Oil leak - valve cover gaskets?

I did new gaskets when I did the covers, but that's because it's a small added expense compared to the time to take everything apart again if there's a leak. If you already had new gaskets I would think you can use them again, just make sure they don't have any damage, which could be what the leak is.
 
Agree. For sure use new gaskets for those covers. As a side note, you may reuse the metal plenum gaskets if they look OK, since this is also coming off during the job.
 
onthemove said:
I would consider why the leak started in the first place. If you have more $ then time, just buy new shit as what I would do or should I say try to do might not work. I would try this because I would use this opportunity to paint the valve covers.
I would;
- remove ALL the oil from the mating surfaces on the heads, valve covers and the gaskets
- clean all the same areas with brake cleaner (applying it to a rag, then to the individual surfaces)
- read the instructions on the perm. and apply the suggested amounts to both sides of the gasket
- the perm. should hold the gasket in place while I installed the cover and tightened the bolts. If I couldn't get the bolts tight enough by hand, I'd use a ratchet to snug them until perm. started to show all around the valve cover.
- take notice of the time then move on to the other side and repeat the above steps
- after an hour has passed, get the first side torqued down and wait the full hour for the 2nd side

I went back to read through some of the older posts. You bought new valve covers then? They didn't come with gaskets? Huh. Unless you wanna risk having to go through this process again, you might consider new gaskets.
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Have you done this swap and did you put the RTV around the whole valve cover? It should just go in the front corners of the engine block from what I remember in the service manual. The diagram for the application was kind of confusing though. They tried to show different angles and I couldn't follow very well so I just put a decent amount in the corners trying to replicate what I saw when I took the cover off.
 
Nope. I've never had to deal with gasket maker containing anything other than air on the FX. Been lucky so far. What I wrote is what I would do which may or may not be the best approach. I might build up the permatex in these above mentioned corners to the maximum recommended thickness per perm's instructions and then go the minimum everywhere else and on both sides. My thoughts are this common issue with the vc's has something to do with either the vc's warping over time or an odd failure of the gasket itself.
For example, exhaust gaskets are installed dry. Invidia's flanges and pipe bends make it very difficult to get a 100% seal at each flange. I used perm. copper gasket maker and no more exhaust leaks.
 
I replaced my covers because of leaks in the spark plug tunnels, never noticed an issue with the cover gasket. But I replaced them with the new covers.

I'm pretty sure I used something like that on my exhaust gaskets at one point because they seemed to have blown out, and just the mesh was left.
 
Without ever looking at the covers or the head for that matter, I assume there's a seal of some sort between the plug tunnels and cylinder heads. There must be and I thought there would be part of the gasket that would cover this area. If there's not, then what I imagined is incorrect therefore this plug tunnel must've developed a crack to be leaking. Sounds like some weird shit going on with the VQ valve covers and I hope my luck doesn't run out and I never have to mess around with'em unless there going on a fresh rebuild. Never heard of v.c.'s essentially being "wear and tear" parts. Sounds like Nissan made these out of the same material they made the dash out of. :tup::rofl::cry::poop::tdown::mad:
OP had an oil leak on the exhaust manifold side of the v.c., not in these plug tunnels, so new v.c.'s might be a waste of $. Read somewhere that they aren't cheap.
 
If you're dry, no worries. If oil down in there, expect a misfire in the future and Coil pack to fail. It's the gasket/seal at each plug. They go bad & yes, it feels like a waste to throw, but that's how it is. some VQ owners have tried to re-seal them. Kinda the ghetto fix. The new covers can be had for 400- a pair including gaskets. OEM quality feel. ABS composite with brass fastener inserts. Not much thought there. I Just did it to factory spec like most
 
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$378 + shipping for new covers and gaskets from Z1. Not cheap, but not really horrible either. I'm sure it would cost way more in labor to have it done. It's the first repair I've had to do in 140k miles. Had an occasional misfire like gto said can happen.

The gasket around the spark plug tunnel is built into the cover, that's why you can't just replace them. This place does offer the gaskets on their own, and then you have to cut up the cover to put them in. Interestingly, they also sell them that they redo, but they are $320 (including $130 core deposit I assume for sending in your old covers). Nissan/VC KIT
 
Mine leaking at 55K. Seems early on miles, but the car is 13 years old, so gotta expect things to fail over time. Z1 was also where I ordered
 
I see. Someone wrote on this site somewhere about Z guys using silicone to stop the leak around the plugs with success. If mine failed, I think I'd do as I wrote above and include the seals located at the plugs. If the v.c. gaskets are metal, I'd reuse them in the way I wrote above as well but I'd only do this if I had the time.
 
Just checked that link... Will probably need new VC's soon... Probably should do it this summer, but I want to allocate my limited funds to more fun things :P
 
Don’t necessarily need those in that link. Those are manifold gaskets, not for valve cover and those are normally reused, metal, and $150 just for the larger one. oem price.
I’d stay clear of this thing for $12-.
VC gaskets rubber are about $20 OEM. Don’t aftermarket those parts if you can help it
 
gto said:
Don’t necessarily need those in that link. Those are manifold gaskets, not for valve cover and those are normally reused, metal, and $150 just for the larger one. oem price.
I’d stay clear of this thing for $12-.
VC gaskets rubber are about $20 OEM. Don’t aftermarket those parts if you can help it
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I know, but when I first replaced the VCs, OnTheMove recommended replacing the manifold gaskets since the service manual recommends replacing those as well. Do you think it's better to re-use the original instead of buying this cheap version?

Fel-Pro and Beck Arnley sell those gaskets for $30.
 
In the context of trying to fix something, it not working out and then having to go back over it, yeah, I'd recommend replacing them (quote from page 2 below). "...The separation of the gasket is not normal. It might also be acceptable? I have this as well on the gasket between my upper and lower plenum due to fucking with all that far too much but in my case and setup, it makes no difference. No vacuum leak. In your case, I'd say you'll be fine but honestly, I think you've been through enough bullshit to then have to re-do this once AGAIN, right? I'd get new gaskets. I replaced the bolts on the transmission pan when I installed a shift kit only because the FSM gave instruction to do so whereas most probably do not, so there you go."

Personally, I wouldn't replace air to air gaskets even if they failed the fix the first time around but if I did, I'd give those aftermarket gaskets a whirl. I've pulled my plenums many times (oem gasket still present) and with the cork gasket on the kinetix plenum, that's not a good idea unless one is careful and paying close attention to what one is doing. If an air to air type gasket wouldn't seal for me and it was clearly in tact, then there's a mating surface situation or all surfaces weren't clean or something along those lines. I'd permatex the shit out of it.
When I tucked my engine bay I removed the excess gasket material wherever I found it. Somehow, I managed to pull out a bit of the material between the block and water pump cover :poop:. No big deal, but I thought I could make it right without pulling the cover. I cleaned that area extremely well with brake cleaner then acetone, focusing on the small gap left behind by the missing gasket maker then put some gasket maker on the tip of my finger, smashed it in there, wiped away the excess and no more leak. Took 10 minutes.

Foreign OEM has massive overhead cost and theft-like pricing. I say "like" because one doesn't have to buy their parts. Those aftermarket gaskets are probably just fine imo. Get a better name from rockauto or somewhere else online and you're still way ahead of oem.
 
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