D40 cabin oil smell

Hi all,

I am hoping people have had this same issue to shed some light. I have a D40 YD25 with 69K on it. The problem started when nissan did the 40K major service (all oils) and hasnt been the same since. When i picked it up had very bad gearoil type smell entering the cab which was very bad (intoxicating) for the first week. I took it back and they said nothing wrong cant find it or smell it. It is a strange smell, here are the details:

1. The smell doesnt occur from cold, the vehicle needs to be driven for a good 1/2 hr before you can notice it.
2. The smell stays out of the cabin if you have the window up and AC on fresh.
3. The smell comes in the cabin if the window is down, the AC on recirc.
4. The stink will be bad but when you stop to smell around the vehicle to pinpoint it is gone so i figure it is only occurring under load or boost.
5. I have oil residue leak coming from throttle body but think that is seperate issue and doesnt smell like the gases entering the cabin.
6. I have checked all breathers, gearbox and diff and gearbox boots/seals and they are okay

I have seen some other complaints along the same issue but no concrete rememdies, nissan wont help but this is gone on too long and i cant open the window when driving.

Any help appreciated

Thanks

If it's an auto, the only place you have gearbox-type oil is in the differentials. Auto transmission fluid smells different. Grab the dipsticks and take a whiff so you can be sure.

I wonder if they just left some oil on the front diff and when it gets warm, you get the smell? The front diff is constantly in motion in the D40. I'd slide underneath and take a squiz.

Sorry, i should have given some more detail

1. Vehicle is 6 speed manual and no DPF
2. There are visible no oil leaks from engine, gearbox, transfer or diffs
3. The smell doesnt occur at idle even if it has been very bad previously, as soon as you pull over it has gone and then when you take off again it comes back after a few minutes.
3. I have throughly cleaned everywhere underneath and have been monitoring it very closely for about 5K now for possibilties other than vapour

The oily smell I am sure is not a burnt or burning oil smell, it appears to be a vapour and has that sickly sweet pungunt smell that comes with gearoil. As it takes a long time to become apparent it could be realted to heat and or engine load.

Thanks

What about the diff breathers?

Old.Tony said:

What about the diff breathers?

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As above..





.

Actually, thanks for bumping this one up, I'd forgotten about something. One of the bloody things - can't remember if it's the front diff or the manual gearbox - has its breather hose up against the firewall and sometimes it's too close to the cabin air intake. If one of the service technicians was following strict procedures, it's possible that this was placed in the wrong spot.

Old.Tony said:

Actually, thanks for bumping this one up, I'd forgotten about something. One of the bloody things - can't remember if it's the front diff or the manual gearbox - has its breather hose up against the firewall and sometimes it's too close to the cabin air intake. If one of the service technicians was following strict procedures, it's possible that this was placed in the wrong spot.

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that was my reasoning for agreeing with your previous comment re the breathers.
D22's have them in the engine bay also.

Old.Tony said:

Actually, thanks for bumping this one up, I'd forgotten about something. One of the bloody things - can't remember if it's the front diff or the manual gearbox - has its breather hose up against the firewall and sometimes it's too close to the cabin air intake. If one of the service technicians was following strict procedures, it's possible that this was placed in the wrong spot.

Click to expand...

The factory front breather on a D40 'plugs' onto a plastic probe adjacent the rear side of the air box.

Like i said in the orginal post, i have checked the breathers, they are in the correct location and unblocked, working fine. There are 3 breathers from the transmission area, one the gearbox, one the transfer and one from the solenoid hi/low enclosure. The front diff comes up next to the ABS into a U-bend

Are you suggesting they are the source of the smell or broken or what?

Yes, and that the emission from those is entering the cabin air intake.

When I had my transfer case seal replaced under warranty earlier this year I had a gear oil smell you describe as well, it kind of went away after about a couple of weeks but at the time didn't worry too much about it. Not sure if this is where the source of the smell came from but when I was installing my UHF I had the centre console out and noticed 2 x decent threaded holes venting straight to the underside of the car most probably some sort of mounts in a different model.
I sealed up with silicone as air/smells/water could enter the cabin from here, has anybody else noticed this?
So maybe when they did my seal and changed the oils the smell was entering through here.

I have the same smell in my 08 stx. I thought someone had spilled diff oil on the carpet. Igot pulled up for a breath test a few weeks ago and the policeman even asked "what is that funny smell in the car", on a hot day it can be quite sickening. I will check the breather hoses and the holes under the console as mentioned, hopefully that will fix it

hi there guys i have that same oil smell in the cabin of my d40 i have looked every where.
is there anyone who has fixed this problem ? with out just sealing up the cabin?

My mate,s STX had the same problem with the smell in his, and drove him crazy,, we pulled the console out and the rubber boot at the base of the gearstick that is attached to the gearbox where the gearstick sits in was split in half,,,, from what we could gather it seemed that it had split due to the heat over time and became brittle and with constant gear changing over time that it split causing the smell to enter the cabin,,,, Changed the boot and smell was no longer there,,, Hope this helps

Can anyone confirm weather these problems started after the 40K service?

I have been speaking with a diesel fitter who works mining and he said that some of the HP oils are extremely nausious to smell and that the different brand oil from the oil change at the 40K service could be part of the problem/s as the smell only occurs after long drives. Unfortunately i cant find my receipt from the 40K service to see what the local Nissan service centre used in the diff and gearbox.

The boot on top of the gearbox on mine is is good order, sealed and not perished which takes me back to the breather exhaust location. Hopefully the boot fixes your problems...let me know if it doesnt

Yeah mine has it too. 2007 D40 STX, Has had it for sometime too probably since about 50,000km now has 122,000km. I have had the gearbox boot replaced under the console several times makes no difference, I too thought someone must have got in mine with oily boots and it got into my floormats. I now constantly have air fresheners in the car to dull the smell. If its left out on a hot day it nearly makes you spew........Dealer has no other ideas what it could be.

Hey Badbowie, can you give us some more specifics....

Does the smell only happen whilst your driving, you mentioned if you leave it out on a hot day it stinks? Do you get the smell come in through the window or aircon? Does it always smell or take a while to stink up after driving? Any of the same symtoms as in the orginal post?

You would have had gearoils and changed at the 80K service, any worse or better since then? Are you auto or manual?

Soryy about the 100 questions but just trying to narrow this down further

crowe said:

Can anyone confirm weather these problems started after the 40K service?

I have been speaking with a diesel fitter who works mining and he said that some of the HP oils are extremely nausious to smell and that the different brand oil from the oil change at the 40K service could be part of the problem/s as the smell only occurs after long drives. Unfortunately i cant find my receipt from the 40K service to see what the local Nissan service centre used in the diff and gearbox.

The boot on top of the gearbox on mine is is good order, sealed and not perished which takes me back to the breather exhaust location. Hopefully the boot fixes your problems...let me know if it doesnt

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I had my transfer case worked on before my 40K service by Nissan at about 37K, that's when I first noticed the smell, a few months later I had my local mechanic do the 40K serice and had no smells after that.

crowe said:

Hey Badbowie, can you give us some more specifics....

Does the smell only happen whilst your driving, you mentioned if you leave it out on a hot day it stinks? Do you get the smell come in through the window or aircon? Does it always smell or take a while to stink up after driving? Any of the same symtoms as in the orginal post?

You would have had gearoils and changed at the 80K service, any worse or better since then? Are you auto or manual?

Soryy about the 100 questions but just trying to narrow this down further

Click to expand...

Hey no probs it would be great to try to sort out.

I don't get any smell whilst driving the car, I always drive with the windows up and the Air Con on and on Recirculation .
I'm not sure where the smell is coming from I don't think the air con or in the window. Its getting in somewhere else, Yes hot days are real bad if its out in the sun.
Every night it gets left in the garage after a 60km drive home it gets left windows up but car unlocked. When I open the garage door in the morning it nearly knocks you over the whole garage smells, sometimes i think its around the front right that smells the worst but thet may be because I walk past it every morning I cannot find any leaks. Open the car door and I get greeted with the smell again.
No it doesn't always smell it takes a couple of hours of being parked but once parked for a while yes it always smells.
Made no difference when all the oils got changed both the dealer and I were hoping it would.........
I think the diff oils just got changed again at the 120,000km service will have to check though.
I did have a very bad leak from my transfer case which took a while to get sorted I thought that may have contributed but its been fixed and cleaned up for sometime and transfer case oil shouldn't smell like gear oil unless the gearbox is leaking into it.
Mine is a manual.
I just got a new air freshener for christmas apple scent hahaha

I'll read your original post again and see it any of the issues are the same.

I had this smell also after the 40000k service & found mention on a forum (maybe this one, bit of a forum tart at times) of 2 gearbox seals on top of gearbox that may need reseating. Took copy of post to dealer who had a look & fixed the smell. Reckoned a seal was in fact dislodged at the service. Had similar experience after 80000k service but smell faded quickly so figured spillage.
The smell is definately gearbox oil & only occurs when nav hot. Always seemed worse with window slightly down. This apparently creates vacuum which draws smell in. Frustrating as all hell but does appear to be a servicing issue.