G37 - Valve Cover Pictures

[DirectRejection]

Originally Posted by Chris Meutsch
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
Looks really good but it should. I'm not familiar with this engine. Why are you changing good oils so soon?


These engines are known to be hard on oil.


Exactly. See the world famous Nissan Ester Oil....LOL.

Short OCIs are where it's at.

Thanks for posting pics and maintenance details, OP.

 

[bbhero]

Wonder how my car would look with more than 2 times has many miles?? Now at 251k miles.

Of course that motor does look great. It should given short runs and high $$$ oil

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl

What's the bill ($) for this?

Book time for the Valve Covers is 3 hours. It is taking me a lot longer than that though. I think I spent 1 hr cleaning the old covers and remove all of the old silicone from the engine.

Originally Posted by ka9mnx
Looks really good but it should. I'm not familiar with this engine. Why are you changing good oils so soon?


08-13s had a 3-month/3750 service schedule for severe service. 14+ is 6-months/5K for everyone. Since the car is out of warranty, I recommend 5K intervals to be consistent with the updated schedule.

Originally Posted by El_Vato
Thanks for posting these, Chris.

My 2013 G37 has 32K as of now. What other maintenance issues have you noticed on yours that you'd recommend to keep an eye out for?

Any other leaks, other components refurbed or replaced, etc...?

This is a customer's car. But this one is also receiving a rear differential bushing (leaking) and a fan controller (radiator fan is running constantly). Beware of the ugly rear timing cover gasket issue; Nissan decided to use a paper gasket on the rear timing cover until sometime in 2013. These gaskets can fail and will cause no oil pressure at idle. Checked your oil pressure at idle (with oil temps above 160F) using a mechanical gauge and you should see at least 14 psi.

Originally Posted by bbhero
Wonder how my car would look with more than 2 times has many miles?? Now at 251k miles.

Of course that motor does look great. It should given short runs and high $$$ oil

Have you had to replace the valve cover gaskets on your 3.5?

 

[Revving2Redline]

Clean!

 

[bbhero]

No sir. No replacement needed as of yet

Not too shabby.

 

[bdcardinal]

I think everyone is missing the most important question, what kind of toolbox and are your shoes shined?

 

[Garak]

This is The Critic. He probably wears a tux doing this, and stays clean.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
I really love the G35/37 coupes. How different are these two?

Different to/from what ?

If you're asking the difference between a G35 and G37 coupe, it's kinda confusing.... From 2003 to 2007, there were G35 coupes and sedans with 3.5 liter engines (VQ35DE). In 2008, the sedans were G35 with a 3.5 liter engine (VQ35HR) and the coupes were G37 with a 3.7 liter engine (VQ37HR). Starting in 2009, both the coupes and sedans were called G37 with a 3.7 liter engine (VQ37HR).

The 2007 model year is fuzzy admittedly. I'm not 100% certain if the coupes were called a G37 at that point yet or not, with the slightly larger engine or if that didn't happen until 2008.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by bdcardinal
I think everyone is missing the most important question, what kind of toolbox and are your shoes shined?

Originally Posted by Garak
This is The Critic. He probably wears a tux doing this, and stays clean.

I wear a white-button down shirt and shiny black dress boots and a Rolex while I work.

Originally Posted by bbhero
No sir. No replacement needed as of yet

Not too shabby.


That is surprising. Are they bone dry at your mileage? Not even any seepage or dampness? I have not seen a 3.5 or 3.7 make it past 150K without requiring the valve covers to be resealed.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
The 2007 model year is fuzzy admittedly. I'm not 100% certain if the coupes were called a G37 at that point yet or not, with the slightly larger engine or if that didn't happen until 2008.

I'm not positive, but Japan might have even gotten the 3.7 Skyline quicker than we got the G37 coupe. I know there was significant press around things at release time, which makes things a bit more fuzzy between announcements and actually being on the road in one market or another.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by The Critic
I wear a white-button down shirt and shiny black dress boots and a Rolex while I work.

I should have been wearing a poncho for when I change oil. I've been okay the last number of times, but at least once in a while, I seem to have the need to slam dunk the filter into a full pan of used oil.

 

[bbhero]

There is a bit of dampness/seeping on the VC on the back end of the motor... High mileage Quaker State stopped that effectively. Being that I got Mobil Super for $2.35 a five qt container... I am running that along with a Valvoline stop leak additive this is a 15 oz container... Hopefully that combo will work has well has the QS high mileage 5w30.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by bbhero
There is a bit of dampness/seeping on the VC on the back end of the motor... High mileage Quaker State stopped that effectively. Being that I got Mobil Super for $2.35 a five qt container... I am running that along with a Valvoline stop leak additive this is a 15 oz container... Hopefully that combo will work has well has the QS high mileage 5w30.

I see - they should probably be done. The ones on this car were sweating heavily but were not dripping yet.

On a 3.5 you will need to replace the entire valve cover in addition to the gasket. The spark plug tube seals are not sold separately. Luckily the valve cover for the Altima 3.5 is a lot cheaper than the ones for the G35's 3.5 (not sure why); the covers for your car are only about $50/each.

 

[bbhero]

I don't have to add any oil to the car to make up for any extremely minor losses. And the QSHM stopped it really well. And it did start to dry up. At this point with only 2 payments left on the car.... I am likely not going to do this until it becomes a bigger issue. Not have a real leak like having to add to make up for a loss is really nothing that concerns me a whole lot. I've had real leaks in the past. Like 1 qt in 1200 miles kind of leaks... That's a whole other story all together. If the stop leak works fine enough then I will keep on trucking for awhile longer.

It is good to learn the VCs are cheaper for my car when the time truly comes. My spark plugs were changed and no problems with them.

 

[CBR.worm]

Looks great. To whoever asked about changing the valve covers on the 3.5, mine ('06) started to leak about a year ago at ~165K - I swapped them at that point.

Random thoughts for the person asking about the differences between 35/37:
Some of the HR (both VQ35HR and 37) motors are still hard on oil, but now due to the VVEL system instead of what people thought might be the chain drive. The RevUp motors (typically MT) were known to consume oil as well as chew it up, I don't believe that is an issue with the HR - possibly due to them now cutting power once the oil temp gets excessive, which the early ones didn't. I don't recall if they ever added an additional oil cooler stock. I get them confused with the BMW 3 series of the same generation due to the amount of research I did at the time - one of the two got an oil cooler.

Some years of the G37 6MT have problematic slave cylinders that are inside the bell housing - requiring the transmission and engine to be split to replace. I believe it was only a couple of years that had the issue. The previous G35 had an old-school external slave cylinder which is easy to replace if the need arises.

If I were looking for one today, I would try to get the newest G37/Q60 possible. Most of the good of the 370Z with a nicer interior and a slightly better ride and minimal handling penalty. Lots of aftermarket parts if you are into that.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by hpb
Originally Posted by dippschtick
All those leaves on the cowl panel! My OCD is kicking in!


Same here! I like to have everything spotless before digging into an engine.

Just for you two, I tidied up the engine bay before I delivered the car.

 

[hpb]

Much better