Ok, I have been searching for hours and either its not posted already or I'm blind....lol. But if this is already posted somewhere, I apologize.
Well I have a '96 Accord LX sedan, F22b non-vtec 4cylinder, and yesterday morning driving to skool, I don't even get past the first light when my car starts dipping rpm's as if it wants to stall. It throws a CEL and after reading them I get 72 & 74 with are 'cylinder missfire'. The last repair I did to the car was change the top spark plug seals, and after checking the spark plugs, they are almost flooded with oil.My question is....I know the oil in the spark plugs is not good at all, but what I would like to know is, is this what is settin off the CEL or is there something else I need to check?? How hard is it on this car to take off the cylinder head, because I want to try and take it off the clean it throughly and plan to do this work myself, but the manual I have doesn't go into much detail.Any help would be much appreciated!!

 

Codes 72 & 74 are cylinder misfires detected by the ECU. The oil in the spark plug wells may be enough to cause the missing or could be another problem. I would fix the spark plug seals first. Did you install the upper seals correctly w/ the open side to the inside of the valve cover? There is a second set of oring seals beneath the rocker arm assy. These can leak also.

No need to remove the entire cylinder head to replace seals. You only remove the rocker arm assy. It does require a specific loosening sequence on the bolts to avoid damaging the rocker arm assy. You need the Honda or Haynes shop manual for your model. Also check the DIYforum for a procedure.

You could confirm the oil is causing the misfires by cleaning the spark plug wells. You can use a vacuum line from a vacuum port on the engine. Start the engine and use the engine vacuum to suck the wells dry. Then mop w/ a paper towel and screw driver.

good luck

 

On top of texas suggestion, chk the plug wires as well.. and yes ,,there is a step by step instruction on our DIY section

 

I didnt think about the using the vaccum to clean out the holes. But thank you for all the advice!...Yes I replaced the upper seals with the open end towards the inside of the valve cover.

I also have already printed the correct DIY, I have been eyeing that for awhile, but attempted the uppers first just to see if that would solve the problem. Well this will most likely be attempted tomorrow, so thank you! for all the advice, and I will be back if I run into a problem

 

I have another quick question.....What name can I tell the guys at the dealer for those lower spark plug seals, because I have told them both lower rocker arm seals and lower spark plug seals, and he looks at me like I am crazy.
Just wondering if it's him or me who's crazy?

 

if you tell the honda parts person that you need the lower rocker arm seals and he ( she ) does not know what you are talking about he ( she ) is either new to the job or has no business being a part person ..
that is why i tell the honda parts when i order them,, ,, there are 4 of them ,,,,,,,# 19 in the picture

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...R+HEAD+%281%29

 

[8D], hahaha, for real! I told the guy lower rocker arm seals. I will print that pic right now and bring it there.

Thanks a lot!, Im a noob here but not to the game, and this site is really setting me off on the right foot.

 

Ok, well I finally got the seals in (b/c honda gave me the wrong seals at first). But I started the car after putting everything back together, and when I press on the gas, it sort of sputters as if it wants to stall. I dunno what to check now? Im pretty sure the distributor was put back on the same way, my marks got smudged by my oily hands. But I only took off the two front bolts on the dizzy.

Or can it be that there is still some oil in the spark plug chambers and I need to get it out of there?

Please help....
Thanks in advance.....

 

plug wires ok ?? reinstalled wires properly ? you cannot install the distr off ,, there is only 1 way that it will mount in.. ( well unless you force the living crap out of it with the bolts ) ..chk the timing as well..
you took real care when reinstalling the rocker arm ,,,, made sure that arms were correctly lined up over the valves ,,,,,,
, Not to scare you but if a rocker arm was misaligned and you tightened the rocker arm assembly down you could have bent a valve ............I hope not,,, but chk all the easy things first

 

Somebody can correct me if I am wrong on this one, because the DX/LX valve cover is different from the EX.

Describing the direction to install the seals can be confusing, so I copied a pic below of those gaskets.

Shouldn't the side that is facing UP (the sealed end) in the pic be facing the inside of the valve cover?


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