I'm going to be changing my front and rear valve cover gaskets and wanted to know if it is necessary to change the grommets. I am going to get the seals for the spark plugs but the dealership wanted $5 per grommet and said I would need 20 of them. Dealership told me they don't replace the seals unless they are leaking and never replace the grommets but I wanted a second opinion.

While doing this I also plan on changing out my faulty KS. Is there anything else that I should take care of while I'm doing this job.

 

What makes you sure that you need valve cover gaskets anyway? That is not likely to be a routine job and unless you have the knowledge and skill to do it yourself, or a very good contact who will do it for you, you're going to spend a lot on labor for this job. I'd really like to know if its even called for in your instance, what is the car's mileage anyway?

The KS can be done without removing the intake manifold, I did a write-up on this shortly after I did the job myself: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=500569

Save yourself some money, be sure you're putting it towards necessary work in a sensible manner. Good luck!

 

i just changed my front valve cover gasket this week when i tried to polish the cover. it did not change anything else but the gasket, but i dont know if thats recommended

 

L0R1DA, I have to change the valve cover gaskets because they are both leaking. The rear is so bad it is dripping on the exhaust. The car has 140k mileage.

I appreciate the link to the ks write-up but I was only asking about the grommets because I remember reading a post that suggest to change them.

 

I did the grommets. Its worth it, trust me. There is one at each bolt.

-matt

 

I found this a kit for the valve cover job that has everything through Prostreetonline.com. Does any one have experience with them and is this the OEM part numbers? This is what the kit has:
This gasket set includes 1 #13270-31U02 valve cover gasket, 1 #13270-8P311 valve cover gasket, 6 #13276-31U21 spark plug well gaskets, and 20 #13268-31U01 valve cover sealing washers.