I had my local Infiniti dealership complete a routine maintenance procedure on my 2003 5AT G35s today, during the course of which they discovered very small amounts of engine oil around two spark plugs. My car has just over 100,000 miles of spirited street driving, now. There've been no engine mods done, unless you consider a Stillen HAI an engine mod. As far as I know, the valve covers have never been off of the car.

They concluded the valve cover gaskets are beginning to fail, and both should soon be replaced. They estimated the replacement cost at $990 for both sides. I believe they would have pressed me hard to go ahead and have the gaskets replaced today, but they did not have any valve cover gaskets in-stock, so... "It can wait."

Do you agree with their diagnosis?

Do you agree $990 is highway robbery?

Please kindly advise/confirm. Thanks as always.

 

That is rediculous!!! I find it hard to believe they quoted that price to you with a straight face!!! The only hard part would be to get to your valve covers. I have never done it on this engine. But i know it's pretty easy to remove the upper and lower plenum, and the accociated clutter above the valve covers should be able to be unbolted and pushed to one side enough to remove your valve covers, and put on new gaskets. Are you sure he didn't mean head gaskets?? Then $900 wouldn't be so bad. Sorry i'm not much help. But if you are not mechanically inclined, find a buddy that is, buy him a case of beer, and take an evening to do this. Good luck!

 

P.S. Make sure you use a torque wrench, and the proper tourque when putting the valve covers back on!

 

Theres been some cases where the screws were loose----But 100,000, its about due for sure, DIY its no big deal but takes a little time. Damn Thieves !!!!!!!! If I recall --the gaskets are a little pricey though----I just chked --I was wrong, 10-15.00 each

 

Gotta love nissan for great customer support.... NOT!!!!

 

It should take maybe 4-6 hours with no experince. If you are adept at working on cars some what i would say 2-3 hours at the most with beer breaks.

 

I am pretty good/knowledgable about home repairs, but I only know enough to make myself dangerous at car repair. I do not have facilities, tools, or the knowledge to tackle this kind of thing with confidence. If I'd goof and render my car undriveable, I'd be in a world of hurt.

So, while they have the top off the engine, I'm wondering if I could piggy-back something else, another installation or something, that could help make the entire exercise a better value. If I added related procedures, I feel confident I can get them to do that stuff with no additional robbery... I mean charges.

Take a plenum spacer, for example. When they put everything back together, they might as well put one of those on there for me, right? Any other ideas?

Thanks.

 

Well ---u mite be due for a spark plug change--thats bout it as far as "right there" but a spacer would be the next closest, so u might be able to work something out

 

here are the oem part numbers

132708J102- right side
132708J112- left side

the labor should cost you about 3-4 hours.

how many hours labor where they trying ot charge you????
i would find a buddy or another shop and get it done for the right price.

 

This happened to my old 1999 Maxima.

The fix: re-torque the valve cover bolts to the proper spec. After 90,000 miles, they had backed off soon. And that was the dealer recommendation. This was not me trying to avoid a bill.

I say check the torque and tighten they a little. If the issue does not go away, then maybe replace the gaskets.

 

I mentioned that several threads back. But the deal is this------- The bolts dont back off so much as the gasket gets dried and brittle and shrinks. Shinking relieves the pressure on the bolts, that causes them to get loose and back out.

Retorquing is a guick fix that wont last long, the gasket is loosing its ability to seal.

BTW---I have used that quick fix many times when the bolts are easy to get to, but with the intention and relization that it was time to regasket

 

I just changed my plugs and found the same thing. The middle pass side plug had a good amount of oil on it. The coil shaft had some spashing of oil on it too and the plug was fairly saturated. The pass side front (closest to hood) had a slight amount of oil. the rear pass side was dry as can be and so was the whole drivers side.


? is how long can i drive in this current condition. I'm at my parents about 4 hrs from home.

im assuming its been like this for a while, so i think it'll be fine.

2nd ? is whats a fair price for a shop/dealer to fix the valve cover gasket? after doing some reading about others situations, i think thats where the leak is from.

Other info...Idle seems to be ever so slightly rough with new platinum plugs up to about 2k rpms. why?

Mods...intake, test pipes, cat back.

Please help. thanks

 

if there is oil in the spark plug shafts, then the seals on the valve covers have gone bad. I am not talking about the valve cover gasket; I am talking about the round rubber seals that are molded into the valve covers. Unfortunately, our valve covers do not have replacable seals for the spark plug shafts. YOU HAVE TO BUY NEW VALVE COVERS!!! considering that each valve cover is about $250 or more from the dealer, you are looking at ove $500 in parts alone.

you can change the valve covers without too much difficulty. I painted my valve covers and swapped then about a month ago. it took me a few hours to complete the job.

 

My maintenance duty this weekend includes changing my VCG's, so I will post pics and and related dramatics.

Stay 'tuned'...

 

The most likely evidence is an oil leak which can run on to the manifold creating smoke, depending on how bad it is. If the gaskets are bad the covers can't be tightened down suficiently to create a oil tight seal.
____________________________________________________________ _________
Best Medicine for Acne Scars
First time home buyers tax credit