I've got a 93 civic ex with the d16z6 that thinks it's an old Cummins diesel engine and is leaking oil and water everywhere.
I've narrowed it down to the VTEC solenoid, the water outlet, and the thermostat housing.
My questions are does the water outlet for the upper radiator seal with just some Hondabond and should I install the rubber gaskets (VTEC base, solenoid, and thermostat) dry or should I apply a little Hondabond?
Thank you for reading,
Rod

 

Yes, water outlet is just hondabond

Yes, hondabond can be added to the outer edge of the gasket.

No, hondabond is not needed for the thermostat housing.

 

Thanks a lot, I thought I had read a thread somewhere that said to use a little hondabond on the solenoid gaskets but I couldn't find it again.

 

On my engine's thermostat housing I tried:
1) without hondabond = leaked
2) with Hondabond = leaked
3) used Felpro cellulose (blue) gasket a paper and DIY's the gasket worked. This material has worked everytime I've used it (various vehicles).

 

I put all the rubber gaskets on dry, the idea of hondabond getting into that solenoid scared me off
This car always amazes me, vtec gaskets were hard like a rock, thermostat seals had dissolved, and the distributor had a very chunky feel to the shaft.

 

Concerning the Vtec gasket and use of Hondabond as long as the sealant is not slopped on and getting into the valve inlet or screen than it's fine to use.
If the Vtec solenoid is warped (which seems to be fairly common) then there's little choice except to use Hondabond, Yamabond or RTV sealant.

I was told by a long-time Honda dealer mechanic that the thermostat housing came with hondabond on it from the factory. Maybe, others here can verify that or not. As i mentioned previously I made a gasket using this : Fel-Pro 3075 - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing . Autozone and O'Reilly's stock it.

 

Assuming you're talking about the two halves you take apart to replace the thermostat, no, that doesn't have HondaHond on it. No, it shouldn't. The thermostat should come with a new gasket - that's it. If you're leaking after properly installing it, you have other problems.

 

The front water outlet that goes to the upper radiator hose does require hondabond, it doesn't have a gasket.
As for the thermostat housing, just used the rubber seal and she's not leaking. Plenty of crunchies were in there though.
I didn't know these cars could hit operating temp just sitting there idling.

 

Mating surfaces of thermostat housing/front water outlet to cylinder head is where I used the Felpro material.
I used Hondabond first but, it leaked.

Aware of thermostat's rubber gasket inside housing that prevents the thermostat (only) from leaking.