Hello folks!)

I recently purchased my first car. Honda Civic 98 Ex Couple (2 doors) with manual transmission.

I thought I carefully inspected it, but it appears I missed a big Valve Cover Gasket leak, so that needs to be replaced.

I want to learn about cars so decided to do it myself. Can you please let me know what else I can do while I am doing that?

My plan is to:
1. Change Valve Gasket - any recommendations on brand? Still needs to be purchased.
2. Change Spark Plugs - I purchased NGK cheap spark plugs (4$ for one), should I return these and buy more expensive ones? Will it make the difference?
3. Change Spark Plug wires - they look good, but I read a lot here that it's common to change them with spark plugs at the same time. They are also will be NGK spark plugs.
4. Clean Idle air controller.

Let me know if you think I should do anything else while I am there.

Thank you!

 

Hi and welcome to Honda-Tech.com.

Valve cover gasket is nothing major and should be pretty straight forward and easy. One common mistake that happens frequently is people over tighten the valve cover bolts/nuts and many times have broken a stud or bolt into the head assembly. I know on the previous generation (92-95) it is only 7 to 9 ft-lbs of torque depending on the model. I do not think it's much more if at all on the 6th generation (96-00).

Doing the ignition tune-up that you are undertaking is a great start. In addition to the NGK v-power spark plugs (cheaper ones but best for the car) and wires, I would also suggest replacing the distributor cap and rotor. That is a complete basic ignition tune up regarding the parts of it.

I would suggest looking to get a repair manual. A good google search may point you to the helm's manual which is the official Honda Factory Service Manual (FSM). You can sometimes buy them from helminc.com. If you are unable to find the Helm's, then a Haynes manual from any auto parts store will be better than nothing.

If you aren't having idle issues, I personally don't worry about the IACV. Then again I have not had good luck with cleaning them, usually just have to keep swapping until I find one that is still good.

Once again, welcome to Honda-Tech.com

 

Thank you for the reply TomCat39.

I looked up how to replace distributor cap and rotor, and will add it to the list too!

I did obtain a repair manual from Haynes website, but it's a bit confusing but I will try to spend more time with it. I find youtube videos more helpful. but as you mentioned I will make sure I have the correct bolt pattern and torque.

My car was idling around 800 revs, but recently it started to be in 1500, but goes down after a minute or two I think. I will research on that a little more.

Thank you for your answer. I know now for sure what needs to be done, will start buying parts and tools if needed!

 

Common leak that is usually misdiagnosed as valve cover gasket would be the distributor o ring.

 

Will replacing distributor cap replace O ring as well? If not I will do that too! Thank you!

 

No, the cap seal is different than the o-ring that is on the snout of the distributor that goes into the head and cam shaft.

And yeah the idle issue may indeed be cleared up by cleaning your IACV.

The biggest thing to get from the FSM is torque specs and in some cases, the order to torque. The rest, videos definitely help, but the videos seem to tend to lack torque specs.

 

Depending on where you live, the idle will be a bit weird this time of year.. You stated that the car starts but the tach goes to 1500 for a few minutes and then goes to 800. Thats normal for winter time