12 April 2016

My January column cov-ered an odd oil leak youmay encounter from timeto time on Nissan’s 4.0LV6. This topic spurredMO T O R reader Brady

Pask to share his extensive Nissan experi-ence with us. Stay tuned here, because he’ssent us a heaping plateful of practical infor-mation.

Let me refresh your memory on January’ssubject matter. A large aluminum castingforms the inner (rear) timing cover on Nis-san’s 4.0L V6 engine. There are two con-toured steel plates bolted to the inside ofthis large casting. Experience shows thatthe paper gasket beneath one of these steelplates often fails (see the photo below),causing an internal oil leak. The symptom islow oil pressure. Presently, the preferredand fastest fix is replacing the entire reartiming cover assembly.

Pask was a Nissan dealer technician for15 years. Recently, he became the lead techat BAM! Automotive, an independent shopnear Minneapolis. Pask cautioned me thatthe same leak in the same location also hasbeen commonplace on the 3.5L V6. This issignificant because the 3.5 has been in serv-ice longer and was built in larger overallnumbers than the 4.0.

Here are additional insights. First, Pasksaid he’s seen that paper gasket inside therear timing cover fail on the 3.5 V6 from2004 up through 2014. Like the gasket fail-ure inside the 4.0 V6, the key symptom islow oil pressure.

Second, Pask told me that he’s found thisinternal oil leak most often on three vehi-cles—all powered by the 3.5L V6. First andforemost were Maximas, followed by Alti-mas and Muranos.

Third, he said that the leaks were so com-mon that the dealership actually kept the

rear timing cover assembliesin stock.

Fourth, Pask wholeheart-edly agreed with the symp-toms I spelled out in the Jan-uary issue—namely, the cus-tomer did not complainabout unusual or excessiveengine noise, and the engineoil level was okay. But the oilwarning light was on at idleand turned off when yourevved the engine. If youchecked oil pressure with agauge, the reading was lowerthan normal at idle but onlyslightly lower than specifica-tion at higher rpm. In addi-tion, the vehicle’s ECM usu-ally had stored two troublecodes for the valve timingcontrol (VTC) system—P0011 and P0022.

Sharing knowledge gained via (perhaps painful) experience

benefits everyone. A reader provides information on additional

victims of the Nissan timing cover leak first covered in January.

Foreign Service

DanMarinuccidmarinucci@motor.com

continued on page 14

This is one of the contoured plates that bolt inside the rear timing cov-er on Nissan’s 40L V6 engine. The missing piece of paper gasket illus-trates the classic gasket failure described in the text.

Pho

to: D

an M

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Foreign Service

t iming cover to the engine. In-stalling the new timing cover is asnap when the engine is out of thecar; you sure don’t want a come-back on a job like this for an exter-nal oil leak!

Pask recommended lowering theengine, transmission and enginesupport cradle together. Under-standably, having a suitable toolwith which to lower this big as-

semblage is the key to success. Atthe dea lersh ip , he used Kent-Moore’s engine support table No.J-39580. Nissan offers this throughits internet tool and equipmentsite, www.Nissantechmate.com .But specialists on the internet alsosell it. What’s more, you may al-ready have a comparable, mobiledevice that accommodates an en-tire engine/trans assembly.

Another option for lowering en-g ines out of vehic les i s a ro l l -around, industrial lift table such astoo l No. 204BX50W-NI or i t sequivalent. The Nissan site I justmentioned has this lift table, as dosome internet equipment vendors.

Many techs I ’ve worked withhave formed a strong bond (nopun intended) with an OEM brandof RTV liquid gasket they used intheir dealership days. You can putPask in that category. He told mehe favored Nissan’s No. 999MP-1217HP; it’s a cartridge of sealerthat fits into a common caulkinggun.

Okay, it ’s time to pack up forthis month. Thanks again to BradyPask and other kind readers whotake time to contribute their expe-riences to the cause. Take care andI’ll look for you next month.

14 April 2016

(Pask caut ioned readers towatch out for Nissan V6 engineson which the paper gasket is fine,but the engine is suffering fromtiming chain noise because theowner didn’t maintain the vehiclevery well—or at all.)

Suppose you were checking thisset of symptoms on either a 3.5 or4.0L V6. Pask explained that re-moving and inspecting the lower

oil pan would be a prudent step.When the paper gasket inside a3.5L engine’s rear timing coverfai led, he usual ly found gasketremnants inside the lower oil pan.What ’s more, Pask often foundgasket debris inside the lower panof the 4.0L V6 as well.

I stated earlier that replacingthe rear t iming cover is the fa-vored fix for this internal oil leakon both V6 engines. Doing the jobon the 4 .0L V6 i s re la t ive lystraightforward because it’s in arear-drive vehicle with a conven-tional engine location. However,the 3.5L V6 is transverse-mountedin front-drive cars. Therefore, thetiming cover access is limited, tosay the least.

According to Pask, the simplestand fastest way to replace a rear(inner) timing cover on the 3.5 V6is to lower the engine out of thecar. This approach enables you toR&R the timing cover while stand-ing upright, as opposed to strain-ing over the fender trying to reachinto the engine compartment. Re-moving the engine also great lysimplifies a potentially aggravatingtask—cleaning the old RTV sealeroff the engine. Finally, you have touse RTV silicone to seal the new

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Circle #10

Pask says the simplest and fastest wayto replace a rear (inner) timing cover onNissan’s transverse-mounted 3.5 V6 is

to lower the engine out of the car.

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