# Valve cover gasket deformed, leaking oil?



## altima96gxe (Apr 23, 2004)

After my 96 Altima finished regular service last weekend, the dealer made a recommendation on my invoice "valve cover gasket deformed, leaking oil"?

In the past one week, I have been monitoring my garage ground and no oil at all. Does anyone know what dealer really meant? Am I going to replace the gasket for no reason?


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

look around the edges of your valve cover, more than likely, theres seepage around the ends of the valve cover, where the half moons are. take a look and youll see what i mean. its not unusual for the gasket to leak, since most people either over/under torque the nut or bolts and cause the valve cover to not seat properly. when you do end up replacing the valve cover, make sure that you also get the spark plug tube seals and replace those as well. nothing like replacing your gasket only to pull your sparkplugs a week or two down the road and see them covered in oil from leaking tube seals.


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## altima96gxe (Apr 23, 2004)

Asleep_94_Altima said:


> look around the edges of your valve cover, more than likely, theres seepage around the ends of the valve cover, where the half moons are. take a look and youll see what i mean. its not unusual for the gasket to leak, since most people either over/under torque the nut or bolts and cause the valve cover to not seat properly. when you do end up replacing the valve cover, make sure that you also get the spark plug tube seals and replace those as well. nothing like replacing your gasket only to pull your sparkplugs a week or two down the road and see them covered in oil from leaking tube seals.


Are you saying the "deformed" was caused by over/under torque the nut/bolts? I never had problem with the engine in the past. Who would have opened my valve cover?

Are you saying I need to replace the valve cover gasket, even though I do not see leakage in my garage?

Thank you very much!


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

actually, im saying its a common problem due to over/under torquing. yours, on the other hand, is probably due to age and or mileage. they dont last forever as the rubber turns hard the older it gets and it starts to shrink or even crack. its probably just time for you to replace it, especially if its the same gasket from 1996. the lack of oil on your garage floor does not necessarily mean that there is no leak present, it just means that it might not be bad enough to be leaking down past the head and block and is probably still only seeping around the valve cover area.


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