# Oil Leak of 96 Nissan Sentra



## gamecocks (Feb 27, 2005)

Bought Sentra 96 in 2001 and have been using it for 4 years. Two or three months ago I found there is a minor oil leak because I found the coolant resovior and some parts are covered with stains of engine oil and the level of engine oil drops at a faster rate than it did before. What could be the problem? The other thing is I found my coolant reservior is loose, how can I fasten it myself?


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## nd4spd (Feb 9, 2005)

common areas are the front main oil seal (Crankcase seal), oil sending unit. Mine is in the same boat, and the seals are very, very common to go out on these cars. Also check the oil pan, your oil could be dripping on your belts and being sprayed all over. All I can think of for your tank is to, of course re-tighten, or try to re-drill some new holes. Your gonna catch some flak for the search thing, but I am a nice guy .


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## funkpacket (Feb 13, 2004)

word of advice. If you have oil around your coolant overflow then your belts most likely are spraying oil that leaked from the main seal on that side of the motor. I had this same problem, slacked on it for a year and a half, and ended up stranded(the only time in this cars 170k miles) 40 miles from home with a belt that ended up giving up the ghost. being under tension and being constantly coated in oil is not the best scenario for belt life. I believe there is a sticky in either the ga motor section or the b14 section in these forums that can walk you through replacing the seal


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## gamecocks (Feb 27, 2005)

*How much does it cost?*



nd4spd said:


> common areas are the front main oil seal (Crankcase seal), oil sending unit. Mine is in the same boat, and the seals are very, very common to go out on these cars. Also check the oil pan, your oil could be dripping on your belts and being sprayed all over. All I can think of for your tank is to, of course re-tighten, or try to re-drill some new holes. Your gonna catch some flak for the search thing, but I am a nice guy .



I just use my car but never think of fixing it myself. So how much will it cost based on your experience if I send the car to the shop for the repair?


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## nd4spd (Feb 9, 2005)

really depends on your mechanic, part $9 to $15 dollars, labor should not be more then 2.5 hours, if its your front main seal. Just call, usually mechanics have a time book, or whatever you want to call it, or just tell them you just want it looked at, to see where the leak is coming from, then go from there.... My mechanic only charged me 1.2 hours labor, and with 2 new belts (which you should change from the oil soaking in, it came to $105.00.) It will vary though.


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## Tavel (Aug 21, 2004)

another approach is cleaning the engine. catman solved a fairly substantial leak simply be having his engine cleaned. aparantly the seals are "inflated" by oil to form a seal, if the engine gets varnished(happens with mileage) the seals dont get enough oil to inflate them. ideally, cleaning the varnish off lets the seals reinflate and the leak is fixed with zero repairs.(it doesn't work if the seal is cracked or whatever). 

he reccomended a product called auto rx to me. www.auto-rx.com. im running it in my girlfriends sentra right now, already it cleaned the varnish off the dispstick and is now readable(goodnews). im hoping it stops a slight VC leak, but im in the early stages of usage so i can't say if it works...but many other people(including 3rd party testers) have found the product to be effective at stopping leaks. 

look at this thread for more info as well


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## gamecocks (Feb 27, 2005)

nd4spd said:


> really depends on your mechanic, part $9 to $15 dollars, labor should not be more then 2.5 hours, if its your front main seal. Just call, usually mechanics have a time book, or whatever you want to call it, or just tell them you just want it looked at, to see where the leak is coming from, then go from there.... My mechanic only charged me 1.2 hours labor, and with 2 new belts (which you should change from the oil soaking in, it came to $105.00.) It will vary though.


Thank you.


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