sswisley

I COULD USE SOME HELP TO!!! please!!! Im having a similar problem! I have a 98 honda civic with B18A1 non-vtec. When i pulled spark plug for cylinder 4 it was covered in oil and when looked into hole i could see some oil standing in there. Car idles, runs drives fine. Recently changed valve cover gasket and grommets. It did smoke a little before from under hood but figured it was burning off oil that had spilled on motor from bad valve cover gasket and changing. i've heard rings, head gasket etc. and even possibility of grommets being not good enough or maybe put too much oil in. Any ideas would help!!!! Again the oil was only in cylinder 4. Is this possible if i put too much oil in when did oil change? Thanks!

4drEF

If the oil is found above the screw threads where the spark plug wire connects, then it's valve cover grommet related.
If it's below the threads where the plug sits in the combustion chamber to make spark, then it's internal engine issues - could be the engine block or the cylinder head..
Good luck.
For future reference, post in the forum specific to your vehicle rather than this which is for 88~91.

90_EX_Civic

this is not 100% and only speculation, but your oil rings might need changed. and did you make sure to take off your head in a three step process?

gratua

a clerk at my parts store just told me yesterday that it may be the oil rings on the pistons. I'm fervently hoping not. while I've not looked into it, I'm pretty sure pulling pistons is finally quite above my line of ability.

on the note of *crossed fingers it's not the oil ring cuz it's kinda too late* I've put the head back on. so also, yes 3 part loosen torque wrench tighten yes yes. here's my new problem. I did not remove a couple of loose pieces, and when I flipped the head to drain/clean it, these fell out.


Roughly, the large one dropped near the end of the exhaust cam, the small one fell from near the exhaust gear. They fell out entirely drenched in oil. Not that this narrows the region down too much, but I figure it excludes a few places. There are a couple of holes they fit...I don't know what they are called nor have I found a mention of these in the breakdown walkthrough. I'm sure I've read the part about them a few times, but since I don't know where in the process they came from, one very well could have been under a cam shaft while the other was on top of the cam holders.
I very much appreciate the continued assistance.

crvtectim

The one on the left looks like part of the vtec solenoid. Iirc, it goes in between the top half of the solenoid.

4th pic down: http://www.clubintegra.com/board/showthread.php?t=61886

Did you take any of that off the head during removal?

Is the piece on the right a dowel pin?

213374U

For visible wear on the head gasket, look for any spots that were previously coloured black that have been worn away to expose the metal underneath. Here's a pic for reference.



Notice the black missing between the center cylinders where it is present between the others. But considering oil in the cylinders, it won't be due to a damaged gasket in that location.

gratua

yes, that's definitely from the solenoid, thank you. and I had two dowel pins on the bottom of the head when I put it back on. from my manual, it seems like there should only be two

and they were larger than this one I have.

as for most notable wear, I have this above #3 and #2

but oil wouldn't leak through here. here is a possible leak:


in closing, I feel even less confident in the problem being the HG, as I now remember my leak-down test and my compression loss across the cylinders...oh well, we'll see.

gratua

so I think I found where the little dowel goes. there's a hole in the very center of the head:

this is my one guess. I could never think of a reason for the dowel to be on the one side or other, intake or exhaust. well looky here, smack in the center. the hole itself just kinda drops away, I can't see into the murk of the oil.

nor can I find mention of this in any manual, not yet at least. the dowel does not appear to have sheared from something, it's nicely shaved at both ends. it also fits this hole quite nicely.

if I let go, it will just drop it. there appears to be no resting point, and I'm not gonna give it a shot yet, in case this is the wrong spot and I can't pull it back out. but after a confirmation from this board, I expect to let go of the dowel and for it to just sink flush and rest in the hole. another good thing about this hole, I can put my cams back on without blocking it off. good to get in some progress.

4drEF

That's not a good place to put that dowel pin.
Two 14X20 dowels go in the head.

It might be one of the dowels that go in the cam holder pipes?
Eighteen 10X12 are used.

gratua

it's definitely not one of the head dowels. now that you mention it, I'm almost certain it's a cam holder pipe dowel. will look tomorrow

Cameron R

How does a failed head gasket put oil on all four spark plugs? Answer, it can't. Stop what you're doing, it's your rings.

gratua

alright. it's not one of the cam holder dowels, it's small enough to fit inside them. I'm almost entirely certain the center hole is the right spot. it fits snugly, on both sides. the only way I would be more confident is if I had pulled the piece rather than found it after a fall.
also, I was terribly afraid of this, I am almost entirely certain you are correct. So, my last question: can I pull the pistons without removing the bottom end?

bradley

Pick you up a set of rod bearings and rings, and an oilpan gasket. Also have a ring compressor handy, or one of those ARP ring compressor things (They're handy as ****!).

Drop the oilpan, pull your rod caps, KEEP THEM IN ORDER. Take the old bearings and set them aside. Slide the piston out the top. Take your old rings out, clean the grooves with an old piece of ring and some carb cleaner.

Look up a guide on ring install, you may have to trim them a bit but it's easy. Clock them correctly and then use some light lube to reinstall it in the cylinder.

Clean the big ends up and the crank, install your new bearings with assembly lube. Torque to spec.

Then slap your head back on.

gratua

as I've not done this before, I'm unaware of what the guts of the bottom of my engine look like. I access the pistons through the oil pan? and as a follow up, if I can get at everything to disconnect the pistons, what restricts me from pulling them through the bottom rather than the top? It seems like, since I'm already there, I might as well just keep pulling pieces out of the bottom side.
thanks again for all the advice, much appreciated.

crvtectim

Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Piston ring compressors only work from the top. Follow bradley's directions, especially keeping them in order. Matter of fact, I would only push the piston up enough to get to all the rings.

4drEF

You should not be changing piston rings on an old block without inspecting the cylinders.
They may be worn to the extent that they require a bore job.
If boring isn't required, then at least the cylinders should be honed.

91 EF DX

^^^Exactly. I made that mistake one time. Didn't hone the cylinders when I put new rings on and about 6000 miles later I had a piston ring break.

crvtectim

I totally agree, but I get the strong impression that the op doesn't even want to remove the head now so...

gratua

boring is done to the cylinder housing, right? the bottom half of the engine block? and honing the cylinders, will do.

as for my head, it's removed, again. crazy simple the second time around, I'm finally starting to enjoy my wrenching again.

as for my perceived aversion to removing the head...I was simply curious. like I said, I've not been into this part of (any) engine yet. so I was wondering why, if I could remove the caps and bearings and such from the bottom side, could I not continue to pull the piston down. so now, to clear up the new confusion...

a slight push upwards to facilitate the ring change is no longer applicable? I might as well pull the entire piston since I will be taking them to a machine shop?

crvtectim

Correct, but you might be better off taking them the complete shortblock. Also, take the head so it can be checked for straightness and resurfaced if need be and have the valve stem seals replaced at the least.

gratua

I've not been to a machine shop before...do I just ask for the cylinders to be honed, or are they going to ask 'to what extent' or 'how much' or something like that?

4drEF

You ask them to inspect the cylinders.
Then they will make several measurements to determine what extent the cylinders are worn.
They may be worn so badly that putting the stock diameter piston back in would be too loose and have blow-by and ring sealing issues.
Too much wear requires a bore AND oversized pistons.
You buy the pistons and have them installed to your rods.
Then they bore/hone the block to fit your new pistons.

If all the measurements are within spec for using the stock diameter piston, then you can ask for a hone.
A shiny polished cylinder wall is BAD. Honing roughens the surface up very lightly.
It will have a nice crosshatch pattern left like the one in this image