Hey guys, havent been here on Honda-tech for awhile now but I sure do have a question about my ARP headstuds. I recently did a whole rebuild on my car, I have brand new ARP Headstuds with a new OEM HEadGasket, I torqued my Headstuds to 65lbs ft of torque, now since my startup I have little oil leaking between the head and the block located near the corner by the transmission and right behind the header. I know its not the Vtec selinoid, the cam seal, nor the distibutor o-ring because I have brand new everything, I even put Honda-Bond to make sure it doesnt leak at all and double checked everything. The only thing I can really think of changing is the Headgasket. Before my complete rebuild I bought the HG from hondapartsunlimited.com where I stored my HG in my car in a box for two months. Can that cause some sort of warped, bent HG????Dont forget it was also a hot 2-3 months in the car.....My head and block has been resurfaced also with new valve seals. There is no oil burning but I havent done a compression check either.....LMK guys thanks ahead.......

 

What do you guys prefer to torque these headstuds to???I heard its 80lbs ft of torque but wasn't too sure about it....

 

I would think 65ftlbs is good enough.

Are you boosted?

I would think the leak is not from the HG. If you think about where the HG's set in a warehouse for x # of years, I doubt a short time in the car makes much difference.

I woudld re check the dizzy o-ring, or may be valve cover.

I know on a D- series we need to re torque the studs after a few heat cycles. On B's I haven't heard that being an issue.

 

Is the shop reputable? Maybe if you got some jobber engine resurfacing or other related work it could be because of that. My bet would be the cam seals, especially if it was OEM. Honda's are notorious for have weak cam seals from D to B series.

Hope that helps!

 

Are they 7/16" studs with a 1/2" head nut? Torque spec for my B18B studs (7/16") is 70 lb ft with ARP moly lube, and 80 lb ft with oil. Most people don't re-torque B series studs since it's kind of a bitch to pull the cams just to re-torque them. That said, I agree that the source of your leak is most likely not the headgasket, and I would doublecheck all of the items already listed.

 

thanks for the replys, my cam seal isn't the OEM kind, its the billet version on ebay with the double o-rings found on it. I know forsure its not leaking from these stuff because I triple-quadripple checked it. Maybe I think I might just need to retorque it down to 70lb ft of torque. ANy other suggestions???? It looks like its coming from between the head and the blcok mating, it runs from the corner of the transmission to the corner of the timing belt. ???

 

have you checked the other cam seals? the ones behind the cam gears?

 

^^yeap........Ill be taking off my head soon to redo the head gasket and do another check of where its leaking from....Oh yeah my dowel pins, I hit it with a hammer and a socket to make it go back in where it belongs, will that effect it somewhat??I didnt do it hard but just enough that it would sit all the way back in....Thanks guys..

 

When the heads off I'd replace the dowel pins, http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com

Shouldn't effect a oil leak though