Yesterday i painted the plastic piece over the valve cover, but when i put it back on, the actual metal valve cover looked really bad, can someone tell me how to take the metal off so i can work on it

 

This procedure is well covered in the Chilton repair manual (page 3-14) and the Haynes repair manual (page 2B-4). If you don't already have a manual, please buy one or borrow a copy from your public library. Installation of the valve cover requires tightening the ten bolts in two steps, and in a particular sequence. The manuals have a diagram to illustrate this. To do the job right you will need a torque wrench.

 

since i dont have the book can anybody tell me how to do it, did yall use the book to do it? please help if you can or im will have to go to the library...

 

ok mr. martin, i went to the library, no luck, went to pepboys, they didnt have any nissan books past 1990, so i still need help if anyone knows how to do it

 

Your engine is not apart and your car is driveable so there is no urgency. Try the book stores in your town. They can order the book for you and put it in your hands in less than a week. You may also order from a Web vendor such as Amazon www.amazon.com or Barnes & Noble www.bn.com

 

ok, i give up, i have looked everywhere, pepboys, autozone, the library and barnes and noble, nobody has it, i need it done by saturday though for the car show we are having here, so i have a little urgency, i really, really need to know how, if anyone can help, i would greatly appreciate it

 

I done this about 10 times. Remove the plastic piece. You done that already so I don't need to go into it. From that point on...

1. Remove the three coils. They are held by two bolts. I recommand a socket set to remove these. Screwdriver is just not going to cut.

2. Detach the hose on the right side of the valve cover.

3. Detach the hose on the upper part of the valve cover.

4. Now remove about ten or so 10mm bolts.

5. Remove the grommets that were under those bolts.

6. Remove the oil cap

7. Pull up on the valve cover via the oil filler hole. Stick your finger in it and pull up. If it's stuck, you could pry very very very very careful with a screwdriver.

 

wow, thanks, when i remove the hose from the side does anything com out that i am going to worry about spilling, n other words whats inside the hose, just air or some fluid, thanks a lot

 

Good. You told him how to remove the valve cover. That's the easy part. Now tell him how to install it. That's the hard part. The ten bolts are tightened in two steps and in a specific pattern. That's why he needs a manual!

 

dont be around the bush man, tell me this pattern ,we are here to help each other right?

 

clean surfaces, mate the gaskets to the cover, apply a thin coat of rtv sealant to the cover grove and to the corners of the front camshaft journal cap, then position the gasket inside the cover and allow the sealant to set up so the gasket adheres to the cover. caefully position the cover on the cylinder head and install the bolts. now this is the order to torque. view the cover from the front of the car, there are 4 bolts on top and bottom and 1 on each side. 1)start at the 2nd bolt in from the bottom left, 2)then go to the bolt directly on the top side, 3) then go to the bottom bolt to the right of the first one 4) then to the one directly on top of that one 5) next the first one at the bottom to the left 6) then the one on top of that 7)the far right bolt on the bottom 8) then the one on top of that 9) the left bolt on the side and finally the other side. tighten the bolts in 2 equal steps. step one torque specs are 9-26 ft lbs., and the second step is 48-65 ft lbs. peace out.

 

wow, thanks a lot man, is there some reason you have to do this in an order? i wonder why nissan did that, also what happens if u dont have the rtv sealant, i dont have any and would need to get some, is it absolutely neccesary or do u just reccomend it? thanks again, u are a big help

 

If you don't use the rtv sealant on those cam journals, oil will leak out from there. I used the grey color type made by Prematex.

 

whew this is much more complicated than i thought, well im still going to do it, btw when removing the screws, the 3 that are together on the left, the one closest to you when standing in front of the car, seems impossible to get to, my socket wont fit in there, did u use a wrench and gofrom the side or what? thanks again

 

ok, sorry forget that, im not supposed to remove those, i havent done it yet anyway, also i drew a picture of the re-installation, tell me if i have the numbers correct, also can u point out where on the picture the rtv goes, thanks

 

Huh??? Okay, awhile back I painted the plastic cover and tried to remove the valve cover but had no luck, got frustrated since it wouldn't budge so I put the 10 or so bolts back in random order. What will this cause? Why the specific order... Is it to late to reverse what I done or is it no big deal?

 

just relax man. you can't go back. its not leaking so you are ok. so if you are not going to take the valve cover off, you should at least torque them back to spec. if you can't get the cover off, try a block of wood and hammer ( or a rubber mallet) and hit it against the end of the cover, if that don't work just get a thin flexible putty knife and gently , well you know.

 

Thanks for the relief, we'll I was gonna redo it again and try hammering it to budge it but got lazy and never bothered. Maybe I'll try again sometime soon.

 

heres a pic of the painted plastic part, nice, eh?

 

finally i got it all done, taken off, refinished, and re-installed, heres a pic of my beautful engine bay

 

looks sweet... g'luck at the show...

 

looks sweet... g'luck at the show...

 

engin looks great....were did you get the hose covers and how much did they cost you ....?

 

the hose covers? i think you are talking about the wire looms, i got two packs, one of the largest size, one in the second largest size, from summit racing, only cost like $20, but i also got actual silicon hoses that i still need to install, the only actual hose is the one going from the reservior to the side of the radiator, btw 2 packs is plenty for the entire engine, i still have a little extra, thanks carnal, but unfortunately the show is about half the country away from me, so i didnt make it out there, any more ?s just ask