Nissan Repair: Oil Leak, nissan altima gxe, nissan altima

Question
My daughter has a '95 Nissan Altima GXE that has an oil leak coming from the lower timing chain cover just off the left side. I pulled the passenger side front wheel and started the engine to determine oil leak location.  Can I remove lower cover only and replace the gaskets?  If so, what are the steps?  And if not, what would be the steps to repair the oil leak?  Would some type of sealer work?  Thanks for you time.

Vern

Answer
Vern,

The correct way to reseal the cover is to remove both the upper first and then the lower one.  It is a pain using the sealer but you could attempt to remove the lower one and give it a try.  If the leak is only in one spot and small I have seen them injected after a good cleaning of the area with a scotchbrite and carburetor cleaner.  Then clip the end off the sealer nozzle at the top where there is a small hole and then you can control the flow of sensor safe RTV sealer.  But, if you are going to keep the car or your daughter is not living close it is best to tear it down and reseal the whole thing to be sure it seals properly.  Remember that if the car has something like 100K miles on it the blowby is addding to the problem of leakage since the crankcase is being pressurized by the it.