Rocker Arm Assembly Installation Problem
 

CAR TYPE: 91 Honda Civic DX 4 Door

This morning I replaced the 4 O-Rings under the Rocker Arm Assembly because oils are leaking into the spark plugs. That was the easy part. Now I am having problem installing the Rocker Arm Assembly back onto the cylinder head block. I have been trying to put it back for many hours without much success. It was a frustrating nightmare. Can anyone give me some insights to why I am having so much trouble? Many thanks!!

PROBLEM SUMMARY:
1. The Rocker Arm Assembly could not completely flush onto the cylinder head block no matter how hard I push it down by hand. If I remember correctly, it was flushed with no gap before I pull it out. However, I did need a pry bar to loosen the Rocker Arm Assembly before I was able to pull it out.

2. I have also tried tapping the Rocker Arm Assembly with a plastic dead blow hammer and it still would not completely flush.

3. I also made another mistake after I pull the Rocker Arm Assembly out, is that I turned the Crankshaft Pulley, now I have lost track of where the exact original position is.


QUESTIONS:
1. Could it be that the Dowel Pins are so tight therefore preventing the Rocker Arm Assembly from flushing onto the cylinder block by hand?

2. The service manual said I need to tighten the screws in sequence but it did not mention if the Rocker Arm Assembly need to be flushed FIRST or by tighten the screws in sequence it will actually drive down and flush the Assembly onto the cylinder block? At this point, I am afraid to tighten the screws since I cannot get the gaps to flush?

3. Since I have not remove the timing belt when I took out the Rocker Arm Assembly, do I need to set the TDC to piston #1 before installing the Rocker Arm Assembly or any piston position will work? Also, when I removed the Rocker Arm Assembly, the TDC was not in the piston # 1 position.

hi there, if it was me i would make sure there are no burrs or anything preventing the assembly from going down. if that seems ok then go ahead and try to tighten the screws down in thier sequence. that should take care of your gap problem. if it doesnt then you have the wrong part or somnething is preventing it from happening. as far as the timing goes, i would go ahead and set the number one piston at the correct mark on your crank. its not hard and its the safe way to take care of that part of your problem. hope this helped

Thanks for the input, I have tighten the Rocker Arm Assembly in sequence and that solved the gap issue. I have also made adjustment to the valve clearance and everything seem to work now. I will check in two weeks for any sign of oil leak on the spark plug. Hope the new O-Rings will solve the problem. Thank again for the reply.