OK so this has got to be either really bad coincidence.... or related. I have another post going on from yesterday, about body damage received from a hit and run side swipe job..


Well today, after driving for an hour on the highway, i was at a red light and saw some smoke near me... assumed it was from a clunker that pulled up next to me. When I parked few minutes later, I noticed it was from my car!!!!

Used a flash light under neath, and low and behold the bulk of the under body from the middle or so to the back is covered in oil spray and a drip w/ small puddles forming on the ground in multiple places.

Seemed like engine oil, but couldn't tell how dark it was cause it was too dark out. I checked the dip stick, seemed like it was OK on oil, and it was still brand new and not burned, but ill know for sure tomorrow after the oil settles to the bottom of the pan.

My questions are...

1. if it was an engine oil leak, at what point does the oil light come on??? When the engine is pretty much f***ed, or before it gets unsafe? It did not come on for me... and I'm worried cause I was doing 80-90 for an hour before ...

2. The temp gauge read fine the whole time.. I assume its for the engine temp or the coolant... which too would get hot if its overheating from lack of oil?


3. How can I tell what fluid it is? I assume the tranny fluid is purple, coolant green, but what color is the transfer case oil or any of the AWD components?

4. I am calling Infiniti roadside assistance tomorrow for a tow... how do I get this car on top of a flatbed without turning on the engine? Can I put AWD cars in neutral and have them move it that way? Or does the engine have to be on?


5. Could this be related in anyway to being side swiped yesterday?
https://g35driver.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6388411#post6388411


Thx for any and all responses.... my car has 53k on it, did all my maintenance, and its a 08 g35x.

 

some quick thoughts off the top of my head.

 

oops, almost forgot. They can winch the car up onto a flatbed without starting it if they have to, but seriously, if you decide to go ahead and tow, I'd just start for the few moments it would take to drive it onto the truck.

 

You still can start the car and drive it to the top of the flatbed. My old 03 coupe had small gasket leak and i drove it to the dealer to trade it in .

My opinion about the small leak that your experiencing maybe a loose gasket. Tell them to check all gaskets and any hoses. GOOD LUCK bro.

 

Funny thing.. checked this morning, the car is still leaking in several places, but its still full of engine oil.....

This is a long shot, but I'm thinking maybe the dealer overfilled on engine oil and after I drove it for an hour on the road at 80-90mph, maybe the oil pressures were too great and it leaked????

Anyone know what the symptoms of a over filled engine is?

 

smoke out the **** ?

 

Omg.... The service rep just called and left a voicemail stating that in the last service somebody did over fill the transmission... wtf? The fluid wasn't purple.. it looked like engine oil.....

 

Was it serviced at the dealer? and was it documented how many quarts of tranny fluid they put in?

 

Overfilling the crankcase with oil will not raise your oil pressure. If you fill it high enough though, you will froth your oil into a foam from the blender action of the crank splashing in the oil.

 

Yep it was the dealer.... I think he meant to say engine and not tranny.

Vq, I know about the foam action from some researching online, and if I understand correctly it causes the opposite effect of low oil pressure? Am I right?

What possible long term damages could I get from driving around 2000 miles on over filled engine? I don't even know what to do cause I'm so livid, and I am sure these idiots will waive it off as saying its not a big deal... I am afraid of long term damages.

 

Oh and if it was the tranny, 25k since I flushed it..what kinda damage am I looking there?.

 

Yes, basically, frothed oil is not pure liquid oil, so it compresses and, in doing so, does not build and hold pressure like a pure fluid would. Additionally, it does not fill all voids with the same oil film that it otherwise would have, potentially leaving a void in lubrication of critical bearing surfaces.

I am pretty sure if they did this to your engine oil, you would have notices something VERY WRONG with the oil you saw on the dipstick. If this were happening in the crankcase to the extent that would cause damage, I would expect milky, thick, frothy goo on the dipstick. It didn't sound like you observed anything like that.


I'm really not too sure on that. I have never seen it, but I have heard that it can cause extra pressure which can push past seals and valves. Or that it can froth up as well, blow back up through the dipstick tube, spill down onto the engine and exhaust, and if bad enough . .. can catch fire (since it IS combustible). I would expect that your tranny would have felt different if it were being damaged though; like shifting severely, or too slowly, or shuttering, or something.

Your car will most likely be fine after all this, but nonetheless, if I were in your shoes, I'd want a detailed explanation in writing from the dealership that did the errant service which caused this issue (NOT some cryptic shop invoice vaguely glossing over the issue) which would include what caused the error, what specifically caused the symptoms you experienced(ie. what physically caused it to leak, and where did it leak from and why), what diagnostic were done to ensure there was no residual damage, what repair was performed to rectify the issue). Then, if anything should arise in the future, you have something solid to refer back to. I's sure they will protest loudly, but if you persist and even mention corporate customer support involvement, they may relent.

Hopefully, this will all blow over with no lasting effects, but if it should surface later, you'll want documentation as to what specifically occurred. It's just basic human nature for memories and invoice interpretations to become fuzzy with time.

 

Luckily I observed no difference in engine oil lastnight when I checked the stick.... so atleast u put my mind at ease... as for the tranny, I'm shitting a brick since I had no way of checking, since Infiniti was stupid with the dipstick design and made it not serviceable.


Funny thing is, I did not notice anything different in either engine or tranny till the leak...

 

It is entirely possible that no lasting damage was done; just a huge nuisance mess. Let's hope!

 

I'm worried about blown seals and gaskets.....if this bites me in the *** after my 100k warranty, I'm done for...