So yesterday I discover some more problems.

- Both valve covers leaking, not enough to ever add oil, but it gets a drip on exhaust manifold here and there.
- Power steering hose leaking, not exactly sure where yet, hose or washers.
- Intake leak where upper plenum meets lower
- Knock sensor is not working, I think bad harness, going to replace both to be safe. I have resistor in there for a while now and always run 92 octane.

I would like some input on where to buy quality gaskets and such and if its ok to go to the parts stores and use theres or if I should just get all from dealer, spend more money but also should all be good quality.

Will be buying:

Intake gasket, upper and lower
knock sensor + harness
possible PS hose, or new washers
both valve cover gaskets

Also tips to help stop the intake leak, of course new gaskets...? I replaced gasket less than a year ago, maybe it has a small scratch on plenum or lower intake, its leaking in same spot it was before.
And could use tip for the valve cover gaskets to prevent those from leaking...safe to use some liquid gasket with the new gaskets? I replaced the front a year ago and it still leaks, mostly by the CPS. I torque everything in proper order via fsm and torque to spec

Thanks again guys

 

internetautomart has all of the gaskets for sale. They've worked fine for me.
Advance Auto Parts has 4ft of power steering hose for $12

 

didn't realize you could replace the hose like that, I thought you had to buy the entire thing. looks like Ill have to get the KS harness from nissan.


Im mostly concerned about why the new gaskets I replaced started leaking so soon. I know I torqued to spec.

 

The high pressure p/s hose is not $12...The low pressure side, yes..but it very rarely goes bad..

the high pressure side hose is around the $40-$50 mark..

 

Im going to change out the injection fuel lines as well. what size is it? and I was also wondering what are good hose clamps to use when replacing the fuel lines? May as well do all that I can while Im in there. Im thinking of throwing the upper and lower intake in the dishwasher to give them a good cleaning. thats ok right? new pcv valve as well, and vacuum lines.

 

The fuel hoses you'll need 4 Feet of 5/16" Fuel Inj. hose. Plus 18cm of the same hose for the fuel rails. For clamps I got Tridon PN: FI6 fuel injector clamps. You can use any company but just get the right size for that hose. The FI6 is the right size. You'll need 10 clamps total.

If I was in the US I would shop at Partsbin - an online drop ship company. They have alot of the OEM stuff. The OEM gaskets for the GXE are either Ishino or Nippon Reinz. So if you go to the dealer you are just wasting money over Partsbin. Sometimes it will just say OES...but you'll see the Ishino part no. on the sticker....it won't always say the brand.

You may want to pick up a machinist straight edge to see if there is some distortion (Read in cylinder head section), then trying the high temp gasket maker. By the way those Ishino OEM gaskets can sometimes be re-used - they are metal, and I re-used mine with no leaks. Sometimes you may just forget to buy it like I did, so you just do with what you have.

 

did a search for those fuel hose clamps, couldnt find anything. and partsbin.com didnt work for me for some reason.

nissan wants $2.69 each for theirs.

 

Just reuse the oem clamps, they are good clamps imo..

 

ok for tie rods. I notice beck arnley and moog brands for tie rods are ~$50

They have falcon suspension tie rods for $19 and brian carries these as well for even cheaper.

Why such a price difference? Should I be worried about you get what you pay for, or has anyone experience with this cheaper tie rod?

Thanks

 

cost is much higher on the Moog. but the quality is also higher as well.

 

ok so I got all this on the way:
PS hose
intake gasket kit
valve cover gasket kit
fuel filter
pcv valve
egr gasket

on backorder from nissan: knock sensor harness, not buying sensor until I get in and test it, I replaced it 5 years ago, just not the harness like an idiot. probably smart to replace sensor again anyways.

I already have fuel injection hose to replace all fuel lines. all new clamps i found at part store for $3 for 4clamps. Im probably going to replace all the o-rings on the back 3 injectors, and use these small hex bolts to install them back in instead of those soft screws nissan used. Already changed the screws to hex bolts on the front 3, makes it alot easier to remove/install.

I looked on nissans site and I can't find throttle body gasket. Its not even in their blow up schematic picture of the throttle / intake manifold, that shows every single part, screw, washer, etc.

I would like to take the TB off so I can run the intake manifolds through the dishwasher and clean them up. Im debating if I should paint the upper plenum and what color. I liked the smoke gray color someone painted theirs on here. I also have the black powder coated front valve cover. And I want to paint that black to match. I would be just spray painting, if anyone can reccomend good high temp paints to use on these parts.


Where can I find a throttle body gasket for the VE??
Is it neccesary to change the insulators when removing the fuel rail and injectors?

 

http://www.courtesyparts.com/maxima-...1612_1623.html

gasket is on that page instead of the 'throttle chamber' page you were probably looking on. +1 on the 4mm allen bolts for the fuel rail caps, i love them, i want to marry them.

 

ya I don't know why nissan didnt just use them in first place, not that much more expensive.


you think its ok to just re-use the insulators? personally I would think it would be ok to re-use them but wanted to make sure. I think only the 2 o-rings on the injectors are the important parts but I wanted some of the pros to confirm if I should get new insulators or not.

 

i reused mine because i was running out of money and was tired of going to buy parts.

 

Got the spec for those replacement cap screws you found better? I'd like to pick those up before I do the injector in a few days.

 

This is for the VE. not sure if they are same size on VG. I took a soft screw into home depot with me and they have a thing so you can check what thread you need and all that.

M5 - .80 x 16 Hex Cap Screws

The particular ones I bought came in packs of 4, Brand: Hillman, UPC: 0823671038

PS: Get new washers too

 

is there any type of air leak or fuel leak possible if the insulator below the fuel rail is bad/cracked ?

 

Thanks bud - this helps alot, I'll order this up and risk it - ie the size. I bet they are the same spec. How many do I need - 6? I can get them at 0.05 each or a pack of 100 for 6 bucks...actually - are there 2 per injector - so I need 12? Also, do you have the spec for the tiny bolts that hold the rail down?

 

nissan shows the same part # for their screws for the VG and VE.. so the size I gave you should work for VG as well.
yes you'll need 2 per injector so 12 total.

the bolts that hold the rail down are different on the VG. I don't know the size. those bolts should be re-usable unlike the soft metal screws for the injector caps

 

UPDATE

So Im waiting on a new knock sensor and no parts store in my area carry a PCV valve for the VE. So waiting on pcv valve as well, mine was gunked up bad and not working, pretty sure thats what caused the valve cover leaks.

So far I have put new orings on all 6 injectors and mounted to rail, rail removed currently. All new fuel hoses and clamps. New fuel filter.
Ran IM through dishwasher, new TB gasket, TB mounted.
New egr gasket,egr mounted. IM ready to be mounted.
New power steering hose installed, fluid added, I probably need to bleed it somehow now.
new valve cover gaskets.
removing lowering intake manifold right now to get ready for knock sensor/harness replacement.



Can anyone give me any info on how to bleed to power steering system? should I just leave that to the professionals?

 

From the FSM..

 

thanks greeny. thats the one thing i didnt look for in the fsm.

I got my knock sensor out. sensor tests good but im replacing anyways because im in there. The wire harness was completely coated in green corrosion. I have all gasket surfaces cleaned and waiting to be put back together. Just need knock sensor to get here and possibly have to order a PCV valve. no one has one for the VE in stock.

 

I know the FSM says you just need to replace the gasket, for the lower and upper intake manifolds. But Ive heard of people also using liquid gasket with new gaskets. Im curious what you guys have done/reccomend for install of upper and lower intake manifolds with new gaskets. VE specific

 

Greeny - do you think it's a bad idea to lightly put oil (applied lightly from your finger) on the upper and lower plenum gaskets before install? I can't remember why I did it, I think I recalled other gaskets in the EM section saying they should be oiled lightly before installing...or maybe they were bolts, but now i'm wondering if it's possible that the light oil has somehow caused the excessive hunting....as explained in my post tonight. Could excessive carbon have led to somewhere from this burnt pure oil....like maybe it killed the O2 sensor, and hence the hunting.

I notice when I did start up the car I saw smoke coming out pretty bad in the engine bay - but now it's gone...took awhile to burn away.

I checked the FSM and it doesn't mention to put oil on those gaskets - so i'm not going to from now on. Missed that detail.

The update is, the car can now idle horribly rough and loud....like a motorcylcle, at around 500-1000RPM, it still hunts but not as excessive as the needle bouncing.

 

i dont think the amount of oil applied to the gasket would of been enough to kill any sensor. maybe the hunting is from an air leak through the gasket?

Im worried of having an air leak on the lower manifold mostly, because to get to it you need to remove more stuff. So I was wondering whats reccomended for mounting them. When I pulled my lower intake manifold off it looks like someone used liquid gasket around the coolant part of it but left the other 3 ports on each side alone and the gasket did its work with no help.

 

I just ordered the gaskets. The price went up - the lower one is 7 bucks now, it used to be 4. That's what i'm thinking too - it's so little oil, for such a short period of time...hopefully it didn't do anything. I suggest you just follow the FSM for installing that lower manifold gasket. The manual does indicate to you if you should apply sealant or not. And they do mention applying sealant to some flanges, but maybe not that one. It for sure doesn't say to add oil to the gaskets...so next ones are going on dry for me.

One thing I did do, that the manual says not to do, is put a little bit of vasaline on the hose barbs, that way they come off easier. I found in the past when I tried removing some hoses, they would rip or get damaged if I had to use a puller of some sort. This time they came off really easy from the last vasaline.

 

the thing I dont understand is the gasket for the upper plenum...It has the black rings around all 6 holes on the bottom side(side that touches the lower intake manifold. but nothing on the top? Im curious if I should use a thin line of liquid gasket on the top side of the gasket that physically touches the upper plenum?

 

I don't think so. If the design spec required it for re-assembly, the FSM would say it. Although did you check for distortion with a straight edge - is that why you want to seal it...it got warped? In that case you could try a high temp gasket sealant.

The previous metal Ishino gasket I installed had the light oil on it, and it didn't leak brefore this injector job....if in fact it's even leaking. Today i'm going to test the things in the FSM while the gaskets are shipping.

 

i checked it with a couple objects around the house that are straight. and both seem fine. I just want to be 100% sure before I piece it back together and find out something is leaking coolant/air and then pay for new gaskets again and have to tear back into the motor. my max has been down for 2 weeks now. still waiting for pcv valve and the knock sensor to arrive. then I can bolt it back together.

I scrubbed and cleaned the crap out of the mating surfaces. The part i couldnt get completely cleaned, although it feels smooth as if it were, is where the gasket meets lower IM to engine, around the coolant channels on both sides of the gasket.

I suck at describing, so Ill post a pic in a few
whats reccomended to get the surface completely cleaned? I was going to just use liquid gasket around those coolant ports to be safe.

 

You could try Varsol, Paint Thinner, or Methanol to clean it. Paint Thinner is the cheapest and I find it works great for removing everything. It's just solvent.

By the way, you don't have the VG30E do you, so you may want to disregard my comments about the gaskets - just check the FSM for your model - I thought you have the same engine as me.

 

ya I have the VE, I thought I mentioned it way up the thread somewhere, maybe not.

I got some paint thinner around, Ill give that a shot.

 

i scrubbed the crap out of it with paint thinner. seemed to get a tad bit more dirt off, but nothing more different than the pic. I think im going to put some liquid gasket on both sides of the gasket for the coolant part

 

Are you going to do the head gasket while your there? Actually, wanted to ask you - is the head gasket a normal replacement item that should be done maybe once in it's lifetime etc...? It doesn't seem hard to replace, and the cost isn't much...I think 20 bucks per side.

 

I had thought about it, but Im just leaving them alone, with my luck Id end up screwing something up. Im not sure how long they can last, I would think with proper maintenance and keeping the cooling system properly, there should be no issues with the head gasket.

Also I think Id just dig into my wallet further if I pulled the heads to put new gaskets on I would end up rebuilding the VTC and anything else while I was that far into it. I think getting ***** deep into it and doing the knock sensor is enough for me, for now.

maybe a more experienced person could give an insight on the 3rd gen head gaskets, VG and VE.

I made a list of stuff Ive done recently to my max just to keep for my record, or if I ever sell it I got a folder stuff of info and receipts.

In the last couple months, mostly this last couple weeks I have replaced...

-EGR, T/B, upper/lower IM gaskets
-new thermostat, both radiator hoses, new fluid, new radiator, new water pump
-new control arm D side, new ball joint D side, new D side axle
-new front brake pads
-new power steering hose, new fuild
-new vaccuum hoses, new fuel hoses/clamps, new injector o-rings, new bolts for injectors instead of soft screws. new fuel filter
-new knock sensor harness and new knock sensor (still waiting for, holding me up)
-new pcv valve, new valve cover gaskets both sides

Im sure im leaving some stuff out.

new battery
new starter(warranty replacement) turned out I had weak battery, oh well was free
new belts

i think thats everything

 

I got my valve cover gaskets the other day - it came with those little rubber grommets. Do you remember what side you installed the grommets to - there's metal on one side (kind of like a built in washer), the other side is rubber.

 

on the VE, it was rubber down(touch valve cover) and metal up(touching nut)

the rubber should be shaped to fit into the holes on the valve cover.

 

oh ya, changed your pcv valve recently? both my valve covers were leaking because my valve was stuck closed i think

 

These replacement gaskets ("Stone" by Ishino) are much beefier than whatever I have in there now - the original...unless this is what it once looked like. I did buy a couple of those PCV valves - they were selling for 3 bucks a pop last year.

By the way the ridge you speak about in the gasket, I don't think it's designed to hold sealant - those ridges you speak of are the part that crushes closed when you torque the thing down.

Now I'm trying to locate the rear engine slinger holes for the VG and it seems the timing belt cover is in the way. It would be easier if I could remove that timing belt stuff when I transfer it to a stand, instead of fiddling in confined space. Those tiny cap screws for the injectors worked great by the way.

 

Finally got the knock sensor in today. I just got done putting everything back together and double checking stuff, and bleeding the coolant. Took me 6 hours and a 6 pack to get it all pieced back together, I already had it all disassembled.

I went to fire it up and it took it a full second and then fired right up. let it run for a while and it seemed good. Then I rev'd it up and started hearing this popping noise coming from the back center. sounded like a harley bike, pretty bad *** but not on the maxima. Scared me ****less thinking after having it down for a month and just spending all day on it. Turns out I forgot 1 thing. to tighten the metal pipe from exhaust to egr. Did that and it runs great. Going to let it sit over night so some of the liquid gasket i used can fully cure before I go spank her hard.

Thanks for everyones help.

 

By the way, maximaman, when your completely done ALL those repairs, and you were about to turn the key ON, did you get a 'nervous' feeling like, is it going to work? It's funny, but I get this question mark feeling every time i'm done the repairs....and then it goes smoothly.