2005 G35 with 205K miles ...cylinder 4 had LOTS of oil in the tube....time for valve covers and gaskets....but do I go with OEM or is aftermarket fine?

Whilst I'm in there I'll do the injectors that I bought and never put on...and I guess the Knock Sensor too.

I wish we could replace the covers without removing the plenum

 

Stick with OEM. Some aftermarket VC's have been known to have issues and it is not worth the headache that can come from saving a little bit of money.

NOW.. another option, if you are adventurous, is to make the tube seals serviceable yourself.

You would have to initially pull your valve covers and carefully cut the old seals out with a holesaw. From that point on you would simply pop the seals out anytime you had to replace them and pop the new ones in. I went a little further with this and placed a bead of hi-temp RTV around the inner diameter of the seal to ensure it was tight on reinstall. I placed the covers back on, let it cure for a day and was good to go. I am currently at 3 years with not a drop of oil in the wells, though I will admit the care has not been daily driven in a year, only around town once in a while. If the time comes where mine need to be changed I won't have to be reamed by the dealer or anywhere else. I can simply order replacement seals and a new outer VC gasket and be good to go. I've always hated that Nisan made it where you had to change the whole VC just to change seals.

R&D makes a kit to replace the seals, although you can probably source the seals for less elsewhere. I believe you can purchase the seals from the similar year Nissan Altima. Nissan supposedly made their VC's serviceable. I'll let you know for sure if the time ever comes that I need to replace mine.

http://www.rndfactory.com/Web/NISSAN-vc%20kit.html#

If you do prefer to keep things simple and just replace the covers, Z1 has an options available that is marginally cheaper than going through Nissan, but with quality fit. Courtesyparts.com currently lists the covers for about $223 a piece. Z1 has them for about $185 each, although I am not sure they come with the valve cover gaskets too.

https://www.z1motorsports.com/cylind...uvrbnichlqq2p3

EDIT: I did not realize that Z1 has upped the price of their covers (link found above). They now list them for around $214.

 

woohoo...going to go with Option 2 from R&D

 

Not sure how fast you are going to be doing this, but if you can give me until tonight I will try to source the DIYish thread on here for the cutting and what not. I'm on my phone and half asleep so it's not happening right now lol

 

I have read that some aftermarket covers are warped and don't seal properly.
If it was me I'd grab 1-min rtv permatex and redo the gaskets with that and reuse the old covers

 

Not in a hurry, I shall wait for your response

 

Here is the direct link to the video I used. The process is extremely simple, just be sure to take your time. If you don't have the right tools then go pick them up. I guarantee it will be cheaper in the long run to have what you need and do it correctly.


All in all it took me about an hour. That was with disruptions and just taking my time. Future replacements, if necessary, will be much quicker than that.

 

Sorry for the mild necro, but I'm wondering if you ever got the seals from RND. I ordered from them a little under 2 weeks ago, and exchanged emails. He said they would be most likely shipped out this past monday, and has since then stopped replying to my emails. His email name is "Edward Chu" and his phone number on the site is dead, linked to some other business nearby in Chino, CA. I'd really like to believe that the seals are still coming, but my doubts strengthen with each day with no response. I'm probably going to open a dispute in a few days.

 

Same thing happened to me a couple years back. I ordered the R&D kit. I immediately got a shipping notification that a label was created. Weeks went by and there was no movement that it had been picked up by the carrier. No email response. Phone number was disconnected. A month later, I had to open a PayPal dispute to get a refund. That was even a little frustrating because they would not initially refund me since it showed the item shipped. I had to point out it hadn't and go back and forth with them, but it eventually resolved.

Bought some OEM and all is good.

 

My experience with R&D was positive but it was a VERY long time ago. Because of the current status of the world I wouldn't expect stuff to ship fast, but if there is no communication I'd file a claim.

 

For those who've gone with aftermarket valve covers, has it lasted you guys up till this day? Any leaks reoccuring again yet?

 

Don't cheap out on valve covers. Buy once cry once.