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DIY Service EK Civic

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kamakazi
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DIY Service EK Civic

Postby kamakazi » December 9th, 2021, 12:22 am

Items serviced on my EK with helpful notes. Started off by wanting to repair a leak by the oil pump which turned into a full-on service because a lot has to be done before you get to the oil pump
Drivetrain: Automatic B16A

Disconnect the battery before working on anything...It is helpful to take it out of the vehicle for the time you are working on it


1. Exhaust Manifold and oil pan
Unplug the Oxygen sensor and spray all bolts with penetrant to ease disassembly. I removed the section just below the oil pan along with the support brace and the torque converter shield. Drain oil from the oil pan and then unbolt it. Keep something under the engine to prevent any oil that is still dripping down, from getting on the ground

2. Belts
Three drive belts in total, Power Steering, Air Condition Compressor and Alternator. Have to remove the dust shield (if you still have one) that protects the belts and pulleys in this area on the lower side of the vehicle. Loosen the nuts on the upper engine mount on the passenger side and the torque mount on the lower side. I can't recall exactly but one of the belts requires the lower torque mount to be removed for it to come out, unless you decide to cut them out. The bearing in the tensioner can be replaced. The alternator belt is the toughest to tension as the alternator itself is the tensioner, so you will require some sort of pry bar; the other two belts have a tensioner that is attached to a bolt or dependent on a bolt so adjusting the tension in small increments is easier. If you have to remove the timing belt you will have to bolt back in the lower torque mount to help support the engine as the upper mount has to be removed from the engine side to get the timing belt off, unless you are planning to cut it.

3. Repainting Valve Cover
The valve cover had to come out so I decided to prep and paint it while it was out. There is a small bolt hole on the valve cover that is conveniently placed above the Power steering mounting bracket which allows prying on and doesn't damage the sealing surfaces.
Bought a can of VHT wrinkle black years ago from Trinidad Brake and clutch (not the cheapest place but I had it). Bought a can of aerosol paint remover from Faiz.
Washed it with degreaser, dishwashing soap, soaked it in soap water, sanded, wiped it down with rubbing alcohol and masked off with painters masking tape. For painting, I submerged the aerosol can in hot water to help with atomization. Didn't manage to layer the paint evenly but it looks decent enough for what it is. Used a heat gun to start the wrinkling process, making passes with the gun to slowly bring the paint and valve cover up to temp. Left it to dry for about 8 hrs before carefully removing the masking and placing it in the sun for another 3 hrs. It was then left to sit until I was ready

4. Crank Pulley
Turn crank counter-clockwise to line up timing marks; remove spark plugs if you don't want to fight the engine compression. Either put back the spark plugs after you turned the engine over or cloth to prevent things from falling into the cylinders. There should be a mark at 11 o'clock on the Crank pulley, and the camshaft pulleys have "UP" cut into them as well as two lines cut into the Intake (at 9 o'clock) and Exhaust (at 3 o'clock) teeth. I purchased a crank pulley holder tool which made removal easier. It still requires a serious amount of force unless you have a 1/2" impact which I do not. I used one 1/2" breaker bar for the pulley tool and a 3/4" breaker bar with a snipe to remove the crank pulley bolt. The 3/4" bar isn't necessary but it bends significantly less than the 1/2". Use this opportunity to break the bolts holding the camshaft pulleys on. When removing the crank pulley, take care to get the woodruff key out and KEEP IT SAFE.

5. Timing belt covers and Timing Belt
Remove bolts holding down the cover over the belt. The cover is comprised of an upper and lower section that surrounds the engine mount. Undo the tensioner bolt and remove the tensioner and the spring. Ensure the lower mount is on before unbolting the upper mount from the engine. The timing belt surrounds the upper mount it has to be removed for the belt to come off. I was planning on reusing my old belt as the mileage wasn't reached but I already had a replacement so I changed it.

6. Oil Pump O ring and seal
Parts sourced from an old fel-pro conversion kit I purchased a while back but didn't use. Wear eye protection(used engine oil in the eyes is not fun). I used a 17mm open-end spanner to pry the oil pump off on the square tab of the oil pump (located on the drive belt side of the pump closer to the front of the vehicle). It's going to leak oil even if it was left to gravity drain for weeks.
Cleaned using Brake cleaner and a lot of cloth. Seals oiled with 20w50 and hammered in using a piece of PVC and a piece of wood. Bought plastic decal scrapers to scape old gasket material off. Used a small amount of RTV to hold the replacement O-ring in place and ran a bead along the sealing surface. Poured some engine oil into the pump and used a torque wrench to complete the install. Clean away the excess rtv silicone that is squeezed out from where the oil pan seals. Left it to dry for 2 days at least. Clean and install oil pickup tube

7. Oil Pan gasket
Washed oil pan with a degreaser as well as dishwashing liquid. Used plastic decal remover to scrape off the old RTV. Wiped down sealing surface with rubbing alcohol. applied the finest bead of RTV (permatex Ultra grey) that the nozzle is capable of above and below the replacement gasket. Also applied RTV on the 4 corners of the mating surface on the bottom of the block. Tightened everything up with a torque wrench

8. Cam Gears and Cam seals
Work on one side at a time, intake or exhaust, to not mix up parts. The cam gears also have a woodruff key each. Keep it safe and reinstall it with the cam gear after replacing the seal.
I decided to remove the cam caps that cover the seals to ease the installation of the new seals.
This required the removal of the oil rail on the B16A engine. I worked on one side at a time, completing the installation of the new seal and torquing the oil rail up before starting work on the intake side. I used RTV on the corners of the caps at the edge of the seals
NOTE: the cam gear has to be removed for the seals to be installed. The best time to break the cam gear bolts is when the timing belt is on. There are what appear to be locating holes in the oil rail and the cam that locks the cams in place if a metal rod is inserted... But I didn't want to risk damage to both components and a belt is much easier to find and more affordable.
Do not move the camshafts much from the position they were left in as you can risk damaging the valves

9. Vtec Solenoid gasket
Parts purchased online from Rock Auto (the Gates kit isn't the best but it works)
Cleaned with brake cleaner and Amsoil power foam, Reassembled using 20W50 oil. It is going to leak oil when the solenoid valve is removed.

10. Putting it back together and other notes
A torque wrench is definitely required for putting everything back together.
Used Permatex Copper RTV for the first time on the exhaust manifold mating surface. to see how it holds up to the temps.
A small amount of oil is required on the crank pulley bolt before threading it in and tightening
A small amount of Permatex ultra grey (or similar RTV silicone) is required on the sharp edges of the cam cover gasket
B20 series gasket set is not all compatible with the B16A;
Compatible: Oil pan Gasket works, 7 of the 8 required rubber grommets for the cam cover (and even though they work it is a little smaller than those for the B16; small enough that I can no longer properly bolt down my spark plug wire cover).
Not Compatible: Cam cover gasket, Camshaft seals. I did not try anything else from the kit.
Most mating surfaces were scraped with the plastic blades and wiped with brake cleaner before applying silicone
There are still factory service manuals floating around on the internet that will give you the torque specs you need.
I gently poured some oil over the oil rail and the cams before closing it up (avoid the spark plug holes)
Allow the RTV time to dry and Remember to refill all the fluids before starting (Oil, etc.)
Oil or grease seals to ease installation.


So after all this work, the vehicle started back up without a problem. All the penetrating oil sprayed on the exhaust bolts will start to burn off. Unfortunately, my engine was left open for almost a month while I waited on parts and tools to arrive and even though it was covered, small amounts of dust still made it onto the oil rail and possibly the components below. Wipe it off as best as possible and plan to do an oil change soon after if this happens.
Last edited by kamakazi on December 12th, 2021, 11:38 pm, edited 9 times in total.

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Mercenary
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Re: DIY Service EK Civic

Postby Mercenary » December 9th, 2021, 5:52 pm

very good...following this

kamakazi
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Re: DIY Service EK Civic

Postby kamakazi » December 30th, 2021, 5:16 pm

Trying to keep the old girl going for as long as possible.

Problem: Hunting idle if vehicle is started when it hasn't come up to operating temperature. Very high idle when cold (above 2k rpm)

Solution: My problem was caused by both a non functioning idle air control valve (IACV) and a larger than normal vent in the fast idle thermo valve(FITV).
The IACV was replaced with a unit meant for a CR-V; the B16A intake manifold has the bolt holes for the long and short IACV used by Honda and they both line up to the openings in the intake manifold. The IACV is located on the rear of the intake manifold.
The FITV can be adjusted by screwing down the circular white plastic nut inside. This nut is located behind a metal plate that is secured with two 8mm bolts. I tightened it all the way by hand and then loosened it one and a half turns. This has set the fast idle around 1300rpm

These two valves control the idle speed above the base idle speed of the vehicle by controlling the air that bypasses the throttle body. The IACV (idle air control valve)is controlled by the factory ECU. The FITV works like a coolant thermostat with the only difference being that the wax filled pellet closes the valve as it expands with the increase in temperature.

While silicone sealant isn't necessary, a thin bead is applied to the gaskets to hold them in place and to aid in sealing.

Zalos
3NE 2NR for life
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Re: DIY Service EK Civic

Postby Zalos » December 31st, 2021, 12:49 pm

would be nice to see some pictures too

kamakazi
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Posts: 2862
Joined: February 14th, 2009, 10:32 am

Re: DIY Service EK Civic

Postby kamakazi » January 10th, 2022, 4:25 pm

Unfortunately didn't take any pictures when I was doing it... Will do next time around

kamakazi
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Joined: February 14th, 2009, 10:32 am

Re: DIY Service EK Civic

Postby kamakazi » March 30th, 2022, 1:57 am

So back at it again.

My initial "fix" for the FITV didn't work as well as I wanted to and the hunting idle came back. After pulling the system apart again I observed that the thermostat was slowly leaking wax and this was responsible for its slower response to the increase in coolant temp.

Realizing that the system in my car was set up for temperate/colder climates, I went about bypassing them. I disconnected the coolant lines being run through the IACV and the FITV(through the throttle body) using some 5/16 rubber hose.

To get to the components that I worked on I removed the tower strut bar, intake air box and intake tube that connects to the throttle body.

In the FITV, I reorganized the internal components so that it is always closed and I tightened all the bolts reusing the old rubber o rings; most of which were still pliable. For the one o ring that wasn't, I used a little rtv to help with sealing.
I reinstalled everything and looped the hose on the bypassed hose barbs for the installation to look a little cleaner.

I refilled the cooling system as some coolant was lost as I worked on it.

Car is back on the road for testing. As it is now the rpms reach 1400 on cold start but quickly drops to 1000. As the vehicle gets to operating temp it drops down to approx 700 (which is what I set it at using the idle screw)

Still have to monitor temps of the intake manifold after longer trips to see if it still gets as warm or if the cooler intake manifold has any effect on performance.

kamakazi
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Posts: 2862
Joined: February 14th, 2009, 10:32 am

Re: DIY Service EK Civic

Postby kamakazi » June 9th, 2022, 8:28 pm

Positives so far.
Fuel consumption has decreased from 7km/l to around 9km/l; vehicle is mainly driven in the city.

Vehicle can use greater amounts of super gasoline without pinking; it used to when the vehicle was up to temp and cruising in top gear.


Found out that Honda doesn't like any transmission fluid besides Honda branded fluid, well my Honda anyway. Replaced 3 quarts with DW-1 and the shift quality improved noticeably. I have a relatively large Hayden transcooler 679 plumbed in before the radiator heat exchanger; I couldn't find a double row radiator that my vehicle uses locally so I'm using the thinner rad and compensating with a bigger transcooler. The rad also does a better job of regulating trans temps than if it was bypassed and only cooled by the air

Brakes. Mintex is my personal preference in brake pads and I will usually get them if available. They will give a scent when brand new but once bedded in they will only "smell" if overheated. Budget stopping power is what I like and dust and noise are very low on my list concerns.
Wagner and Bosch are my back up options.

Purchased sta-lube ceramic brake grease and applied to caliper pins and the edges of the brake pad backing plate. Bled brakes with new fluid; which I do everytime I change brake pads.

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