Black R

Mild case of OCD here.

I have a b18c5 that I recently replaced the head on and reinstalled in my ef hatch.
I've torqued every bolt to spec and have also installed a jrsc.

Because I replaced the head, I used the donor head cam caps also (to match).
Well for some reason, I can't remember if I double checked the oil control orifice in the center cam cap.
This is really bugging me - and I want to check it before I start the car up.
I've already tensioned the timing belt and put all the plastics back on.
But what if I forgot to put the orifice back in?
Won't it damage something? Not engage vtec?

Is it possible to remove just the center cam cap and inspect it, then reinstall and tq again?

Anybody tried this before?

kyden

it won't engage vtec. I would just pull it all off and check.

Black R

I'm going to check for certain.

BUT my question is whether I have to undo the timing belt etc and all the cam caps OR if I can simply remove the center cam cap and check it and retorque.

Gunmetal_B20_Hatch

iTrader: (9)

Due to the way the caps are setup on VTEC engines, youre going to need to at least take the timing belt off.

Black R

I totally had a brain fart when I made this thread: I completely didn't think about the cam holder plates.

I actually started the motor and let it idle, but I think I hear a strange noise coming from the exhaust cam side of the head. :/

I'm going to tear the head back apart and inspect everything again.

Black R

Now that I think about it, this is a b16 head I left with DonF for a motor build, but he never got around to doing any work on the head so I went down and picked it up when he was having health problems.

He gave it back to me without the cam oiling plates (I didn't notice at the time), as it was all just thrown in a box.

Now I'm wondering if the cam caps he gave back to me were even the ones that came from this head originally... :/

Runnerdown

I have taken apart perfectly good running motors that had no dowel pin and o-ring, or a combination of either before there from previous work. Never actually seen it cause issues but I sure as hell put the correct stuff there when I have them apart. The surfaces are flat enough but for a 100% seal Honda put them there, it feeds the oil spray bars.

I would certainly check the cam caps for misalignments!

yungmulacrx

+1 i have also took off a cam cap on my h22 euro r to find no o ring and was careful when i took it off, i also put the correct o ring in it.. But the car had great oil pressure and vtec was no issue at all for 2 yrs..

Black R

^ thanks guys.

I'm praying that everything is sound.

I'm going to tear it back down and double check.

I hope the cam caps match the head and that there's no damage to the cams or head...

Black R

Well this evening I pulled the head apart with the motor still in the car.

Here's the pics:









Everything looked good with no wear to the cams or cam caps.

The cam caps were installed in the proper locations and in the proper orientation.

All three oil control orifices were there too.

I still can't figure out what the noise was on the exhaust side of the head...

Tomorrow I'm going to put everything back together and tq to spec.

Black R

I rechecked the tq on the head studs and put everything back together tqd to spec.
I retensioned the timing belt and then:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...psf20cd733.mp4

It lives!

My only guess is that I maybe had the valve lash set too loose at .008 on the exhaust side because I'm used to running big Toda cams.

I'm going to make sure I have the lash set nice and tight like the helms states.

Maybe the valve guides are bad / loose / wobbly?
I have thought my machinist would have told me if I needed new guides...

Runnerdown

Glad to hear its running well.

Valve guides will not make any noise if they have some wear on them, lash can but not at .008... that's a perfectly good number for those. I forget exactly what the oem range is but it's better to have them on the looser side. It will hold better vacuum, idle smoother and keep the valve on the seat a touch longer which is good for cooling. Possibly a troublesome LMA created some noise.

Black R

Ya I checked all the LMA's and they're all smooth with no binding...

I'm stumped.

Maybe it's the bottom end... I pray it's not that tho...

Black R

I started her up again after checking everything and setting the valve lash to the tight side of oem specs.

It's still making that noise.

Idk what it is... Coming from the front of the motor... Maybe the bolts that hold the kamikaze together are loose... I hope.

If not, that's a bad noise to be coming from the motor.

Black R

I think the noise was coming from the o2 sensor - it wasn't screwed in tight.