F22a4 In-Vehicle Stock Engine Refresh Experience

[HondaFan81]

Performed Following Today 12/29/09:

NOTE: Use only 6-point socket or head screws and I prefer impact socket. Minimize chance of rounding off fastener head.

- Cleaned oil pan, head screw, intake & exhaust manifold fasteners for reassembly.
- Cleaned oil pan mating surfaces.
- Installed oil pan gasket & oil pan, torqued to 10 lb-ft, put small amount of Hondabond on curved gasket area.

- Applied small amount of grey silicone around coolant port on IM gasket, cleaned mating surfaces.
- Installed IM to head, torqued evenly by hand. If you have crow's feet, torque to 16 lb-ft.
- Cleaned head mating surfaces & route wires/etc away from head area.
- Apply thin amount of Hondabond around oil jet hole, above & below headgasket.
- Insert two dowel pins between head & block, make sure they are not damaged.
- Install headgasket in proper orientation, using dowel pins to align.
- With someone helping, align IM/head assembly onto headgasket using dowel pins to guide.
- At this point, I inspected above, around and below the engine to make sure all wiring, etc. was not pinched, routed away and near their respective future locations. I do this before I torque the head down, for the obvious.
- Using spare ARP moly lube, I applied small amount to bottom of head screw threads.
- I applied motor oil under screw head flange and under washer.
- Threads screws by hand to start, starting at longest screw in center-firewall side of head, then install rest.
- Snug all by hand evenly, center-out and criss-cross sequence.
- Then, start the 3 stage process (29, 51 and 78 lb-ft).
- Moly lube worked great, no squeaking and torque spikes, very smooth to final torque.

- Also, diassembled original rocker assembly, cleaned thoroughly and reassembled using better condition rocker arms, lubricated everything with motor oil.
- Installed new camshaft seal and cam gear to better condition camshaft.

[foamypirate]

Good work Cisco.

[HondaFan81]

Completed Today:

- Full exhaust system installation.
- Front to Rear support brace install.
- Alternator bracket install.
- Radiator install with hoses.
- Finished emission/vacuum box install with all vacuum line routing.
- Installed air filter/intake piping.
- Installed battery & tray.
- Installed P/S pump, alternator and set accessory belt tension.

Basically have the camshaft, valvetrain, timing belt, valve cover, etc left to do before engine start procedure.

[close2classic]

And I'm worried about my 220k motor. Wow

With all this in car maintenance, you got some blankets on the fenders?

[HondaFan81]

Completed Today:

So my bro's 90 EX F22a4 engine runs strong once again!! No abnormalities such as leaks, overheating or anything.

Well, I still have to measure gas mileage and oil consumption rate, but I will have it by end of this week. I will drive it to work this week. Just came back from a 15 mile run to seat the rings (majority) and changing oil in a few to flush contaminants out. Waiting for oil to cool just a bit, but want to keep it warm so it flows out well.

- Installed camshaft & applied Torco MPZ engine assy lube generously on lobes and journals on head and after setting camshaft in place.
- Installed rocker arm assembly, torqued to spec.
- Installed timing belt & set tension.
- Set valve lash to spec (INT .010/EXH .012 inches).
- Installed valve cover and all other things to wrap up.
- New plugs and wires were installed as well (dizzy cap & rotor replaced not long ago).
- Distributor set to middle of slot, will start motor and be closed to 15 BTDC.
- Motor oil and coolant filled, coolant bled.
- ECU fuse removed, engine cranked to prime until oil psi light went off.
- ECU fuse replaced, engine started and fully warmed up, while looking above & below engine for any leaks.
- Once engine warm, I performed base idle setting (DIY sticky), shut motor off and removed 7.5 amp ECU reset fuse.
- Engine restarted, still fully warm, then set base ignition timing (DIY sticky).
- Again, look for any abnormalities.
- Took vehicle for 15 mile run, varying RPMs as much as possible. Stay in a gear (appropriate for road speed) go WOT until 4500 RPM, then let off gas until 2000 RPM and repeat.
- Change oil after run while engine oil warm, then change oil at normal intervals.

[s2cmpugh]

I've been following this for a while now, and must admit I'm impressed and intrigued. My car has 228k now on it, but the motor doesn't blow any smoke nor leak anything. That being said, the motor won't last forever and I'm not a speed freak (so that takes out an H22a, H23, etc. option). If you don't mind me asking, what was the total amount spent on all of this and did you use OEM parts?

Thanks,
Cris P.

[HondaFan81]

I've been following this for a while now, and must admit I'm impressed and intrigued. My car has 228k now on it, but the motor doesn't blow any smoke nor leak anything. That being said, the motor won't last forever and I'm not a speed freak (so that takes out an H22a, H23, etc. option). If you don't mind me asking, what was the total amount spent on all of this and did you use OEM parts?

Thanks,
Cris P.

$725 in parts my bro paid, I did labor for free. All engine related parts were OEM Honda, the rest from auto parts store. This includes all preventative maintenance I did while having the head/IM removed (i.e. heater hoses, IM coolant hoses, etc). Actual cost of stock cylinder head reconditioning was $245 due to one new exhaust valve & one exhaust valve guide in need of replacement.

EDIT: To give people a rough idea on needed parts for this refresh & cost. reference list below:

TOTAL: $500

- reconditioned stock cylinder head (cleaning, valve job, valve seals, resurface) $200-225
- IM gasket $10
- EXH gasket $20
- headgasket $50
- piston rings $90
- oil pan gasket $20
- oil pickup gasket $2
- honing tooling $80 (320 grit ball-hone, honing oil & nylon cylinder brush)

OPTIONAL (not included in total):

- valve cover gasket kit $25
- rocker arm lower O-rings (qty: 4) $10
- connecting rod bearings (qty: 4 sets) $72

Through my family, we had 6 CB7's at one point and I did all maintenance. 228K miles is not bad, I would not worry about an engine refresh until you start to burn oil at a bad rate. This 368K mile F22a4 motor was burning 1 qt/400 miles!! Our family has had plenty of 200K+ mile CB7s that ran fine and did not burn a considerable amount.

[PR CB7]

my question is, did you gap your rings, and how much time you spent on each cylinder when honing?



did you measure the rings after the hone?
what were the measurements on ring 1 and ring 2?

[HondaFan81]

Currently, motor has 338+ miles. Keep in mind this vehicle has instrument cluster fuel gauge problems, so I'm not confident in its accuracy.

On way into work today, 338 miles accumulated, I filled up gas tank with 11.6 gallons of 87 octane. That is 29.1 MPG and no oil consumption at this point. This tank was mixed city/HWY since I broke piston rings in, was driving somewhat aggressive, live in Michigan with mid-20's temperature.

Looks good so far, but I am running this 2nd tank to confirm and may expect slightly better gas mileage. Honestly, I'm impressed with 29 MPG average in this cold weather with break-in on rings included. It's only going to get better, especially in warmer weather.

I'll end this thread with the 2nd tank results, it will be a better representation.

[HondaFan81]

my question is, did you gap your rings, and how much time you spent on each cylinder when honing?

did you measure the rings after the hone?
what were the measurements on ring 1 and ring 2?

I did measure the new rings with cylinders in their original/unhoned condition and verified it will work and piston ring gaps remain within Helms factory manual specs. This was WITHOUT gapping the OEM Honda piston rings. So it appears to me they come ready to go basically, unlike the aftermarket products I dealt with that are file-to-fit.

I believe I previously described that I used a 320 grit ball-hone (Flex Hone brand), with their honing oil, set my cordless Dewalt (2 speeds), to lower speed (450 RPM) and did 3 vertical passes per cylinder. I tried to move vertically at same speed for each cylinder.

After making the initial measurements and verifying it should all work out, I did not bother taking post honing measurements. I cleaned the original OEM pistons very well, oiling holes and all (20-30 minutes per piston), clocked the new OEM rings on and installed. I had committed to my plan and simply needed to executed, hope that it works out. Ball-honing was chosen because it does not remove much material, but creates the honing pattern and use of the honing oil is important to prevent cylinder wall galling.

As I mentioned before that completely removing the engine, doing bore/hone, new pistons & rings was not an option. At that point, my bro would have been better off getting a good used motor and having it installed.

[Shag Wagon]

Thats awesome dude! But may I ask, since you spent that much money on doin that, wouldnt it have been cheaper just to install a known good bottom end?

[s2cmpugh]

$725 in parts my bro paid, I did labor for free. All engine related parts were OEM Honda, the rest from auto parts store. This includes all preventative maintenance I did while having the head/IM removed (i.e. heater hoses, IM coolant hoses, etc).

Through my family, we had 6 CB7's at one point and I did all maintenance. 228K miles is not bad, I would not worry about an engine refresh until you start to burn oil at a bad rate. This 368K mile F22a4 motor was burning 1 qt/400 miles!! Our family has had plenty of 200K+ mile CB7s that ran fine and did not burn a considerable amount.

Sounds good enough to me. Occasionally I'll notice some oil loss, but I don't think it's being burned (no smoke on start up or while running). I do know the oil pan gasket is seaping so that could be it.

Thanks,
Cris P.

[HondaFan81]

Sounds good enough to me. Occasionally I'll notice some oil loss, but I don't think it's being burned (no smoke on start up or while running). I do know the oil pan gasket is seaping so that could be it.

Thanks,
Cris P.

Oil pan gasket leaks are common on our motors, most people don't get it fixed or take a while to do it. Good deal on no oil smoke on startup or while running, good sign.

[HondaFan81]

Thats awesome dude! But may I ask, since you spent that much money on doin that, wouldnt it have been cheaper just to install a known good bottom end?

To clarify, I did not spend, my bro did as it is his car.

Cheaper, not necessarily. Also, you're introducing an important and new variable, we knew the history of this motor and it was rebuildable. A large factor was this started out with me removing the head, having it reconditioned and doing the reinstall. While block was still in vehicle, I found it necessary to do piston rings as well. At this point, I'm not going to deal with installing another block, taking a chance at its condition.

My bro spent $90 on piston rings, $80 honing tooling, $21 for oil pan gasket. So that sums up the block related costs. I paid half for honing tooling, since I kept that stuff.

The rest of parts cost was for the reconditioned cylinder head portion of the job, with new gaskets, preventative maintenance, etc.

[Shag Wagon]

Well damn that fucker oughta run another 300k now haha.