Look At My Clean Engine (02 Max)

[pruizgarcia]

Replaced rear valve cover and gasket to fix one leaking spark plug chamber seal. This is what my engine looks at 44,100 miles. Clean... I did an autoX treatment at around 28K miles and have been using synthetic oil ever since (mostly Mobil 1 10w30).

Rear Bank Pictures

One issue I encountered was the wrong torque spec listed in the FSM for the cover screws. This cause the screw where the arrows point to in the picture to break. The correct torque spec seems to be at around 15lbs, way below what is listed in the FSM (65-82lbs). Couldn't get the broken piece out, so I would like any suggestions to get this resolved. I put everything back together and no leaks from the valve cover, but would like to get the broken one resolved soon. Thanks.

Pedro

 

[buster]

Very nice. That is one clean engine.

 

[pscholte]

Yes, Buster, it certainly is!

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

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so I would like any suggestions to get this resolved.

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file flat, center punch with a fine tipped punch or use a brad point bit...start very small and work up, use EZout or retap/thread chase with appropriate tool.

This assumes that there is not enough to get a vise-grip on it applied very tightly.

That's the limit of my rabbits out of a hat for this.

btw- nice tidy engine you have there.
(visions of Terminator II when T2 is approached by the motor cycle cop) "Say ....that's a nice bike."

 

[wileyE]

left fluted drill bits usually work for me

 

[ekpolk]

Nice looking. Is that a VQ30 or VQ35?

 

[pruizgarcia]

VQ35

Pedro

 

[Drew99GT]

How often have you changed the Mobil 1?

 

[deviant]

vq35de sweet ;] Looks like the oil is working!!

 

[oilpan49]

Very nice looking

AR

 

[C4Dave]

Re-check your manual. The 65-82 lbs was probably inch-pounds, not foot-pounds. Divide by 12 to get inch-pounds (5.4 - 6.8 ft-lbs). You're not the fist to make this mistake. Manuals should be more explecit in their instructions.

Be very careful using an EZ out. It is made from a very hard, very brittle metal. If it breaks (and it usually does), you're screwed.

If there is enough to grab with vice grips, try using that. If you can't get vice grips on it, try a reverse drill bit. If that doesn't work, drill and tap a new hole. Good luck.

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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The 65-82 lbs was probably inch-pounds, not foot-pounds. Divide by 12 to get inch-pounds (5.4 - 6.8 ft-lbs).

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Small valve cover bolts require usually only about 10 Nm. That's like what, a bit under 7 ft-lbs? Hand-tight? Obviously a small bolt isn't made to be torqued to 65-82 ft-lbs.

 

[GatorJ]

Whatever method you select, repeatedly soak it with your favorite penetrating fluid for a day or so first. (Can an administrator/moderator please delete my two next posts? Pilot error in trying to correct a spelling error.)

[ December 19, 2004, 12:18 PM: Message edited by: GatorJ ]

 

[Bio-T]

Clean... I did an autoX treatment at around 28K miles and have been using synthetic oil ever since (mostly Mobil 1 10w30).


I always recommend that an Auto-Rx clean be done on a new/low mileage engine. Then using a good oil after the rinse phase. I have done 3 vehicles under 2K miles and 1 under 50K and all now look just like the pictures posted. JMO

 

[pruizgarcia]

My OCI is 6000 miles with Mobil 1 10w30 and 1-qt of Redline plus one ounze of LC every 2K miles. Also, looking at the FSM real carefully it is inch-pounds, oops... Print was so fine I assumed foot lbs. So far, it has been fine without the extra screw. The cover is on solid and no leaks anywhere. Will keep an eye on it and tackle the problem with a screw extractor when I have real time on my hands with nothing better to do.

Pedro

 

[cos]

59 Vetteman,

You've used Auto-RX in 3 vehicles that each have under 2k miles on 'em? How much "dirt & crud" can be in such a new engine? My buddies '89 Jeep (4.0 L6) looked every bit as clean as the Maxima engine pictured above when the valve cover gasket was recently replaced. He's owned since it was new and it now has 204,000 miles on it with nothing more than tune-ups. Castrol GTX 10W30/Fram every 3k until recently and now Purolator.