Spark plug change - problems

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disallow
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Spark plug change - problems

Postby disallow » Sun Nov 28, 2010 10:17 pm

So, as promised, I went at my plugs tonight. Did the easy side first, of course! No problem.

On to the 'hard' side, started with the rear most plug, the wire is labelled '6'. Remove 10mm bolt that hold the coil pack in. Pull on the coil pack. Its stuck. Lovely. I had this problem on my 98 civic with a spark plug boot once, and the rubber was stuck to the inside of the tube. Fix was to spray some WD40 down the tube to loosen it up.

This worked. Or so I thought. What actually happened was I pulled the coil pack and plug boot off of the plug, but the actual rubber boot at the bottom stayed on the plug. There is a lot of oil in this tube too. I have read elsewhere on the forum that others had this issue. Its gotta be due to a failed tube seal at the bottom of the valve cover.

I use a flat head screwdriver to get the boot up the tube (fortunately had the clearance to do this). Replaced the spark plug.

However, the coil pack I had problems with actually came apart. I didn't lose any of the internals, and managed to put it back together, but I will probably replace it as I don't trust it anymore.

Any ideas on how to fix the oil leak issue in the tube? Does it mean pulling the valve cover and replacing that seal? How much work would be involved? On my honda, it was no big deal, but it was a 4 banger mounted transversly = easy access.

Very frustrated now, and will not be tackling the last 2 plugs tonight as I have to work tomorrow, and the truck seems to be running fine. I hate leaving something 1/2 done though.

Dammit!
t


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JAHBLESSINGS
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Postby JAHBLESSINGS » Mon Nov 29, 2010 5:24 am

unfortunately you will have to pull the valve cover off and replace that spark plug tube seal. just get a valve cover gasket kit for both heads and do them at the same time so you don't have to worry about it later.

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Postby disallow » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:27 am

JAHBLESSINGS wrote:unfortunately you will have to pull the valve cover off and replace that spark plug tube seal. just get a valve cover gasket kit for both heads and do them at the same time so you don't have to worry about it later.
kinda figured. Its certainly not leaking enough for me to notice between oil change intervals. However, it will now bother the perfectionist in me, knowing that there is a leaky seal in my engine!

Can't seem to find the offending seal on the Courtesy Nissan website. I see the valve cover seal, but no tube seals.

Would a plug that's shorted out due to oil make the engine throw a code?

t

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Postby disallow » Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:16 am

Parts now on order. I'm just going to do the one side (where the leak is). For now.

Valve Cover gasket - $13.48
Tube Seals - $3.37 x 3pcs
Spark Plug Boot - $29.80

I am replacing the one spark plug boot (part that attaches to bottom of coil pack) as it was all oily and basically fell apart in my hands. I put it back together and the truck seems to run fine, but for peace of mind, I'll get the new part.

So it looks like I'll be pulling the intake plenum and other associated parts, which should make it easier to do plugs for cylinders 4 and 5. Will post my update, and will also try to take some good pics of the plugs for comparison purposes.

t

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Postby disallow » Wed Dec 01, 2010 9:30 am

UPDATE:

The Nissan dealer called me today. They talked to their techs and explained that there are no actual tube seals to fail. Where they have seen failures in the past is the actual valve/rocker cover, which is apparently made of plastic. Apparently the cover warps over time, and can cause the leak I am seeing.

So now I apparently have to replace the actual valve cover which isn't as bad as it sounds. The part is $65 from the dealer, $46.81 from Courtesy.

Anyone experienced the same thing? Twinblown, I noticed you saw the same issue when you did your plugs back in April. Any chance you can check your culprit tube again to see if oil is leaking or not?

t

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2005+ Pathfinder

Postby reinaldo » Tue Jan 04, 2011 11:04 pm

I definitely agree that the only thing you can do to resolve the problem is to pull the valve covers off and replace the spark plug tube seal. The following instructions are certainly correct.

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Postby SHAWNATGERBROCK » Thu Jan 06, 2011 10:12 pm

I bet you are going to have to replace the whole valve cover assy., the sentra's with plastic valve covers have been that way for years , no one makes a replacement plug tube seal , so you reuse , or replace the whole cover !! I have made some honda ones fit , but its a get a bunch of different parts #'s and see which ones fit ...

If you do get some plug seals , make sure they fit before you pull the old ones !!!! The sentras would come with them , but they never fit !

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Postby disallow » Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:11 am

I have the rocker cover, gasket, and a new spark plug boot sitting in a box in the back of my truck. Its been too damn cold here to do anything with it. Today its -17C with a -33C windchill. It was -5C during the holiday, but I came down with the flu or some crap.

So until then, my last 2 sparkplugs and the rocker cover will have to wait!

t

webmastir

Postby webmastir » Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:51 pm

excuses.. excuses..

:lol:

twinblown
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Postby twinblown » Thu Jan 13, 2011 6:32 am

disallow wrote:
Anyone experienced the same thing? Twinblown, I noticed you saw the same issue when you did your plugs back in April. Any chance you can check your culprit tube again to see if oil is leaking or not?

t
I have not looked in there in a while, I did after the first 500 miles and did not see any, it was dry. One of these upcoming weekends I will look again, it's now 16,000 miles since I did the change.


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