leaking valve cover

[D21disciple]

1999.5 pathfinder ... have a leak at the valve cover, passenger side. i can clearly see where it is coming from and i don't see any leakage on the drivers side so i think that, for now, i will tackle only the (much easier) passenger side. the leak is so small that i wouldn't even bother except for the fact that it is making it's way right down onto the exhaust manifold and the smell comes into the cabin every time the fan is turned on ; very annoying.

 

have already tightened the screws with no improvement whatsoever so i am going to have to take the cover off. in the past, on other vehicles, i have had great success just laying a bead of RTV sealent along the old gasket ... has anyone has success with that on a pathfinder ?

 

failing that, i will have to buy a gasket set ... it looks like there are 2 options ... 1 with grommets and 1 without . since the price of the set with grommets is almost double that of the set without them i am wondering if i can go without ? to be sure, probably not, but i thought i would ask people who have had some experience with this. never dealt with a valve cover gasket that uses grommets for the screws.

 

thanks for your help ... i am new to pathfinders.

[Precise1]

Too bad the tightening didn't work, it ususlly has for me.

 

RTV should work, especially if you clean everything well, use an oil resistant version and let it set a bit first. 3 reasons not to use RTV is that if you take them off again then you have the mess to clean up, if you are not careful/have bad luck you could get some inside the engine were it could potentially block an oil passage, and is kind of a 1/2 measure fix to me.

 

Since they could leak just as easily as the main gasket and they take the brunt of the force (read deform), I would get the set with the grommets if you go that route.

 

B

[RedPath88]

Yep I agree with the above.

 

Cheapest option: RTV (see post above)

 

Best option: Replace with new gaskets.

Under that, the safe route would be new gaskets w/grommets

But if you examine and are sure the grommets are still good, then just the gaskets would suffice.

[D21disciple]

with your encouragement, i decided to stop being so danged cheap and get the whole gasket & grommet set; it was actually cheaper at the parts store than the price i saw on-line, which was a pleasant surprise.

 

thanks for your input. i'll update this thread if there are any complications.

[ThaBigPerm]

D21 already chose his path(y), but I'll chime in here for others who might be facing this task, as I recently tackled it myself (both sides!). First, I was curious about the grommets too, but decided to pony up for the set that had 'em. Turns out it wasn't a bad idea; the rubber grommets act as "springs", applying compression as you turn the screws down on them and they "squish" to fill the little metal disk that both contains the gromet and acts as a washer. As such, I imagine they 1) prevent overtorquing and 2) prevent the screws from rattling loose. My factory grommets were crumble bunnies, completely spring-less over the two decades they'd been under the hood. I could not have reused them even if I'd wanted to.

 

As for RTV, the design of the valve cover *might* allow it, but it would require a ton of the stuff (as compared to the valve cover on a sb Chevy or Ford, for example). The gasket is a big honkin' (as in thick) rubber job that press fits (with some effort and cussing) into a channel in the valve cover - to RTV the thing would require enough goop to fill the channel, since it's not a flat mating surface where a nice bead would otherwise do.

 

On a related side note, don't drop one of your valve cover screws/washer/grommet combos behind the rear timing cover trying to put it back on. Trust me on that one