Thread: Valve cover gaskets

To make the long story short, I made the mistake, twice , to buy aftermarket gaskets for my B14. And of course it started leaking right away after install. Tried different brands(Felpro and Beck/Anrley), same thing, pieces of crap.

Now, there is any reason why Nissan list two or more parts numbers for this gasket? I though they are all the same for all our SR20 cars. The problem is I need one for my B14 SE-L and for some reason Nissan wants more $$ for the one for B14 than the one for B13

^ not sure if you just got super unlucky but we have been using felpro and other brands like Beck Arnley for years without issue (haven't bothered with expensive Nissan brand for over 10+ years)

I searched the forums and some people said that^^ and that is why I decide to buy aftermarket this time, but it did not worked for me. The Felpro was a pain to install, it did not stay in place and it took me about 30 minutes to get it to stay in place to put it back in the engine. The Beck/Anrley stayed in place, except the part that goes where the distributor is and that where started leaking. I never had these problems with the OEM gasket, those are easy to install in minutes and does not leak.

But I don't understand why there are different part numbers and prices for what it should be same part for all SR20's

IIRC, there was a change in the way the VC was attached (stud and nut vs bolt) and the rubber gaskets changed accordingly depending on which method it is attached.

The part number differences could be as easy as what it comes with. One part number might come with gasket only, the other may come with gasket, hardware and spark plug tube seals. You might want to check on that.

I've never had an aftermarket leak either. There are I believe three places on the VC where you must silicone. Where yours leaked is def. one of them.

^ good point about the RTV points (at least we use RTV on those points)

I was going to mention the RTV as well. And I could be wrong but I believe the 2 Nissan part #'s are for the outer valve cover gasket and the inner spark plug tubes gasket.

I did this like many times before, following the instructions from the FSM and using RTV. But these gaskets did not work. It is the first time for me using aftermarket gaskets. Never had this problem with the OEM gasket.

Go back to OEM.

I tried an aftermarket gasket once. I don't see the need to RTV the gasket in the places not instructed unless I am re-using a fairly new gasket.

The FSM doesn't mention re-using the VC gasket.