My 2002 Maxima has been losing oil but we can't find where. On startup in the morning there is a small puff of white smoke with no odor other than that nothing. Our mechanic will not dig into the engine so we are looking for help.

 

you may have two problems...

1. the white smoke could be a sign of a leaking head gasket. When radiator coolant gets mixes with the oil, the result is white smoke. Look at the oil on your dipstick...it should be clear to dark brown. If is is a cream white, then you may have a head gasket leak.

2. small amounts of oil can leak from a lot of places without much notice...oil filter, real oil pan seal, valve cover gaskets. The best thing is to look under the engine area for wet oily spots. How often in miles after an oil change do you add a quart of oil? How many miles on the car?

 

Same thing is happening to my max that i baught 2 days ago...it wasnt leaking in nj....i towed it back using AAA, car was on the flat bed, going through new york there were a lot of bumps and i saw my baby shaking like a **** on the back of the tow truck....parked it in the garage there were no visible leaks, only from ac...but today i saw a damp spot on the front right corner...touched it and there it was...few drips of oil, not a big puddle....but im taking it for inspection and to check that out this week....could the leaking be from the turbulance while the car was shaking on the flat bed tow truck through new york city?????