Luke_CD5

hey everyone , i've been getting oil into my spark plug holes and i was wondering whether it could be just the valve cover gasket and the tube seals or is this bad o rings ? i have no misfires and cold starts are fine but after it's warm it starts immediately but rpms drop low . any imput would be great .

Salient

It sounds like you need to replace the tube seals. You can get a kit that has a new valve cover gasket(s) and the spark plug tube seals included so you can change them all at once. You will need some liquid gasket maker too or that's what I always use to ensure a complete 100% seal. You will need a torque wrench that can be adjusted to the correct torque specifications and you will need to find out how much torque per pound to tighten the head cover bolts down. Do not use a regular socket wrench to tighten the bolts down. You will most likely break the heads off the bolts and need to replace each bolt you break. Most valve cover bolts are not tempered and over time the engine heat makes them weaker so they break very easily if you over-tighten them even a little. You are dropping the RPMs because your engine is losing pressure and the energy is escaping through the faulty seals somewhere. Personally I re-seal the whole engine all at once so I know there is no loss. When you reinstall the spark plugs do not over-tighten them either. You can break those too. Tighten them down snug. You don't have to tighten them to the point where you are over doing it. I like to clean corrosion off the spark plugs before I reinstall them too. Use a wire brush(carefully) or steel wool to clean build-up where the spark occurs. Be careful not to damage the spark gap or plug in general. If you use steel wool pads to do this, make sure the spark plugs are clean of the steel wool debris before you reinstall them. This is just regular maintenance to me. I hope this helps you out and this is not hard to do. Take your time and do everything correctly. Don't rush your repairs.

masospaghetti

Salient is right, although it comes in a valve cover gasket kit, not a head gasket kit.

I used oil-resistant RTV along with the valve cover gasket. Some use Hondabond, I find that RTV works fine.

Re-seal the entire engine for a low idle? Since it's fine at cold start it sounds like your fast idle thermo valve is OK. Most likely, either your throttle stop is adjusted incorrectly, or your idle air control valve is not working correctly.

proman

There are 2 sets of "oil seal". One is on the valve cover, called grommet. The other one is under the rocker arm assembly. When the spark plug tube leaks, it most likely is from the one under the rocker arm.

When you take off the rocker arm assembly, remember to keep the bolts on both ends of the assembly in place and remove the whole assembly. If you remove the bolts, the assembly may fall apart and it's very difficult to put them back in order.

Salient

Lol I was a little drunk last night when I typed all that but a valve cover gasket kit is what I was saying. He's re-sealing the cover with new rubber gaskets to stop oil leaks and regain power loss. Liquid gasket maker will help if you allow it to set up properly and oil resistant is the best way to go.

He doesn't have to do that. That's what I like to do. Unless he figures out where the oil leaks are / bad seal areas, I would use everything in the gasket kit and do it all at once.

Are you getting a Check Engine Light?

These are the OBD codes for idle air control valve issues;

14 P1508 Idle Air Control Valve Circuit Failure
14 P1509 Idle Air Control Valve Circuit Failure
14 P1519 Idle Air Control Valve Circuit Failure

Get your car checked to see if you get any codes or self-diagnose it yourself this way;

Lost Again

And how would you know the OP's car has two sets of "tube seals" when they give almost no information as to the engine/year?

masospaghetti

I've had a handful of Hondas, all of which had oil in the spark plug tubes. All of them were fixed with new seals in the valve cover. Not saying its a guaranteed fix, but I would definitely try first since taking off all of your rocker arms is not a trivial task.

GhostAccord

Well assuming from his user name that he owns a CD5.... It would have ether the VTEC F22B1 or the Non VTEC F22B2. The F22B1 only has one set of tube seals (valve cover) while the F22B2 has two (valve cover and rocker assembly).