Got the hood on.


Shift **** - Copper H inset in a maple burl that's dyed red and then clear coated. Crafted by my dad.

 

Sick!

Poor thing needs a wash

 

I am having serious hood envy...

 

I always hated those notebooks. I had to use them in every lab during college... ugh

 

Tried making a joke, was ill received.

Removed by indirect request.

 

TC booting Adam out of his own thread

 

Gangsta *** shift ****.

 

Your dad is a bad ***.

 

I wasted a few more hours of my life today trying to make progress. The only new development is that I realized my speedometer isn't working. The fuses are fine and Smanager datalogged speed. I think that narrows it down to a problem with the gauge cluster and/or the speedometer itself. I'll do a continuity check on the VSS wires tomorrow before pulling the cluster but I've learned not to hope.

I might have to pull the head. If I have to do that, I'll pull the whole engine.

 

What happened to the head??

 

You need a head?

 

Why do you need to pull the head?

 

I feel your pain brother: https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-...b18c1-3293564/

 

Your asking prompted me to research and now I don't think I'll have to. You're the man, Shinsen.

The following is not a picture of my block. I pulled it from the webz and used my mspaint skillz to modify it.


I've got oil collecting around 1 and running down my transmission. I was thinking 2 was an oil passage between the head and the block that my head gasket might not be sealing but, seeing as it's right near the coolant filler neck, I'm thinking it's actually a coolant passage. Looking at pictures from my posts here, I'm confident that's what it's for: https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-.../#post47034953 My concern was that my head was warped and leaking oil. Which, would be crazy considering I had both the block decked and the head milled.

I think I'm going to get a UV dye kit for my oil. I had a mirror under the hoses in that area looking for the leak source but couldn't see anything. I re-re-checked my new VTEC solenoid gasket again today and it seemed fine. The exhaust cam cap seal is new and it's got a bead of hondabond around it. Maybe it's the VC gasket...

 

Clean/degrease the area too and look for the leak to reappear?

 

Is the block breathing yet?

 

I do that every time I go out to the garage so... everyday.

Yes.

 

#2 is an oil return from what I understand. Can you not see through the passage with a strong light and verify it goes to the oil pan?

Another way to check is see if the pooling oil areas of the head flow right into that hole. If it does then it can't be a coolant passage.

 

I don't have the head off. I did just redo my VC gasket, though and it looks like it is an oil return... So, you're probably right Tomcat. ****. Anyways, I added a UV leak detection addative to my oil. If it wasn't my VC, I suppose that'll tell me the source.

 

Its an oil return. Might want to check your torque specs on the head studs/bolts.

 

I am sorry mang...

 

Even with the UV Florescent Dye in my oil, it's REALLY hard to identify the leak source. At this point, I'm pretty confident it's leaking from around my head.
Why?
Because:

1. I could NOT see oil leaking down from above (with dye, yellow glasses, and UV flashlight in an otherwise pitch black garage)
2. My valve cover gasket is not leaking.
3. I've re-done my distributor o-ring several times and it is not leaking.
4. I've re-done my VTEC solenoid housing gasket several times. (Pretty sure it's not leaking but it's impossible to not have oil dripping from the lower hole when re-installing)
5. I've tightened the plug in the cylinder head (original source of leak woes)
   1. Although... I don't have Teflon on it... ???

Are there other potential sources I'm forgetting?

Here are the pictures.



I'll take the UV flashlight to the head again tonight to see if I see anything new. I was in a garage full of exhaust so maybe I was just high...

The good news is I believe my other oil, coolant, and transmission fluid leaks are mostly fixed. I think I need to replace an old hose spring clamp on my FITV with a screw style one because I'm seeing a very minor leak from it.

To-do:

1. Double check for leak source and, maybe, re-torque head. (honestly I can torque a b-series head in my sleep. I can't believe it's the source)
2. I didn't get around to diagnosing my inoperable speedometer so that's still on the list. Fortunately, I still have my old tachometer-less CX gauge cluster that I can swap in if needed.
3. Also, my valve train sounds like hot garbage. It's ticking like crazy. We've adjusted the valve lash twice now so, I'm confident it's not that. I suspect my LMAs need to be pulled and re-built. I'll poke at them later to see if they're sticking. If they are, I'll re-build them.
4. Fix a brake fluid leak at my proportioning valve.

 

Cam seal behind the VTEC solenoid good to go?

Other than that time to take off the head for a full blown port/polish oversized valves build

 

Yes. Brand new with a bead of sealant all the way around. No leaks observed.

Bruh, all of that's already done... My intake and exhaust ports are ported and polished and I've a three angle grind on my regular sized but flat faced valves. Like I said, I'm going to try and re-torque them before pulling the head. Hopefully that does it. I probably need to re-build the LMAs anyways.

 

Part of me thinks our B18 5th gen hatches are in cahoots to start running at the same time...

If you have re-torqued the B head that many time, can you run through the steps? Specifically wondering if you just take timing belt off cam sprockets, or if you try to keep belt in place and slide sprockets off cams... Or would you rather I ask in my thread and you can reply there?