black oil on valve cover

[kami240sx]

i popped open my hood and saw an oil ring around one of my bolts on the valve cover. its not residue but drops of it; like it would look the same if i dipped my finger in a pan of used oil. its been quite a few months since i opened my hood. I tried tightening the bolt but it seems like its very tight alreadyi also replaced the valve cover gaskets.

any ideas what else it could be?

[Nismo_Freak]

Small gnomes that live under your hood

[quiksilvia]

damn them....sure its not from when u added oil or checked it?

[DAEDALUS]

Has it ever been opened? A common mistake is to put the RTV sealant bead on the outside of the bolt hole, instead of inside. This allows oil to leak up the bolt and under the bolt head. Only happens when RTV is used, though--not a problem with solid gaskets. Or it could just be that your gasket's old and needs to be replaced. Usually they don't start to leak at the bolts though, the leaks start between the bolts if done right.

[quiksilvia]

he said he replaced the gasket, how/where did u use the sealant, or did u?

[kami240sx]

interesting. . . so i'm supposed to put a sealant on the inside of the bolt hole. i bought a package and all they sent me was the gasket so thats what i put in. is there a special name or anything for the sealant?

and yeah, i cleaned the valve cover after the oil change and this oil is very dark. its been about 2500miles since last oil change and probably 6000 since i changed the valve cover gasket

[DAEDALUS]

No, no sealant required. Covers use either RTV sealant or a solid gasket. If I understand right, you received a solid gasket, so no sealant required--I wasn't sure from your first post. I guess just keep an eye on it for now to see if it comes back.

[quiksilvia]

i was using info from my sr experiences, maybe its differemt, but on the sr, u have to put that rtv ish on the the bottom of the 4 half circle things in front and behind of the cams.

[DAEDALUS]

Ah, I forgot about those. Probably true for all Nissans.