cheselz

I got my '97 SE inspected recently and the guy said that the rear gasket valve cover needed to be replaced or else I have 200 miles left. I didn't think there was a rear gasket cover; only a seal. I knew the engine was leaking oil slightly (it's an old car; they all leak some time or another).

Does this issue sound like a big deal? I don't think it does but I'd like to know for sure.

Thanks

TheToolMaker

Yes there is a gasket and a gasket is basically a seal the fsm says to replace that gasket if you ever remove the valve cover, as far as 200 miles idk what you mean by that I mean your gonna leak oil all down your engine block but what do you mean bu 200 miles, until.your inspection is revoked?

asand1

iTrader: (1)

As long as you keep putting oil in it you could get another 200,000 miles. crooked mechanic tryin to scare you. Just keep adding/changing oil and your good. That said, you should have it fixed soon as you can. It is a very involved job, look for a local member to help or do it for you for a couple hundred.

TheToolMaker

Its simple you remove the intake upper plenum than some coils and the valve cover.... No need paying someone if you feel confident to take some 10 mm and 14 mm bolts out and save yourself money.

cheselz

The inspector told me that if I didn't do something about it soon, the engine would lose compression and die; that's why he said 200 miles. I'll look in to replacing the cover. Does anyone know what the torque setting is for tightening the gasket seal?

aackshun

iTrader: (3)

Sorry I had to.

And it's not that tight at all man, they're 12mm bolts, not really made to take a lot of TQ. I can look it up in the FSM if it's crucial though.

There is a tightening procedure, your typical tightening order of bolts for any large object that has a few bolts to it. Start at the middle, then goto the other side and work your way out.

www.nicoclub.com/FSM/

look up your year maxima then goto EM then from there you can find the instructions on valve cover replacement.

If that's too hard you can always have a local .org member help you out, we've all done it at least once in our lives.

Shift_A32B

iTrader: (14)

This^

This ^

cheselz

Well sorry it's just I've never done anything like this to my car. I've done shocks, brakes, sound system, spark plugs, oil, oil filter. I just assumed that it would be necessary to use a torque wrench but I guess not

marcyprojects

just did this on my car about a month ago. It is def an invoved job if you are takling it alone as I did. Took me about 5 hours labor from tear down to re assemble. It is a ton easier if you have a diagram of the engine handy so that you can check for all the bolts you will need to remove and put back on. There are quite a few as you will need to remove the rear manifold, IACV, and throttle body to get to the rear valve cover. Also another good idea is once you have everything put back together, change your oil and use a snake oil or stop leak in it. This will help soften up the gasket and make sure it fills all the nooks and crannies and make a good seal.

D I R T Y I 3 0

I don't have to do mine -knock on wood- and this is an inquiry, but I assume the front valve cover is MUCH easier?

TheToolMaker

There 10 mm not 12 bro, you can prob find a video on YouTube the only thing that makes this hard is not knowing what to do but its really simple there are 6 14 mm bolts holding on the upper intake manifold and a few vacumm lines and coolant lines to remove thsn your at the valve cover.

TheToolMaker

Fprgot iacv and throttle linkage

maxinout93

Ive gotta do mine also so your not alone. I just check the oil level every other day, it cant be too hard to remove the intake since i used to do it on my 3rd gen Vg engine everytime i had a bad injector. Im hoping its a little faster on the vq.

marcyprojects

front valve cover is a sinch cuz its all right there in front of you, nothing resting on top of it. Unfortunately the front ones really almost never go bad but it wouldnt be a bad idea to do both at the same time. As far as continuing to refill oil with a rear leak, I dont advise that as it is counterproductive to continue mixing oil burnt oil with new. Also, most of these leaks will eventually start smoking as the drip usually heads toward the upper exhaust. To me even a little smoke from the engine bay isnt a good look and will most likely stink inside the car too.

asand1

iTrader: (1)

So he shouldn't add oil between changes? Some repairs are a low priority depending on funds and other repairs, bills, groceries, etc.

Trini Boom

iTrader: (5)

:metalmax:That shop is an epic FAIL! Never return there and I would advise letting other members know what shop this is. Find a local org member to assist you.

marcyprojects

the VC gaskets are only like $10 a piece. If that leak gets worse and drips on the wrong spot, it could make more problems. If its def a bad gasket it will surely continue to grow worse. spend the $10 and, a weekend with a buddy and he wont have to put in anymore oil which would save money in the long run. Just saying...

carsnwomen91

jeez more faggotry from the automotive repair world... 200mi and lose compression? why not 189mi or 213mi? lol why do people do this and say dumb things?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!? like FFFCCCCUCKKK??!?!?!

download the FSM off a link off of here. search up top for that... then follow the instruction on removing the upper intake manifold. obviously there are a few more things that need unbolting but otherwise its pretty straight forward and the most annoying part about that will be the hard to access bolts behind the intake manifold.

then all you do is un screw the bolts holding the valve cover, remove the old gasket, dip fingers in oil and give the new gasket a light coating, put it on and re-install. i'd rent a torque wrench... aluminum is soft and to my surprise some things on there don't even need to be that tight.

5 hrs alone doing it for the first time seems about right. might be a bit time consuming but its just replacing OEM stuff. so just follow the exact instructions in FSM and you'll see its straight forward. the shop or stealer will charge you ~$500 for it.

carsnwomen91

yep... paying for my books for school now and the maxima fun budget is taking a big hit. also trying to find this stupid clunk sound ruled out ball joints and tie rod ends. sway bar end links, strut mount or motor mount (hoping its not the latter)

tiphawk

If you've done the struts and brakes then you can probably handle the rocker cover gaskets. I replaced those gaskets and several other ones using the FSM along with the guidance from this thread:

valve-cover-gasket-replacement

You'll find the torque specs in the FSM. Note they are very low specs given in IN/LB.