Check this before your powertrain warranty is up!

[bythabay]

Originally Posted by G35fromTO

I hope someone can help me answer this... if I just want to check the area where the spark plugs are without taking them out, do I still need to disconnect the battery?

Sorry for the noob question and thanks in advance!

Where did you read that the spark plugs need to be removed?

[G35fromTO]

Sorry for the confusion. I looked at this post for removing spark plugs: DIY: Spark plug change. In it the battery is disconnected as one of the first steps. I looked at it since the steps to get to the spark plugs would be the same even though I'm not actually planning on changing them. Thus that's why I'm asking if it needs to be disconnected for the sole purpose of taking the coil covers off so I can see the area where the plugs are (but no plans to actually change the plugs)?

Hope my question makes more sense.

[bythabay]

Originally Posted by G35fromTO

Sorry for the confusion. I looked at this post for removing spark plugs: DIY: Spark plug change. In it the battery is disconnected as one of the first steps. I looked at it since the steps to get to the spark plugs would be the same even though I'm not actually planning on changing them. Thus that's why I'm asking if it needs to be disconnected for the sole purpose of taking the coil covers off so I can see the area where the plugs are (but no plans to actually change the plugs)?

Hope my question makes more sense.

Disconnecting the battery isn't necessarily required to replace the spark plugs, but it's always a good idea to be safe.

[g35_infinit]

Does anyone know where the best dealership in the socal area would be to do this warranty issue?
I want to go somewhere that'll give me minimal hassle and just do the job.
-Thanks

[SteveZ]

Originally Posted by G35fromTO

I hope someone can help me answer this... if I just want to check the area where the spark plugs are without taking them out, do I still need to disconnect the battery?

Sorry for the noob question and thanks in advance!

Need to? No. Good idea? Yes, but the chance of harming anything is remote. There's no juice to the coil packs with the motor turned off.

[SteveZ]

Originally Posted by bocatrip

I too thought it would be #6. It turned out that #4 was leaking and the dealership changed just that side.

I have both #4 and #6 which are on the same side, so it's the same cover in any case.

[SteveZ]

Originally Posted by netcbc

lol can't believe that plastic cover is worth $200+ arghhh

It's the extra attention paid to detail in manufacture of the spark plug seals

Actually not a totally unreasonable price for a VC but the point is you should never, ever have to replace a VC unless you drop it, over-tighten the bolts, or damage it.

The idea of non-replaceable O-rings strikes me as a cost-cutting move to make putting things together during initial assembly just a little faster. Or, if left off the spark plug seals missing would create a mess. But they're obviously not lifetime wear items.

On older Nissan motors you have a separate gasket (linked O-rings), you do actually have to position it carefully then put on the VC, then end up replacing them again 5 years later anyway.

Btw on the OEM plugs, from what I have seen so far, I'd replace them all around 60k miles max, no way these plugs are "100k" plugs. Too much of the ground electrode is worn away at 50k miles, for less than 100 bucks the car's going to run a lot better.

[G35fromTO]

Guys, I found the oil in my 6th cylinder valve. Valves for 2nd and 4th were dry. Once I saw the oil in 6th I didn't bother checking the passenger side... it was also getting late so I started putting everything back together.

Here is the crappiest part... my PT warranty expired last week and my car is WAY below the mileage limit.

I'm the 2nd owner of the car and acquired it last week 1 day after the warranty was up. Not all hope is lost yet that Infiniti won't cover it, but I definitely wish I could turn back time... great start to my ownership of the car, eh!?

To all those still with the warranty, do your wallet a big favor and get this checked out.

It's also ridiculous to think that the replacement part is probably of the same quality so this will essentially be a regular maintenance thing. Complete and utter BS!

[g35_infinit]

Originally Posted by G35fromTO

Guys, I found the oil in my 6th cylinder valve. Valves for 2nd and 4th were dry. Once I saw the oil in 6th I didn't bother checking the passenger side... it was also getting late so I started putting everything back together.

Here is the crappiest part... my PT warranty expired last week and my car is WAY below the mileage limit.

I'm the 2nd owner of the car and acquired it last week 1 day after the warranty was up. Not all hope is lost yet that Infiniti won't cover it, but I definitely wish I could turn back time... great start to my ownership of the car, eh!?

To all those still with the warranty, do your wallet a big favor and get this checked out.

It's also ridiculous to think that the replacement part is probably of the same quality so this will essentially be a regular maintenance thing. Complete and utter BS!

Wow that sucks, if i were you I would still bring it in and raise some hell. Say how its ridiculous that this problem is even happening in a newer car, infiniti should fix their mistakes etc... They might cover it. Its worth a try, it might save you a ton of money.

[SVTCOBRA]

Originally Posted by g35_infinit

Wow that sucks, if i were you I would still bring it in and raise some hell. Say how its ridiculous that this problem is even happening in a newer car, infiniti should fix their mistakes etc... They might cover it. Its worth a try, it might save you a ton of money.

+1 Def worth a shot!!

[NetNinja]

Like I said in an earlier posting. This is they way the engine was desgined.
ALL experience the same fatigue.
I experienced this same exact thing with my previous car. A Ford Taurus SHO. I have not seen how hard it is to take off the valve covers on a G35, but man it was a PITA to take them off in a SHO.

For the SHO you had better replaced them as a precaution at 60K.

Here was our replacement part.

http://k-mansparts.com/items/taurus-...ak1-detail.htm

Here are various car forums which a lot of people are dealing with.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Saturn-Re...-plug-well.htm

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3878889


http://forum.doityourself.com/automo...plug-well.html

http://www.acura-legend.com/vbulleti...-thing-110971/

So at 60K I would replace them. But hey don't listen to me I didn't just go through the same thing for 9 years owning my previous car and replacing them twice in it's lifetime.

I knew mine were going bad in my previous car when I got out after driving and I would smell burned oil. Not that I would trust my not visually checking the plugwells for oil. I just knew my car after owning it for awhile.

[chrismtb]

I took my 05 coupe into the dealer today to have some other warranty work done and tried to get them to check for oil leaking into the spark plugs. They said they would have to charge me an hour of labor for the check if they didn't find anything. Guess I have to check it myself.

[G35pm]

Found oil at #6 yesterday while replacing plugs. I'm out of powertrain warranty though.

Used to burn a lot of oil using Motul 8100 5w40. Switched to Mobil 0w40 and burned a lot less. Now using Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5w40. So far so good. I'm hoping the pooled oil was just from the Motul. Will check again after a short while.

[G35fromTO]

Oil consumption should not be the result of the valve cover leaking. I got the leak but my oil level stays fine.

Chrismtb, it's really easy to access them so definitely do it down the road. You still have plenty of time as yours is an 05.

Personally, I think this leak issue is BS and Nissan should be doing something about it (obviously wishful thinking) but I'm not impressed... My car is 61,000 kms, according to the maintenance schedule the spark plugs aren't due to be replaced for another 100,000 kms... in other words, this area shouldn't be getting accessed for a much longer time. If the leak is occurring at this stage of the engines life/mileage then the part was poorly designed and/or defective. I also believe it's unacceptable if the part remains unchanged and this is a normal thing to continue replacing it going forward.

My car was 1 week out of P/T warranty when I called Nissan. Yesterday I received the expected rejection for warranty coverage. Today I'm sending a letter to them to re-consider it... probably going to still get the rejection but nevertheless I'm going to continue with this and bring up the issue to others by any means possible.

[JZ]

my car is an 03 manufactured in may 03 and i have 57k... am I SOL due to a time lag or does my car being under 60k qualify for this free of charge if it were to have oil?