Ok... I replaced the 3 oil seals and main valve cover seal on the rear valve cover about a month ago. Well today, I decide to make sure that everything is ok, and pull the 3 rear coils and to my surprise, there is oil AGAIN in the spark plug chamber for cyilnder #5. I look down into the spark plug chamber and indeed the seal has slipped out of the valve cover and down along the spark plug tube. This was my original problem to begin with. When I did the job, I replaced all 3 seals and valve cover gasket with genuine nissan parts. I seated all 3 seals the same way and was careful not to damage the seals.

Any ideas what could be going on? This repair was a b**** and I'm not looking foward to doing it again.

 

That happened to me before. The first one was done by a mechanic. What I did to ensure that it doesn't happen again is that I added a nice layer of black RTV seal ontop of the seated seals: main valve cover and all 3 plug O seals. Also, make sure you observe the bolt torquing order of the valve covers. It's been almost a year now and still no leak for me.

 

DR-Max - do you remember how far into the valve cover you pressed the seals? They can go pretty far in, but then I don't think they'll actually sit on the spark plug tubes - so I left them flush with the valve cover inside surface...

I did torque everything down in the order and tightness specified... it is just strange to me that the same seal failed...

 

did u deck and plain ur head when u put it on befor
and u might try to need to replace the gasgets arround the spark plug or make sure that it is in there vvery securely you should need a screwdriver to get it out once u have it on there
ood luck and make sure that u deck and plain it that is very im portant sure to getting a new flat head

 

I didn't push it all the way in. I partly seated it, put a layer of RTV ontop, then let the valve cover push it down as I re-torqued all bolts. This ensures that the seals will sit ontop of the tubes. Otherwise oil WILL actually seep thru that little gap.

 

Hmm... When it was all assembled, I looked with a flashlight and it looked like each seal's inner rubber portion was nicely wrapped around the spark plug tubes.... when I just checked this evening, the seal has completely come out of the valve cover and slipped all the way down along the spark plug tube... this is ridiculous!

 

I would also use a bunch of RTV to fix this. It will be alot easier and it should hold up just fine

 

DR-Max, Kevlo911,

I don't want any of the RTV falling into the head area... so I'll use it on the inside of the valve cover seal cavity before pressing the seal in...

Is that what you meant DR-Max?

I'm still so pissed... this is ... heh heh.. I have to vent before I tackle this again... its not all that hard - just not looking forward to getting those coolant lines back on the plenum.
kevlo - I'm still debating whether or not I should get another valve cover - since I'm suspicious that the same seal popped out on mine...

 

To jack my own thread - what is the point of those coolant lines through the plenum - maybe I'll just connect those two together and be done with it...

 

It won't fall into the engine.........why would it, it'll be pressed against the head that will make contact with the seal?? Don't overdo it with the RTV, like I said before, a nice layer of RTV would do ontop of the seated seal. This is what I've done and mine is still holding up and no engine problems. I also let the RTV cure overnite after reassembling everything back. I didn't drive the car at all til the following day.

 

DRMax - look at this pic:
http://img36.echo.cx/my.php?image=12828292mv.jpg

The seals are supposed to be at the top of those tubes (where there is no varnishing)- so when the valve cover is on the heads, there is nothing holding the seals up there, except that they are pressed into the valve cover holes.
The seals never touch the heads.... in my case, the seal has slipped out of the valve cover and slid all the way down the tube and is sitting on the head.

Sorry to beat this to death but I'm not sure what side you mean by top. So picture this, the seal is pressed into the valve cover, I flip the valve cover back around and put it on the head. Is the RTV on the top side of the seal or on the underside of the seal?

Thanks for your help and patience.

 

That is why I said to let it cure overnite.......RTV hardens.....voila!

 

Yeah RTV would be the way to go. Although my VE30DE heads looks different where the gasket meets the plug tube.

 

Alright... I'll have a go at this again soon.

 

I asked this yesterday but it might have gotten overlooked.

What is the point of the coolant pass through the plenum ? Can I just tie those to hoses together?