hope it may work or untill the warranty runs out. In my case they got a bit more serious but in reality they had no idea and I still have the leak but a new sump, and it is no longer their problem. It appears to be a common problem but not a serious one. In all the foums I have read I have seen this leak mentioned often but I still have not seen a pemanent fix.

Good luck with yours.

Bob

Hi Martyn,

Please find below image of the sump from within. The o-ring make me think this is an extension of the pressurised oil circuit. Given that this engine is used in other applications other than Patrol (Renault buses, etc), I'd suggest that this might be for other purposes (oil cooler perhaps). Not that you'd do that on a GU Patrol due aircon drive belt in the way. I assume that your Patrol must be a manual. The reason being that I couldn't find the weep hole - turned out I have a bolt going in there to attach the auto trans cooler support bracket (refer image below). Could be that on the auto they seal via bolt. If you really think it is coming from there, then I'd degrease and fill with Sikaflex as mentioned.

I have a very slight weep from the BSP plug. Not enough to be worried about. Another option here is to degrease and then apply some wicking to the exposed threads - that should assist sealing without removing the plug.

If you want to borrow my CD let me know but this is about all I could find. No image of the bottom of the crankcase structural plate for mating feature.

Regards, Hugh

!MPG:5!

Martin,

My brother in-law has the exact same problem with his ZD-30, and i have the good fortune to work with a bloke who used to be the workshop foreman at a Nissan dealer here in Melbourne.
When i quizzed him about the said leak, he informed me that he has experienced this problem with ZD30's a few times, and the problem stems from an o ring buried deep inside the timing case cover, so to fix it they have to dismantle the front of the engine, which is very labourious, and then has to be put back together with new o rings and sealant, and this has to be done exactley right otherwise the leak will return.
My brother in-laws is getting rectified under warranty, so i imagine yours should be also.

Hope this has been helpfull.

Cheers