oranginal

update: got some honda seals instead of autozone and the honda seals fit perfectly whereas the autozone seals i could actually push in, read more of this thread for more details.

Hey All,

Just wondering if once i set TDC, but it in gear, loosen the cam gear bolt, get the timing belt off and the cam gear off can i just pop out the old seal out and press the new one in or do i have to worry about loosening the camshaft holder on that side and re-torquing?

Also any HondaBond or oil anything, i know HB goes on the sides of the camshaft holder so i'm thinking no for the seal. And the manual i have just says to press the seals in and doesn't mention oil or HB?

Thanks

dtapia

what year and model it is ? if it has a hydro belt tensioner then your going to be in trouble and it will extend because of the no tension.

pesater

just use some small screwdriver and carefully take them out

for the new seals, u have to apply Hondabond or any high temp silicone seal at auto part store to the inside and outside of the seals, let it dry for a few hours before turn on the engine

dtapia

where did you get that false information from ? WRONG WRONG!!!!!!

that is not even true at all.
the only place the honda bond is used it on the can towers and only in the corners. their is no need to put honda bond on any part of the seal.

bluedlude

you are supposed to apply honda bond to the outside of the cam seal. you do not need to worry about removing the cam caps. just use a dowel to fit through the hole in the cam oiling plate and into the hole in the cam to hold the cam still. this will help when loosening and torquing the cam gear bolt.

dtapia

not according the the FACTORY and the FACTORY service manual.

oranginal

so i got this all done.

seal came out with a flat head screwdriver no problem and i could see it was damaged. I just cleaned the area with some Q-tips to get rid of the oil and then pressed in the new seal.

old seal didn't have hondabond so i didn't use it as well.

glad i didn't have to take the cam caps off. and the honda service manual only said to use hondabond on the corners of the caps, not the seal, so i should be good.

thanks to all who posted

dtapia

glad it worked out for you.

oranginal

may have spoke too soon. Oil is leaking again.
i figure it has to be this seal that's causing the issue.

symptoms: I can see oil building up on the inside of the cam gear that goes with that seal which is the intake side. It all started when i had to put in a new cam gear after the old one got damaged due to a metal bracket getting caught in there. Oil then dips down to the back of the block where the piston stamping letters A and B usually are and drips down to the ground from there

Not sure if i should just take teh seal out and throw some hondabond on the outterside or what at this point.

Any tips or suggestions of what else could be going on would be helpful.
Thanks,

bluedlude

did you do what the manual says and put a dab of hondabond on the four corners of the valve cover gasket where the cam caps meet the mating surface? you will get a small leak if you don't.

oranginal

Just to confirm we are talking about the cam oil seals at the cam gears right....as i know it says to use hondabond on the cam seals no the dizzy side?

yes i have used some hondabond on the valve cover gasket at those corners and let it sit for 24 hours to fully cure (i think that's the word)
It's hard to get a flashlight in there and see exactly what's going on.

anything i should be looking for to help pinpoint the cam seal over the valve cover?

oranginal

so the leak is still there but not nearly as bad as it was before i replaced the seal.

wondering if i should just pull the seal out and put some hondabond around it.

might try to pull the timing belt cover off that goes between the cam gears and the head to see if i can get a better look.

i hate the rain

oranginal

update:

i pulled the seal and hondabonded all around it and pressed it back in with a flat head screwdriver and let it sit overnight.

slight leak is still there but the puddle of oil left under the car is much much smaller then before which leads me to believe it is still the cam seal.

wondering if a ridiculous amount of hondabond will end the leak for good.

anyone else replace these seal and load it with HB or any other experiences feel free to chime in.

bluedlude

I have done it both ways. with and without hondabond. I usually just add some to make sure the seal doesn't rotate. if you are leaking enough that its leaving oil on the ground you have a pretty serious leak there man.

InvaderTrax

Are you cleaning up all oil from the side of the engine? That leak could be dribbling what wasn't cleaned up. Perhaps give it a few days

oranginal

Summary: used honda seals instead of autozone seal.
honda seals have some inner lubricant and filled in the outter edge area much better.
with the autozone seal i could press it in further but the honda seal i could only press in till it sat flush. i realized they should sit flush after i took the other cam gear off to compare the two. then replaced both seals while i was in there.
decided to use some hondabond on the edges of the seal just to be safe but i'm sure it's not needed.

longer story:

so i took it apart this weekend and took both cam gears off even though the exhaust wasn't leaking so i could compare the two. i saw the exhaust oil cam seal had a small small leak and notices it wasn't pushed in all the way like the intake seal was buy sat sorta flush with the metal on the outside so it was smooth with the outside instead of being pressed in more (slightly in but enough where i could tell a huge differance between the two maybe like 1/8 of an inch)

note: the small leak on the exhaust seal wasn't my issue at all as the intake oil cam seal was causing all the oil issues

so i went to honda and got 2 seals and after looking them over they also had some lubricant on the inner part that the autozone seals didn't have. i'm sure it's not needed but nice to have some lubricant there.

anyway, so with the autozone seal i used when i first did the replacement on the intake cam i could actually press in, whereas the honda seal i could only press so it sat flush.

i still used some hondabond on it but only a thin layer.

i didn't have to drive today so i'm gonna let it cure for the full 24 hours, even though i'm sure it would be fine after the 1hr dry time. Buy i am very confident the leak has not been fixed.