Oil leak at oil cooler

Discuss (and cuss) the Nissan LD-series OHC Six diesel engine, popularly available in the US in 1981-83 Datsun/Nissan Maxima Sedans & Wagons.

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oldmax82
Posts: 16
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Olympia, WA

Oil leak at oil cooler

#1

Post by oldmax82 »

Hello all:

I have a significant oil leak at the fitting above the spin on oil filter. I think this is an oil cooler although I have not seen an oil cooler described on the LD28. This little gusher is coming from under a black fitting on top of the oil cooler. Does anyone have any idea on how to correct this problem? I don't have an FSM. This all happened over a short period of time.

I have an 82 maxima station wagon with automatic trans.

Thanks for the help,
Terry
82 Maxima diesel wagon
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asavage
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#2

Post by asavage »

Image

Is it this line? If so, it's supposed to be for 1983 only, but maybe you have a very late '82. (click on any image for larger)

Or maybe you have something in place of the upper cooler housing bolt?

Image

Took some pics of my "spare" 1982 engine:

Image

Image
Last edited by asavage 17 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
oldmax82
Posts: 16
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Olympia, WA

#3

Post by oldmax82 »

Al:

Thanks for the reply. Your pictures are right on and my leak is coming from the seam on the upper cooler unit. The specific location is in the picture which you labeled as "possibly an O ring". There is a 12 mm bolt head on top of this unit and I suppose I need to remove the top of the unit and find or fabricate a replacement gasket or O ring. Is this piece shown in your FSM? I would like to get an idea of the dimensions.

I really need to buy you a beer or 12 the next time I am in Port Townsend.

Terry
82 Maxima diesel wagon
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asavage
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#4

Post by asavage »

This is the only real pic of the oil cooler in the 1982 FSM (click on image for larger):

Image

I'll look at the Parts Catalogue tonight.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
oldmax82
Posts: 16
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Olympia, WA

#5

Post by oldmax82 »

Al:

Thanks for the schematic of the oil cooler. This is the problem part. I have no sign of water in my oil so the heat exchanger is intact and I'm dealing with strictly an oil side issue. I suppose the pressure relief valve could be defective but I'm hoping for an o-ring fix. Thanks for looking to see if your FSM shows an o-ring or gasket.

If there is no seal to repair and I have to replace the whole unit that could be a problem as it is doubtful they are still around anywhere. If I were to remove the unit it would be easy to attach the water inlet and outlet but going around the oil side of the cooler would present a challenge for me.

Thanks for your help.
Terry
82 Maxima diesel wagon
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asavage
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#6

Post by asavage »

Here's the entirety of what the Parts Catalogue has (click on image for larger):

Image

Image

It looks like you put a big socket on the on the top, and take it off to replace the o-ring. Unfortunately, it also looks to me like you'll have to remove a few things to gain access enough to do that.

If you don't source the o-ring from Nissan (21312-V0700, $6.67 + $10 shipping!), let me know the exact size you use.

From the eariler pic in the FSM, I'd have guessed that that o-ring seals coolant, not oil.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
oldmax82
Posts: 16
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Olympia, WA

#7

Post by oldmax82 »

Al:

Thanks for the diagram and part numbers. I will pull the top off of the oil cooler tomorrow and see if I can find a replacement o-ring locally. I'll let you know what happens.

Terry
82 Maxima diesel wagon
oldmax82
Posts: 16
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Olympia, WA

#8

Post by oldmax82 »

Al:

It was easy to remove the top of the oil cooler. Just use a 12 mm wrench to take off the cover. The cover has a groove for an o-ring. I checked with NAPA and Car Quest but they did not have anything. The Nissan dealership in Olympia could order it for me but it would cost $15 and take about 10 days.

I checked at Parts Plus and they had something which worked fine. It is an OIL ADAPTER 0-RING KIT. Part # MTM 82560. $3.49 The brand name is "HELP!" and it says it is for GM/Jeep/Chrysler

The kit has 15 o-rings and gaskets and one is a 2 3/8 inch ID o-ring 1/8 inch wide which was a excellent fit. No more leak.

Thanks for the help.
Terry
82 Maxima diesel wagon
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asavage
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#9

Post by asavage »

oldmax82 wrote:Part # MTM [MotorMite] 82560. $3.49 The brand name is "HELP!" and it says it is for GM/Jeep/Chrysler

The kit has 15 o-rings and gaskets and one is a 2 3/8 inch ID o-ring 1/8 inch wide which was a excellent fit. No more leak.
Great!

Notice that the Parts Catalogue doesn't even list that bolt. And the ref. 21 part looks like it's externally threaded, so I thought that the whole top would have to spin off it. Sounds like you found it's a lot easier than it looked :)
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
oldmax82
Posts: 16
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Olympia, WA

#10

Post by oldmax82 »

Al:

Yes, the bolt is part of the cover so the diagram is a bit misleading. The whole cover just spins off revealing the oil cooler. It is easier than changing the oil filter.

Terry
82 Maxima diesel wagon
glenlloyd
Posts: 640
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Des Moines, Iowa

#11

Post by glenlloyd »

Glad to hear that the off-the-shelf kit worked. VW uses a similar setup for their oil coolers, the ID of their o-ring is 2 3/8" but it's more like 3/16" thick. It is however, a more widely available option than going the Nissan route. The part # I have in front of me is 038 117 070 A.

sa
97 Jetta TDI, 86 VW Golf D
89 VW Fox diesel, 92 MB 300SD W140

gir - won't the sploding hurt?
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retired
Posts: 10
Joined: 15 years ago
Location: Greenville, NC

Great reference

#12

Post by retired »

I'm glad I found this forum! The information here has helped me keep my '83 Maxima alive. The detail of the oil cooler made fixing it a snap. Thanks! :-)
1982 Datsun Maxima wagon LD28 [one owner; lost to rust in 2002]
1983 Datsun/Nissan Maxima sedan LD28 252139 miles in daily use again; one owner.
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