Hey everyone. Sorry for the noobish question (I haven't worked on a lude since my dads third gen when I was a kid haha) and a slight repeat of older questions but I'm looking for a bit of clarification as well as updated information. I bought my 5th gen 2001 a few months ago that had a h22a swap in it and it was burning a little oil. The seller mentioned it probably needed the valve stem seals replaced and as life goes working two jobs I didn't get to it right away... fast forward I just started getting the flashing check engine light pulled the plugs and spark plug three had a fair amount of oil. I'm replacing the head cover gaskets, valve stem seals, Cam seals, spark plugs, and wires and hoping that will fix it and it's not something more serious/pricey as funds are tight. May throw on a KS tuned manual tensioner if funds allow and will do a leakdown test and inspect much more, but on that note I ordered some viton seals on amazon all arrived in the same color with no differentiator. I was under the impression that exhaust and intake sides were not interchangeable from threads on here and the Honda service manual. However the reply from the manufacturer was they are the same size and also in the honda manual it states the valve dimensions on the exhaust and intake side as 5.475-5.485mm which doesn't mean they want the seals the same size. I'm having a hard time finding anywhere that has the seals that seam to differentiate exhaust vs intake side. The Skunk2's just state 5.5mm size and I'm trying to avoid the OEM's as i've heard they don't hold up well. My car is sitting while I walk an hour both ways to work in 20 degree weather so I'd love to get it running asap.

Sorry for the book for the condensed questions skip to here...
1. Am I correct that the intake and exhaust valve stem seals are not interchangeable and different sizes?
2. What valve stem seals are you guys running/recommend these days?

Thank you in advance for your time and help.

 

Typically if the valve stems are leaking the valve guides are also shot. To do this correctly that head needs new valve guides installed otherwise the stem seals are a very temporary repair.

The aftermarket seals don't have a specific intake and exhaust seal.

 

actually, correct aftermarket does have different seals for intake and exhaust. and leaky seals do not mean worn out guides. these motors are quite old, and the oem seals do dry out and lose their flex, allowing a lot of oil past them even if the guides are mint.

I strongly recommend Supertech valve seals. They do have different ones for intake and exhaust. Blue is exhaust, brown is intake.

 

Thank you for the replies everyone and I reordered some supertech valve seals and paid almost double for 2 day shipping so hopefully they will get here soon. Im hoping its just the seals as I have heard of people having issues with just them and great success on replacing just the seals so fingers crossed. Thank you again!

 

Why don't you buy a civic as a daily?

 

I just like the look of preludes better, I guess just personal preference, but a good question haha.

 

I know preludes are nice, I wouldn't drive them to work everyday to beat them up. I own a $300 civic for that.

 

Just some random input here. I actually love how the 5g preludes ride when all original, and would totally rock a 5g for a daily driver. I don't own a 5g though, I own a turbo 3g for a toy, and have two different jeeps and an accord for dailies