I will be checking my #6 this week. I have my fingers crossed and hope that I don't have oil in mine.

Here's the dilemna I have... I have a Crawford Plenum. Now, I know Magnusson Moss act, so no biggie... but the thing is, I am hoping they (the techs) put it back on properly (like put loctite on the lower plenum bolts, so they do not become loose and get sucked into the engine).

 

Checked mine last night, everything looks good. Yay!

 

My turn tomorrow, the first person I talked to at my local dealer said he didn't think it would be covered under warranty "because something like that isn't part of the engine or um, powertrain" - yeah, those rocker covers are just optional for the engine.

I love my local service dept. No wonder I only go there when I have a warranty issue. I started out with Dealer Service but after the first two or three $200 visits for oil changes and bull****, I can't stand the place.

In contrast I have a local Nissan dealer who has always been more than fair with me despite modded cars, and all I ever purchased there was my U13 for $12.4k back in 1994. Wth is it with Infiniti dealers?

Thanks for the OP, I printed out your invoice showing your dealer in Cali took care of it back in 2008, along with my bagged last set of plugs, 2 soaked in oil, and pics of my oil-soaked plugs.

#4 or #6, you can't even see the whole plug, it's under oil.



#6, at least 2 cm under oil and look at the gap, it's burned away the electrode from misfiring.



Grrr............

 

Keep a close watch, I had no issues until 5 years and 50k - last June was the first time I found this. Mostly because I pulled the plugs because I was getting misfires and idle issues.

 

Dealer replaced both covers, etc. under warranty, no charge at all. Just picked the car up today.

I brought my old plugs, photos.etc. I think that may have made it a little easier for them to make the warranty claim.

That's a bigger job than it first looks when you consider the lower plenum is pretty much in the way. Possibly you could do it w/o removing it, but I don't think you'd want to.

BIG thanks to the OP, wouldn't have been looking for this otherwise!

 

I wonder what the likelihood is of dealer confirming the covers need replaced, but just giving the covers and not installing? I plan to install painted covers at some point - and I already know I have oil in plugs (found out way before this thread (or any thread about it) started... but I don't want to have dealer install...

Anyone think Riverside would accommodate?

 

Unlikely. First, the dealer is going to need a diagnosis by a Tech. That will cost $$$. Then filing a warranty claim for parts only, seems highly unlikely because there's usually a requirement that the problem is addressed, otherwise they have no idea for sure how the parts are used. Good luck, but if you have a warranty, forgo the paint for now. This is not an inexpensive repair.

 

maybe I didn't explain my "hope" correctly... I don't expect them to just hand over a set of valve covers because I tell them there is oil in the spark plug hole... I would take the car in and let them determine for themselves... I'm hoping that once they agree that the covers need to be replaced, they will allow me to install...

It is unlikely though - the primary reason being they normally need the bad covers to submit to manufacturer for inspection (typically this is required in order for the dealer to be reimbursed by manufacturer), but I have been told that once there is enough documented cases, the manufacturer doesn't even request the failed parts anymore...

The other reason they probably wont do it is because they want to be certain the new covers are installed properly and have no issues from the start (so there wont be another replacement soon).

My hope was/is that Riverside would realize the situation and being a mod friendly dealer/service department, possibly work with me on what I'm trying to do.

I'll call eventually and feel it out...

 

I went ahead and checked mine today. No oil found on #2, 4, or 6. They were all powder dry. Didn't bother checking the other side (1,3,5) as the nuts/bolts seemed a tad bit harder to find access to. Crossing fingers but hope my engine doesn't run into this problem later on after warranty runs out.

2004 with exactly 30k miles (bought in Feb 2004). Will definitely keep an eye out on this and check all 6 coilpacks/plugs in Jan 2010. Thanks OP for heads up.

 

I just purchased an 05. What generation is an 05, and how long is the powertrain warranty?

 

took my car to the dealer last month before my warranty was up. TOld them to look at this issue and also do a cert preowned inspection on it for kicks and they said the car is fine. I did an oil change just before. This was 2000 miles ago. I went to look last night at my oil because it was sounding funny and there was no oil on the dipstick. Like, completely bone dry. Im out of warranty period now so im kinda at a loss of what steps to take next. Any suggestions?

*im mentally preparing for this headache :-( *

 

Look elsewhere for leaks or oil consumption.

It takes relatively very little oil to partly fill the spark plug hole(s), not enough to account for a quart or more (safe assumption when the stick is dry you are down at least a quart).

Certain model years above 2004 had known oil consumption issues. If you were down far enough that your motor sounded differently or didn't sound good, sorry to say you may have already done some significant hurt. A quart in 2000 miles sounds like a leak or or it's burning it. You're going to need to take it to someone who can diagnose what's going on.

This problem simply can't account for enough oil for the symptoms you describe. My car had this issue for at least 8-10k miles that I know of, and the level never moved on the stick between my 3000-4000 mile changes.

 

I saw this problem on my 2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R. The #2 coil was pooled with oil. Just like with the VQ, the seals are only sold as an entire kit, which pissed me off. That engine was burning 1+ qts per 1K miles, so when the transmission (auto) lost resistence in 1st gear (no engine braking), that was the final nail, and I got the car I've always wanted

I'll keep an eye on this, I've got 3 years left on the warranty with my new baby.

 

So for the people out of warranty what parts do you need to fix this? I can imagine there is a couple of gaskets that need to be replaced in order to put the valves back on?

I have yet to check mine but I am way out of powertrain. So I would do it myself.

For some there does not seem to any problems correct to confirm the problem besides pulling the plugs and inspection?

My car seems to run perfect and I would think oil would cause a misfire or wierd acceleration.

 

03 with 41k miles on it here. All 3 on drivers side had oil. One closest to the firewall was basically full. Taking it to dealer tomorrow morning... Out of warranty since I got it in Aug 03. Argh!