STX 550 Oil leak

[Bags66]

Anyone had oil leak from the turbo/valley area of a 550, has 145K's. Local mechanics have contacted Nissan and said that it is not a known problem.
Ute going in tomorrow for investigation. They have said they will just need to start pulling parts off until leak is found, but once too much is pulled apart cannot start to help find leak and gearbox may need to come out. Also has eml with egr code. Starting to wish I had upgraded or downgraded to an older vehicle less technical, Thanks :-(

 

[skullbone]

Anyone had oil leak from the turbo/valley area of a 550, has 145K's. Local mechanics have contacted Nissan and said that it is not a known problem.
Ute going in tomorrow for investigation. They have said they will just need to start pulling parts off until leak is found, but once too much is pulled apart cannot start to help find leak and gearbox may need to come out. Also has eml with egr code. Starting to wish I had upgraded or downgraded to an older vehicle less technical, Thanks :-(

any photos

 

[landmannnn]

It had been known to happen. Unfortunately the gearbox had to come out to sort it.

 

[Adhaul]

Anyone had oil leak from the turbo/valley area of a 550, has 145K's. Local mechanics have contacted Nissan and said that it is not a known problem.
Ute going in tomorrow for investigation. They have said they will just need to start pulling parts off until leak is found, but once too much is pulled apart cannot start to help find leak and gearbox may need to come out. Also has eml with egr code. Starting to wish I had upgraded or downgraded to an older vehicle less technical, Thanks :-(

SLOW DOWN - Before you go pulling things apart. How is your oil level, this is VERY CRITICAL too much oil on some engines ie: keeping the oil level on the top mark will cause an oil leak. The oil is blown out of the "Plastic" crankcase vent system which normally feeds into the inlet manifold, in my case I have an oil catch can diversion that collects most of the oil. Nissan will tell you that they "never have had a problem" to fix the split vent it is engine and gearbox out - been there done that. The "plastic" vent has two sections and is welded together, on my vehicle the weld split allowing oil to leak into the valley which ran down over the gearbox. I suspect that on the Navara 550 which is very compact and does not allow enough air circulation through the valley area (Note the turbo sits just above the vent system) the plastic vent assembly simply gets too hot. To reach the vent system it's also turbo off, inlet manifolds off (which most mechanics will tell you they cant do) you need small hands and lots of patience to get to some of the manifold bolts Good Luck

 

[Troubled550]

SLOW DOWN - Before you go pulling things apart. How is your oil level, this is VERY CRITICAL too much oil on some engines ie: keeping the oil level on the top mark will cause an oil leak. The oil is blown out of the "Plastic" crankcase vent system which normally feeds into the inlet manifold, in my case I have an oil catch can diversion that collects most of the oil. Nissan will tell you that they "never have had a problem" to fix the split vent it is engine and gearbox out - been there done that. The "plastic" vent has two sections and is welded together, on my vehicle the weld split allowing oil to leak into the valley which ran down over the gearbox. I suspect that on the Navara 550 which is very compact and does not allow enough air circulation through the valley area (Note the turbo sits just above the vent system) the plastic vent assembly simply gets too hot. To reach the vent system it's also turbo off, inlet manifolds off (which most mechanics will tell you they cant do) you need small hands and lots of patience to get to some of the manifold bolts Good Luck

 

[NavaraNavara]

after years is normal to have done oil in turbo area. if your oil level doesn't go down then its OK. making high pressure on the turbo will evaporate oil in aged cars

 

[Troubled550]

I have the same problem as the other guy, I have a v6 diesel also with oil running down my bellhoising and was unable to see where it was coming from even with boroscope . If it is the crank pressure vent can it be done by taking gearbox out and not taking motor out

 

[Adhaul]

This seems to be a major problem the first time it occurred to me I removed engine & trans finally found crack in the plastic oil separator. After replacing and modifying the breather via a catch can problem appeared to be solved for about 40,000 km now I’m in the process of a total rebuild engine rattles and oil dump which seems to have come from the rear main seal. I regret not changing this bloody vehicle sooner only kept it because it s a V6 and had great power

 

[Adhaul]

This seems to be a major problem the first time it occurred to me I removed engine & trans finally found crack in the plastic oil separator. After replacing and modifying the breather via a catch can problem appeared to be solved for about 40,000 km now I’m in the process of a total rebuild engine rattles and oil dump which seems to have come from the rear main seal. I regret not changing this bloody vehicle sooner only kept it because it s a V6 and had great power

PS I’ve seen quotes as high as $43,000 for a replacement engine Good Luck

 

[Petermal]

SLOW DOWN - Before you go pulling things apart. How is your oil level, this is VERY CRITICAL too much oil on some engines ie: keeping the oil level on the top mark will cause an oil leak. The oil is blown out of the "Plastic" crankcase vent system which normally feeds into the inlet manifold, in my case I have an oil catch can diversion that collects most of the oil. Nissan will tell you that they "never have had a problem" to fix the split vent it is engine and gearbox out - been there done that. The "plastic" vent has two sections and is welded together, on my vehicle the weld split allowing oil to leak into the valley which ran down over the gearbox. I suspect that on the Navara 550 which is very compact and does not allow enough air circulation through the valley area (Note the turbo sits just above the vent system) the plastic vent assembly simply gets too hot. To reach the vent system it's also turbo off, inlet manifolds off (which most mechanics will tell you they cant do) you need small hands and lots of patience to get to some of the manifold bolts Good Luck

Had the same problem with my 2012 v9x navara.317000 kms and had since new.blew a turbo and lost alot of engine oil .thought I stopped in time to prevent damage.engine out trans out and replaced turbo cooling hoses various gaskets radiator and coolant bottle because of plastic degradation issues.engine back in and sounded rattly.mechanic reported hi crankcase pressure and would run ok if oil cap loose.installed a catch can system thinking that pcv on inlet of turbo faulty.while installing I blew down the hose attached to oil separator cover and found it was a blind.couldnt blow through it.ran a pipe spring through it but still couldn't blow through.finished catch can install and checked pressure blowing through oil filler which was negligible compared to before and was blowing through catch can well. Took it for a test run and after about 25 km engine stopped oil light on and engine oil blown out .unsure where from.after $10000 and 3 months off the road didn't want to go any further and scrapped the car.
I feel that the engine was damaged at the first breakdown although compression tests came back ok. And the high crankcase pressure caused the initial problem with the failed turbo old Oli seals and blew out at the weakest point.
I'd love to know what is in the oil separator cover in th valley .is there a one way valve or something in there allowing flow only one way that could fail.pcv looks like it could only fail open very difficult to fail closed

 

[Adhaul]

Had the same problem with my 2012 v9x navara.317000 kms and had since new.blew a turbo and lost alot of engine oil .thought I stopped in time to prevent damage.engine out trans out and replaced turbo cooling hoses various gaskets radiator and coolant bottle because of plastic degradation issues.engine back in and sounded rattly.mechanic reported hi crankcase pressure and would run ok if oil cap loose.installed a catch can system thinking that pcv on inlet of turbo faulty.while installing I blew down the hose attached to oil separator cover and found it was a blind.couldnt blow through it.ran a pipe spring through it but still couldn't blow through.finished catch can install and checked pressure blowing through oil filler which was negligible compared to before and was blowing through catch can well. Took it for a test run and after about 25 km engine stopped oil light on and engine oil blown out .unsure where from.after $10000 and 3 months off the road didn't want to go any further and scrapped the car.
I feel that the engine was damaged at the first breakdown although compression tests came back ok. And the high crankcase pressure caused the initial problem with the failed turbo old Oli seals and blew out at the weakest point.
I'd love to know what is in the oil separator cover in th valley .is there a one way valve or something in there allowing flow only one way that could fail.pcv looks like it could only fail open very difficult to fail closed

Not much in the plastic "oil seperator" which doesn't do a very good job anyway, just some steel wool type mesh and a couple of plates which cause a direction change in air flow presumably to assist in separating the oil from the air.
Your vehicle did a lot better than mine which I think I'm about to scrap at 220,000km great vehicle when they are running but very bad when the engine fails.