Oil in spark plug chamber
njmodi
I was swapping the plugs in my 1996 Nissan Maxima (117k) and noticed
that there was oil on the coil and on the walls of the spark plug
chamber for cylinder #5 (bank closest to firewall, the cylinder closest
to the driver). I think the problem is the spark plug tube seal that
goes in the valve cover and was hoping to tackle this soon.
Do I need to apply sealant along the entire length of the valve cover
(in the gasket groove) ? How about on the head-side - any sealant
there? (I plan on replacing the cover gasket, all 3 tube seals and use
new grommets on the valve cover bolts).
I plan on cleaning out the EGR ports while I have the plenum off the
car too.
Any other tips/advice from people who have done this before would be
appreciated.
Thanks.
Nirav
96 Max GLE, 117k
john smith
NissTech
You will need 2 things to get the job done correctly.
One is a new valve cover gasket of course, the next thing you will need are
new seals for the spark plug tubes.
the tube seals press fit into the valve cover, you will need 3 for each
bank. The seals come out fairly easy and go in just the same.Pay attention
to the direction the old seal comes out and make sure the new one goes in
the same way.
the front bank is easy to do, the rear is another story, as you can see the
intake plenum will need to come off. It looks tough but it ain't that bad.
if you decide to do it , I'll help you with any problems and give you a
couple of preventative maintence tips to do while you have the plenum off.
"njmodi" <njm...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1117646587....@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
njmodi
Thanks for your help! I have already got all the parts - 6 tube seals,
both valve cover gaskets, the 20 grommets/washers for the valve cover
bolts and I even picked up a new plenum gasket for good measure. I was
going to tackle just the rear side this weekend - but if all goes
smoothly, I may end up doing both.
I have all the torque specs and tightening sequences (from the FSM).
As far as I understood, I only need to apply a little sealent to the
valve cover at the corners where the cover arches up to clear the cams.
I'm a little unsure about the order in which to apply the sealent,
gasket and then put the cover back on... I was going to apply the
sealent to the cover, and put the gasket in place. Once that had set
for a few minutes, I figured the gasket wouldn't move out of place and
it would be safe to put the cover back on... is this right?
While I have the plenum off, I was going to clean out the EGR ports and
the TB and IACV passages. I might end up pulling the EGR tube and
cleaning that and the EGR valve too. I have bought replacement gaskets
for all those components too.
Is there anything else you would recommend I do while I'm in there?
Have I missed anything?
I'm hoping to do get started on this tomorrow (06/04/05) morning. It's
more of a seep than a leak - so if there are other items I should
address (that I have not mentioned), I can always do this is a few days
after picking up anything else I need.
Cheers & thanks for your help.
Nirav
njmodi2 at yahoo dot com
njmodi
Pulled the plenum and valve cover off this morning (along with a bunch
of brackets, and hoses). Getting the plenum off was a lot more time
consuming than I expected. The 2 bracket bolts on the back were not
has bad as I had expected, but I had a heck of a time trying to get the
two hoses off near the EGR port - just no room to get to the clamps.
The EGR port on the plenum is very blocked (not completely) with
deposits. The one problem I am having is that I cannot get the EGR
tube nuts off the EGR valve side. I got one nut off, but the other will
not budge - the one that is blocked by the larger EGR pipe is the one
that won't come off. I have soaked it in PB blaster and tried all
morning, but no dice. I even tried from under the car but I can't get
it to budge. I tried getting more leverage using a short piece of pipe
over the wrench (no room to get a socket on there), but all I'm doing
is rounding the nut - it will NOT move. I was hoping to get that pipe
off to clean it out - but I'm not sure I will be able to do that now.
Back to the main problem - the spark plug tube seal on #5 had cracked.
I have pics if anyone wants to see. I haven't reassembled anything yet
- will take the time to clean out the plenum, TB, IACV and then start
the reinstallation tomorrow.
Cheers.
njmodi
Cheers.
njmodi
I finally got the EGR pipe nut off... but there isn't enough space
between the end of the threads (for the lower end of the pipe) and the
larger EGR tube - the thicker washer will not come out (not enough
clearance)... so I can't pull the tube off... I was going to take the
entire EGR valve out - but I didn't have a wrench large enough to undo
that larger pipe - I'll have to pick one up tomorrow morning.
Cheers,
NissTech
It sounds to me like you have all the bases covered.
Yes, those 2 small hoses near the EGR valve can be a real PITA.
It is best to take the EGR tube off completely along with the EGR temp
sensor and clean them , you want to clean out the plenum and the tube.
As for the silicone RTV, I apply it to the surface of the cylinder head in
the area you described.
"njmodi" <njm...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1117935213.2...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
njmodi
I'm about to go back at it this morning :) There just isn't enough
clearance at the lower end of the EGR tube to get the washer off - so
I'm going to have to loosen the larger tube to move it out of the way.
Once I've pulled the smaller tube and got it cleaned out, I'll start
reassembly.
Thanks for your guidance.