Having a vehicle is necessary, we generally need it to get to work and for the majority of our daily trips. This essential portion of our annual budget commonly causes us surprises, being aware of oil leaking on your car is one of them… In actual fact, an oil leak is not often harmless and can quickly lead to the breakage of your engine if you don’t notice it. If you are aware of oil leaking on your Nissan Pathfinder, you have come to the right place, we will first help you to find the cause of the oil leak and, secondly, we will help you to fix it, if it is possible.

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Identifying the origin of the oil leaking on your Nissan Pathfinder

If you discover fluid leaking from under your Nissan Pathfinder, the first thing to do is to examine all of your levels (power steering, engine oil, brake fluid, coolant) to discover if any of them can quickly be recognized as the origin of the leak. To limit the risks, it is absolutely vital to examine your levels every 2 weeks to prevent any risk of engine breakage.
In our case we will only be focused on case you find oil leaking from your Nissan Pathfinder, as far as engine oil is concerned, the liquid will be quite viscous and in shades of brown to black and if it is gearbox oil, it will be rather in amber tones and will have a strong unpleasant smell.
It’s not always easy to find the cause of the oil that leaks on a Nissan Pathfinder because of the accessibility of the engine block, however here are the steps to stick to to find the origin of the oil:

  • Find the point where the oil falls, the spot from which it spills onto the ground…
  • Go back up the route of the dripping oil to its origin, if the blot is too important, don’t be reluctant to clean the engine block and drive to be able to locate it more quickly.
  • To guide you, here is a list of the parts that mostly bring about oil to leak from a car: the drain plug and its seal; one of your crankcase gaskets; the oil pressure switch; the oil filter; the transmission drain plug; the transmission sealing rings.

When possible, fix the part that generated the oil to leak on your Nissan Pathfinder.

Now that you’ve identified the cause of the oil leaking, it’s time to get down to business. Naturally, for a while, you’ll be able to add more oil to top up the level, dependant upon its intensity, but be aware that this is not a durable treatment and that the leak could intensify at any moment. We are likely to show you the repairs that we think you can perform all alone with some know-how, tools and according to the accessibility that you are going to have on your engine. Whatever the case, you should know that after repairing an oil leak on a Nissan Pathfinder, you will have to swap your engine or gearbox oil.

Oil leakage from the drain plug and its seal on Nissan Pathfinder

In this circumstance, the solution is quite easy, you just have to lift your Nissan Pathfinder, when possible totally horizontal, remove your drain plug, drain your engine oil, swap your drain gasket, tighten the plug to the perfect torque and examine the hot engine to make sure the leak has been repaired.

Oil leaking over from the oil filter of my Nissan Pathfinder

In the case that your oil leak comes from your oil filter, you will only need to change it. To make this happen, take a filter wrench, remove the old filter, making sure that the gasket does not stick to the engine, fit the new filter and tighten it moderately. Same evaluation, hot check if oil is leaking from your Nissan Pathfinder.

Oil leaking from the pressure switch of my Nissan Pathfinder

Finally, if it is your pressure switch that is the trigger of your leak on your Nissan Pathfinder, you can, in accordance with its ease of access, reach it and swap it very easily. To get this done, place a drain tray under the part, disconnect the electrical wire, remove the part, quickly reposition the replacement pressure switch, clean the whole thing and do a hot test to ensure that you no longer have any oil leaking from your Nissan Pathfinder.

For any other type of leak, we encourage you to go to your auto mechanic because the repair will involve too much knowledge and tools to be performed serenely alone.

In the event that you have any additional questions about the Nissan Pathfinder, do not hesitate to consult our Nissan Pathfinder category.