mechanics and I believe that the valve covers need to be replaced because I think I am losing a little bit of oil which is buring on the side of the engine (or that's what it seems to me anyways). I have never really read anything on this but I think they are gasket type things in between the top half and bottom have the engine maybe

Suggestions on what to do. I've had one mechanic quote me like $500 and one like $1000 so should I go with mechanic or find someone to tackle this with. Personally this is something I don't want to do. Another to get fixed before selling it.

 

Thats an easy $500 on a VG

 

replacing the ENTIRE valve covers just because the GASKET is not sealing anymore? Man are those mechanics ripping you a new rear entry . You can buy both gaskets and the washers for aroung 50-100 bucks, can't remember the exact price, but it's in that range, and get the job done in about 2-3 hours top, including cleaning the crap out of the intake manifold AND the upper intake plenum. Also, it IS something you can do for yourself, just mark which hoses goes where or take a polaroid of key areas before taking things off and you're golden.

While doing that, you might as well replace the cracking rubber hoses, you can get all the hoses you need from an auto parts store, the only thing that you will need from the dealer is the intake gasket, maybe gaskets for the IACV, the rear valve cover breather hose(they may break, 20 dollars part), and the gasket for the upper intake plenum.

The hardest part of the job will be scraping the old intake gasket off with a razor and cleaning it up with some fine grit sandpaper or those metal pot cleaner things. Just take your time and you are good, keep an eye out for the injectors as you might bump into the connectors. Finally, take it easy scraping the old gasket off, as the intake plenum is made out of aluminum, be gentle with it.

Remember to use anti-locking compound on the threads of the intake plenum bolts.

cliff: THE VALVE COVER GASKETS ARE NOT WORTH 500-1000 BUCKS TO FIX, AND YOU DO NOT NEED TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE COVER, UNLESS YOU TOOK A HAMMER TO IT FOR SOME ODD REASON.

 

i agree...if it's leaking at the seals then replace the gaskets and the washers.

before you go to the mechanic try and tighten the screws yourself and see if that stops the leak.

 

yeah, try to tighten the nuts a little... on myu VG, they were kinda loose, get a 10MM wrench or socket and tighten them bad boys up, but make sure you dont strip them!

 

enh? the valve covers are phillips screws over a rubber washer which is over a metal washer.

 

internetautomart has the gaskets... $24 each for the VG if I recall. Otherwise, if you can remove the gasket without breaking it, take it out, apply gasket sealant and reinstall. Test. If that doesn't fix it, buy new ones. If you break the old ones trying to get them out, you needed new ones anyway.

 

ok cool. so I was correct with the whole gasket between the top and bottom half of the engine yea?

thanks for all the info guys


saves me a lot of money

 

you can get them from schucks.com for 17 bucks, cover gaskets only.
If groumet needed, total around 40 ish. I did it recently.
Total time probably 3 hours from starting. Since i was doing injectors, i just changed them without eye blink.
For the front one, you have to remove the intake upper planum, not difficult, just pay a little patience. You have to remove the distributor unless you have something really speical to get to one of the damn screws! Just mark before you pull it out you would be fine.
For the rear one, it is obviously easy.
Have fun.

 

Wawa92gxe.

Do you have to drain out all the motor oil before taking off the valve cover?

 

I have a set of (2) gaskets i never used. If you want them, PM me and I'll let them go for cheap

 

yes I would like to know as well

 

No. Not necessary. Unless you wanted to due to schedule.
There isn't much oil in the valve cover when the engine in sleeping.

 

I'd like to see a pic of where it's leaking.
to me the top half of the engine is the cylinder heads and intake.

 

i'll post pix in a few hours

 

I'll be offline by then
I'll see it tomorrow night then

 

sounds good

 

Schucks?



Napa or nothing

 

Schucks= checker auto/advance auto/kragen auto parts...

 

I know

lemme rephrase



Schucks


Napa or nothing

 

Generally, Napa is good. But they sucks frequently.
The bellow boot i got from Napa which cost 50% more than Schucks, ripped itself into two pieces in 6 months. The other bellow boot i got from Schucks is still good after 3 years.
I will either choose Schucks or Nissan Genuine parts from dealer or online.

 

sory, i was thinking of my VE for a second.. your right, the VG did have screws

 

For the CV?

Replacement axles, lifetime warranty
regular cost ~$80 each?

 

you will

 

well I went in to tighten the screws on the valve cover and they were definitly loose so I tightened them all down pretty hand tight so I guess we'll see if that will help. You guys said there 8 screws right....how come I only saw 7?? Maybe I didn't look hard enough and it was kind of dark too

 

pfff, 80 bucks (yes I know you're not sure of their price), we'll beat that any day I got my complete axle for 47 bucks after employee discount of course but normall is 59.99 and its lifetime warranty too.

Is NAPA really that good? I've never been there, have only seen 2-3 around here.


btw, aw89maxse....they're probably charging you 500-1000 cuz they see you've invested money on your car so they think you got plenty for them to tighten or change a damn gasket, what a bunch of ripoff a-holes. Tell you what, if it doesnt leak anymore after tightening, go back to the one that charged a lot, tell him it took you less than 5 minutes to fix and less than $1 then ask him why he was charging so much and make him feel stupid for charging so much...thats if it works and you got plenty of time on your hands.

 

sorry for repost but i just wanted to see if I did the right thing and if them being loose could have been a contributing factor

 

My cost on axles is $48.48 each
In my experience, the parts quality is much higher. It's not a golden rule, it just depends on what it is and the manufacture.

It's mostly the people. Far far more knowledge and experience at Napa, better service, they really go the extra mile to take care of you. At Schucks/other places I really have to double check that I am getting the right part, I've never had that problem with my Napa. On the same note, I really only deal with 2 guys at mine so that probably helps. Plus I get a "Hey Shawn" whenever I go into my Napa


Arron, make sure you do a good job cleaning around the valve cover gaskets. If they continue to leak you'll need to replace them. The parts aren't too expensive. You will need a new intake plenum gasket aswell.

 

wannabes.
rebuilt axles = $40 my cost. I just won't sell them because of core headaches.
I love new parts, no cores to deal with

 

Yea, I feel your pain Brian...I hate taking out the part before buying the new one just so I dont have to pay more although I hate not driving to pick up a new part. The good thing is, you get to compare it before you buy it

 

sounds like they were quoting a headgasket job (gasket in the middle of the engine (between the heads and block))... likely not the problem. tightening down the valve cover screws should fix the problem, however, replacing the rubber gaskets is definitely the way to go.

you definitely want to replace those gaskets before its too late. the gaskets in 300ZX Turbo i'm working on nearly solidified making getting them out a very long and painful task. definitely want to get them out while they're still somewhat pliable and not stuck on the valve covers. cheap preventative maintenance to reduce headaches down the road.

 

i was contemplating having someone do this, but i may do this on my own (now), after reading the suggestions from this thread.

 

Been a while since I played with a VG, but IIRC, one of the screws on the front valve cover is under / partially blocked by the distributor.

 

It really isn't hard. IIRC:

VG: Have to pull intake plenum to get to the front cover
VE: Have to pull the intake plenum to get to the rear cover

I replaced the front gasket on my VE in about 20 minutes.

 

Guys... This sounds more like a head gasket. or did I just scroll too fast?

 

20 minutes?!? What took so long? j/k I did mine a few weeks ago and if I had not done the rear also, I think 20 mins would have been about right.