nwf_snake

I have a small oil leak that is dripping a couple drops a night on the driveway on my '00 LX. Just started in the last couple weeks. Looking around, it was somewhere near the distributor end of the motor. Cleaned everything on that side with brake cleaner, started the car, and it is the VTEC solenoid, or at least the part that mounts that to the head. My question is, looking at a parts diagram, it appears that the only oil seal is the one with the screen that mounts the aluminum boss to the head, not the top part where the solenoid mounts to the boss. Is that correct? Or is there also some type of seal where the solenoid mounts to that aluminum boss?

In any case, both appear to have three bolts holding them on, solenoid to boss and boss to head. It is a little crowded in there, anyone have any hints on the best way to get to the three bolts holding the boss to the head. The bottom one looks like a pain. What will I need to remove to get to them?

Finally, is that the oil pressure switch attached to the boss? If not, what kind of switch is it?

Thanks in advance.

djkurious

You are dead on. When mine was leaking, it leaked from the bottom of the manual transmission. I ended up removing the bolts to the thermostat housing and worked my way to the solenoid. The vtec solenoid gasket was 11 buxs from my local honda dealer.

motegicivic

I would try to replace the gasket on the block side first to see if it stops the leak, looking at the diagram the top gasket there is no part number, but another vtec top hat gasket might work for it. There is an oil switch attached to it as well.

nwf_snake

Thanks, that was the drawing I was looking at. Ordered item 13, hope it fixes the leak.

driftahboi

so did this remedy the problem?

nwf_snake

UPS delivered my parts last night, so I am tackling it today. Will post when finished!

nwf_snake

Looks like after 188K miles, the o-ring had just hardenened and flattened enough to let some oil get by. It has only been a day an 40 or so miles, but everything is still nice and clean now, at least on top. I need to crawl underneath and clean up the bottom end where it was dripping once the weather warms up a little. Thanks again for the help.

95-EX

I had this same problem, had 10 and 12 replaced. Is there an o-ring within the solenoid itself? Someone told me there is.

nexalf

I also have vtec solenoid that was leaking. The filter and gasket has already been replaced and reseal it with a sealant along the lines of the gasket. however I'm still seeing a leak of oil underneath the solenoid. Any recommendations. thanks

f1drivr

There is another O ring under the solenoid. Just remove the 3 bolts from the top, there is a spring/plunger under the solenoid, it will push the solenoid up a little when it's loosened.

Jimmydean771

This was the exact post I needed. Mine has been leaking a little, and couldn't figure out what it was until another member told me to look around my distributor. I got the 2.2 VTEC manual as well in my '95 with 196,XXX miles. I'm gonna assume I'm having the same issue, as it seems it's a common problem on these cars.

kidcool1977

Mines leaking too, but the weather sucks ***** hence it will leak until spring.

The reason stuff like this happens is because the oil become acidic, and that acid corrodes the seal. I wonder if running synthetic oil for the entire life of the car would eradicate oil leak issues when mileage is in the 200k+ territory?

Samualsonn

Just wondering if I should replace my whole vetc solenoid or is it common to just change the gasket? I took it to a shop two days ago and they said they real sealed it but it's still leaking in the same spot what do I need to do to fix this oil leak?

djkurious

Replace #10 and #12

http://www.hondapartsnow.com/Page_Pr...=true#partlist

Fitz Williams

iTrader: (1)

I had mine replaced by a shop with a good reputation few years ago. It still leaked some oil and I was told it was the distributor. Last week I replaced both gaskets myself. The one shaped like an "8" under the solenoid was still pliable, but the one with the screen between the housing and the head had to be chiseled out of the housing. It was obvious it had never been replaced. The oil leak stopped. This is why I do my own work.

Samualsonn

Seriously I'm leaning about Hondas by doing it myself I keep getting jacked around and wating tones of money, supposedly my distributor o ring or gasket got re sealed but still have a oil leak. It's for sure coming from the vet solenoid I cleaned all the oil off to see where it was coming from. Where can I buy this gasket?

Fitz Williams

iTrader: (1)

Honda dealership. And there are two gaskets.

djkurious

Distributor o-ring is about 2.99 @ any parts store.

HonBeer

See if this helps....

Zak89

I have a 2002 accord. I replaced both the bottom and top solenoid gaskets. There was no little disk on top of the plunger. Is this correct? The older 94 vtech engines have it but was it a new design without it for 2002?

azchris

I have a 95 Accord EX w/F22B1.
It is possible to remove the VTEC solenoid without removing the thermostat housing.
I used :
- a 10mm offset box wrench for the lower bolt (this is the hardest one).
- a 3/8" breaker bar with 10mm socket for top pass-side (right) bolt
- a 10mm box wrench for the left (driver side) bolt.
See attached photos.

I did have to remove some of the air intake parts to get access to the lower bolt. But no way did I want to turn this into a huge job breaking open the cooling system.

I happened to have the valve cover off because I was replacing the spark plug seals. That made it easier to get to the left bolt. It may have been possible to do it without removing the valve cover.

Good luck & I hope this saves some lots of unnecessary work.

kyle-99

Thanks for help on this! I had a major leak from this gasket. Replaced the head cover gasket twice before doing more research and realizing it was the solenoid gasket. Hard and brittle as plastic. I had to peel it off piece by piece. All's good now, though. Finally no more leaks!

Well, there's still the piston oil ring seal issues... Really too bad the older K24's weren't treated to the same recall as the newer ones. I'm quite disappointed with Honda on this poor design. They're better than that. Sure do hope it doesn't happen to my Mom's 2013 CRV.

0dyfamily

r_kage

Removing the VTEC solenoid on the f22b1 is going to end up being a major project for me and I'm going to have to remove the coolant hoses, thermostat housing in addition to the air intake and whatever else.

Therefore, I just want to leave a tip for anyone who would love to make quick work of this job (see wonderful illustration above by azchris) by using a 10mm offset wrench to remove the lower bolt (where you can't fit a normal 10mm socket on a 1/4 inch ratchet or even breaker bar)--make certain your 10mm offset wrench is not bulky and can actually fit onto the nut. An old Craftsman like pictured above is ideal. But you can't these days run out on a Sunday and find a 10mm offset wrench that is not of crap quality that makes up for it in bulkiness when you really need all the clearance you can get.

After checking 4 stores, I bought the thinnest walled wrench of the 2 available (the other two stores didn't even carry one), and there is just no way I can fit it over the nut. I can fit my 10mm socket on as long as it's not attached to the ratchet, so if your socket fits, compare it to the offset wrench you have and make sure the outer diameter of the wrench head is close. If not, you may have a hard time and will need to be prepared to drain coolant plus order gaskets for the inlet (don't have names of parts in front of me) and wait. Essentially, what would otherwise seem like a 10 minute job could hold you up for days. It's probably best not to take your car apart until you have what you need (unless your car is grounded anyhow like mine is).

Finally, it helps immensely to have a magnetic pick up tool to retrieve bolts and sockets that fall.

0dyfamily

More people need to "Like" the post by azchris. Without his excellent description of the problem, designation of proper tools, and techniques to accomplish this feat, there is no way I could have accomplished this job. I already had a very compact Klein tools 3/8" breaker bar that fit the bill, but had to purchase an entire set of offset box-end wrenches. Rather than get only metric, I felt that I'd kick myself if I needed an SAE wrench in the future, so I purchased both sets online. r kage is right regarding tool quality; I fortunately found NOS ("new old stock") wrenches on ebay, though when comparing them to newer offerings, it appears they are dimensionally almost identical.

OF