Changed valve cover gasket still leaky

[Cameron23]

So I changed the gasket and luckily as far as I can tell its the passenger side not the drivers side that is still smokin and leaking a steady drip of oil here's a pic of the valve cover right after I changed it

Here is it after I drove around for a bit

You can see the darkening of the shiny metal meaning oil has gotten to the outside of that edge... Idk what to do I've taken it off a second time double checked the seal it all seems good. I can't stand that Fing smell. Help!


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[Xterraforce]

Sometimes valve covers get over tightened. This can slightly bend them at the bolt holes which will then cause uneven pressure on the gasket resulting in a leak. You can check it by removing the valve cover and using a straight edge of some sort where the valve cover would be clamping the gasket. If it's not perfectly flat you can normally use a piece or two of wood and tap it back flat. Also look for any knicks or burrs on the valve cover and head. Both surfaces need to be smooth and flat.

 

[Cameron23]

Anyway you could illustrate what areas your are talking about being bent or how they would be bent


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[Xterraforce]

I might be able to tomorrow. I'm using my phone right now. Basically what happens is the thin metal of the valve cover will bend slightly right under the bolt head. It's usually hard to tell from the top side but once the valve cover is off where you can see the bottom you'll be able to see it if it's bad enough to cause a leak. Picture holding the valve cover upside down. If the bolts were too tight it would look light a little raised bump right at the bolt hole on the gasket side. The problem is common enough on some engines that most auto parts stores sell little tabs that go under the bolt head to spread the load a bit.

 

[Cameron23]

Probably can't tell but idk what I should be looking at


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[Silver dude]

Crappy Ms paint drawing I just did but it gives you a idea of what Xterraforce is describing.

 

[Cameron23]

And how do I fix it if that's the case


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[Xterraforce]

What you would do is support the topside where the bold heads would be on something flat and solid, a piece of metal or wood or whatever, then use something on the other side to gently tap the metal back down flat. The last time I had to do this (on a 1977 Datsun B210) I supported the top (bolt head side) with a wooden dowel that was bigger than the deformed area, then used an extension for a ratchet on the bottom side. I would position the end of the extension the socket would have gone on over the bent area and lightly tap it with a small hammer, moving it around and tapping again until the area appeared flat and smooth again. Most valve covers other than aluminum or plastic ones are just thin, stamped sheet metal and will bend back in place as easily as they bend out of shape. That makes me think, you could probably use a bolt and nut to fix it. Just put it through the bolt hole with a flat washer slightly bigger than the damaged area and tighten the nut. That should push everything back into place pretty well I think. Now I wish I had an old valve cover to experiment with.

:kewl:

 

[drbandkgb]

Maybe look into a new set

 

[Cameron23]

What you would do is support the topside where the bold heads would be on something flat and solid, a piece of metal or wood or whatever, then use something on the other side to gently tap the metal back down flat. The last time I had to do this (on a 1977 Datsun B210) I supported the top (bolt head side) with a wooden dowel that was bigger than the deformed area, then used an extension for a ratchet on the bottom side. I would position the end of the extension the socket would have gone on over the bent area and lightly tap it with a small hammer, moving it around and tapping again until the area appeared flat and smooth again. Most valve covers other than aluminum or plastic ones are just thin, stamped sheet metal and will bend back in place as easily as they bend out of shape. That makes me think, you could probably use a bolt and nut to fix it. Just put it through the bolt hole with a flat washer slightly bigger than the damaged area and tighten the nut. That should push everything back into place pretty well I think. Now I wish I had an old valve cover to experiment with.

:kewl:

so would I want to tighten the washer down pretty snug to move it back into place?

 

[Xterraforce]

Yeah if you go that route you're trying to bend the metal back into shape so tighten it until it stops. If the bolts were badly over tightened you may be able to tell without even removing the valve cover. If you pull a bolt out in the area where the leak is and see that the metal is curved downward where the bolt was it will definitely need to be straightened.

 

[Cameron23]

well my only area of confusion is that there were metal/rubber gromets for each screw wouldn't that disperse the weight? even if I overtightened

 

[Xterraforce]

Ah. Those are called compression stops and are designed precisely to keep that from happening. Unless the valve covers were previously bent from over tightening with older gaskets there must be another problem. Have you checked to make sure the bolts are still tight? Some of mine have loosened up a couple of times. It's also sometimes possible for part of the gasket to slip slightly out of place when installing them. If any of the bolts feel loose, snug them down and clean off the oil so you can be sure the leak has stopped.

 

[Cameron23]

They are all tight the gasket is still in place


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[Xterraforce]

If that's the case and they're still leaking, the options are either a warped valve cover, a nick or gouge in the valve cover or head, or a bad gasket. Was a tool used to scrape the old gasket off of the head or valve cover or did it come off cleanly?

 

[Cameron23]

If that's the case and they're still leaking, the options are either a warped valve cover, a nick or gouge in the valve cover or head, or a bad gasket. Was a tool used to scrape the old gasket off of the head or valve cover or did it come off cleanly?

Came off cleanly and then I lightly scraped the built up oil on either side that had solidified from a year of slowly leaking with a razor blade it shouldn't have gouged anything.


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[Cameron23]

Okay so while investigating today I looked under the truck and HOLY OIL! there was oil coating a lot of stuff under the truck. If I wasn't 90% sure this is all coming from the valve covers I would have thought I forgot to hook up a hose. (i did not forget) Like this isn't just a light trickle coming down. Anyway my Dad is home for the weekend so we took it apart (the passenger side) and this is what we found this time.

as you can see it is still leaky... So we CLEANED BOTH MATING SURFACES VERY WELL, WE CHECKED FOR WARPED BOLT HOLES, WE TIGHTENED THEM TO SPEC.. put it all back together and I drove it to the gym. When I got home I saw some smoke as usual, could be burning the old leaked oil but I doubt it... Also I checked the drivers side and found where a little was leaking so I will have to pull that whole side down later and see how bad it is... At this point we're discussing taking it to a trusted Nissan dealer here for estimates, at least they stand behind their work and will fix it (usually). To be honest I feel like there was too much oil under the truck to be only from the valve covers my dad says a little oil goes a long way and it may look worse than it is but I mean there was a lot and i would hate to be going through all of this just to have something major leaking oil that I haven't even checked. Especially with our taylor park roadtrip coming up.

 

[TKDx00]

Subbing to this cause I'm learning a lot about oil leaks and valve covers.

 

[Xterraforce]

One thing that might help is to get some engine degreaser and thoroughly clean all the oil off of the engine. Then you can check daily and determine exactly where and how bad the leak is. They often do look much worse than they actually are, especially if there's a buildup that accumulated over time.

 

[Cameron23]

This is what I am talking about

See all the shiny surfaces that is all fresh oil


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[Xterraforce]

Wow that is a lot of fresh oil. Definitely doesn't look like any kind of long term buildup at all. How quickly is it loosing it? Like how often do you have to add some? I'd clean it off and take a very short drive then thoroughly inspect everything. When there's that much it's hard to tell if it's one big leak or several smaller ones.

 

[Muadeeb]

If it was the color you were alarmed about, don't be. Mine looked pretty close to that, and I think DRB's did as well.

Put it back together, and dust it with some cornstarch, then fire it up; the cornstarch should allow you to see where it is leaking. You may also want to try to crawl under it with it running and the lower skid removed.

 

[Cameron23]

Wow that is a lot of fresh oil. Definitely doesn't look like any kind of long term buildup at all. How quickly is it loosing it? Like how often do you have to add some? I'd clean it off and take a very short drive then thoroughly inspect everything. When there's that much it's hard to tell if it's one big leak or several smaller ones.

Haven't had to add any yet still in the hash marks

 

[Xterraforce]

Have you checked your power steering and transmission fluid? That looks like enough that you should be low if it all came from the engine. But like pointed out earlier a little bit goes a long way.

 

[Cameron23]

You think it's not all oil?


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[Muadeeb]

We're notorious for leaking PS reservoirs. How does the front Diff look?

 

[Cameron23]

We're notorious for leaking PS reservoirs. How does the front Diff look?

Oh it leaks but it always has and I still have ps fluid in the reservoir I checked my tranny fluid and voila it didn't read anything so I turned it off and checked it read some so I figure I've lost a quart added a quart and now it reads fine while running but just FYI some of that might be tranny fluid I'm going to go in for a tune up or to get the knocking spark plug wire fixed my dad will split one with me cost wise which one should I do. Keep in mind I changed the spark plug cable and it still knocked so its gotta be something down in there not the wire


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[Cameron23]

Should be able to see front diff in pic


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[Cameron23]

I scheduled an appointment with nissan for monday the 3rd for a tune up and to check for leaks oil or otherwise we'll see what they say. I need my car running well for the mountains its already hard enough with the underpowered v6

 

[Cameron23]

Bump


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[Cameron23]

I'm going to be driving from OP to the lake then back then to Taylor Park Colorado starting on the 8th soooo kinda need some ideas it might be something with the tranny ugh I hate stressing about this shiz


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[Macland]

I went and re-read everything. It looks like you've fine everything you can do ATM unless someone chimes in with expert knowledge. You've got an appt. on the 3rd and a trip staying the 8th. That gives one solid work week to get it fixed.


Where does she stand today since you've done some tinkering with it? Still leaky? A little better? Worse?

 

[Cameron23]

We've tightened all of the bolts on the pass valve cover to spec and the leaking seems to have at least slowed a ton if not stopped we tightened the 4 we could get to on the driver side I guess I could pull that all off (really don't want to have to do that again) and tighten the remaining down. Trans fluid measured last night while running which is better than not measuring I guess but still new drips appearing on the lower pieces as pictured it looks about the same underneath I can't imagine Nissan missing that and the spark plug wire is still knocking even if I change the wire out..


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[Cameron23]

Oh and I'm pretty sure my gas mileage is more horrible than usual


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[Muadeeb]

Meh. Bricks gotta roll

 

[Cameron23]

Meh. Bricks gotta roll

Lold but no it's been worse than usual


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[Cameron23]

The bolts weren't tight enough on some of them I think that fixed it tightened them to 20 in lbs


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