96 I30 VQ30DE Valve Cover Pics

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Hey all,
Just want to share some photos of my 1996 Infiniti I30 (Nissan Maxima) with the front valve cover off.

I got the car 2 years ago with 215K miles and now it has 250K miles. Used Maxlife, Castrol HM and G-Oil.
Current fill is Mobil 5000. PU is going in next! All 5w-30.

I wanted to replace the rear cover but did not have enough time. I'll update with pics of the rear when I can.

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Not bad at all for the miles. Looks like varnish from lifelong Conventional OCI. I suggest running Rotella T6 5w40 in it instead of PU. Has the HDEO detergents and less expensive than PU. Also seems VQs do tend to like heavier oils.
 
I have a 97 Maxima SE and looks exact the same from oil filling hole: a little brown varnish. I am current using PU 5W30 to try to clean it but I doubt it will clean it totally. Previous use Castrol GTX or whatever dino. If M1 was used since new, it might be a different scene. But it is just the look.
 
Dont worry about "cleaning". The top of that head doesnt need to be "clean". It needs to be sludge free. The things that need to be clean are things like pistons, valves, combustion chambers- etc. It aint a beauty contest. My weapon in theater looked like it had been dunked in a vat of dust. The inside (where it counts) was pristine. It aint a beauty contest, its a game of functional excellence- and yellow stains on the top of the head are meaningless to the function of that engine. If you got to 250K doing "X", keep doing "X".
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
bourne, I don't think that's a VQ engine. A '96 should have something like a VG30DE if I recall correctly.


Nope. VG series engines were used in maxima till 1994. VG block is an iron block. From 1995-1999 is known as the 4th gen maxima and came with a simple all aluminum dohc 3.0 VQ30. My first car was a 1997 maxima gle . Had it till 227k miles. One heck of a tough car. Kept going and going with minimal maintenance and upkeep.
 
Originally Posted By: bourne
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
bourne, I don't think that's a VQ engine. A '96 should have something like a VG30DE if I recall correctly.


Nope. VG series engines were used in maxima till 1994. VG block is an iron block. From 1995-1999 is known as the 4th gen maxima and came with a simple all aluminum dohc 3.0 VQ30. My first car was a 1997 maxima gle . Had it till 227k miles. One heck of a tough car. Kept going and going with minimal maintenance and upkeep.


If I could find a 4th gen SE 5 speed with a clean body I would be all over it. Miles wouldn't even matter to me. The bodies on these cars do not last around here. Lots of rust. Really sad, the 4th generation is IMO the greatest Maxima, and always will be.
 
Originally Posted By: SLCraig

If I could find a 4th gen SE 5 speed with a clean body I would be all over it. Miles wouldn't even matter to me. The bodies on these cars do not last around here. Lots of rust. Really sad, the 4th generation is IMO the greatest Maxima, and always will be.



SAME !!!! Loved my 4th gen. And the best part of it all, was that it wasnt taken over by obesity that plagued the model years after that.

To give everyone an idea of why we love that car , here are the stats :

3.0L V6 DOHC 24V FI Engine
Horsepower: 190 hp @ 5600 rpm
Torque: 205 ft-lbs @ 4000 rpm
Curb weight: 3010 lbs

Closest specs I could find today similar to that are for a VW GLI :

Torque: 207 ft-lbs. @ 1700 rpm
Horsepower: 200 hp @ 5100 rpm
Curb weight: 3124 lbs

There is decade and a half worth of time between the two. As you can see, Maxima was pretty advanced for when it came out. Especially the engine, it was a built from scratch masterpiece, versions of which still power over 50% of Nissan and Infiniti lineup.
 
Originally Posted By: bourne
Originally Posted By: SLCraig

If I could find a 4th gen SE 5 speed with a clean body I would be all over it. Miles wouldn't even matter to me. The bodies on these cars do not last around here. Lots of rust. Really sad, the 4th generation is IMO the greatest Maxima, and always will be.



SAME !!!! Loved my 4th gen. And the best part of it all, was that it wasnt taken over by obesity that plagued the model years after that.

To give everyone an idea of why we love that car , here are the stats :

3.0L V6 DOHC 24V FI Engine
Horsepower: 190 hp @ 5600 rpm
Torque: 205 ft-lbs @ 4000 rpm
Curb weight: 3010 lbs

Closest specs I could find today similar to that are for a VW GLI :

Torque: 207 ft-lbs. @ 1700 rpm
Horsepower: 200 hp @ 5100 rpm
Curb weight: 3124 lbs

There is decade and a half worth of time between the two. As you can see, Maxima was pretty advanced for when it came out. Especially the engine, it was a built from scratch masterpiece, versions of which still power over 50% of Nissan and Infiniti lineup.


It really is a masterpiece..
This is one example why I prefer vehicles from the 90's. The 90's gave us a lot of great vehicles, and nothing is the same anymore
frown.gif
 
Originally Posted By: SLCraig

It really is a masterpiece..
This is one example why I prefer vehicles from the 90's. The 90's gave us a lot of great vehicles, and nothing is the same anymore
frown.gif



The 90s was a great era for FWD cars. Thats when Honda/Nissan/Toyota were building light reliable fun to drive accords/camrys/corollas/civics/altimas/sentras/maximas/integras/cl/legend/tl/i30/i20/celica etc . Before all the demands for 6 disc changers and navigation and luxuries started raising the weight , reducing the performance and killing the mpgs. I used to routinely get 32+ mpg on the hwy in my maxima. Nowadays they have to go make a new cvt to take a v6 above 30 mpg. Sigh ...... rant over !
 
Last edited:
I have a 97 Maxima SE and looks exact the same from oil filling hole: a little brown varnish. I am current using PU 5W30 to try to clean it but I doubt it will clean it totally. Previous use Castrol GTX or whatever dino. If M1 was used since new, it might be a different scene. But it is just the look.
 
Originally Posted By: Maxima97
I have a 97 Maxima SE and looks exact the same from oil filling hole: a little brown varnish. I am current using PU 5W30 to try to clean it but I doubt it will clean it totally. Previous use Castrol GTX or whatever dino. If M1 was used since new, it might be a different scene. But it is just the look.



Repost
 
The 90s are the pinnacle of Japan made vehicle. Since then, Korean made vehicle are getting closer. Due to currency appreciation, many Japan brands are made overseas and we see the quality and built are not as good.
 
Might agree with you on the quality part about the koreans, but the koreans are far from making a vehicle that is actually fun to drive. Their mantra for "sporty" handling is super stiff suspension and heavy numb electric power steering.

They are still light years behind being able to produce a fwd that can run with the likes of 1st gen TSX or similar. As a grocery getter, Korean vehicles are incredible value, as far as driver excitement goes, not so much.
 
Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
I rather have the VQ35 with a 6 speed manual swapped in the 4th gen, they are rocketships!

Fixed.
 
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