Fitting rocker cover and changing spray bars
A straight forward job, but one that seems to generate a few threads so I thought I'd write up a "how to" based on my most recent job.
This is what it looked like at the start of the process.
Remove the bolt from one end of your strut brace (if fitted) and it can then be pushed upwards to give you enough room to work.
Undo the small bolts that hold the coil pack cover (8mm allen key), remove the cover and from now on you'll need your trusty 10mm socket. Undo the bolts that secure the coil packs, carefully pull each coil pack up and lay them on top of the throttle plenum.
If you still have the standard recirc dump valve, you'll need to move the hard pipe out of the way. I undid the rubber tube on the right of the engine which allowed me to swing it out of the way.
Undo the rear, right breather pipe (use pliers to loosen the spring clamp), the middle right breather pipe (to your catch tank) and the left, rear breather valve - all found on the rocker cover.
It's then a case of undoing the 15 bolts (S14a) in this sequence if you're a perfectionist.
The rubber washers may need prising out with a small screwdriver, but don't lose them as they are expensive to replace.
Take off the rocker cover and have a look inside.
This is the inside of mine, a 126,000 mile S14a with regular oil changes and Silkolene Pro-S since I've owned it. Some slight marks on the cams, but no major scoring.
I then removed the spray bars as I wanted to make sure they were clear. They are held on with three bolts each side. Simply undo them but note that the oil inlet bolts are longer than the other two. My spray bars were completely clean, but I replaced them anyway. Note that you need to order two of them and they are not symmetrical.
Part # 15108-53J03 for the wider one
Part # 15108-53J13 for the narrower one. For both bars, genuine Nissan parts were £53.44p from Apex.
The old ones looked like this, nice and clear.
and the old and new ones only look different in their colour.
I was pleased that they weren't all gunked up
I refitted the bars using a 3/8" torque wrench and used the following tightening sequence and torque setting
I also replaced both rocker cover gaskets, inner and outer, as I expected them to be a bit brittle by now. They weren't as it turned out, so I reckon most people could easily re-use the gasket.
Outer, part # 13270-65F00 (£10.11p)
Inner, part # 13271-65F00 (£5.88p), again, both from Apex, Nissan parts
Here are the gaskets in place. I found them to be a tight fit, so I didn't use anything to hold them in, but others have used liquid gasket in the corners to stop it falling out when you turn it over.
Make sure you've removed all traces of previous liquid gasket from the head, and then apply new liquid gasket to the three half-moon areas in the head, as shown here; reported suitable liquid gasket are Hylomar blue, Hermetite RTV, Loctite 5900 or 5911, or Nissan's own version. This is the most expensive of the lot (£36 a tube) but was the one I used as I got it cheap
Put the rocker cover back on and re-tighten the 15 cover bolts in the sequence shown above.
Refit all breather pipes, recirc pipe, coil packs (be very careful with these bolts as they're made of cheese, they only need to be finger tight) and then run the engine and check for leaks.
Job's a good un.
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Originally Posted by BBB
