I've had my 03 coupe for a about 7 months now. And I've noticed that when I step on the gas a lot and the rpm reaches around 5 or 6k, I start smelling burning oil. Can it be a valve cover leak that goes onto the exhaust? Do any of u have this high rev smell and or is it a common problem to have a valve leak? Is it cheap to replace gasket?

 

I smelled a faint leak on my 06, so I put some Dino oil in to see if it became more pungent and man did it! I'm pretty sure it's either my PCV valve is either clogged, passages themselves in the valve cover, or it's just the gasket itself. The valve cover gasket was about 10 bucks at RockAuto and the PCV valve is 5-10 as well. I haven't established if it's the gasket yet, but I'm leaning towards it. It's fairly simple to replace, but you just have to take a lot of stuff off to get to it.

Now, if the PCV passages are clogged then it becomes a 250+ dollar repair, since OEM covers are expensive. I think the channels are built into the cover itself and you cannot clean them out.

I also bought some UV dye and put that in last night and will check it out later when I get home from work to see if I notice any leak areas.

 

The PCV valve costs $20 to replace from the dealer (Nissan or Infiniti) and takes 1 minute. That said, if you are smelling fumes, you likely have an exhaust leak, particularly if you cannot see any oil seeping around the engine or below the car.