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Just pulled the valve covers to fix a minor leak on my 2002 Nissan Xterra. The rocker arms for cylinders 3 & 5 are dark. The valve cover has a divider isolating these from cylinder 1. #1 side is also the oil fill side. Is this burnt oil, or does it indicate a valve leak…or something else. Appreciate the help.
Photo attached
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Well, that’s freaky. I just got finished helping a friend with doing that same side for the valve cover gasket that was leaking, along with PCV valve, and oil change. Same exact model and year. I attributed it to age (that part of the engine does become quite a bit hotter), his were actually a bit more discolored for 3 & 5.
About 141k miles on it I believe.
Got a response from Scotty Kilmer over @ scottykilmer.com asking about this. He said severe head overheating can cause this discoloration. It makes sense. I’ve had an overheating problem, and am also replacing most of my cooling system components after it recently got worse & the radiator cracked. Good thing it’s something I’m already fixing, and isn’t a sign of something else that’s serious.
You’re right; the metal is just discolored from the heat. If you’re still considered about it Auto-RX will remove most of that over time. I’ve used it before and it cleans the engine quite well.
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