So I was changing my plugs tonight for the first time on my '04. just hit 70k miles. I pulled the third plug on the drivers side, (the hole closest to the driver) and it was about 50% filled with oil. The other two holes on that side are oil free. Now, i've been searching and researching, found that many people have had this problem as it fairly common on our vehicles. some people have stated that you need to replace the entire valve cover. some have stated you can avoid this. many of these threads were very old so i'm just trying to see if there is a better solution than replacing the entire valve cover by now. I found this on ebay- http://www.ebay.com/itm/BECK-ARNLEY-036-1945-Valve-Cover-Gasket-Set-Engine-Valve-Cover-Gasket-/300949389684?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3A350Z&hash=item4611fb4174&vxp=mtr#ht_1747wt_1422 and it appears to come with the o rings that you need to repalce. anyone have any experience with this part? or should I just go ahead and order a new valve cover? The cheapest one i've found is 187 shipped on ebay. anyone know of a cheaper alternative? any help would be appreciated.

 

i replaced both valve covers and gaskets just a couple weeks ago, no regrets on cost, no other way seemed like a better idea as i didnt want to drill out the old seals and take chances on close to fit seals as replacing

 

where did you order your covers from? and what was the price?

 

ended up being $402 from the nismo store for gaskets and covers

 

kind of an unrelated question. might be a dumb question too, lol. anway, I took 3 of the coil packs out on the drivers side, but didnt label which one goes where and they all look exactly the same. does this even matter? or can you put any of them back in any order?

 

if not in right order you will have a bad time, i took off my entire coil pack harness and re installed it without an issue, they have different lengths

 

how can I tell which one goes where?

 

actually i was thinking you where plugging the wrong harness into
the packs themselves should be ok, just throw them back in. but the harness plug is important

 

thanks for all the help man. did you install yourself or pay someone to do it? if so, how much time did it take you, and what did you use as a guide?

 

I did it myself, it took a few hours but i was taking my time


Try this thread, a guy recorded most of the process
https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance...r-gaskets.html

and motordyne has instructions for taking off the intake manifold (video+pdf)
http://www.motordyneengineering.com/...pID=9&CDpath=0

 

I used those seals on my Z about a year ago. So far i don't have any issues. The drilling was pretty simple.

 

https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance...-misfires.html

Check that out as well.