¡URGENT! Oil in the spark plug tubes support...

[Julio Bro!]

Hello:

I already read here that there is a gasket for the valve cover and o-ring seals for the spark plug tubes.

My real problem is that the leak happened after a mechanic replaced my timing chain, he's going to check it tomorrow and MAYBE repair it under warranty of the first repair.

To my understanding, a competent mechanic that opens these engine parts of a 123K miles car is going to replace these seals by default. These guys didn't do it and that's what I'll be demanding.

Now, I looked in the factory manual and in the ALLDATA website, and there is nothing regarding this gasket or the o-ring seals. Because of that I thought that it was a matter of using a gasket maker sealant or such.

OK, is there some book or website that explains about these seals and how to go about them?

Thanks in advance and please, I need an answer in the next 10 hours.

[Silvia007]

There are a set of 4 o rings attaced in a series like this

o-o-o-o

that goes on the bottom side of the valve cover to prevent oil from going into the spark plug tubes. Chances are, they forgot to put it back on when they took off the valve cover.

[D-UNIT]

Yeah, and they are called "tube seals".

[GroundZero]

they come with any valve cover gasket set, $15 at any napa for the whole set

[Julio Bro!]

OK guys, great! That's the kind of info I need; yes, I would like to be there when they lift that up. If the seals are missing the shame alone would be very satisfying, thanks.

Now, does anyone knows from what source (manual, website, etc) may I check about the gasket & seal set? I don't care if it's a Chilton's or whatever, I just need some evidence that the mechanic is failing in his job.

Am I right thinking the mechanic should've replaced those seals by default?

[Julio Bro!]

Hey, anyone knows where I can find an official indication of the need to replace the valve cover gasket or the tube seals?

[GroundZero]

it's common sense, if he didn't do it he's a moron, any mechanic that doesn't have his head up his *** would know to change the gasket and seals when he takes the valve cover off. if he says it doesn't need to be changed tell him he's worthless putz and take your car elsewhere

[Julio Bro!]

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Well, I'm happy to say that when I took the car yesterday the supervisor took it without hesitation. He'll even clean the engine at no charge.

I hope he stays true to his word.

Thanks to everyone.

[GroundZero]

shop managers are usually really cool, i haven't met one yet that hasn't offered to fix a problem for free.

[Julio Bro!]

Umm, it's not truly free, it's supposed to be under the warranty of the original job. Which was fixing the oil pump and chain guides.

I have a '93 240SX SE with 128K in the odometer; I'm really hoping these fixings will extend at least 30K to 50Ks more out of the engine.

Synthetic oil is a wonderful thing.

[Silvia007]

Synthetic oil is a wonderful thing.

If that's what you are using, it'll last long after gasoline cars have gone the way of the warrior... anyway, my 93's got 160k and it's still ticking, even after I installed nitrous... forgot the 75 shot jet so it was running open so I guess there's probably over 200+ shots going into my motor, it froze my mafs, melted the honeycomb ceramics inside my high flow cat from heavythrottle.com (have pics of the melted honeycomb if anyone wants to see it) and it's still tick'n... Oh yeah!

[Julio Bro!]

I'm happy to inform that the job was done the past Friday and everything seems fine.

They were going to charge me $80, but I told them they couldn't charge for labor because this was supposed to be done with the intial work. They accepted and charged only $25, supposedly the price for the kit. I think it was OK given that this is PR and they cleaned my engine bay, also a warranty for 1 year or 12K miles on the job.

Thanks for all your contributions and help.

[groundhogday1976]

You gotta watch some shops. A so-called mechanic left the oil filler cap off one of the company trucks at work. Luckily when we started smelling hot oil and popped the hood it was still laying on the core support.

[Julio Bro!]

JESUS MAN, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!

This morning, arriving to work, the brake pedal got stiff and a small put-put of the engine began. It was hard to brake but I was almost there, so I park and immediately checked the brake pump's fluid level; it looked fine.

So I went for the obvious thing, the booster's vacuum supply; and there it was, the line was broken and jointed with a misley piece of black tape. That's incredible people, something as critical as the brakes were left in a damaged condition.

My dad says that I have to be careful and photograph everything, this could've been on purpose by a disgruntled mechanic.

I already called the shop and they will replace the line immediately, but I tell you, this is really scary. Being a simple task, I'll ask them to do it in front of me.

Incredible and scary.

[Julio Bro!]

Finally...

The 2 hoses were replaced. We found the cruise control unit cap off; clip it on. The hose from the valve cover to the intake was cut too, they replaced it. A little trouble with the coolant temperature sensor, but it got cleaned and re-connected and everything seems fine now.

I talked seriously with the supervisor there and told him to reprimend and remind his staff that going cheap and taking fast wrong decisions could cost somebody's life. I have a 4 year old daughter and it could've been a tragedy.

Take cue people, try to remember and check before leaving the car with the shops supervisor, then check again when receiving it. Check lines and cables, crank the engine, see and hear what's happening.