Changed the 4 tube seals inside the valve cover, still observe oil in the tubes. It seems that
the culprit is the lower spark plug O rings under the rocker arm assembly (Thank you JIMBLACK
for your picture, I didn't throw the 4 O rings in the trash which I couldn't figure out where to put
when I changed the tube seals). As a beginner, before starting this tough job, I talked to a friend
who has been working on his own car for quite a few years, and his explanation was unheard of,
he commented that the oil was pushed out from the cylinder chamber due to the high compression
pressure! but I turned the spark plug 3/4 turns (w/o a torque wrench at that time) according to
Chilton's Repair Manual after it was seated into the place and it should be tightened enough, and
my car (95' Accord LX, auto) is not buring oil. (Is my combustion chamber full of oil?)

To clarify this assumption, I am going to tighten the plugs again with the torque wrench tomorrow,
and see what is gona happen. But, has anyone ever heard of this possibility? theoretically, it is
reasonable, but practically.......?

If I have to remove the rocker arm assembly next step, I am still not sure about the following,
appreciate if anyone could give some input.

1) After I bring the 1st piston to the TDC, do I have to mark the distributor with the marker before
removing it? I checked the 3 distributor mounting bolts, and it seems there is no any other way
to mount it, so there is no risk of changing the timing during this work, right? or there is
something else inside the distributor that requires the marking? I have no clue at all.

2) Do I have to worry about the timing belt at all during the rocker arm removal? Chilton says loose
it, and Haynes says remove it, but we didn't indicate this in our DIY section. Is it an issue?

3) Both Chilton and Haynes Manual say that the valve lash has to be adjusted (one more time?
My goodness! I did it a couple of weeks ago), am I changing the lash if I use the torque wrench
to tighten the rocker arm assembly back to the cylinder head? of course, on the safe side....
it wouldn't hurt, but is it needed during the regular procedure in the dealer's shop?

Got to turn my wrench again.

Thanks in Advance!

 

hello brave........if you go to our DIY section there is a write up ,step by step on how to replace lower rocker arm seals ..

https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/OIL...m_16994/tm.htm

there is nothing inside the dizzy that will change the timing\ but if you DO NOT mark it and install it at the same place timing will be off by some degrees ,, that is why it is a good idea to mark it and install it at same exact spot

you DO NOT have to do anything with the timing belt.. the camshaft stays in place and there really is no need to readjust the valves

Oh and by the way your friend that said something about the high compression pressure , I would not lisren to his advice any longer

 

Doesnt look easy good luck.

 

That sounds pretty bogus. If it were coming from the combustion chamber, you'd hear noises of the compression, kinda like an exhaust leak. Your combustion chamber isn't FULL of oil.

 

i changed my o rings for the spark plugs a while back and it wasnt to difficult i did it in about an hour. but the only thing hard is keeping ur lifter assembly together. when you take it off make sure you leave the front row set of bolts in the assembly or your gonna have hell keeping it togther, its not easy getting that thing back together. i hope im reposting on something you havent done already (replacing the o rings). hope that helps a little. have fun and never hesitate to ask questions to someone who knows what there doing. good luck

sincerly,JOE.

 

Thank you so much guys for your helpful instruction!

I haven't started yet, still reviewing the tech. details in DesertHonda's
write up. I am extremly nervous each time I have to deal with the
timing belt after I witnessed a bye-bye engine due to the T belt failure
on a 92' Accord interference engine.

I checked the distributor carefully today, and it seems that it is hard
to reinstall the distributor exactly back to it's original position w/o
marking it because the the 3 mounting holes on the distributor side
are elongated (for timing adjustment maybe) and are actually slots.

Here comes my concern. when I mark the distributor with reference to
the bearing cap on the rocker arm assembly, how precise should it be?
say 1mm tolerance or 0.5mm...? in other words how thin a line should
I draw? or don't need to be that accurate and just make a dot on each
side. It is even hard to find a flat surface that can be used to mark the
two parts. If no need to be that precise then everything is OK, no need
to worry about the flat surface.

Now, since I will not touch the timing belt, when I am about to remove
the rocker arm assembly (or even when I am loosening the camshaft
bearing cap bolts), do I need an assistant to hold the distributor end
of the camshaft to balance the pulling force from the timing belt tension,
or the force on the camshaft pulley side is balanced by the camshaft's
own weight, or the force is even negligible so that the camshaft will not
even tilt or move at all?

Again, thanks a lot for your help, Masters!

 

The slotted mounting for the distributor is for adjusting spark timing. You could make a real fat mark with a marker, then scratch thru the mark with a knife to make a fine line. Better yet, do you have a timing light (or borrow one)? How certain are you that the timing is correct right now?

Check this for me because I'm not sure for your year... but I believe the timing belt tensioner is NOT spring-loaded. There's a spring but the tensioner is actually locked down by it's mounting bolt. So there's no real tension on the belt & it won't pull the camshaft out of it's bearings.

 

Thanks JimBlake for your comments! It is a 95' Accord LX Auto, 2.2 L SOHC with about 90K miles on it, and I am the 2nd pround owner. The car
was driven in local area most of the time by the 1st owner I believe. There is no record from the 1st owner showing anything about the timing
adjustment done. I dont have a timing light for now, but I can borrow one if it is critical to check the timing. Is there any immediate sign that
indicates the timing is not right? It is a new DIY topic for me.

As DesertHonda mentioned earlier, if it could be a few degrees timing off, it's better off to be as precise as possible, so using a knife should be
accurate enough, great idea! I will handle this way.

I had my timing belt changed at about 80K at dealer, it seems that at the time the mech. tightened the tensioner nut the tension in there was
set, and I am not sure how much tension they put on the belt (maybe nobody knows for sure). By common sense, it shouldn't be too much
tensioned as to pull the camshaft out of place once the camshaft holders are removed, should it? Maybe I am overanalyzing the situation there.

Any comments are appreciated! I can not start working on it until this weekend.

Thanks a lot! Guys

 

Like I thought, the tensioner pulley is locked into place so it's not applying a constant force on the belt. The belt isn't supposed to be tight like the alternator V-belt, so you can probably take the long segment to the front & see a tiny bit of slack.



If the spark timing is not advance far enough, your power & fuel mileage will be lower than they should be. If the spark timing is too far advanced, you'll get knocking (but maybe not enough to really hear it). That can do some damage so it's not good.

 

Thank you for your picture again, JimBlake! Yeh, if there is even slack on the timing belt,
I am 100% sure that the camshaft will not move out of its place by the belt pulling force.
Great! Now I think I can perform the O ring change myself.

Thanks for the help!