Hello Accord experts,

I'm having a hard time removing these plug seals on the valve cover. They seemed to have hardened over time and seemed to be permanently glued in there or something...

Any suggestions? Thank you!

 

I used as small sharp screwdriver to pry them out. Yes, they can be difficult. Careful not to scratch the sealing surface. Note how the seals are installed in the pocket.

good luck

 

yes, pry on them slowly. Also when you go for the gromets on the valve cover bolts-looks like a v-tec....place a piece of hose around the threads of the vc bolts....lube the hose and push the new seals thru the hose and past the hard/blunt stop on the bolts.

 

Those seals have a metal reinforcement on the outside edge. To avoid any possibility of scratching the valve cover sealing surface, I used a screwdriver to push the outside edge of the seal towards the center of the circle. Once is was bent inward, I used a pair of needle-nose pliers to pull out the seal.