Telecatster

Yes I replaced the VTEC gasket with OEM a few weeks ago without RTV and it leaked or appeared to leak. See other's replies ( Build$N$Destroy) (92lxsleeper) and you can understand why I am having trouble narrowing this f'ing siv down. The only time this siv stop leaking is when I poured in a bottle of ATP AT-205 in the oil. It started leaking again when I changed my oil recently. I changed the PCV valve a week ago during oil change, and the prior one was fine (rattled).

So area of leak could be:
1) Distibutor O-ring
2) VTEC
3) Valve Cover
4) Rear Main Seal
5) My anus from being tired of this ****

MO Problems

HONDA BOND!

Nuff said...

video_voide

I have the same problem, at first I went after the dizzy. I jacked up the passenger side of the car to prevent oil from running out the side of the head when I removed the dizzy. Below the cam shaft hole in the head was completely dry.

I have a hard time believing that oil is blowing out of my head gasket. So...

I pulled the vtec solenoid, cleaned it up, lightly sanded it with 600 grit and cleaned it again. I also lightly went over the mating surface of the head with 600 grit. I then ran a very light coat of rtv around the solenoid's outer edge, let it skin up, put it together, waited 24 hours and went for a run.

No leak.

I did notice a small amount of oil coming through the top part of the solenoid also, the oil pressure sending unit. I disassembled that as well and performed the same procedure. I did this this morning but am confident this will cure the leak.

Maybe these little bits are deforming after so many heat cycles...

Telecatster

Well, as I have no desire to put a new head gasket on just to fix a minor oil leak I will try your advice. Just to confirm you used 600 (not 6000) grit metal sandpaper and did you wet or dry sand it lightly? Also, please chime in and let me know if the your leak has fully stopped still.

DelsolVted

I had a leak that i culdnt find then i did a top end gasket kit. the new valve cover bolt gaskets fixed my leak cuz it help snug the gasket closer to the head. my old ones was all flatenrd out. might check those out too. hope it helps.

video_voide

600 grit metal sandpaper. Dry. Just a light sand, cleaning well after. I even went in the orifices with q-tips. What the hell? Nasty old oil. Before applying the rtv I also went over each surface with gas several times to get rid of any oil trace. And then parked a 200w halogen on the parts. It seemed like a good idea.

I'll know first thing in the morning and be happy to let you know. Sounds like the same leak has been plauging us.

Telecatster

Cool. Thanks.

Psychoteen101

Degrease it again completely and let it run for a while. If the leaks that bad youll be able to see where its coming from right away. Not sure why you keep re doing your previous work if you dont know its for sure leaking. Are you just going off a drip under the car or is it coming from a specific area? Another common one is the oil sending unit, but that wouldnt cause any oil residue near the distributor or vtec solenoid.

video_voide

Telecaster, this has been the wrong kind of solo. I much prefer guitar.

I am happy to report after a 30 mile drive, running the engine a few times into the higher rev range, that the oil leak has stopped. I even folded up a few paper towels and wedged them beneath the suspect area, that being directly beneath the vtec solenoid, after the drive I pulled the wad and it was clean!

How long this seal will last time will only tell.

Have a nice day

(I have a feeling this is common.)

Telecatster

It's seems to be a common issue. I'll give it a go and hopefully it rocks better than my guitar solo and amp build:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3EFr...ature=youtu.be

guessohw

I noticed some oil the other day after my rebuild in the same spot. I needto check it out. Let me know if you figure out exactly whats going on. Thanks

Telecatster

At this point it's most likely VTEC or head leaking oil.

tollickj

well... your not alone anymore... I replaced my dizzy and now I believe i'm leaking oil from my head gasket... its not as bad as it was when the leak was at the dizzy so I'm just gonna leave it alone for now til I rebuild my motor.

crxtech87

pcv valves are not common to fail but these engine do tend to have piston ring issues causing excessive crankcase pressures wich will cause leaks at the weakest point. if everything has been resealed in that area i would suspect a headgasket issue. possible corrosion.

Telecatster

I think your statement nails it. When I get over this cold I want to re-tension the head bolts (if needed) and use 600 grit on the VTEC and reseal as video_voide mentioned before. I have searched the net for similar post concerning head gasket leaking small amounts of oil and found many.

guessohw

I checked mine again this morning and it's still coming from under that same side as yours. Bad part is Im using a new oem headgasket with arp studs. Guess I will doing some additional work here soon. Keep us posted

video_voide

So about my leak, it is without a doubt fixed. For me it was definitely the vtec solenoid and only the solenoid. It really is not difficult to fix, but be careful when tightening the bolts to not over-tighten and snap one off. Think 10 lbs.

And let the rtv cure properly, 24 hours!!!

Build$N$Destroy

i would not use any sealants at all. clean your surfaces and get a thicker oring and lube it with either oil or dielectric grease (just as a lubricant as to not tear the seal) seals and gaskets should not have sealant on them. rtv is more used for things like diff covers and in tight corners or machined mating sufaces with no gaskets. the o ring should seal the distributor just fine. hope this helps sorry for the delayed response have been real busy painting havent been on here in a few days

Build$N$Destroy

oh damn n i just realized your last post said you found the leak lol glad you found it but i would not use rtv in there it could block the oil screen. if the surfaces are clean and you have a new seal it shouldnt leak. and they need to be replaced every time you remove them

Telecatster

UPDATE***

It has stopped leaking. Must have taken the RTV black a while to cure and go through some expansion and contraction. I checked it for 3 days in a row after applying RTV black to VTEC/engine block and it still leaked. Three weeks later and it has now stopped leaking.
Hope it holds up.

Telecatster

It took carefully putting on a good amount of RTV black between block and VTEC solenoid to stop this annoying leak. A lot of people will say don't use a sealant but in my case it was the only way to stop it from leaking. Hasn't leaked in the past two months. Over 1500 views for this post.. Honda Sieve(ics) http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...ke%20a%20sieve .... LOL.

pmgriphone

I understand this is an older thread, but I would like to make everyone aware of the following with regards to changing the seals on the VTEC.

If you are replacing these seals, you HAVE to replace the bolts as well. These are M6 bolts and they will stretch over time and as such won't be able to hold the proper torque spec. As such, even when you do replace the gaskets, they won't seal properly due to the stretched bolts. There is no need to use permatex or honda bond sealer on these gaskets. Just make sure you replace the bolts. These stretched bolts will also easily snap in two when you are trying to torque them to spec. That happened to one of my bolts.

These are the specs on the bolts:

Side bolts are 3x M6-1.00mm 45mm long HEX flange bolts, grade 10.9, torque 8.7ft-lbs
Top bolts are 3x M6-1.00mm 18mm long HEX flange bolts, grade 10.9, torque 8.7ft-lbs.

You can get these bolts at your local auto store (OReilly/Autozone). I replaced the top bolts with ones that were 16mm long (20mm is too long so don't buy those. The local autostore didn't have 18mm. But 16mm will work which is whatI got).

Hope this is helpful for some people.