I'm replacing the LMAs and got the cams off. I noticed that the cam seals are on their way to leaking and would want to replace them. How hard is to replace them while the cams are off?

Also, I tried to loosen the timing belt tensioner but the bolt started to strip so I left it in place. I was able to take the belt off, but wonder if I will be able to put it back on without having loosen it?

 

watch this whole video segment on swapping cams:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMMgAHBGcJg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy_uR-UoUVQ
it will tell you how to do your cams without needing to re-tension the belt and all that.
also, the timing belt tensioner bolt stripping is common.

cams seals are easy...just take off the cam gear and replace them.

 

Thanks. Should I replace the seals while the cams are off or when they are on?

 

LMAs are pretty easy. Once the cams are out, lift up the rockers, and pull the LMAs out. They'll have a little resistance from the suction but finally pop out.

You have to take the cams out. The cams go on top the rockers and you have to lift the rockers up to get at the valve springs.

Do one cylinder at a time. Either stuff rope in the cylinder and carefully raise the piston up to hold the valves in place, or weld a smashed spark plug to a air fitting and use the compressed air to keep the valves up.

 

Hold the valves? I was following a DIY that is around here and it states nothing about holding valves. Just says to remove the carms, remove the shaft, remove the rockers, and replace the LMAs.

 

this is correct. you do not need to hold the valve. id make sure you put the block at TDC then remove the cams, shaft that holds the rockerarms in, remove the rocker arms. what i did was zip tied or rubberbanded each set of rocker arms so i knew which was which. and lay each part down as if it were on the head so you know where it goes.

You cannot lift this rocker arm to remove the LMA. at least my gsr head did not let me..

 

Ok, that sounds jut like the DIY. I've done everything and I'm the stage to take the shaft off. I'll have to use zip ties because I don't have any rubber bands. Would the replacement of the cam seal be better done with the cams off or on?

 

I replaced my seals with the cams off

 

yeah remove the cams then remove the cam gear then put the seal on. i always had a problem with the seal always popping out because the seal was a bit bigger than the hole it stays into. so i just held it in while i tightened it down

 

Ok, so just put the cam on a vise to torque the bolt down?

 

to remove the cam gear, i put my foot on the gear and loosened it. same with tightening it. i doubt thats the best way but it worked for me

 

It seems that the end caps on the driver side are cover by the other half of the top cover. Can it be removed easily in order to gett hose two caps off?

 

You were talking about replacing the valve seals, right? Well, I thought you were and that's what my comment about holding the valves was about.

If you meant the cam seal, it just comes out. Too easy.

 

Ok, getting everything back on. The only problem that I'm having now is that the cam gear marks do not light up no matter what I do. It's off about half a tooth the marks. When I place them with the timing belt they do line up but when I press on the exhaust cam to put tension on the belt, the marks are off about half a tooth.

Any advice on how to line them up correctly?

 

Did you do the following?

 

No because the stupid adjusting bolt was already stripping and was going nowhere. I ended up putting everything back together with the half tooth off. Once everything was tighten down, both lines lined up perfectly. I justed fired up the car right now and it does sound quieter, but only the road test will tell.

 

That bolt is by far the worst bolt to work with in the entire engine. It's like Honda designed it so it would strip. You should replace the bolt if it is stripped. I purchased a very expensive set of craftsman sockets to deal with that bolt. It's basically their impact socket set for stripped bolts. It works like a charm though.

Having proper timing belt tension is critical, since you already drove it see if it adjusted itself by checking the belt deflection. It's not worth ruining your engine over a couple bucks at Honda for a tensioner bolt.

 

I didn't loosent the bolt at all though because it was not going anywhere and it was stripping. I just drove the car and it drives fine, but it's still really noisy. Compared to my Miata, it's like night and day. I'm going to make another thread. Thanks.