# oil leak - car overheating - opinions?



## belacane (Nov 9, 2011)

Well, today started out *great*.

Driving to work, my *'97 Altima* started to overheat.
I pulled over immediately, popped the hood, and here's what I found:

- oil leaking all over the passenger side of the engine, but not enough to register as extremely low on the dipstick

- belts and pulleys have a lot of oil on them (which I'm presuming is the cause of the overheating, since too much oil on belts and pulleys will cause them to slip and not run the water pump correctly...etc.

- a lot of smoking coming from behind the valve cover near the passenger side strut mount  presumably from the source of the oil leak and oil burning off.

Here're my thoughts and plan of action:

- I was thinking it could be something as simple as a gunked up PCV valve, which is not ventilating what it should and causing excess pressure to build up in the crank, and thus leak out wherever it can.

- My plan is to hose down that part of the engine, run it, and see if I can locate the exact point of the leak


Beyond that though, I'm not sure.
Wondering what you all think. I know I still have a lot to learn, and like to hear and consider others' opinions and suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

(crossposted over at nissanclub)


----------



## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

fuck nissanclub. let them know i said that. thanks. 

otherwise, sounds like you have a problem with a front main seal and if not, then look into your timing cover and valve cover gasket. all of these are pretty easy to replace. might i suggest some purple power for cleaning up that oil? its the best stuff - period. now for that pcv valve - its a total pain in the ass to replace. believe me. hopefully its not the problem. are you sure that its engine oil? check to see if you are leaking power steering fluid. these cars are notorious for overheating the power steering and boiling it out of the reservoir and making a mess on everything.


----------

