Inlet valve guides Nissan VQ35DE VQ35

Applicable Nissan engines

This set fits the inlet side of the 3.5 litre Nissan VQ35 V6, built as the VQ35DE and the VQ35. It sits under the bonnet of the 350Z (Z33), Murano (Z51), Pathfinder (R50 and R52) and Teana (J33, L33).

The V6 has 12 inlet valves, six per cylinder head, each guided by a part pressed into the aluminium. Nissan lists this guide as 13212-58S60, with a bore of 6.000 to 6.018 mm and an outside diameter of 10.023 to 10.034 mm; its repair size, 0.2 mm oversize, measures 10.223 to 10.234 mm.

FERREA and SUPERTECH inlet valve guides

In the VQ35 the stem of every inlet valve slides in its guide, which lines it up with the seat, absorbs part of its heat and holds the stem seal in place. Once clearance opens up, the valve leans and seats unevenly: oil runs down the stem, and wear shows as blue smoke, more frequent top-ups and compression that falls away.

FERREA uses a copper bronze of American origin. Its in-house heat treatment helps, according to the brand's catalogue, to carry heat away, to hold up at temperature, to last against wear and to lubricate the stem. Tight-tolerance CNC machining lets titanium and stainless valves run in them equally well. SUPERTECH picks a manganese bronze which, the brand states, conducts heat markedly better than the sintered material fitted in series. The set brings together the 12 inlet guides of a V6. Such guides usually go in together with reinforced valves.

Valve guide technical specifications

Valve guide installation

Technical guide

Our brands

	FERREA was founded in 1978 in Fort Lauderdale. It produces guides, valves, springs and stem seals for competition engines at its sites in Florida and Argentina.
	Settled in Silicon Valley for over thirty years, SUPERTECH designs racing valve train parts: guides, titanium retainers, springs and valves, calculated by finite elements then tested with engine builders.

Standard or oversize?

FERREA: standard or 0.025 mm (0.001") oversize. SUPERTECH: one size only, 0.05 mm (0.002") oversize, outside diameter 10.08 mm.

Manganese bronze

This bronze is a copper alloy combined with manganese; aluminium, iron and a touch of zinc complete the recipe. Hard, it copes well with continuous sliding and corrosion, and turns up in heavily loaded bushes: in a valve guide it works against the stem on every cycle.

When valve guides must be replaced

• Oil consumed through the inlet stems
• Reinforced valves going onto a tired cylinder head
• Cylinder head to redo for track, drift or rally
• Valve train fully renewed

Vehicle compatibility

OEM reference (inlet valve guide): 13212-58S60

Important: FERREA lists these guides for the VQ35 of the 350Z 2003-2008. The VK56DE V8 is not covered by this listing.

Remember the exhaust guides and valve stem seals

Fit new stem seals with the guides: the FERREA catalogue gives the VS1014 for the inlet side.