When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I'd rate this at a LEGO difficulty level. Most of the bolts are self-explanatory; you just need to get the cover off. Warming the car up and putting the parts together inside kept everything pliable, which I think was a good idea. The one "fidgety" part was not the gasket itself ironically, but the spark plug tube seals. You can see in the first picture there's a set in the kit which goes over the spark plug tubes. I was racking my brain trying to figure out how they went on, because the valve cover wouldn't go down. If you look in the second picture, you can tell they fit together with the seals in the top, which makes it even more confusing. Spare parts... mmm kay.
Don't forget to disconnect the battery. I used a pair of pliers to get the metal ring version off and tin snips on the bolt seals.
The other item in question is the additional sealant used by Honda with the rubber gasket. I scraped off what I could find and reinstalled the silicone gasket dry onto a clean metal surface. I'll be surprised if it leaks. You can see one of two areas in the picture where it was applied if you do. The timing belt. Hmm. This is the original belt at 150,000 miles. I didn't remove the connector on the side of the cover because I don't know what it was. if you look down the sides (I didn't take the cover completely off) you can see maybe 2/3 of the top surface of the belt, or at least enough to know if there's some kind of damage or cracking.
Reinstallation is the same; I used a dull screwdriver and a little oil to run a ring around the spark plug tube seals to help them seat. YMMV
Last edited by onetwoothreee; 01-19-2019 at 06:51 PM.
You didn’t pop out the old spark plug tube seals and replace them.
You didn’t use recommended additional sealant on the corners.
You didn’t replace the timing belt that’s 60,000 miles and 10yrs past it’s rating.
No, they shipped me these extra parts. They don't appear in any of the videos. I'm saying it's not that hard to check the timing belt and replace the valve cover gasket. You could reuse the gasket and seals (maybe) but it's kind of pointless and makes it more difficult the next time there's any work in that area. There's a $20 kit and a $40 kit, which I also got shipped by mistake, or the gasket would be black. I might have used something then.
Are you confusing the seals that go into the valve cover (tube seals) and the seals that are on the coil? They are two different things. I dont think you were shipped extra parts.
To begin and end with, these are parts that I found unnecessary. Why did they ship them? I don't know. I'm just telling you I spent a stupid amount of time trying to figure out what was going on because I didn't pay attention when I took everything apart. A (in the diagram) goes between B and C right? Wrong. Tubes are too big. Thought maybe they shipped me the wrong part. Ok... K matches into L and M on the cover, but won't let the valve cover seat because it runs into an extra inch or two of seals. What you also might not be able to tell from the picture is that the "extra" parts are a few mm away from hitting the top of the valve rockers; there's no way to push them down any further. Even if these did fit over the spark plug tubes, you wouldn't be able to use them.
There's a small "burn in" mark on the metal spark plug tubes (not pictured) where you can tell the valve cover seals were actually sitting. The L-M seal in the valve cover has a metal insert and was baked in pretty good. Now that I remember, it was mostly just a lot of work taking those out. Everything else was pretty easy.
Last edited by onetwoothreee; 01-20-2019 at 12:21 PM.
the silicone applied to the 4 spots/corners is still nessessary, even if you have a clean surface, its needed because the gasket can not seal a 90 degree corner like that, your going to have an oil leak in the near future,
the connector you are taking about on the timing cover is for the cam sensor,
you have all the proper parts, your just not doing it right, why are the old seals still in your valve cover?
you install the new tube seals into the VALVE COVER, you dont push them over the long tubes,
why is your gasket blue?.....aftermarket?
your timing belt is going to explode any day now, its on borrowed time
The valve cover wasn't even leaking at the spark plug tubes, it was leaking in front, which I'm sure contributed to the crack in the exhaust that had to be welded. I bought the car in February and have probably put 10,000 miles on it. I was kind of hoping with the car being rebuilt (twice) that someone would have thought to switch the timing belt out. How many hours in? **** it, that timing belt is still good. I guess you need a place to stop.
01-19-2019
