Check this before your powertrain warranty is up!

[SteveZ]

Originally Posted by bocatrip

By the way.......If this is truly an issue, how long after replacement of the valve cover gasket can we expect to have to do the same repair again?

IIRC the earliest I've heard this happening was something in the 30-40k miles range.

The similar problem on my U13's motor comes around about once every 3-5 years, I've had the car since Sept 1994 and replaced the gasket there at least 3 times.

I'd guess unless the VC is newer and improved somehow, about on average once per 40-50k miles. That would not be so bad until you add in Brembo's about every 30k miles (rotors, pads) and a new OEM clutch in <50k mile intervals.

People who get it fixed by warranty end who don't keep the car more than about 6 years, they won't care. I tend to keep cars I like a lot longer, just in my Nissans there's a '91 SE-R, a '95 U13, and this '04. The first two have 140k and 130k miles, the '04 just rolled over 52k miles.

I expect I'll find this on my next visit. I have some other minor "dealer-only" fixes like my dead trunk latch switch, a running light bulb in the headlight assembly on the finisher stripe I can't find anywhere...I have to admit, the minor problems really add up on this car.

[jakz0rz]

I had mine done yesterday.
I asked if they heard of the problem, they said not very often.
I showed them a photograph that I took when I inspected it the day before. They said they would have to charge me a diagnostics fee. I refused to pay, stating that it's evident that there is a leak and I am still covered under powertraing warranty. Upon speaking with his foreman, the adviser returned and agreed to warranty the VC on the driver side.

To steveZ, my my car is an 03 with 26,000Km (15,500 miles) so it can happen sooner than you think. As someone stated earlier, it's just the deterioration of the plastic.

[OCG35]

Originally Posted by jakz0rz

I had mine done yesterday.
I asked if they heard of the problem, they said not very often.
I showed them a photograph that I took when I inspected it the day before. They said they would have to charge me a diagnostics fee. I refused to pay, stating that it's evident that there is a leak and I am still covered under powertraing warranty. Upon speaking with his foreman, the adviser returned and agreed to warranty the VC on the driver side.

To steveZ, my my car is an 03 with 26,000Km (15,500 miles) so it can happen sooner than you think. As someone stated earlier, it's just the deterioration of the plastic.

03 is still under warranty?

[jakz0rz]

Originally Posted by OCG35

03 is still under warranty?

Yes, the power train portion should be good until july this year.

[OCG35]

Originally Posted by jakz0rz

Yes, the power train portion should be good until july this year.

nice - caught it just in time

[bocatrip]

Originally Posted by jakz0rz

Yes, the power train portion should be good until july this year.

This is another good reason to have an extended warranty!

[SinCityFD]

took mine in they told me they would replace my valve cover gaskets?? Im gona look at the invoice when I pick her up hope he means valve covers

[OCG35]

Originally Posted by SinCityFD

took mine in they told me they would replace my valve cover gaskets?? Im gona look at the invoice when I pick her up hope he means valve covers

I suggest you make sure that's what "he means" prior to "when you pick her up"... if you wait to look at the invoice - well, it's too late ~

[jakz0rz]

Originally Posted by OCG35

nice - caught it just in time

Yep, thanks to the good people on these forums

[Canadian_Coupe]

Well after reading this thread I decided to check my spark plug tubes since my powertrain warranty is coming due this spring. Sure enough I pulled the coil pack over cylinder #6 and found oil pooling between the valve cover and spark plug tube as well as a bit of oil sitting on top of the spark plug.









I checked cylinders 4 & 5 but they seemed dry. Tomorrow I'm going to go back and check the other cylinder bank, my guess is I find oil pooling over cylinder #3. Already booked a time with the dealer to get it serviced. Considering I only have ~55k kilometers (~35k miles) on the car I never would have thought to check this if it weren't for this thread.

Edit: Well I checked the spark plug over cylinder #6 today, and unfortunately oil has leaked down through the threads and fouled the plug. The car still runs fine, but it will be nice to get this fixed under warranty.

[Texan1]

wow, this sucks. I wish I had seen this b4 my pwrtrain warranty expired.

I have 49.5k mi and in service date of 10-02

I don't want to do spark plugs until I hit 100k mi and at that time(5 more years) I will find out if it is a regular job or valve cover/gasket job for 800-$1000 bucks

In the mean time,
I will watch out for rough idle, misfiring, rough/weak/hesitant acceleration-but that's it. Maybe I will be one of the lucky ones!

[firefox]

I hope I don't get flamed for this. What do you guys think about using some epoxy to temporarily fix the crack? It's kind of janky, maybe the coil pack won't seat properly. If it doesn't work, it could potentially be a big mess to get the epoxy out.

[bocatrip]

Originally Posted by Canadian_Coupe

Well after reading this thread I decided to check my spark plug tubes since my powertrain warranty is coming due this spring. Sure enough I pulled the coil pack over cylinder #6 and found oil pooling between the valve cover and spark plug tube as well as a bit of oil sitting on top of the spark plug.









I checked cylinders 4 & 5 but they seemed dry. Tomorrow I'm going to go back and check the other cylinder bank, my guess is I find oil pooling over cylinder #3. Already booked a time with the dealer to get it serviced. Considering I only have ~55k kilometers (~35k miles) on the car I never would have thought to check this if it weren't for this thread.

Edit: Well I checked the spark plug over cylinder #6 today, and unfortunately oil has leaked down through the threads and fouled the plug. The car still runs fine, but it will be nice to get this fixed under warranty.

Wow, My 04 has 33,000 miles and on 2 ocassions I've smelled oil fumes. I have the extended Elite warranty for over another 3 years so I'm not going to worry about it until something is more apparent. I haven't removed any coil packs and don't plan on it. I'll let the dealer do all the work.

[SuperStezzyG]

check my car on tues. I had oil on #2. I called it in made appointment. Im picking up my car after work today. They changed both valve covers. Niello infiniti took care of me! And big ups to bythabay for this sticky! btw dont go to OAKLAND INFINITI they gave me a hard time about it. Then told me my warranty was up already! Said Drivetrain was 5 year / 60,000 miles..


I have an 03 coupe with 44k miles.

[cpezie]

Lucky me. During this last week I've noticed that after a 10-20 mile trip once I put the car in park I hear a "knock, knock, knock" sound. To me it didn't really sound like what I would call an engine knock. When the car is put back in Drive or Reverse the knock goes away. Put it back in park and there goes the knock again.

So I dropped it off at the dealership this morning and received a call around 4pm stating that my oil was a little low and they are going to start the OC test. Which means every 1000 miles I have to bring my car in to have them check it. I think he mentioned that it will probably take about 3 or 4 1000 mile cycles before a decision is made.

Man, this sucks. Prior to purchasing this car I had a Toyota XRunner and never had an issue with it. I go out and buy a 30k vehicle and find myself at the mercy of the Stealership.

When I asked the service guy if it was covered by the warranty he stated it was but said something to the affect that the a Technical so and so would have to make the final decision. I will f**kin go the f**k off if they try and screw me.

Any advice on this. I'm pretty sure someone gave some in this thread but I read this tread a while back and don't feel much like reading through it again.
just b/c it's funny.