Oil in spark plug chamber

Hi all:

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
Reply to
njmodi
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Reply to
john smith

This is kind of common Nirav on older higher mileage Maxima's.

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.

Reply to
NissTech

NissTech,

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

NissTech wrote:

Reply to
njmodi

Update:

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. Nirav

96 Max GLE, 117k
Reply to
njmodi

Reply to
njmodi

Update:

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. Nirav

96 Max GLE, 117k
Reply to
njmodi

Update 2:

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, Nirav

96 Max GLE, 117k
Reply to
njmodi

Well Nirav , sorry it took so long to get back in here.

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.

Reply to
NissTech

NissTech,

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. Nirav

96 Max GLE, 117k
Reply to
njmodi

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