I just called the customer service line when I spoke with them yesterday and asked for Automotive Technical support: 1-877-376-2839

You can try calling and see if you get a better answer than what I did yesterday.

 

cool! btw, if you ever meet a parts guy at the store that knows anything about anything, i'll give up my max! parts guys dont know shit

 

 

I looked at the back of it today, and it had the Nissan partnumber that it is equivlant to. The Black stuff was compared to domestics.

 

thanks for the info. kevlo! I'll be sure to get the grey one too... on another note, I ordered my gasket kit from rockauto yesterday 2pm, it was delivered today - fedex ground... amazing! they had it shipped in 2 hours from when I placed the order.

The kit looks really good - all the parts are made in Japan.. I wonder if they are from the same place as the OEM parts are sourced... I'm surprised the FSM doesn't call for liquid gasket along the bottom of the entire gasket surface, since its completely flat - it seems like it's prone to leak from in between the cylinder head and the gasket eventually... on the cover side, there is a groove that the gasket goes into - sorta like a well - so its harder for the oil to creep out -but no such groove on the head-side.... oh well... hopefully we'll get this done and not add any new leaks

 

Alright - I just got by the FEL-PRO parts...

1. the tube seals are different... I'm sure they'll work, but after I put them into the cover and tried to test-fit the cover, I realized I had them in upside down (trust me - its not obvious when you put them in - since they don't look the same as the original Nissan ones). Then to top it off, I compared the original nissan gasket I pulled with the FEL-PRO cover gasket and there is a seam on the FEL-PRO gasket right where the gasket bends upwards to go over the cam ... I'm not too sure about the durability of that joint (the OEM part that I removed was molded as one piece)... so given the pain it was to pull everything to get the damn valve cover, I'm just going to wait and pick up Nissan parts tomorrow and put things back together after that... damn what a wasted weekend... I feel like a

In hindsight - the $350 the dealer quoted me (parts included) for the job seems well worth it. Its not the difficulty of the job - but there is a certain point where my time and the frustration are just not worth it and on this job, I crossed that line a long while ago

Sorry for the rant - just needed to vent and thought I'd give you a heads up on this. If you've pulled the plenum off before, then its probably going to go much smoother for you...also use the OEM gasket and tube seals.

 

Sorry about the news man, but I got OEM parts comming in; I just don't know when they will be here.

 

I appreciate the support... its just been a pain all around with the EGR tube fiasco and then this gasket issue... oh well - at least nothing's broken, etc. Just have to get the right parts and put things back together tomorrow. Hopefully I'll remember where to reconnect those million hoses that I pulled!

 

Thats why I'm going with OEM

nj, are you using a guide to pull your plenum, or did you just wing it? I've been searching and can't find a good guide. Might be a good idea to take some pictures ....

 

Truth be told -> There is not easy way to writeup how to pull the plenum - which is probably why no one has done it yet. I did all the obvious things like unhooking the harness, throttle cables, connectors, brackets. Then when I thought I was done (based on what the Haynes list of things to undo), I found a few other vacuum and coolant lines still connected to the TB and also the coolant lines to the back of the plenum (those were a b**** to remove).

So I would recommend following the Haynes and then when you try to lift the plenum off, you'll find a few things still connected.

To make the job easier (and because I wanted to clean these other parts), I pulled the TB and IACV off the plenum seperately before pulling the plenum off. That gave me more room to get to plenum bracket bolts (near the firewall) and the EGR tube bolts.

I have a bunch of pics - but nowhere to host...I can do a semi-writeup - but like I said, it basically amounts to start unscrewing things and then keep going until you have the plenum completely free.

I haven't put mine back together since I can't get parts until Friday - none of the local dealers have the cover gasket in stock - unbelievable - so I just ordered everything online.

 

Man nj, sorry about all the crap you're going through, i havent had time to work on mine... I dont understand something though...what was the problem with EGR tube? too rusted?

 

To add to my troubles - I think the parts house shipped my stuff ground instead of overnight - so now I can't work on it this weekend!!! aaagh....

Taking off the plenum was actually not too bad. I wanted to pull the EGR tube to clean it out - since there was some carbon build up in there. There are two bolts that secure the EGR tube to the plenum, and there are two 12mm nuts that secure the EGR tube near the EGR valve. There is NO space to get those 12mm nuts off. I had the TB, IACV and plenum off at this point and it was still a b**** to get those nuts off. The higher of the two nuts came off without any problems (I used a box-end 12mm wrench). The lower one is hard to get a box end wrench on because the end of the bolt on which the nut sits is blocked by the larger EGR pipe. This larger pipe blocks the space so you can't get a socket over the nut and without some fiddling, you can't even get a box-end wrench over it. I finally managed to get the 12mm box end wrench over it, and got the nut loose, and I thought I was over the worst, but I was wrong. Once you have those two nuts off, there are two washers, a thin lock washer and a thicker washer. There wasn't enough space between the end of the bolt and the larger pipe to even get the washer off I was like WTF? I couldn't get the washer squeezed out, and so I couldn't get the pipe off the car to clean it out completely.

I ended up just scraping as much off the carbon as I could with the pipe on the car and used compressed air to blow out the carbon. I can't believe that those clearances are so tight. Others have been able to pull the EGR tube - so I'm wondering if its a hit or miss depending on how things end up lining up on a particular car. The clearance is very tight - I just need another 1/8 of an inch and I could have pulled both the washer and the entire tube out.

When you start doing this, you'll see what I mean by my description of the tubes, washers and clearances. I can try to take a pic if that would help. The car is still sitting opened up in the garage.

It is such a pain to depend on rides to/from work!

 

please someone document or do a DIY or post PICS. pics help a lot, take pics of parts, the process.

thanks..

 

i feel for you nj! good luck pal

 

Stop the press! Kevlo, I FINALLY got my parts this evening (OEM) - my car has been sitting motionless for the past 10 days... and guess what... the part number for the spark plug tube seals is WRONG! That part number is actually for the spark plug tubes... I just got off the phone with Dan Tech from Midway and he was very apologetic and it took us almost 15 mins of sending pics back and forth to find the right part. He is going to send me the right parts overnight tomorrow - so I have to wait yet a few more days to put things back together... what a MESS!...

I do not have the right part number for you - but wanted to give you a heads up so that you don't get a surprise - luckily those spark plug tubes were only 6 bucks (for all 3) - Dan said I could return mine - since it was a legitimate misunderstanding/error on their part. Hopefully you'll be able to send yours back (if you ever get them).

Sorry about the bad info buddy - I just passed on what was given to me. I have actual pictures of the tube seals now, for your reference and if you get me an email address (PM me), I can send them on to you.

I'll fix my earlier post with the part number so that others don't get bad info.

 

I was wondering what I was gonna do with the tubes So what is the real partnumber?
kevlo2000@yahoo.com

 

Check your Email.

 

I thought I read somewhere like the haynes manual that you should not use silicone
gasket sealer?

 

I finally got everything put back together last week...

Let me know if you need any help when you get around to doing it. I have lots of pics and its still fresh in my mind.

Cheers.