Some tech since it's been forever since there was anyone with tech/DIY/tutorial/help posts and I always cap on people for being unproductive members of H-T. I just wanted to contribute and show that I practice what I preach (i try to help)

Background: This longblock was a project longblock that I picked up in hopes of using the parts for my own 00' S2000 that spun a bearing. This was supposed to have a spun bearing too but was extremely cheap so I picked it up and figured I'd use the parts that I could and sell off the rest later on.

So I'm going to go about this write-up as you would for a headgasket install/removal. I would say that to attempt this, you would need to be a LITTLE BIT mechanically inclined (your own oil changes, comfortable with manifold install/uninstalls, and a basic knowledge of how to turn a wrench and internal combustion. I am not a saint, I simply do things the way that I find fit, and I definitely do NOT follow any ASE/formal mechanic protocol. If that's the level of professionalism you're looking for from my tutorial, please leave now. Any helpful tips to me or the people reading this is appreciated of course.

I made this thread because when I ran into issues with my Prelude back in 06'-07' and I couldn't afford a mechanic, the internet was of great help to me. So here I am trying to live up to the people who helped me out by doing the same, I'm paying my debt to the Honda society if you will.

Job: Cylinder Head Removal / Head Gasket Replacement (same ****)

Tools Required:
-Drink(s) (beer, tea, and coffee)
-Paper towels (keep a roll of bounty nearby for garage jobs)
-Gloves (fixing your car isn't worth skin cancer)
-goggles if you're a *****
-Ratcher (3/8" mostly, 1/2" comes in handy)
-10, 12, 14, 17, 19mm sockets. You will need 12pt sockets for the 17mm headbolts.
-Whatever extensions you have available
-Metric Allen Keys
-Torque wrench if it's your first time doing this job
-Breaker bar (I used the handle from my floorjack)
-Rubber mallet (will come in handy, but a chunk of 2x4 + striking it with a hammer/socket is fine too)


This is what I started with, it's a complete longblock and it'd be the same as if you did this job with the motor in the car and all the components are the same. If you were doing the headgasket in the car, you would want to remove the exhaust/intake manifolds and get things out of the way.


1) Drain all fluids (only oil for me, if it's in car, coolant too.)

2) Remove manifolds (header, intake mani w/ injectors, take out coil packs etc. to get to where I'm at)

3) Remove the valve cover (held on by 10mm bolts and the gasket)


4) After you removed the valve cover, it should look like this.

The 5 bolts that hold the valve cover to the head thread onto the 5 studs(or are they still bolts?) that look different on the cam caps. You will need a 12mm deep socket to remove these.
The Honda Manual didn't say that you have to follow the spiral sequence to unbolt the cam caps, but I did anyways as a precaution to make sure the precision surfaces don't warp. I'll make a Paint picture of the sequence later to add.

5) After removing the cam caps, the cams pop right out (the cams aren't driven by the timing chain, there's separate gear that's driven by the timing chain that drives the cam gears.). Under the cams is the cam bridge (dunno the technical term, the surface the cams spin on). These cam bridges are held on by dowel pins so there's a bit of resistance removing them. This is when the mallet comes in handy if they're stuck, a couple taps should take them out. I was fortunate enough that I just wiggled them off with my hands.
After the cam caps are removed:


Here are the cam bridges before removal:


Here's all the components just removed:


Warning: be careful when pulling out the cam bridges. They come apart laterally AND the rockers have dowel pins in them too (that's how VTEC works if you didn't know by the way). If the dowel pins fall out and you lose/forget about them, you'll have rockers/lifters that won't engage VTEC which can result in catastrophic engine failure, premature wear, etc. (the low-cam setup wasn't designed to be strung out to 9k etc.)

6) After all the cams, cam caps, cam bridges, etc. is taken off, the headbolts are exposed so you're almost ready to take the head off. I messed up a bit here and neglected the timing chain (I thought it would fit through the oil orifice, but I was wrong.). In order to remove the head, you have to take the idler gear off. The gear we were talking about earlier that drives the cams, that gear has to come off. The chain tensioner (right under the VTEC solenoid) needs to come off as well. I didn't take pictures because I was pissed the **** off at the retarded design and was ready to dremel the timing chain apart since I'm using this block for parts. The idler gear was held on by an allen bolt (hex), It was a fair size, I think it was an 8mm I'll double check later. The tensioner was held on by (4) 10mm bolts)
For the tensioner:
-Remove the (4) 10mm bolts
-you can play with the tensioner if you want, I didn't care to.
-Unscrew the flathead screw behind the block-off plate (you'll see it after you unscrew the 10mm bolts) Make sure you do NOT strip the screw. Get a good grip, make sure you're applying as much pressure to the screwdriver possible, and crack it off swiftly.
-Try to pull the tensioner out with just your hands, if not just pry it off on something that you feel appropriate.

For the idler gear:
-unscrew the 8mm allen screw/bolt.
-slip the timing chain off

7) Now you're ready to take the headbolts off. There is a sequence to unscrewing the bolts, and you have to do it progressively to prevent warping the head. The shop manual suggests 1/3 of a turn per sequence, I use 1/4 because it's much easier to gauge 1/4th of a turn than it is 1/3.
So to be clear, you have to unscrew each bolt 1/4th of a turn, in order. That means you will be turning each bolt 4 times before you can unscrew it freehand. (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4 ,5,6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.)
I don't know how else to explain it, if you skip a step and mess up here, you're probably warping the head more and your motor will be more prone to headgasket failure unless if you machine it.

Here we use:
12pt. 17mm socket
extension (if necessary, I didn't have one for my 1/2" drive but I managed)
breaker bar (definitely NEEDED for control.)



Will update later with the sequence.

:::This thread is still under construction:::

 

you are creating creating more headaches by removing the intake manifold. leave it on.

 

so other than loosening the head studs in the correct sequence that's it? I know you need to clean the headgasket surface, use oem headgasket, tighten in correct sequence then torque in same order and everything goes back in reverse order?

I'm troubleshooting random overheating/coolant issues on mine(radiator pressure test shows no loss, but I do have misfire cylinder 2 and 3 and sometimes starting up takes a little longer)

after that startup the engine runs/idles fine, no smoke out of the exhaust

will get a compression test kit for the cylinders tomorrow...

 

blah blah..... get on with it.








j/k nice work bro