Ralleh

I unscrewed and disconnected everything and got to the point where I could kind of rock it back and forth but pulling straight up per the instructions I've seen posted here was nigh on impossible. I don't think I'm the world's weakest man, so I'm wondering if anyone has a tip or if it's necessary to have someone else pull the rear part of it upward while you pull the front.

zeroptzero

I did mine when I got the car with 55k miles on it in order to fix a gasket leak and I decided to do a valve adjustment at the same time. Mine was an absolute bitch to remove, others said it was really easy but mine was horrible. I've removed dozens of Honda covers before with ease but this one was terrible. Remember to remove the dipstick before you lift it up (ask me how I know).

I just rocked mine back and forth as violently as possible. It started to loosen up a bit at a time but it took a long time and lots of pulling. I hit it with a rubber mallet, careful not to damage the finish of the cover. Once I got a little bit of lifting on the front corner it gave me a bit of leverage to lift it up, but it was very slow going.

Make sure you take off the rubber grommets first, they can hold the cover down pretty tight if you don't. On other Hondas the grommets come off pretty loosely but these ones are very tight. Some people try to pry the cover off, but that can damage the mating surface if you aren't careful. I used a wooden paint mix stick to try and pry it but it wasn't strong enough.

CKit

Make sure you have the replacement spark plug well boots.

Ralleh

I pulled off the metal caps, but not the grommets, so maybe that's part of the problem. I was able make them move a bit so I dunno. I did have to pry a bit with a flathead to even make that much progress, but I was pretty careful about it and stayed outside of the gasket. Unfortunately, I ran out of time as dark clouds started rolling through and the rain started shortly after I got everything back together. I'm going to give it another go this weekend and see if it will work. I was wondering if maybe there was something I was missing to next to the firewall since that part seemed to be having more trouble.

The thing was stone cold as well. If it were slightly warm, would it be easier or just the same? I was going to just inspect retainers, so the valve clearances don't matter this time around.

Ralleh

Do you need to replace those every time?

dammitjim

There is a sensor near the back that needs to be removed, make sure you've got that. Try smacking it with the palm of your hand or a rubber mallet.

Mine came off the head fairly easily but getting past that plastic loom thing on the firewall was a major PITA. I didn't replace the plug well boots but the car had fairly low miles.

Ralleh

Oh I unscrewed those TDC sensors and rotated them, but I didn't remove them.

hustle_kaing

dammitjim, you said that you didnt replace the spark plugs well boots since it had fairly low miles, how many miles? I changed the spark plugs on my car 5 days ago and found oil on the spark plugs around the spark plug washer area, so I guess I need to replace the spark plug seals, its an '03 with 43k, should I replace the boots along with the seals? any other reason why there is oil on the spark plugs?

Ralleh, please do a follow up on the procedure since I will also be taking off the valve cover pretty soon

zeroptzero

I assume you saw oil on the top of the plugs, not the plug threads , correct. If that is the case then you should replace the four spark plug seals that go on the inside of the valvecover. The spark plug boots don't affect oil leakage just the seals. They can be a bit tricky to remove as well, gotta pry them off from underneath.

Make sure the grommets are all off they will hold things down pretty tight if not. Remove the TDC sensors if possible, they wouldn't cause the cover to not come off, but it is easier to negotiate the firewall without them. Plus they accumulate debris on them as they are magnetic, so it doesn't hurt to clean them while you are in there.

Lastly, when I use a rubber mallet on the valvecover I cover it with a cloth, and I try to hit the corner areas that have less flex to them. good luck I know how irritating something like this can be.

booski

i havent read the whole post, but i take all the senors out and there is a clip on the firewall where the wire loom connects to, disconnect that and push the wires down and it comes out alot easier