DIY: Replace Valve Cover Gaskets
06-23-2013, 04:19 PM
#41
I suppose it's possible that the oil pooling around the plug itself could smell, but the coil pack is well sealed to the valve cover, and I would have thought that would have bottled up any smell. I cleaned up the limited amount of oily grime that has gotten on the engine block, so we'll see if that has solved the issue.
07-14-2013, 02:43 PM
#44
Thanks for your DIY, OP. I have a couple of refinements to offer:
Instead of loosening the coolant tube under the throttle body first, you can initially unclamp that hose above the driver's side manifold and empty the manifold/throttle body passages first at the side of the engine. You can catch the coolant more easily there, and not a drop of coolant will be released when you then free the manifold from that hose at the manifold.
Instead of loosening the coolant tube under the throttle body first, you can initially unclamp that hose above the driver's side manifold and empty the manifold/throttle body passages first at the side of the engine. You can catch the coolant more easily there, and not a drop of coolant will be released when you then free the manifold from that hose at the manifold.
Did you ever find out what was making that oil smell by the way? My car makes an oily fumy smell inside the car, and I have seen visible smoke from the hood the day after I changed the spark plugs. I had a spark plug tube full of oil on #'s 5, 4 and 6. I suspect the oil is burning on the metal spark plug tube seal, and vaporizing/smoking from there, as there are no visible leaks on the actual valve cover gaskets.
07-14-2013, 06:19 PM
#46
An update prompted by McArther's PM to me asking about the coolant hoses:
I found the AC leak; it was a hole in the condenser. I ordered a new condenser; ordered the Motordyne Iso Copper plenum spacer kit and a JWT Pop charger.
I drained the coolant system (not looking forward to chasing down air pockets), and put the new condenser in. I put the spacer on and I'm bolting down the intake now. After that, the POP charger. Once that's done, I'll probably have to do the throttle body relearn procedure because I unplugged the throttle body before I disconnected the battery (and I also thoroughly cleaned it, which required moving the butterfly valve).
I glass-beaded and SharkHyde'd the intake manifold, and dusted the throttle body with aluminum paint and a clear coat.
I'll have to recharge the cooling system and see if that works, but I can't do that until the engine is up and running.
It all looks damned good now, so I hope it runs as good as it looks!
I found the AC leak; it was a hole in the condenser. I ordered a new condenser; ordered the Motordyne Iso Copper plenum spacer kit and a JWT Pop charger.
I drained the coolant system (not looking forward to chasing down air pockets), and put the new condenser in. I put the spacer on and I'm bolting down the intake now. After that, the POP charger. Once that's done, I'll probably have to do the throttle body relearn procedure because I unplugged the throttle body before I disconnected the battery (and I also thoroughly cleaned it, which required moving the butterfly valve).
I glass-beaded and SharkHyde'd the intake manifold, and dusted the throttle body with aluminum paint and a clear coat.
I'll have to recharge the cooling system and see if that works, but I can't do that until the engine is up and running.
It all looks damned good now, so I hope it runs as good as it looks!
07-16-2013, 01:28 PM
#48
Almost done, taking my time with this. New valve covers are on. Hopefully no leaks. Here's my advice:
1. Make sure you have a torque wrench that can read 74 inch pounds... that's the correct torque for the valve covers (mine only reads 120 inch pounds, so I had to borrow one in the middle).
2. The only hoses I had to disconnect were the ones attached to the upper plenum, no coolant leaked out (until I squeezed a lower hose while thinking about disconnecting more hoses, and it shot some fluid out the top... lol)
3. Place a VERY THIN line of RTV between the gasket and the cover, then scoop out the excess with a cutip; do this about 25 minutes before you plan on installing it so it has time to set (Haynes: "position the gasket inside the cover and allow the sealant to set up so the gasket adheres to the cover. If the sealant isn't allowed to set, the gasket may fall out of the cover as it's installed on the engine"
4. Haynes: "Apply a thin coat of RTV sealant to the cover groove and to the corners on the front camshaft journal cap" (That's the corners where the valve cover goes up around the metal "hill" at the front of each valve cover) I made a sort of "L" shape with grey RTV, but used very little... I would use more if I did it again though, the factory RTV at those locations was gobbed on... so hopefully I used enough.
1. Make sure you have a torque wrench that can read 74 inch pounds... that's the correct torque for the valve covers (mine only reads 120 inch pounds, so I had to borrow one in the middle).
2. The only hoses I had to disconnect were the ones attached to the upper plenum, no coolant leaked out (until I squeezed a lower hose while thinking about disconnecting more hoses, and it shot some fluid out the top... lol)
3. Place a VERY THIN line of RTV between the gasket and the cover, then scoop out the excess with a cutip; do this about 25 minutes before you plan on installing it so it has time to set (Haynes: "position the gasket inside the cover and allow the sealant to set up so the gasket adheres to the cover. If the sealant isn't allowed to set, the gasket may fall out of the cover as it's installed on the engine"
4. Haynes: "Apply a thin coat of RTV sealant to the cover groove and to the corners on the front camshaft journal cap" (That's the corners where the valve cover goes up around the metal "hill" at the front of each valve cover) I made a sort of "L" shape with grey RTV, but used very little... I would use more if I did it again though, the factory RTV at those locations was gobbed on... so hopefully I used enough.
Last edited by mcarther101; 07-16-2013 at 08:19 PM.
07-18-2013, 05:20 AM
#49
Total success: the form-a-gasket trick is doing its job. I would recommend this over the trouble of replacing spark plug tube seals (as long as your valve covers aren't leaking).
The plenum spacer and POP charger seem to have given me slightly more power, and a throatier growl at higher RPMs. Everything is running great, and the oil smell is gone - and my AC is working again (which is great, because it's been hot as Hades here this week).
The plenum spacer and POP charger seem to have given me slightly more power, and a throatier growl at higher RPMs. Everything is running great, and the oil smell is gone - and my AC is working again (which is great, because it's been hot as Hades here this week).
07-25-2013, 08:33 PM
#53
First, I had to soak up the oil pooling in the recess between the seal/valve cover and the metal plug tube. I used paper towel (but I bet you could use a vacuum, and speed up the process). Once it was no longer saturated, I ran paper towel folded in a point to start to dry it out, and at last pass used paper towel with some carb cleaner (which acted as a degreaser).
Then, I used my finger with the gasket maker and forced it into the recess, and once it would no longer take any more, lightly ran my finger around the seam to seal off the tube to the cover. Viola! No more oil leak!
I said this before, but let me reiterate: the design of this engine's valve covers (this is a French engine, from Renault IIRC - this according to Tony from Motordyne - something I did not know) is stupid. It would have been EASY for the spark plug tubes to be made just a bit LONGER so that the COIL PACK would seal to the tube DIRECTLY, negating the need for the valve cover seals to keep oil out of the spark plug well.
08-04-2013, 05:28 PM
#54
Doing this next weekend thanks Op for perfect instructions!!! I had a question is there a separate gasket for the spark plug tubes? The gasket that's on now is pinched there SO IT LEAKS! I will post pics of the mess I found tomorrow..... Thanks nissan
08-05-2013, 04:34 AM
#58
I saw this gasket set with what looks like the O-rings for the head cover.
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Here is also the pics I took yesterday
Here is a diagram of the gaping of each plug in mm.
Stock is 1.1 and these were anywhere from 1.5mm - 2mm.
I re-gaped emto aprx 1.1-1.2 and the car runs so much better. ( ordering new plugs today since these are stupid worn. The weird part is this engine was changed by nissan (by previous owner) at 50k, now I have 70k, how dafuq are these sparkplugs this gaped out?
Last edited by Z33Garage; 08-05-2013 at 04:37 AM.
