windhund116

Take the VTEC valve off carefully. Remove and save the O-rings. Inspect the sealing surfaces for any damage. Use a straight level or machinist's ruler to see if the sealing surface is flat.

I prep slightly warped or damaged surfaces with sandpaper (like medium 220 grit or finer, wet and dry) and a smooth metal plate. Wet the sandpaper will help get a smooth surface. Light, smooth, circular motions. Take as little off as possible to get the surface flat and free of scar marks.

Dry and clean the surface. Should be smooth and straight. Put O-rings back on. Hand tightened the bolts until they evenly meet the surface of the casting. I tighten these sort of things (that have oil or water pressure behind them) --- in a series of torques (maybe three times --- cross-tightening the bolts, if possible). You want an even torque across the casting.

Inspect the engine's surface for similar scar marks on the sealing surface. I fashion a DIY sanding block out of a straight piece of wood (small 1 X 2 would work nice for this purpose). 220 grit sandpaper around the wood block. Sand as parallel to the sealing surface as possible. Clean the sealing surface, so that there is no goombahs or scratches or anything on the metal.

DO NOT USE sealant on these types of castings. Ones that have oil passageways and/or O-rings.

Key is both sealing surfaces must be clean and flat for the O-rings to properly work.

Good luck!

Dibsen

I'll take a look, post some pics tonight.

Thanks for the comments guys!

Car Analogy

Wondering if leak isn't coming from valve itself. Not the mating surface to block, but the solenoid area or something.

engifineer

This is what I am wondering and why I was asking for pictures. It very well may be.

Dibsen

I went back through to see if I ever replaced the top gasket on the VTEC solenoid. Looking at this picture, there is clearly liquid gasket between the two mating surfaces. I also tried to look up the replacement gasket and you can't get it from Honda Parts Now (my go to source), wich is probably why I never ordered it in the first place.

Plans for today, remove the assembly, check all mating surfaces, order a replacement (top) gasket.

windhund116

You need something like this?

Dibsen

This was the cause of all my trouble. The oil gasket looked old, probably original. My guess was it started to leak and because Honda isn’t offering a new gasket, the dealers are using Honda bond. Because of the liquid gasket being on some of the mating surfaces there was no way it was going to seal.

Made sure the block was good and clean, as well as true/flush

Gasket and mating surface are good here as I just recently replaced this. Just confirming.

Block looked good so I made sure to just clean up all the old oil.

I think I have the leak solved. I replaced my floor paper and went for a short drive. Made sure to hit vtec a couple times and did a visual inspection when I got back. All looks good, zero oil from any of the mating surfaces of the vtec assembly.

windhund116

Good job!

Thanks, for the follow up.

Dibsen

It’s been two days of driving and not a weep of oil. I’m flying high! And just in time for my autoX this weekend.

thanks for all the tips and feedback along the way. This might have been solved sooner had I known about the 4 potential parts/failures that could cause the VTEC assembly to leak (3 oil seals/gaskets and the oil pressure switch itself). I approached the problem 1 part at a time and the part that was leaking was the last part I addressed.

this post in kind of long for a sticky but there are some decent pics and at least it’s recent. Maybe it will help the next guy/gal with vtec leak.

thanks again!

Chuck S

Great news! We need two (2) reports on Monday : 1. How you did on the Autocross and 2. What (if any) oil is still weeping.

-- Chuck