Hello all,
I am in the middle of replacing my rear valve cover gasket. I just cleaned the cover and removed all the old gasket including the sparkplug gaskets. While removing the old spark plug gasket I noticed the gaskets had a round looking spring. My new gasket kit does not include these springs for the spark plug gaskets. Are these necessary? I hope not because I warped the springs while removing the gaskets . Also Which direction do I install these gaskets?

 

They look like tube seals... You need them because otherwise oil may puddle in the cylinders on the plugs.

 

Ya, I do plan on replacing them. What I was trying to explain before is, the old round gaskets had a round spring like shape inside the back gaskets. The new round gaskets do not have this round spring. Are the springs necessary? I do know the round black gaskets are required so the oil does no leak into the spark plugs. Also, what direction do I install the gaskets in? When looking in the inside of the valve cover does the flat side(says made in japan) face towards me? Here is a picture of the round spring that I am referring to:

 

when i had the valve cover gaskets replaced i got new tube seals with the kit. also, i got the upper and lower plenum gaskets too. so yeah, i'd replace them or re-use them as long as they're nor dried out and hard.

 

With the rocker covers flipped over you want the tube seals (gaskets) rounded side facing towards you. The tube seals rounded sides are made for sliding over the spark plug tubes.

The OEM tube seals I replaced never had springs in them so I cannot answer you there?

 

Don't call them gaskets they are seals. You don't need the springs, your new seals are a different design.
You all fail at reading comprehension, he is replacing the seals and wants to know if he needs the springs swapped onto the new seals.

 

[QUOTE=jholley;8624376]With the rocker covers flipped over you want the tube seals (gaskets) rounded side facing towards you. The tube seals rounded sides are made for sliding over the spark plug tubes.

agree & 2nd.

 

[quote=surban1;8624418]asand1, I thought I was asking the wrong question lol. jholley, I have the new seals in place now. After work I will put gasket maker on the front corners of the cover and then put everything back together. Thanks for all your guys help

 

I am replacing my valve cover gasket and seals right now, but I've run into a major problem. I went to replace the spark plug seals and they were so brittle they they just cracked off leaving the rings stuck inside of the valve cover. Any ideas how to get them off?

 

No....use the seal as they came....

 

do you put liquid gasket maker in the corners between the valve cover and rubber gasket or on the bottom?

 

Put liquid gasket sealant on the bottom, between the gasket and the engine. You should see where to put the sealant when you remove the old gasket.

 

get the WHOLE thing out. use a flathead screwdriver and light hammer taps in between the outer edge of the seal. they get dryrotted in there sometimes.

 

I bought my valve cover kit from advance auto and didn't put the spring/steel cable from the nissan on. So far so good 20k+ miles later. Nissan OEM also has that on the OEM bearing seals too..I kind of like that design to ensure a tight fit.

 

the ones i got in my kit from autozone look the same as the OEM ones. have the spring inside them already.