Discovered the other day that my rear valve cover is leaking and needs a new seal which means Im gonna have to rip off the IM (again). Of course I didnt notice this when I put in the NWP spacers a few months ago. So my question is as follows:

I know the (non economy)NWP spacers can be resused, but whats the procedure for wiping off all the RTV sealant from the Upper IM spacer? I dont want to use any thing that will damage the upper spacer.

 

The manual said that you should re-torque the bolts as the tend to loosen. You might want to contact Aaron about it man. He would know better than anyone

 

The process is a pain in the *** lol .When I took off my UIM, luckily the spacers had stuck to the LIM and not to the UIM. Could lift the UIM right off and just add some more RTV to the spacer and put the UIM back on. I lucked out. I used high temp copper RTV btw

 

Yeah contact Aaron and ask him, so you don't mess em up...

 

They can definitely get a 'cemented' effect and be very hard to get off. Takes some muscle but possible to remove. Once removed you will need to get the old sealant off using a razor blade (that's what I used).


A 'trick' I learned after having to do it twice before, use one of the stock UIM-LIM gaskets. I sealed beneath the gasket so the UIM comes off easily whenever I need to take it off.

 

Along those lines, I remember someone posting that they used 2 OEM gaskets, one on top and one below the IM spacer, seemed to work like a charm and also didn't need RTV, from what I remember.


http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...ml#post8194111

 

I was thinking about using gaskets next time I took the UIM off. Its says to use RTV but why in the world wouldn't gaskets work? They are perfectly flat and I just don't see why gaskets wouldn't work you know?

 

I kept the oem seal, but dam, why didnt I think of that the first time lol.

Ill contact Aaron and get his input. I can imagine myself yanking on the UIM and then having the spacer crack and have pieces fall into the LIM/heads --which would make me very sad.

 

The spacers are made from a phenolic resin...while they are engineered to be completely flat there is a chance of some minor imperfections causing air leaks. By using a liquid gasket sealer, you have a much greater chance at sealing these minor leaks.

That's my guess anyway.

 

Good luck trying to get it off. I would think a chemical solution would be fine but I'm not a chemist so I wouldn't take my advise.

to using the oem gasket next time. That is what I did, but I have a feeling the spacers aren't being used efficiently as they could be. But definitely makes taking it apart easier later down the road.

 

Regular gaskets will work they say to you rtv becuz the nwp gaskets have no over lap which helps air flow as where oem gaskets do have and overlap

 

NWP gaskets? no gaskets come with the kit. They tell you to use RTV to advertise the fact it saves you money from replacing gaskets every time you take the UIM off and for the fact it gives you a good seal whereas a gasket could leak if the spacers are not machined perfectly flat. What is this overlap you speak of? stock gaskets are smaller than the intake ports on the NWP spacers. I think Aaron is better suited to answer these questions. Ill PM him and point him over here.

 

loctite makes a gasket remover. Works pretty good.

 

You are just completely wrong! Do you even have these spacers. Better question, do you even have a fifth gen?

The stock IM gasket used with these spacers has been discussed at length many times before and has been proven to be a great way easily remove the IM without a mess of rtv and yes Aaron has confirmed this himself.

 

If Black RTV was used, you will need to remove it from both sides of the UIM Spacer so that it can be reinstalled. Once you get the UIM off, the Spacer will remain stuck to either the UIM or the LIM, usually the LIM. Try your best to remove the Spacer using only your fingers. If you must pry on the Spacer, be VERY careful to pry between the Spacer and the manifold. This is a phenolic laminate, which means there are tiny layers in the Spacer. If you carelessly take a hammer and flathead screwdriver and try to chisel and pry the Spacer off, you could pry in the wrong spot and separate one of the layers. The Spacer itself is VERY tough, but if you hammer a chisel into the middle of it, it will separate. So try your best to lift the Spacer with your hands first.

Once you have the Spacer off, I like to scrape off as much old RTV as possible before attempting to use any chemicals to soften it. Plastic gasket scrapers are the safest and best to use. A metal gasket scraper will also work, just make sure it has rounded corners. If you use a razor blade, the edge can gouge the Spacer. So be very careful not to cut the Spacer if you choose to use a razor blade.

After you have scraped off as much RTV as you can, you can use chemicals to help soften the RTV. The Spacers are highly resistant to chemicals and moisture. Gasket Remover or Brake Cleaner will help soften the RTV so that the rest can be scraped off and wiped off with a rag.

Some customers have just used a wire brush attachment on a drill to remove all the old RTV. This is the quickest method, but is NOT recommended since it really scratches up the Spacer and it won't be as beautiful as it once was. The Spacer can handle the abuse I'm sure, but I would prefer to scrape off the RTV without scratching the Spacer.

Also, you really only need to do this to the large UIM Spacer. The rest of the Spacers can be left alone.

And I would recommend to use Black or Gray RTV. Red or Ultra Copper isn't suited for sealing intake manifolds. It's to be used mostly on high temp applications such as exhaust components.

And as others have already mentioned, you may use 1 OEM UIM gasket on the top of the UIM Spacer with Black RTV on the bottom of the Spacer. The UIM Spacer will be sealed against the LIM and it will make removing and installing your UIM much easier in the future since you can just leave the Spacer attached to the LIM. But the OEM gasket isn't perfectly port matched to the LIM and won't make for the best airflow possible from the UIM to the LIM. Performance wise, it would be best to remove all the OEM gaskets and replace them with only the Spacers while using a paper thin layer of RTV so it doesn't squeeze out in the airflow. But the difference in HP between using that 1 OEM UIM gasket and only RTV will be very small.

Since I remove my UIM so often, that is the setup I am running on my 92 Maxima VQ35. I only have the 1 OEM UIM gasket on top of my UIM Spacer. It makes it easier to remove and check spark plugs.

You only have to re-torque the Economy Spacers after 500 miles. Blue Mesa was referring to the Phenolic Spacers, which do not need to be re-torqued.

The Spacers are very tough and won't ever crack apart where pieces will fall down into the heads. But as mentioned above, do not try to hammer a chisel or flathead screwdriver in order to separate the Spacer from the manifold. This could separate the phenolic layers and cause irreparable damage to the Spacer if you pry in between the phenolic layers.

 

Everybody's questions answered and rumors were confirmed thanks Aaron. Learn something new everyday lol. I didn't know copper RTV wasn't suited for manifolds. I figured it was considered high temp. For future readers who skip over Aarons post because they are lazy lol, YOU CAN USE 1 OEM GASKET IN BETWEEN THE SPACER AND THE UPPER INTAKE MANIFOLD TO ENSURE SPACER STICKS ONLY TO LIM TO MAKE RE-INSTALL/REMOVAL EASIER.

 

Glad to know, and I appreciate the response Aaron. You make a fantastic product.

 

I literally just did this today on a customers car who had nwp spacers for his 3.5 altima (2004 i think)

I didnt remove the tb or the elbow and got the whole UIM off as one unit and i originally installed the spacers for the guy and used rtv RED without oem gaskets. After doing the rear valve cover today i just used a rag and rubbed off the old rtv and re-installed took me less than an hour for all of it. car started up and idled fine.

 

I think 9 times out of ten the spacers stick to the LIM. I guess for some who didnt torque it down properly maybe it sticks to the UIM. who knows

 

Did you use rtv RED for the valve cover seal as well?

 

i am attempting to pay a shop to do this with a spark plug change....
am I crazy??????

i dont do much engine stuff myself, a nissan tech installed it 58k miles ago but thats a lot easier in general than reinstalling now