I went to change plugs on my 95 Civic LX, 1.5L non-VTEC, D15B7 motor, and I found oil inside the #3 plug tube which goes through the valve cover. There was about 3/4" of it on the plug ceramic, but none in the combustion chamber. Fortunately it never caused an ignition miss. I called the Honda dealer, they wanted $460 to replace a leaking o-ring under the camshaft tower, which requires removing the entire rocker arm valvetrain to get at and replace. I have never heard that there were any o-rings under the camshaft towers. The only seals I am aware of are the ones when you pull the valve cover and are right under the tubes in the valve cover itself. Hopefully these are what's leaking. I am overdue for a valve clearance adjustment, which is about $95, but are they blowing smoke trying to gouge me for another $365?!!!? I figure you guys have probably taken apart enough heads and valvetrains that this would be a good place to find out first. Thanks!

 

yea definetly because thats going to be the smaller problem if it is the cause of the leak....if that doesnt fix it then just let a mech do it......u gotta figure its going to be worth it to do that instead of taking the risk of screwing something else up and having it cost u more money.

 

I think it maybe your valvecover o ring. Just go to autozone, order a valvecover gasket set for your year car and your motor, they will get the set. Then replace the entire valvcover gasket including the o rings. If that doesn't fix the problem go to a mechanic.

 

I think you are right about the valve cover o-rings. I pulled the plug wires today and looked at them again, and just a little bit seems to be coming from right where the cover makes it's seal with the upper part of the the spark plug tube, you see a little skirt of material inside the tube, very minor leak, almost nothing. The amount I saw the other day when I took the plugs out was probably accumulated over the past 15K miles of slow leaking past the seal. Thanks for mentioning AutoZone for the valve cover gasket set, I will check them out, will be a bunch cheaper than the dealer!

 

cool fix that **** up!

 

also, its a bitch trying to take those o rings out, and putting them in. You may even have to rip them out, at least I had to. Put a little bit of oil around the whole o ring that may make it easier to put it. Once it's in even a little bit, it will be very difficult to pull back out, take your time and do it right.

 

i use a little bit of gasket sealer to hold them in place, then to seal the bottom too.

 

Thanks for the good advice. Ordered a valve cover gasket set (expressautoparts.com), $35.43 incl. 2nd day blue UPS, so should have it soon. Autozone was special order on the set, and wasn't completely clear whether they were for the US D15B7, or the Jap version. They are not the same, which I discovered from expressautoparts, very clear description with good pics of complete product sets. Mine's the Jap (JDM?) motor. I found this out when I ordered a new OEM steel rim from manhonda.com (excellent source for OEM parts & aftermarket) to replace one which is slightly dinged out-of-round. They asked for my VIN code, which begins with JHMEG, said it's definetely the Jap version.

Thanks for the tips on replacing the o-rings and sealing with a bit of gasket sealer, which kind is right to be OK against oil? Permatex, which compound #? Also while I'm in there, figured it would be a good check to slip a feeler gauge in the valves and check clearances cold, see if I really need to bother with the adjustment. Just over 132K miles now, had it done maybe 40K ago by Honda. Never done it myself, and I understand they can be a little bit tricky and must be overnight cold for best adjustment.

I'm cancelling my service appt for this weekend @ the dealer [sm=shootshoot.gif], saving $$$ I don't need to spend [sm=drooldude.gif].Also ordered Axxis Ultimate ceramic pads for front brakes (streetbeatcustoms.com), $49.95 + $7.95 S&H. And as soon as my new valve cover gaskets are snugly in place, I have nice new NGK Iridium plugs to install on the ends of my MSD wires! [sm=happy046.gif]

Ahhhhhhhhh, springtime maintenance and wrenching! [sm=burnout.gif]

 

sounds like a good plan.