Valve cover gasket.... Any tips?

[Griffy74]

Hey guys!

So I have a missfire in my number 2 cylinder and found out that it is the valve cover gasket. When I pulled the spark plug for a compression test, the plug and wire were covered in oil. The compression is right were it should be. I'm about to get greasy and replace it but before I do I was wondering if anybody had tips, tricks, advice, or warnings that would be helpful. It's a 1988 2-door SE.

Thanks Guys!!

Edited December 21, 2012 by Griffy74

[Alkorahil]

I am assuming you have a V6...

Given the age of the vehicle, I would get a few if not all of the washers and rubber trays for the washers that the bolts go through that seat the cover to the head. One of them being worn out may have lead to the gasket problem.

 

Here are the Nissan Part numbers:

13268-29N0A NES STAND X18

13268-D010C TRAY-R/CO X18

 

 

You can also clean the cover off or oil and repaint it nice and shiny! Make sure to use high temp paint.

Edited December 21, 2012 by Alkorahil

[nunya]

 

My left bank one is painted with Testors model paint I don't even remember what color my right bank is though... And I have to pull that one at some point as its starting to get some leakage... Boo work

[Griffy74]

It is a V6, something I probably should have remembered to say.... Thanks, I'll check to see if I can find the washers and treys

[nunya]

The gentleman who gave you the part numbers would be your source to get some sweet sweet factory pieces FROM.

[Precise1]

^agreed!!

 

I do have to say that I've never had oily plugs cause a misfire and I have seen wells filled with 3-4" so you couldn't see the plugs when the wire was removed. That said, it still needs fixing...

First, just try tightening them as they vibrate loose and the gaskets shrink, allowing oil to escape. 90% of the time I have found just tightening the screws stopped any leaks.

 

B

[Griffy74]

What could be causing the miss fire then? The compression is good, I replaced the plug, wire, distributed cap and rotor.

Edited December 23, 2012 by Griffy74

[Alkorahil]

^agreed!!

 

I do have to say that I've never had oily plugs cause a misfire and I have seen wells filled with 3-4" so you couldn't see the plugs when the wire was removed. That said, it still needs fixing...

First, just try tightening them as they vibrate loose and the gaskets shrink, allowing oil to escape. 90% of the time I have found just tightening the screws stopped any leaks.

 

B

 

 

I havent seen oily plugs on these motors cause problems either.

IF the seal is good on the spark plug wires it shouldnt cause a problem but who knows what conditon or age the plugs and wires are.

Agreed, sometimes just tightening them up will stop the leak. I would try that first just to see if it fixes it.

[Precise1]

The 1999.0 R50 that we bought with 150k had leaky valve covers and plug wells filled with oil and acorn husks (mice...). A major pain in the arse to clean up, but just now at 171K miles I occasionally get a whiff of burning oil. When the rains stop, I'll go out there with a screw driver to check the valve cover screws again...

 

B

[Manik]

I've seen this issue numerous times on other model Nissan's, some other foreign vehicles and Saturn's had the problem. The motor oil eventually causes deterioration of the plug boot and I'd be willing to bet if you look at the spark plug and the inside of the boot on the plug wire, look for a white to gray tracer caused by the energy from the coil taking the "path of least resistance". Your best course of action is to replace all wires, plugs, both valve cover gaskets, grommets as well and make sure that the valve cover gasket seats are all flat.

 

Hope this helps, oh and FYI, don't skimp on the cover gaskets and grommets. As well, I'd get a bit better spark plug wire set as well.