peejay

I'm going through the hassle of removing the RTV (that I put on previously) right now, won't be doing that again!

No torque converter lock up? Did you thank your lucky stars???

Excellent!

Touché! The JIS thing never even crossed my mind until after removal, like you said, not seized and low torque spec. In hindsight, I'm willing to bet those injector cap screws ARE JIS, they were torqued down, and I wallowed out many of 'em on removal. Will report back with what Fel-Pro says, but leaning towards aftermarket cushion + cup and roll with it, valve covers shouldn't need to come off again unless I decide to change the timing belt, discussion for another day!

Aw, Slart, why'd ya hafta open up the JIS can of worms??? That came up in another discussion, the member there said "usually" there is a dimple on the screwhead indicating it's JIS, I didn't see one, but at any rate, the #3 phillips "seems" to be an ok fit...for now! "One more" question about this, the aftermarket (Fel-Pro) "Washer Assembly" is of a smaller diameter than the OEM "Washer Assembly", and therefore does not entirely fill the OEM "Tray-Rocker Cover" (what I am calling a "cup washer"). Is that cause for concern? (A reviewer of the aftermarket gasket set stated that they did not use the "Tray-Rocker Cover" when using the aftermarket "Washer Assembly", and I don't feel confident in doing that). I would like to find a "cup washer" that fits the aftermarket "Washer Assembly", but probably doesn't exist, and I should probably not worry about it and reuse the OEM "Tray-Rocker Cover", right? Or do you all only use OEM gaskets? At $9 a pop for the "Washer Assembly", methinks no for me! (Edit: Or, why not place a washer (the same size diameter as the new "Washer Assembly") underneath the new "Washer Assembly", if even that is "required"? What is the "advantage" of the OEM cup-style washer?) (Edit #2: Seems like from other discussions (jeeps), that "Tray-Rocker Cover" is to limit torque, maybe the "cup" portion of it (as opposed to a flat washer) is just to speed up alignment on the assembly line/keep the "Washer Assembly" from moving around...I've emailed Fel-Pro to see what they recommend.)

Great points! I actually bought a 1/4-inch #3 bit socket just for the task, and yeah, the "bolts" were pretty "loose". I'm just not a fan of screwheads (replaced the injector retainer screws with hex heads). I'll make sure everything has been cleaned thoroughly, go slow, and use a torque wrench.

Good eye, slart! Yep, there are slight cracks at various spots along the gasket, normally I wouldn't've thought twice about 'em, but after watching stevexnyc's vids on the subject, it made me go along and actually look for breaks and areas of possible leakage. It looks like I did a crappy job of evenly distributing what I'm guessing is RTV to help hold the gasket in place, this time around I'm gonna clean everything real good and see if the gasket will stay in place without RTV. Ordered some M6x25mm Allen/hex head screws to ditch the Phillips head ones, so got plenty of time to get things in order while I wait for those to arrive.

Sorry it's taken me awhile to get back, thanks for the tips! I did (i think) run my finger along the edge/use a mirror and flashlight to try and see what is mostly likely seepage. (I have a UV light...somewhere...tried it to find a similar leak on my frontier, but never saw the "bright green spots", so gave up on it, plus I'm too lazy to look for it again!) I think I'm gonna replace the passenger's side first, see if my approach works before tackling the driver's side. Are these "bulging areas" of any concern? Should the NEW gasket conform and fill in any gaps? (I did replace these MANY moons ago, and the last time I drove this thing 3+ years ago, I don't recall them leaking (it's smoking BAD now), but it has been sitting for 3 years!)

Greetings, all, Before I go through the trouble of replacing the valve cover gaskets, Is there a sure-fire way to KNOW beyond a shadow-of-a-doubt that they are leaking? I've got (some/most of) the tell-tale signs: - smoke coming from the areas between the valve cover gasket/cylinder head mating surface and exhaust manifolds - vehicle had been sitting for about 3 years - i shoulda changed 'em for good measure when i replaced the injectors (aka, the 3-year injector replacement!) i tried poking around with a flashlight in the dark around the suspect areas, and i could never actually see oil on the manifolds (would i ever be able to?), but my gut is telling me go ahead and replace 'em. (edit...should i replace the passenger's side one first, if the smoke stops, proceed with confidence to do the driver's side one? or pull my pants up and do 'em both????)

Pic(s) or it didn't happen!

Update... FINALLY got the clutch bled ("enough"). A combination of the MityVac, speed bleeder, and old school "two man" method got it done. Ultimately, I think the damper was the culprit, because after "bench bleeding" the master (on-vehicle, using the mityvac), then attempting to use the speed bleeder on the operating cylinder, no fluid ever came out (in hindsight, maybe I didn't pump the pedal enough times, but I felt like I did). After putting the mityvac on the damper, there were MILLIONS of bubbles coming through that section of tubing. I repeated the mityvac method a few times, think I even did the "two man" method with just me a few times, then moved back to the release cylinder/speed bleeder, which produced no fluid at first, then say around 10-15 pumps the pedal got firmer, firmer, then WEAK as I noticed I had emptied the reservoir! At that point I just topped off the master, cracked open the speed bleeder and kept pumping until it eventually built up pressure again, THEN I two-man bled the damper again. Hope to attempt to crank in the next few days and I may eventually do the damper bypass!

You know, hindsight is telling me that I should've started with/suspected the "operating cylinder" all along, in which case I woulda had to drain the old fluid anyway! So guess I'll be draining the new fluid, the pain point is trying to quickly reattach the hydraulic line without crossthreading it! (Edit) I need to take a course in Physics. Just took the banjo bolt out, no more/"new" fluid came out! Moving on to removing the crush washer...(gonna put it in the freezer for a few while I contemplate my life choices!)

Nissan REALLY wants me to do a powertrain swap! Update: Went to put the operating cylinder in, had everything ready so I would lose as little fluid as possible... Got the banjo bolt off, the lower washer off, pulled the bolt up, and BAM! The upper washer was stuck to the bolt!!! ARRRRRGGHHH!!! Rather than remove the bolt and lose fluid in order to assess/remove the washer, I decided "Eh, I'll just order a new banjo bolt". WRONG...guess what is included in the DISCONTINUED list??? So I started with 97-up Frontiers, thinking the parts "should" interchange, well, they do (same part number) which means...DISCONTINUED! 2002-up Frontiers have a different part number, which is available (for now!). Also looked up the banjo for a '94 300ZX (my thinking, same engine/trans, SURELY that bolt has to be the same/similar/good enough to work?) So I ordered two new crush washers (had 2 new ones, but they look suspect), and early and late production '94 Z banjo bolts. Ordered the release cylinder for the Z, too, so when I take the Pathfinder bolt out, I can see if it fits in the Z cylinder. Stay tuned!

Exactly! Lessons learned from letting this thing sit for 3 years.

Ok, I'll be patient, slave cylinder and speed bleeder should be here this weekend!