Oil Smell = $1000 for New Valve Covers?

[Xenonphobic]

My dad's 2002 Q45 (78,000 miles) has managed to find a new way to cost him money. That's saying something, after the bad headlight ballast, failed sunroof motor, failed radiator, and failed video screen.

The car smells like burned oil when it gets hot. His mechanic says the problem is that oil is coming out from the valve covers somewhere. So you put new gaskets in, right? Not according to the mechanic. He says this motor has "special" valve covers that go bad in some mysterious way that can't be fixed, so if you have oil leaks, the answer is a thousand-dollar parts bill (for two valve covers) plus labor to install them.

Can this possibly be right? I was going to have the car fixed up so he could drive it for a few more years, but right now, I'm thinking the best thing is to sell it for scrap. Worst car he has ever owned.

[Skibane]

[Q451990]

I think your dad's mechanic is mistaken... although there may be a reason for it. On the G35 and other 3.5/3.7L engines, the gasket and rocker cover are all one piece. So in that case, the entire cover must be replaced.

Fortunately on your VK45DE, the gaskets are available separately. MSRP $30.28, available online at http://www.orderinfinitiparts.com for $20.59 each. P/N 13270AR010 and 13270AR000. The covers are made of a composite (plastic) so in the event that there's an actual crack in the cover - you'd need to replace them too. MSRP $245.25 available for $166.77 online. Part numbers 13264AR001 and 13264AR011. Keep in mind that shops make money by parts markup plus labor charges... My HVAC technician marks up refrigerant about 40 times the cost... not sure what your dad's mechanic does. The typical model is that they buy the parts for roughly what I'm showing as an "online" price from the dealership (unless they're using aftermarket parts) - and then an hourly labor rate based on "book time" - which is the time the factory establishes as the time it should take to complete a job. The technician will try like hell to beat "book time" to turn his 40-50 hours of real work time into 50-60 hours of paid time.

When you're looking at these things - Infiniti's parts site can be very helpful. http://www.infinitiusa.com/parts - once you find the part number you can google it for an online price.

[Xenonphobic]

I really appreciate the information. Now if I could just get a part number for the dead video screen...

[Q451990]

http://parts.infinitiusa.com/nissanpart ... ode=28090M

I wouldn't know if the actual problem is the screen though... that would be an expensive part to "throw at it" just to see if it fixes the problem.

[Xenonphobic]

Thanks, but that link goes to a general page.

I've found at least THREE part numbers, because there were different screens.

[Q451990]

You should be able to go to the main parts page, enter your VIN, and have it narrow things down better for you. I was aware of two screens (Navigation vs. Non-Navigation) but didn't know that there's a third one.