Valve cover gasket replacement

[GeoFX]

Took the car into the dealer for an oil change and the said that the valve cover gaskets were leaking. I know this isn't suprising for a 10 year old car with the factory gaskets but what was surprising was that they wanted $1200 to fix it (parts and labor). Parts were around $375 and they claimed 8 hours labor. Obviously this is way too high but what is a reasonable price? I'd rather replace everything if they're going to be taking the intake off.

I was able to source all the parts the dealer listed on the quote for $175 via everythinginfiniti.com (valve and egr gaskets, PCVs, both egr tubings, evapo and blow-by hoses). What is a reasonable labor rate? My local shop said it'll be around $400 labor if I bring in the parts. Sounds good?

[littlewillie]

Modified by littlewillie at 11:13 PM 12/23/2007

[GeoFX]

Thanks Willie. Seems like a pretty good deal on the labor as well.

I'm not experiencing any issues with the knock sensor right now. Once the intake is taken off how much work is it to get to that if I wanted to replace it?

[yodawill2000]

if the lower plenum is off its right in front of ya

FYI new knock sensors are going cheap on Fleabay.

[GeoFX]

Got everything done last weekend. Took the car in on Friday and got it back Sunday afternoon. It took so long since this engine is a LOT more complicated than the Nissan VQ engine that I've worked on myself as it seems to be more "intake-centric," meaning all the hoses, tubes, etc all seem to run off the intake and have to be disconnected one-by-one to actually get to the valve covers. They also replaced the seals in addition the PCV valves, EGR tubes and gaskets, valve cover gaskets, hoses, and lots of cleaning work.

Total price:$569. Purrs like a kitten now...