Gerhard

Ok,

So WreckDiver was cool enough to drop off a steering gear because it appears that I've got something wrong with mine.

(Actually, he was cool enough to bring the entire sub-frame it was attached to so that it's a much easier job to replace!!)

Anyway, while looking under the car I've noticed that I've got some type of oil leak!

Only the back lower part of the engine on the passenger's side of the oil filter is wet.

Moreover, it looks like it's coming from the area of thepassenger's side rear corner of the valve cover from some rubber seal near the VTEC solenoid.

I don't think it's the valve cover.

What generally leaks oil in that area?

What's weird is that I don't think it leaks rapidly or anything.

Gerhard

Joon525

Sounds like the cam seal.
How To: STR Cam Seal

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NotoriouSH

Mine was leaking there too. The mechanic that had my valve cover off used some kind of black goop instead of replacing the cam seal. I still have oil useage, but it's not dripping there anymore. I think this is common?

Gerhard

Just ordered the Golden Eagle Cam Seal.

We'll have to give that a try.

I think that probably is the issue. It would explain the bizzare oil consumption...

(The consumption is not consistant. So that more likely is a leak, rather than burning alone.)

Gerhard

Vapor

haha, when you pull out hte cheap POS that is the stock cam seal, you'll understand INSTANTLY why its prone to leaking. Plastic piece of junk, with a little hondabond smeared on it. weak.

Gerhard

I'm going to hose the engine down with carb cleaner as well so that I can determine if it's fixed.

Is it obvious when you remove the plastic peice of crap that it was leaking??

Gerhard

Daemione

How much was it?

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Vapor

well, from the location you described, its a fairly safe bet that it was leaking, its a fairly common problem with hondas, including the B series engine, because they all use that same seal.

the area will be a damn mess, and most of the Hondabond will be worn off or jsut gone in general. Trust me, when you pull it out, your first thought will be "WTF? what a POS."

What was the GE seal, like $25-30? I think the one I put in my 97 was an STR, like $20 IIRC. The GE version gets a 3rd rubber seal. haha, as opposed to the stocker, which gets 0.

Kool-Lude

And where did you order from?

Here's a recent pic of mine (at 50k)...I don't think its leaking bad, but needs to be replaced nevertheless.

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Pearl-lude99

when i had my 5 speed swap done i had all little oil leaks or seepages(sp) fixed,and the one that u describe gerhard soundlike the vtec solenoid,mine was leaking pretty good,so ben replaced that and since i had bent all my valves i had to get the head done and also has the crappy camshaft seals replaced.i noticed that i am not burning as much oil as i thought,now that i dont have any leaks.

Gerhard

$29.99

I also tried to see if I could get them to overnight it...

obrigado

How tough is the seal swap?

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axion68

I replaced the cam seals when I had my timing belt done, before the seals were replaced I was burning 3/4 of a quart every 3k. Now I'm lucky to burn 1/4 of a quart every 4k.

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Gerhard

I ordered from these guys... never used them before... hope they are ok:

TornActive Designs
E-mail: service@tornactive.com
Web: www.tornactive.com
Phone: 909-946-2409


They have the Golden Eagle ones in stock in Black, Gun Metal, and Polished for $27.99 with free shipping.

The Golden Eagle one has 3 seals in it as opposed to the OEM 2 seals. It seems many people perfer them.

Gerhard

Joon525

I think the OEM actually is just a plug without any rings at all.

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Daemione

That's encouraging . . . . that whole region of my engine is pretty much perpetually slicked down & grimy. I just bid on an STR cam seal on eBay for like $18 & $3 shipping. Maybe I'll be able to do it this weekend.

If that doesn't help a lot I'll probably get a catch can to see if I'm losing oil there.

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Gerhard

I suspect that's is probably the issue.

Everytime I take off the valve cover I replace the gasket... so It's probably not that. (...and there are no signs of the cover leaking)

No wonder the seal leaks like that!

Gerhard

UPDATE:

Well, I finished doing the steering gear job... that was a fair amount of work.

I then did the cam seal.

Joon:

You were soooo right. That was the problem for sure. I mean the thing was covered in oil an clearly had been leaking it for a long time.

The Golden eagle seal clearly was superior.

I put some gray RTV in between two of the three O-rings the GE replacement part has.

(The RTV that you use for the valve cover gasket corners is the type I used.)

The nice thing about the GE part is that it is also aluminum, so that it expands and contracts at the same rate as the engine.

I'm so suprised what a piece of crap the OEM cam plug is.

I'm also wondering why they even have one?

Wouldn't just have made more sense to have go ahead and make the part the seal plugs into a solid piece of aluminum??

Joon525

^That's good to hear Gerhard. I've had the GE seal for SO long under my bed, one of these days it'll go into the engine.

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nmehta211

I have had cam seals fail in my old 90 Integra, my 91 integra, and a 98 accord.

I need to check my prelude's cam seal, thanks for the heads up.

Neel

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