AH! OIL! HELP! CYL 1 2 3...

[97ka-t]

Head gasket? Help!

[240DRFT]

rings?

[97ka-t]

Is it imperative that I check the compression?

[drifter_for_life06]

does it smell like coolant or have a green tint to it? then i would say HG

otherwise im saying you fried some rings...badly

[DjPantsSpecR]

or, the long shot, but the cheapest fix

maybe for some reason you pulled the valve cover off and you forgot to put the gasket on that goes on around the spark plug holes on the inside of the valve cover?

probably not, but maybe?

[drifter_for_life06]

check compression as a safety measure

and dj i doubt he would ahvd done that, otherwise it mighta happened sooner......but liek you said....maybe?

[97ka-t]

Smells like oil... how exactly does one go about 'frying the rings'.. would the accident have something to do with it?

[The Mic]

Crap, perform a leakdown test to see whats up.

[drifter_for_life06]

accidnet shouldnt ahve anything to do with the rings...i might be wrong

maybe you didnt do anything, did you spill oil when filing up your valve cover?

[SeVa-S13]

Look down the tunnel where the plugs go, you'll see a ring around the wall of the tunnel where the valve cover mates to the head. This ring will likely be dark because that's where the oil is leaking in. It's likely just an old seal/gasket.

[97ka-t]

Look down the tunnel where the plugs go, you'll see a ring around the wall of the tunnel where the valve cover mates to the head. This ring will likely be dark because that's where the oil is leaking in. It's likely just an old seal/gasket.

The problem is, I just replaced the gasket maybe 6 months ago when I got the powdercoated valve cover

[240sxjeff]

What kind of gaskets did you use to replace it?The reason I ask is when I powdercoated my litlle brothers valve cover I bought him new valve cover gasket and spark plug o rings from Autozone before I installed the valve cover again, and it leaked about 1 month later. After that I tried nissan gaskets from the stealership and the haven't leaked yet. Just a thought you might want to check into that

[97ka-t]

I used a gasket that I ordered online, pretty sure it was OEM Nissan. (brand new and all that)

[drifter_for_life06]

since we arent gettign anywhere in this forum i think this thread should be moved to the Nissan Tech forum or you (91ka-t) should get ahold of nistech and ask

[97ka-t]

That'd be great if I could ask nistech..

[drifter_for_life06]

try to get ahold of a mod to move this thread over there for nistech, or report over there if you want this to stay here

[PoorManQ45]

That's bad

[Dattebayo]

Very informative, Brian. Now go fly back to your cave.

I would say its either a head or gasket issue. The gasket will have to be replaced and you will need to have your head checked for warpage at a machine shop.

Possible causes of this are most likely that you did not follow the tightening procedure correctly for your headbolts (proper torque setting or tightening pattern) OR that you have overheated your engine a few times and the head warped because of that.

I personally think the car would run like complete crap if the rings were so bad that they let that much oil.

[Mo_Jo]

Sorry guys, but I'm still trying to understand how oil made it past the rings, past the spark plugs (that I'm assuming were torqued), and into the wire boots.

Just deosn't make sense to me.

The only thing I can see possible are the orings that seal the valve cover to the head at each plug well.

[drifter_for_life06]

is the engine torn down?

id tear it down to where you think the problem is and find out for sure, to be safe

[180fan]

I got my guess on bad valve cover gaskets.

[drifter_for_life06]

yea thats what i would say, liek i said before

i tihnk he has the valvecover gasket confused with headgasket

[TrueSlide]

They are on the plugs wires, what about the actual plugs?

+1 Valve cover gasket

[drifter_for_life06]

from the looks of the oil pouring outa the boot, i think the plugs were submersed or covered

[yellow_jacket]

This is a fairly common problem. It is almost always just the seals between the valve cover and the head. In your case since you got the valve cover powder coated, make sure that the sealing surfaces aren't all filled with paint. If they are, clean them out and get a new oem gasket straight from the dealership. NAPA gasket kits usually do pretty well. That will take care of you. I would also think about changing the plugs and wires out. They don't like being submerged like that and it tends to break them down and cause shorts.

The chances of this being a head, ring, or headgasket problem are about 1 in a billion. It just is not feasable for the head to crack in 3 different spark plug holes. Rings wouldn't cause this either, nor a blown head gasket. Now if oil were getting down into the cylinders, then you would look at rings, headgaskets, and heads.

[drifter_for_life06]

i think the thing with the plugs, is the oil probably just completely soaks teh electrode and it isnt functional anymore

it was happening with my friends 1.0liter 3cyl Geo Metro weekly, we would go to the store and buy plugs every other day just incase we needed to change em

eventaully it got so bad the motor just all out died.....now he drives a pink hyundai