Well after finding oil on one of my plugs awhile back I started to plan on changing the tube seals. After reading alot of posts and digging through so many seals I couldnt find one that would match the OE seal. Then my valve covers started leaking on the outside and it was time finally to make my move. I work in a Nissan dealership parts dept as a parts consultant and went through our catalog to find a suitable cover to take some seals out of.

I went with some 03 Altima 3.5 covers since theyre less expensive. I have a feeling this is what R&D/L-Fab does when they rebuild the Z covers. I pulled off the baffles on the new Altima covers and extracted the seals with just a small screwdriver careful not to damage them. Theyre not glued in or anything so it didnt take much effort. I used the R&D method of using a 1-7/8 holesaw and a bench drill press. I tried to get the holesaw as centered with the original hole as possible. My holes werent exact and pulling the old seals still wasnt a major problem. Id say using a drill press is leaps and bounds better than using a hend held drill.

I didnt use anything when installing the new transplant seals into my old cover. When I popped them in they were so tight I would have had to use a screwdriver to remove them. They recommended using some RTV but I didnt feel they needed anything to keep them put. Id have to say this is the best solution for the leaking spark plug tube issue. Transplanting Altima seals into a Z cover worked great for me! I took some pictures but Im at work and cant post them but Ill try and upload them from my phone. Hope this post helps!

 

This could be the greatest find ever if it works.

 

Heres a few pics I snapped.

Altima valve cover.



Altima valve cover with baffle broken off and seal removed.



Altima seal.



Altima seal.



Old dried up Z seals.



Altima seals transplanted into Z valve cover.



Close up of transplanted seal in cover.

 

What's the average cost of a set of Altima tube seals?

 

The Altima seals are built into the cover like the Z. So you have to buy Altima covers and extract the seals from them. Its a a better option to pay about 60 bucks for 2 valve covers as opposed to 300+. I used part numbers 13264-7Y000 and 13264-7Y010. When you do this you also can use the PCV valve off of the Altima cover on the Z cover.

 

Cool find. I know it's only been a couple of days but any problems so far?

 

Ive been running with it for a week and have not had a problem at all. The seals are in fact exactly the same in size and shape. Id say this is a winner!

 

Nice job!

I'd say this is what [they who will remain unnamed] have been using to provide 'rebuild' kits for those with plug tube oil leaks.

I used RTV to 'supplement' the two failed seals I had, and it has worked for about 4k miles now. Your solution takes more work, but is more elegant.

 

Nice, just pulled plugs out of a friends motor and 3 had oil. Engine has 125k, going to have to do this.

 

Im pretty sure this is what they did also. Im still daily driving without any leaks! Really good option if you dont want to fork up for some new valve covers!

 

Some have also found just the seals from a pathfinder for I think $5 each, so total of $30 and no worries of damaging them when taking out.

Someone also found a "seal/"gasket" kit on ebay for these and comes with valve cover gasket. I prefer OEM though, never know what Chinese stuff you're buying.

 

I looked into those seals and they wont work because theyre too small.

 

I'll assume the Pathfinder seals. The Seal kit on eBay is apparently an OEM replacement specific for the Z.

 

Ah, I havnt heard of any Z specific kit yet. Id rather use OEM anyway and yeah I meant the Pathfinder seals.

 

Yeah.

I would personally go with OEM, but they don't sell them and I doubt my friend is going to pay a few $100 for new covers when this engine is stock going into an S14 and on a budget.

 

Thats why I went with the seal transplant and not a new set of covers. Spending few hundred bucks didnt sound good to me! Lol

 

I assume you ordered these from Courtesy Parts?

 

Nissanpartsconnection.com is where I got the covers.

 

I talked to Go7roo7 and he followed that vid as well using RTV which used the Pathfinder seals. He said it looked like maybe 1mm in size difference(smaller).

Okay thanks

 

Only been about 3 months but so far no leaks! I doubt they will anytime soon.