Hey guys, got a 2000 Civic EX D16y8 leaking oil like crazy down the back side of the engine. YouTube vid "Watch before changing oil pan gasket on your Civic D15/D16 breather box, oil seporator" tuned me into the Breather Box o ring. EricTheCarGuy's vid "P0301 1998 Civic Intake Gasket Replacement" helped me understand how to tackle removing the IM so I could get to it. Eric removes the 7 nuts holding on the IM and just slides it back. I got to that point and can only slide the IM back to about the end of the studs! I don't know what else to remove to loosen it up and am such a noobie, I don't want to screw anything up. Been scouring the 1996-2000 Honda Civic Manual, no procedure in there for removal, been trying to identify all the hoses etc, not getting very far. Any directions for me?
Thanks!

 

There is a bracket that secures the intake manifold to the block. IIRC it's two bolts on the IM and two bolts on the block.

 

Thanks bumpstick for the swift reply! Yes, I followed EricTheCarGuy's video and removed the IM bracket by removing the (2) 12mm bolts from the IM body and the (2) 12 mm bolts from the block, freeing the wires secured to the top of the bracket and removing the bolt that attached a small bracket (attached to a hose) to the top right hand side of the IM bracket. Then the 10 mm nut holding the wire harness tube to the stud on the front of the Breather Box (the right side of the tube swung forward but it was bound up on the left hand side), then the PCV tube that snakes through the IM, then the oil filter to get the the bottom center 12mm nut on the IM stud, and then the 6 other 12mm nuts on the IM studs.
In Eric's video, he just pushes the IM back toward the firewall, sliding it off the studs, leaving plenty of room to scrape off the gasket and plenty of access to the top mounting 10mm bolt of the breather box (which I have to remove to replace the O ring and, even though I was VERY careful with the PCV valve from below, half of the PCV valve is broken inside the PCV grommet. I got an OEM PCV valve, PCV grommet, O ring, and PCV tube to replace the PCV setup. The tube is collapsed from pressure.) I can't push the IM back far enough to clear the studs. It is bound by some connections underneath but there are so many hoses and connectors that I'm uncertain what's what and the service manual hasn't been much help. Again it's a 2000 Civic EX Coupe D16y8 engine, the one with the primary O2 sensor in the A pipe next to the Cat, not in the Exhaust Manifold. Are there some good diagrams that are labeled what's what connected to the IM and TB? The coolant has already flowed out so hey, no problem I guess removing coolant hoses but I'm concerned about the wiring harness under there and not damaging anything! Thanks!

 

Maybe its just hung up on something, this is pretty straight forward to remove as long as all the bolts are removed you should be a able to separate it from the head. Double check you removed all the coolant hoses and harness away so that's it doesn't hold anything up.

 

If you got both 10mm bolts off (top one can be a pain to get to). Then it's a lot of wiggling and twisting to get the breather box out of the block. That o-ring usually has adhered to the block very much like rubber hoses do. You will likely have to twist the breather box CW then CCW a bit to break the rubber free, then you can wiggle it out.

 

Yeah, take a flashlight and inspect every angle of the manifold to see what its hitting, top and bottom. Yes, get under the car.

 

Thanks for the tips everybody. Here's what I figured out and did. Hope it's helpful to someone else. Pulling back on the IM and looking from all angles it looked like one hose was hanging it up. In the 1996-2000 Honda Civic Service Manual p260 is the picture of the D16y8 Engine Hose Connections. This car is a 2000 Civic EX Automatic Transmission. The Idle Air Control (IAC) valve is mounted underneath the Throttle Body (TB). There are two coolant hoses pointing down from the IAC. The one closer to the IM connects to a port at the end of the Water Connecting Pipe right next to where the pipe fits into the Thermostat Case. The pipe is mounted to the head and doesn't move with the IM so the connecting hose prevents the IM from moving all the way back. Tried every which way to get it off (couldn't get to the clamp holding it onto the IAC). Finally had to remove the Bypass Outlet Hose (it was so old and swollen, couldn't get the clamp slid back so I cut it off) so I could get to the hose and get it off, I was able to move the IM back finally and get to the top mounting bolt of the Breather Box. Box came off pretty easily and I wriggled it out (thanks to the flexible rubber ring on the axle!)

The O-ring was flattened (but still flexible). Removed old parts and cleaned out the crud. Hopefully the new O-ring, PCV valve, grommet and hose will solve the oil problem on the back side of the engine. Re-installed the box, worked on cleaning off the gasket,

New question:

There are black carbon deposits inside the air ports in the head and the ends of the IM ports. Should I clean them out before I re-install the IM and if so, what should I use?
Or would it just be opening a can of worms?
Thanks!

 

You can if you want to.

 

BIG-------UPDATE Worked through many problems, now an intermittent misfire

Well. here's everything that's been done:
1) Breather Box O ring and PCV valve, grommet, and tube replaced, box cleaned
2) Distributor replaced with a Carquest after a misfire with a code about the crankshaft sensor in the Distributor, misfire solved
3) Intake ports on head and Intake Manifold cleaned
4) IM re-installed with new gasket
5) New bypass hose, coolant burped
6) IACV removed and cleaned, drop of light oil burner lubricant on ends of rotating shaft
7) New oil pan and gasket with Honda Bond
8) Total new Walker exhaust system including O2 sensors (Denso)
9) In progress on multiple coolant flushes
10) Replaced IACV with a Napa when Hunting Idle kept coming back
11) Built smoker, found the cruise control hose off the IM, solved the hunting idle,
12) Heater hose that attached to engine under Distributor burst, took out Dist. to replace, timing re-set with paper clip in ECU connector
13) Now recurring misfire (P1399, 304, 302 and P0505 codes) and and idle doesn't totally drop after warm up.

So, I no longer have a really wicked oil leak and no P0420 and P131 codes.

Had to drive through some water in a downpour last week, misfire began then. Removed D cap, was moisture in some terminals and boots, cleaned and dried
Still misfire.
Found tear on #1 spark plug wire
Replaced with OEM wires from Honda
New NGK plugs
Still misfiring.
Next day went to test for good spark with a Lisle Spark Tester at each plug; strong orange flashing spark at each,
but it started up smooth, no misfire while testing each cylinder, idle dropped slowly to 950rpm.
Then it suddenly threw a flashing misfire code and P0505 IACV code, cleared them, restarted, it ran smooth in driveway, took long test drive including miles of 60 mph and stop and go, drove great!
This morning, start up to go to work, very rough, flashing CEL, loss of power, drove 2 miles to work, 3 hours later turned it on at work to check spark with the tool and it ran smooth, no flashing CEL (but P1399 and P0505 are pending when checked with the scantool)
Have driven it a mile or so no problem at the moment.

My scan tool (Innova 5410) is capable of live data but I can't pull any from this car. Innova tech suport tells me it is a limitation of the 2000 Honda Civic EX D16Y8; even though it is OBDII it does not produce live data.

So I have a reliability nightmare and I don't know what to do next! Anybody know what I should try next? I've learned so much and I won't give up till it's right!

Thanks so much.