Honda 3.5 Cam Plugs

[DuckRyder]

Working on an Acura RL. This is a C35A To my knowledge the only thing it was used in for the US market was the Acura RL 3.5. (AKA ROW Honda Legend) I believe it is similar to the earlier 2.7 and 3.2.

It is a SOHC engine, the NSX used a DOHC version.

At any rate:

The cam plugs are seeping - I think. It is difficult to tell how much was valve cover and how much cam plug.

You are supposed to remove the rocker shaft supports to replace them as far as i can tell, this requires removing the timing belt and sprockets - this is not going to happen... One guy on You tube loosened them and pried up the supports to change the plugs. 2 problems with that is that there are o rings under the supports and silicone.... this sounds like asking for trouble to me.

Many folks on SOHC Honda 4 are simply prying ou the plug and reinstalling a new one. The plug looks similar...

So my question is: Has anyone sucefully proved one of these out and just put the new one in? How did you do it? Access is quite a bit worse than a 4.

 

[DuckRyder]

After a half hearted try at prying this out and finding that it did not easily come out I abandoned it.

Glad i did ad they are barely seeping, it'll take months for them to leak enough to hit the ground. I can live with that.

 

[Tow motor]

Not sure about that engine but I have changed them on a J series in a Honda Pilot. The plugs on those are aluminum and have bolts in them. They came out very hard and went back pretty tough too.

 

[paulo57509]

That plug appears to be the same one that's on the rear head of the Legend (the front is occupied by the distributor). You dodged a bullet by leaving it/them in place. Tip: Make darn sure they need to be replaced. It will save you a lot of unnecessary labor and aggravation.

My circular plug R&R story....

The C27A is transverse mounted. Even so, access to the plug, on a scale of 1-10 is about a 9. Pry tools didn't work; there's nothing to get a purchase on. Can't push it out from the inside because the cam is in the way.

I had to drill a hole through the plug and the plug's metal backing in order to get something to pry against. Drilling the hole, I had to sneak the drill bit through a slot in rear torque arm bracket. Drilling the hole, on a scale of 1-10 about an 8. Simply because I had to drill at and angle with the bit passed through a slot in the rear torque arm bracket, no way to center punch the rubber plug (kinda chewed the bracket slot a bit - hind sight, wrap the bit with tape next time; never going to happen again). After I had the hole drilled, I used a long, bladed screw driver and a socket as a fulcrum to pry the plug out.

The plug had evidence of silicone so this wasn't it's first rodeo.

Installation of the new plug, on a scale of 1-10 about a 8. There was no way to hammer the new one back into place. I attempted to push it into place but the lip on the plug was fairly stiff - no way, Jose.

I ended up trimming off the lip, cleaned off the area with lacquer thinner, coating the plug with silicone sealer and started the plug in the hole. I used a 24" curved pry bar to push it the rest of the way. I let it sit overnight before buttoning it back up.

No leak since 2016.