2002 Pathfinder Aluminum Valve Cover Bolts

A forum for the legendary Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX4.
AlekAuto
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2025 7:08 am
Car: 2002 Nissan Pathfinder

Post

Hey, everyone. New to the forum.
I'm currently recording a video that goes through everything you need to know to swap the 2002 plastic valve covers for some 2001 aluminum ones. It's a bit less straightforward than you'd initially expect, so I wanna be able to get into all the details.
I've got basically everything down; the spark plug seals, the different ignition coils, all that good jazz, but there's one major issue I've run into: the valve cover bolts are different.
The 2002 model doesn't use grommets, while the 2001 model does. The 2002 bolts don't fit into the 2001 grommets.
Nissan calls these grommets "washers", and they're part number 13268AD200 .
However, what I can't seem to track down is the actual valve cover bolts themselves. You'd think that'd be fairly easy to find, but I can't find them anywhere. I think they're part number 13224AD200 , but I'll be honest, I'm not even 100% certain what I'm looking for. Are they just skinnier versions of the 2002 bolts, or are they normal bolts that don't have a step up in size, like Toyota valve cover bolts? Could I find bolts with the same thread pitch and get 'em from Home Depot, or am I gonna have to track down the actual original bolts? Given that they're aluminum, I'm a lot more worried about them stretching or cracking if I just skip the grommets entirely. Anything that comes with grommets should use the grommets.
Any help on how to track these down, what substitutes can be used, or just a picture of what the 2001 bolts even look like would be great. Thank you.


User avatar
mdmellott
Posts: 1229
Joined: Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:32 pm
Car: '13 Kia Soul+ 2.0L AT
'02 Pathfinder SE 3.5L AT P/4WD
Location: SF Bay Area, CA

Post

Those 13224-AD200 parts are the M6 shoulder bolts used with the plastic rocker covers. The bolts for use with the aluminum covers are common hex-head flanged M6 x1.0 screws (Nissan/Infiniti part number 01411-00181) At $9 each (dealer prices) it is best to use a common grade 8.8 screw from The Home Depot or Fastenal for less than a buck. A common hex head screw with a washer works just as well. I'm not sure of the length. Maybe 20mm. The washer/grommets serve much the same purpose as the shoulder bolts in that the metal washer part, of this rubber grommet and metal washer piece, has a cylinder body with a flanged head that is pushed into the grommet. The cylinder body acts as a standoff that contacts the motor heads, just as the step on the shoulder bolts do, when proper torque is applied. Just like the shoulder bolts, the bolts for the aluminum covers only get torqued to about 78 in-lbs maximum, which is doable with a screw driver, so be careful not to over torque these. It doesn't take much to crush the washer body cylinder and wreck that piece.


Return to “Nissan Pathfinder Forum / Infiniti QX4 Forum”