Timing Chain Replacement - Plate Metal Cover

[whitediamond642]

Car Info:
2003 Infiniti I35 w/ 205,XXX miles and Auto transmission.

I'm in the middle of replacing my timing chain tensioners and all associated hardware while the engine is out and noticed the "Plate Metal Cover" (how it's referred to in the FSM) has a broken gasket in multiple places. Here are some pics of what I'm talking about:











I talked to the Nissan Dealer and they don't seem to even list the part to get the gasket for it.

The gasket appears to be of the paper variety. Should I take the part off and replace it with a cutout of paper gasket or just go ahead and use RTV sealant? Or should I leave well enough alone considering the FSM says in bold all caps "DO NOT REMOVE THIS COVER"?

I would like to fix it if it's causing an issue (especially if it has something to do with the timing tensioners going out, cause this is a PITA!) but don't want to make anything worse.

The only other posting I've found related to this is here:

http://forums.maxima.org/6th-generation ... ioner.html

It sounded like they made their gasket out of a sheet of gasket material, but I'm not sure and the post is pretty old.

[maxhopper]

I can't see where that would have anything to do with a chain tensioner failure. In this instance, I'd follow the FSM and leave it alone.

[whitediamond642]

Thanks for the feedback, Scott.

Here's why I think it may actually have something to do with my timing tensioner issue, so let me know your thoughts, please.

That oil passage takes oil from the pump (the lower section of the passage) and splits the supply between the two heads going into the head at the port in this pic:



The oil supply lubricates the head, including the secondary tensioner seen in this pic:



The tensioner that was causing the noise was the tensioner the furthest down the line of the oil passage (the right one in the pic or the front one in the car). I don't know for sure if it was caused by low oil pressure to the tensioner, but none of the tensioners were severely worn, which is why I think that it could have been an oil pressure issue.

I'm absolutely guessing, but the last thing I want to do is put it all back together and still have that damn rattle from the chain not being fully tensioned. This timing chain replacement is a pain and I thought doing a 3000GT Turbo timing belt was the worst. This one absolutely takes the cake.

Thanks again for the input and let me know what you think.

[the converted]

I don't see why you couldn't take that gasket and make a new paper one. I'm not sure that whatever oil that would leak from there would give you low enough pressure to give you chain rattle. Do you have the typical rattle at startup, or is it more frequent than that.

Those screws do look like the ones you'd need an impact screwdriver on to not strip them out. I had to learn that one on my own once.

[whitediamond642]

I ended up playing it safe and going with the FSM and not touching the plate or gasket.

I'm hoping I don't see any ill effects from the decision, but it does still worry me. I'm trying to get another 200k out of the car before I get rid of it and since I had to replace the transmission, I decided to take on this endeaver as well. It has not been fun.

I'll let everyone know if I still have the dreaded chain rattle after I get it all put back together.

Thanks again for all the assistance.

[the converted]

I'm just noticing the mileage on your car, and am assuming that you are putting new bearings in? That is going to make the biggest difference in your oil pressure.

[maxhopper]

Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I went to the NICO meet in Carlisle this weekend. I talked about your issue with another Max enthusiast (neither he or I are engine experts); and we came to the conclusion that you could have shaved the gasket material that was showing so it wouldn't break off and potentially cause other issues. Other than that, leave it be.

[whitediamond642]

I ended up doing exactly that. I sliced off the excess and called it a day.

I'm putting her back together right now.

Thanks for everyone's help on this.

[sergofast]

Sorry to revive this from the dead but it has wrong info on it and I wanted to correct this just in case anyone else is looking to this for reference.

Those gaskets that are "blown" are the oil gallies that feed the variable cams on your engine. What you are seeing on this thread is a major internal oil leak and in this case they absolutely should have been repaired and this really should have been a factory recall with amount of VQs effected (but thats another topic). A sign of this failing if you are seeing signs of low oil pressure, intake cam codes. Some engines had the wrong torque specs in the first place on these so they cause a internal oil leak, resulting is low oil pressure and main bearing #1 noise.

Here is a link to a repair kit that includes better hardware (to replace the factory screws) that allows it to be torqued to specs and includes a replacement metal gasket (vs the failure prone paper).

http://www.nisformance.com/EPS-Tuning-O ... ykitde.htm

[DeXteR]

Sorry to revive this from the dead but it has wrong info on it and I wanted to correct this just in case anyone else is looking to this for reference.

Those gaskets that are "blown" are the <a title="Link added by VigLink" class="vglnk" href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=oil" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span>oil</span></a> gallies that feed the variable cams on your <a title="Link added by VigLink" class="vglnk" href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=engine" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span>engine</span></a>. What you are seeing on this thread is a major internal <a title="Link added by VigLink" class="vglnk" href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=oil" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span>oil</span></a> leak and in this case they absolutely should have been repaired and this really should have been a factory recall with amount of VQs effected (but thats another topic). A sign of this failing if you are seeing signs of low <a title="Link added by VigLink" class="vglnk" href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=oil" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span>oil</span></a> pressure, intake cam codes. Some engines had the wrong torque specs in the first place on these so they cause a internal oil leak, resulting is low oil pressure and main bearing #1 noise.

Here is a link to a repair kit that includes better hardware (to replace the factory screws) that allows it to be torqued to specs and includes a replacement metal gasket (vs the failure prone paper).

<a class="vglnk" href="http://www.nisformance.com/EPS-Tuning-O ... ykitde.htm[/b" rel="nofollow"><span>http</span><span>://</span><span>www</span><span>.</span><span>nisformance</span><span>.</span><span>com</span><span>/</span><span>EPS</span><span>-</span><span>Tuning</span><span>-</span><span>Oil</span><span>-</span><span>Gallery</span><span>-</span><span>Gasket</span><span>-</span><span>Hardware</span><span>-</span><span>Kit</span><span>-</span><span>p</span><span>/</span><span>oilgallerykitde</span><span>.</span><span>htm</span><span>[/</span><span>size</span><span>][/</span><span>b</span></a>]

Glad to see someone posted this /\.

I came across this thread looking for the oil galley gaskets for a VQ40. Curious to know how the OP's engine is holding up after leaving the gaping holes in one of the main oil arteries.

Moderators should move that post to the top...