Andy's 3rd Gen Project

[wurlycorner]

Rocker gasket or oil spilled down the bores last time it was topped up?
Nice to get some little jobs out of the way, isn't it

[honda-hardy]

More than likely just the gasket leaking.

[CrunchyAdams82]

Yeah, I wouldn't imagine it's anything serious. And should be fine till the engine change early next year anyway.

[CrunchyAdams82]

Whoop whoop, another Lude passes it's MOT with flying colours!

Just need to replace a perished steering rack gaiter.

So good to go for another year!

Focus now on spraying up special spoiler, spraying & fitting rear splitter, tidying up bodywork, and saving up for 'The Manual H22 conversion'.

Good times ahead!

[honda-hardy]

great news andy.

[CrunchyAdams82]

Indeed Sir.

Now that's one less thing to worry about I can concentrate on bringing her up to a top spec & standard.

Happy days!

[Flashman]

So, got my ARB Stabi links changed over yesterday (thanks Aaron - Dbo's boy). And the old ones were a little perished..


Looks better now though..



Not too sure about the state of one of the plugs that came out though!



Aaron & Dbo reckon it looks like the rocker gasket is shot. Hopefully it will be ok though till it's conversion time. As I really don't want to be spending any more money on this engine now. Put a new set of AC Delco plugs in anyway! Nice.

Aaron also changed the rear calipers & bled the brakes, but I forgot to take a photo. Exciting as that would have been!

Anyway, handles a bit better now, brakes a little better, and no more grinding coming from the rear brakes anymore.

Changed the sidelight bulbs too cos one was out. Interesting colour scheme going on at the front of my car now..


Might need to look into standardising that..

Anyway, should be set for it's MOT now, other than the cosmetic welding that needs doing. So winning!

Ive tried looking for these. Where on earth did you find them?

[Thebusofwoe]

Don't forget to get rid of the clutch damper!!

[CrunchyAdams82]

Here you go @Flashman

http://bit.ly/17t3gpn

[CrunchyAdams82]

So, had a go at changing the Rocker Cover Gasket on my B20A5 today, as some of you will know...

But it wasn't without hitch.

My reason for changing it was to try & cure the recent problem I've had with oil getting into the spark plug chambers. This had been causing;

- loss of power
- stuttering upon throttle engagement
- a bit of smoke out the back
- general rough-running of the engine

So it was time to get something done about it before things got any worse. Recent enquiries had suggested these symptoms were more than likely being caused by a shot gasket, but most likely not the spark plug seals/o-rings. So I just got the gasket; as advised.

This is how it looked before I started..



And then, the first thing I touched, I broke! Nice one.





Managed to snap the brittle plastic PCV valve connector/adapter. Oh dear. Without a replacement I assumed I was pretty boned.

So, put a post out to the LG team here, and seemed to get the appropriate short-term fix, so carried on with the job anyway.

Next step was to remove the HT leads, alternator cable, & rocker cover screws/nuts to free it all up. It was then time to remove the cover..




What I found was not what I expected. As you can see, there was a fair bit of oil around where the o-rings sit. And a closer look at those confirmed that they were buggered!






Major bummer, considering I didn't buy any replacements! My engine was now in pieces & I had to put it back together regardless, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get to work tomorrow.

(Ironically, btw, the gasket itself was in tip-top condition).

So, I decided my only option was going to be clean it all up, & apply a thin application of black RTV silicone sealant around each of the rings, then refit the cover like that. I was going to be using the RTV for the gasket 'half moons' anyway.



So next, I removed a box from my boot to place the rocker cover gasket on, ready for preparation. Then I remembered, inside this box was indeed another rocker cover.



I saved this from Knightmare's breaker, ready for the conversion at the end of March. So that I had time to paint it & junk.

And wouldn't you know it..it had some spark plug seals still in there!



And even better, they were an exact match between both covers. Problem solved.



The bottom four out of the H22 cover were in much better condition; supple & rubbery, rather than brittle & plasticky. Result.

So, I went and cleaned everything up on the head..



and fitted the new gasket & seals to the cover..



While that was curing, I removed the spark plugs & gave them a good clean up to get any oil off them..



And I thought I'd have a look & see if the H22 cover would fit..



Almost!

Anyway, after that didn't work...it was time to refit the original cover & spark plugs, reconnect the alternator cables, and tighten up the rocker cover nuts/bolts. I also bodged the PCV valve connection back together - as per Vanzep's suggestion. A good-enough temporary fix. Cheers mate.

Here's the finished article..







Voila! Job done. And did it start..?



Course it did.

Sounded a bit rough at first, but after a decent test drive it was just fine. Topped up the engine & gearbox oil prior to test drive as well, and these made a massive difference to engine smoothness, as well as the gear change.

Overall, very happy with the end result, considering it was my first ever rocker cover gasket change..and all by myself too!

Lesson learnt though; whenever removing a rocker cover in the future, I will make sure I have bought both replacement gasket and spark plug o-rings..as well as a spare PCV valve!

Anyway, hopefully that should see the engine good till the end of March now, when I get the H22 Manual conversion done. Fingers crossed & all.

Ill let you know if it's still running in a week.

Thanks to all those who lent their advice; very much appreciated! Big-up the LG massive!