valve cover stuck

[StressSolutions]

Guys, can you help me remove my valve cover? It's stuck so well that I have a hard time believing that it could be leaking, but leak it does and the wife says the smoke makes her sick.

Where is a good place to pry or do you worm a putty knife in there?

Do you use silicone even though instructions say to not? I bought a fel-pro gasket. thanks

Mike, come on over and help, I'll buy the beverage of choice...

[kaltenacht]

Wow, I've never heard of one getting stuck before! If I were you I wouldnt pry with anything, to avoid gnashing up the surface where the gasket sits. Instead take a rubber mallot and a soft tip hammer and tap on the sides. This will hopefully slowly knock it loose, without hurting the actual cover itself. And no, I do not use silicone on that gasket at all. When I replaced mine, I used just the plain rubber gasket that it called for by felpro. Hope that helps and good luck!:chainsaw:

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

Remove the oil cap. Insert your fingers and pull and rock it until it breaks loose. It helps to pry out the rubber grommets underneath the crown nuts first. This will allow you to move the valve cover a lot more since the grommet holes are pretty large. As a last resort you can use a rubber mallet or a piece of wood and a hammer to hit the valve cover and get it to break loose. Hope this helps.

[StressSolutions]

Great, thanks guys, I took an old putty knife and bent over the end...to make a short hook, of sorts. I used that as a handle to pull it up.

Any replacement parts available for the grommets? They seem kinda hard to find. :(

[A20A1]

It depends what valve cover gasket kit you get... I know some will come with the gasket and the 3 rubber grommets and 3 new metal dish washers.

[StressSolutions]

So I have found. One parts store could get them tomorrow, one had them today. They come in packs of 2, so you have to buy 2 and get 4 when you only need 3. The box was labled 79-83, 1.3l, 1.5l, 1.8l, which leads me to wonder if those tiny engines only had 2 nuts holding down the valve cover. also called rocker arm cover.
Seems like the acorn nuts bottomed out before reaching torque, any more comments? Thanks again, mission accomplished!

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

The nuts seemed to bottom out on mine too. If yours leaks, you may need to put some sealer on the gasket. I found that I have to clean the living daylights out of the head surface and then apply Permatex Ultra-Grey sealant to the gasket surface (and four little dabs in the corners around the camshaft). Then tighten down evenly. I went through about 5 gasket replacement until I got it leak-free (and a new valve cover to boot). Hope this helps.

[88Accord-DX]

Definetly use new acorns on the valve cover, should come with the washers. Torque them down to only 7 foot pounds. Clean the mating surface on the cylinder head before installing. The valve cover gasket doesn't require RTV silicone, but it is good to use a dab on the 4 corners to help it stay in place. If your replacing the valve cover gasket, you should go ahead & adjust your valve lash. There is a procedure on doing it. Basically need the rocker arms off the cam lobes.