How To: STR Cam Seal - Honda Prelude Forum

dohcpower v2.0 · 04-08-2003, 06:28 PM

Sick of finding that blob of oil under your car everywhere you park?
Well, it could be your cam seal. STR and Golden Eagle both make replacement
cam seals that dominate the crappy stock piece.

Tools:
10mm socket
12mm socket
flat tip screwdriver
torque wrench

Materials:
RTV High Temp Silicone(or equivilant)
STR/Golden Eagle Cam Seal

Time and Difficulty
Under an hour and anyone that has common knowledge can do this!

Before You Start:
Make sure your car has cooled down. You'll be removing the valve cover, and it isn't
smart to remove it after driving for a while. But like, always, i live with adventure,
and work on my car while it is smoldering hot.

Step 1
Pull out your spark plug wires, and place them aside. Leave them attached to the distributer,
but just move them off to the side. Unplug the connector from the alternator, and unbolt
the single 10mm nut that holds the other wire on. Remove the 10mm bolt that holds the wire-loom
cover to the valve cover, and place the wires aside. Remove the 8 10mm nuts that hold the valve
cover on. There is also one 10mm bolt on the side of the valve cover that is a ground wire,
remove this as well. The power steering line is suck on the rear right corner, pull it off
as well. Undo the pcv valve, and place aside.

The junker you are going to be replacing

Removing the valve cover bolts, alternator wire, etc

Step 2
Everything should be free to remove the valve cover now. Place your flat tip screwdriver between
the head and valve cover, and gently pry the valve cover off. You can also use a rubber mallet,
and gently tap the valve cover to loosen it up as well. Once the valve cover is loose, lift it
straight up. Make sure you didn't loose any of the gaskets that go underneith the valve cover bolts.

Valve cover removed!

Step 3
Be very careful. Your timming belt is exposed. It is important that you don't get any oil or
anything else on it, which may lead to pre-mature failure. Now is also a great time to inspect
the belt for major wear. The next thing to remove is the Camshaft Holder Plate. There are 2 10mm
bolts and 10 12mm bolts. It is important that you follow the loosening order. Basically work from
the outside in on loosening the bolts. Once the bolts have been from the plate, remove the end
two 10mm bolts that are on the outer camshaft holder where the cam seal is.

Loosening order.(add .org.jpg at the end for a larger picture)

Camshaft Plate off

dohcpower v2.0 · 04-08-2003, 06:28 PM

Step 4
You should be able to now remove the end camshaft holder, and the cam seal. Once you remove this,
you'll be able to tell why you were leaking oil! what a piece of junk!

Pool of oil under old seal

Old vs. New. Notice the dual o-rings compared to none on the factory

Another angle

Step 5
Take your silicone, and place a small amount all the way around the new seal. Place the seal back
in the car, and the cam seal on top.

Small amount of sealant on new cam seal

Back in the car, hidden.

Step 6
Place the camshaft plate back on top. Place the bolts back in, and follow the tightening procedure.
The 12mm bolts are torqued to 19ft and the 10mm are torqued to 8.7. The end cam shaft 10mm bolts
are also included in the sequence. Please refer to the diagram below. If you don't have a torque
wrench, just snug them up really well. Use your best judgement.

Tightening sequence(add .org.jpg at the end for a larger picture)

Camshaft plate back in the car

Step 7
Scrape off any remaining sealent where the valve cover gasekt goes. Whipe all the excess oil off
as well. Make sure there is a clean surface for the gasket to mate with. You dont need to get
a new valve cover gasket unless yours is toasted. Once the area is clean, take your silicone,
and place a dab of sealent on either side of the camshaft humps. 8 total. This is where oil likes
to leak the most, and using some sealant has always kept it from leaking for me.

Silicone around camshaft humps to prevent oil leakage

Step 8
Flip your valve cover over, and remove any old sealent from the gasket. Make sure you have all
4 of your spark plug o-rings as well. Sometimes they get stuck in the head. Once The gasekt is
free of old sealant, whipe it off and smear a thin, fesh coat of oil all around it. This helps seal
the gasket.

Cleaning old sealent off valve cover

Step 9
Place the valve cover back on the car. Installation is pretty much the reverse of removal. Just
make sure you tighten the valve cover bolts to about 8ft lbs, just a litte snug. Make sure you
don't have any extra bolts.

All snug in there, hidden from everyone.

Step 10
It is best to let the sealent cure for about an hour. Once it has cured, start the car up, and
let it idle. Inspect the valve cover for any oil leaks, and inspect around the cam seal as well.
Clean off the area around the cam seal, and inspect later on to see if your oil leakage has
stopped.

MidNKight-lude · 04-08-2003, 08:17 PM

wow

that is good chris

LUDExCONDUCT · 04-08-2003, 08:52 PM

dude...you're pulling write-ups out the booty! good job on yet another great write-up

Vapor · 04-09-2003, 07:43 AM

Did that last weekend. Its cake. No reason not to do it if you even think you might be leaking.

khilgers · 04-09-2003, 08:51 AM

nice writeup

if I keep burning oil excessively I may have to consider this. thanks

khilgers · 04-09-2003, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Vapor
Did that last weekend. Its cake. No reason not to do it if you even think you might be leaking.

doesn't seem very cake like to me. seems like a lot of work, but if your a master mechanic then it should be easy

Dragazn · 04-09-2003, 09:13 AM

we don't neeed to mess with timing or anything like that right just tighten and untighten it right?

Vapor · 04-09-2003, 09:29 AM

yup. you can swing it no problem Kevin. it's just loosen the bolts, slide the new seal in, torque the bolts down.

it took me longer to wait for the hondabond to dry then to actually install the seal.

khilgers · 04-09-2003, 11:50 AM

^^well that's reassuring

G_Loc · 04-09-2003, 12:59 PM

nice writeup

i did this on my H23, took about 10 minutes. hehe, sucks for you VTEC guys... you have to remove all those bolts

khilgers · 04-09-2003, 01:16 PM

^^sucks having VTEC

hustler904 · 04-09-2003, 02:28 PM

on step #8,dont you use hondabond or another type of sealant?I'm kind of confused on what you mean by using oil to help it seal

khilgers · 04-09-2003, 03:12 PM

^^just like w/your oil filter. little oil here helps it seal better

G_Loc · 04-09-2003, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by khilgers
^^sucks having VTEC

gotta find something positive about my H23

ExodusFX · 04-10-2003, 03:28 AM

Awesome write up Chris. Where's can we get the Golden Eagle seal? I looked on their site & didn't see any info.

Joon525 · 04-10-2003, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ExodusFX
Awesome write up Chris. Where's can we get the Golden Eagle seal? I looked on their site & didn't see any info.

Just call them up and speak to someone...that's what I did to get mine.
www.goldeneaglemfg.com
(909) 592-4311

hustler904 · 04-10-2003, 02:39 PM

Quote:

^^just like w/your oil filter. little oil here helps it seal better

so you wouldnt even need hondabond on the valve cover gasket when reinstalling?I know the hondabond is just to keep the gasket in place when reinstalling

ExodusFX · 04-10-2003, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joon525

Just call them up and speak to someone...that's what I did to get mine.
www.goldeneaglemfg.com
(909) 592-4311

How much did you get yours for? Right now STR, Golden Eagle, and AEBS are my choices.

MR.CLIFFORD · 04-10-2003, 04:14 PM

Great write up Chris. Thanks for taking the time to do it. I'm gonna try this soon as I know mine is leaking. This will come in handy.