Hello,

I have seena few posts concerning oil in spark plug wells but they have all been pre 1998 Accords. Anyways, as the title suggests, I was going to replace my spark plugs yesterday when I noticed that my spark plug wire boots had oil on them (2 of the 4 boots). From my understanding there are both upper and lower tube seals. The upper being a gasket with a flange like shape and the lowers being an O ring. I have had a very hard time finding the O ring lower gaskets and it seems like this is where my problem is occuring. I even called a Honda dealership to try and find a part number and the only thing they could come up with was the upper seal. Here is the link for what i have found so far. https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...plug+tube+seal

Any help would be immensely appreciated.

Are there indeed O ring seals that sit on the bottom of the rocker arm assembly mating to the cylinder head and if so how do I find these d@#$ things?

 

Your car (6th generation Accord 4 cylinder) doesn't have lower o-ring seals. On your car the spark plug tubes are integrated as part of the cylinder head.

5th generation Accords LX and DX had the o-rings, as the camshaft retainer was different. 5th generation Accord EX did not has the lower o-ring seals.

 

Ah that makes sense. Thanks! I was starting to think I was going crazy. While we are on the topic of "seals"... while doing a timing belt job would you replace the camshaft seal? I have heard mixed opinions.

Thanks again!

 

If the camshaft seal is leaking, replacing it would be a good idea. If it isn't leaking, I wouldn't replace it, but I would add a bottle of AT-205 Re-seal to the oil the next time I changed it. The Re-seal product will soak into the seal and re-hydrate it, making it less likely to leak in the future. You can get AT-205 at Amazon. Scotty Kilmer has a good YouTube video on why and how to use it.

 

This is the information I needed. Have a 2001 Accord Vtec engine. I found oil in my #1 plug hole, immediately went to the interweb and found a video showing the replacement of the lower O-rings (great video btw). Anyway, was dreading the process of removing the rocker arm assembly, value adjustments, etc. Ordered the gasket kit from the worlds largest online store and was surprised that the O-rings were "missing". Bought the Haynes manual too, just try and find "lower O-rings" in that book (I couldn't). So, now to replace the upper plug seals, cover gasket and grommets. Also, To clean the plug hole I sprayed brake cleaner in the hole (with spark plug still installed) and air compressor to blow out the oil/cleaner. Thanks for this post!!

 

I did this job somewhat recently. I found using a pocket screw driver and an awl were best to get the old seals out. When installing the new, a light coat of motor oil helps to coax them back in. Get them started with body pressure and use a 32 mm socket and hammer to fully seat them ( you will hear a change in sound when they are fully seated). While your at it, might as well replace the PCV unless if it has already been replaced recently.

It's an easy job unless one of the valve cover bolts strips out the threads in the block (see below).

Be careful:
-when re seating the valve cover take extra care when seating the seals around the spark plug tube hokes - it does not take a lot to tear the upper gasket seals.
-Be very gentle when tightening the valve cover bolts. It does not take a lot of strip these bad boys. I stripped 2 when doing this job and I was careful.

 

Thanks for the warnings. I found the "smoking gun"!!! One of the top plug seals was ripped. I was lucky, all bolts came out and went back in as expected. The PCV value snapped as I was trying to pop it out, so it got replaced consequentially. I used one of the old upper seals and a rubber mallet and was able to seat the seals fully. Now waiting 24 hours for the little amount of RTV (cover gasket 'corners') to cure before starting her up (maybe over kill). Grommets were pretty easy to replace. Also, replaced the plugs and plug wires.