Replacing cam plug: What am I doing wrong?

lilwhiteLS

New Member
I ordered an aftermarket (JBilt) cam "plug" for my '96 LS to replace my current cheap plastic, leaking OEM plug. I removed the vale cover gasket, the cap and everything was going smoothly until I tried to fit the plug. It didn't fit. Not even close. It was about 40 degrees outside, I figured I'd warm up the engine and try again. A little better, but no dice. I checked the eBay auction and it said the part is compatible with B, H, and F series engines (I'm completely stock, should be B, no?). It must fit, so I tried to force it like a dumbass. The rubber sealing rings were pinched into the seam of the two halves of the bearing cap. It wouldn't seal. I viewed this as merely a minor annoyance. I pressed on. End result, cracked bearing cap. Sweet. Besides me being an impatient retard at times, what went wrong here?

(forgive me if any of my terms are wrong, I just act like I know what I'm talking about)






 

ixcocoyxi

RS owner
oh shit son! thats the first time ive seen that happen.

from my understanding, you could install it without having to take the VC off. just pull off the old one and pop in the new one..??
 

ixcocoyxi

RS owner
lilwhiteLS said:
I ordered an aftermarket (JBilt) cam "plug" for my '96 LS to replace my current cheap plastic, leaking OEM plug. I removed the vale cover gasket, the cap and everything was going smoothly until I tried to fit the plug. It didn't fit. Not even close. It was about 40 degrees outside, I figured I'd warm up the engine and try again. A little better, but no dice. I checked the eBay auction and it said the part is compatible with B, H, and F series engines (I'm completely stock, should be B, no?). It must fit, so I tried to force it like a dumbass. The rubber sealing rings were pinched into the seam of the two halves of the bearing cap. It wouldn't seal. I viewed this as merely a minor annoyance. I pressed on. End result, cracked bearing cap. Sweet. Besides me being an impatient retard at times, what went wrong here?
Click to expand...
uhmm.. he said that already doods. i think he knows.
 

Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
ooooooooooooooh hahahha

they should all be the same, thats the first time ive seen one not fit.
 


vonnyvegas

Finger Tapping With Fury!
wow dude thats intense, well go ahead and start your search at a junkyard for a new cap. can you take a pic of the plug alone? unless its a different design I took my valve cover off and that one cap just to take the only plug off and when I installed my new one I put the cap back on and there IS a way the new plug has to go in but you snap it in after aligning it to the seem. Even if you install it the way you did I don't entirely see how your cap snapped like that? Did you put the cap on and fingertighten them and then torque down at an even pace side to side and criss cross (since that cap has four bolts)? Yeah lets see a pic of the plug alone there's two different designs and two different ways to install each after I did a lil lookin around
 

mirrorimg

Well-Known Member
It obviously didnt fit properly. Being a generic part from eBay, that was probably the first problem. Now its going to cost you more to replace the cam cap. The plug should have sat flush in the nook without the cap on. The cap should have only contacted the rubber o-rings, it should not have had that much contact with the plug.

Either the plug was too large, or there was something impeding it from sitting properly. I would contact that ebay seller for a refund, if the plug is actually the issue. Do some measurements first versus your OEM rubber plug.

The aftermarket plugs have a lip on the inside, so "pressing" it in like the OEM rubber caps is no-dice.
 

here&there

In St. Louis, MO
Here are my points on dealing with this cam plug/cam cap issue:

1st. The top edge (lip and its sholder) of the new aluminum cap plug is not supposed to be under the edge of the cam cap.
ie...a black, plastic OEM cam plug is supposed to be flush to the side of the head/cam cap, but an aluminum cam plug is not to be flush.

2nd. When re-installing the bolts, for the cam cap, the torque wrench should be set to 7.2 lbf-foot.
If 7.2 foot pounds doesn't do the job you are doing something wrong.
You should never work on an aluminum engine without a torque wrench and factory specifications.

3rd. You can not just swap cam caps.
The cam cap that you broke was line bored at the factory, to very close tolerances.

4th. If you do find and swap the cam cap, without having the new one line bored, the end of your steel exhaust cam shaft will rub on the new sluminum cam cap. This is very bad.
Why, because you are dealing with aluminum, let me explain what will happen this way...

If you are drilling into aluminum (with a steel drill bit), at first the steel drill bit is cool and has no trouble cutting into the soft aluminum, however, as the temperature increases the bit stops cutting and starts melting the aluminum. The same thing will happen as your steel cam shaft rubs on the soft aluminum cam cap. Any initial aluminum shavings will not be discarded, instead, they will melt and act like soder.

Solutions availabe:

1. Find a cam cap and have it line bored. You will have to remove and disassemble the head and find a shop to bore it.

2. Replace the head.

Anyone have any other ideas? (Ideas like J or K Swap don't count)
 

mirrorimg

Well-Known Member
Pictures of said seal. Looks like the is an outer lip, although it is faint. That may have very well been the issue with the install, not lining it up properly.

 

lilwhiteLS

New Member
here&there said:
Here are my points on dealing with this cam plug/cam cap issue:

1st. The top edge (lip and its sholder) of the new aluminum cap plug is not supposed to be under the edge of the cam cap.
ie...a black, plastic OEM cam plug is supposed to be flush to the side of the head/cam cap, but an aluminum cam plug is not to be flush.

2nd. When re-installing the bolts, for the cam cap, the torque wrench should be set to 7.2 lbf-foot.
If 7.2 foot pounds doesn't do the job you are doing something wrong.
You should never work on an aluminum engine without a torque wrench and factory specifications.

3rd. You can not just swap cam caps.
The cam cap that you broke was line bored at the factory, to very close tolerances.

4th. If you do find and swap the cam cap, without having the new one line bored, the end of your steel exhaust cam shaft will rub on the new sluminum cam cap. This is very bad.
Why, because you are dealing with aluminum, let me explain what will happen this way...

If you are drilling into aluminum (with a steel drill bit), at first the steel drill bit is cool and has no trouble cutting into the soft aluminum, however, as the temperature increases the bit stops cutting and starts melting the aluminum. The same thing will happen as your steel cam shaft rubs on the soft aluminum cam cap. Any initial aluminum shavings will not be discarded, instead, they will melt and act like soder.

Solutions availabe:

1. Find a cam cap and have it line bored. You will have to remove and disassemble the head and find a shop to bore it.

2. Replace the head.

Anyone have any other ideas? (Ideas like J or K Swap don't count)
Click to expand...

Thank you, and everyone else for the replies. As for this post:

*kicks self in the face repeatedly* how the hell did I turn such an asinine job into a headache? kasdjhga;fhdsa;f anybody know how/where to find a part number for this godforsaken cam cap? I'm looking as we speak.
 

mirrorimg

Well-Known Member

lilwhiteLS

New Member
mirrorimg said:
http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/jsp/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=INTEGRA&catcgry2=1995&catcgry3=3DR+LS&catcgry4=KA5MT&catcgry5=CYLINDER%2BHEAD%2B(1)&ListAll=All&vinsrch=no

Doesnt seem to be any part numbers for it on Acura's website. I would try the dealership. Worst case scenario... You send me some money and I ship you a spare one in my garage. I actually just looked, and its probably going to be a bit difficult to track one down, unless you go to a junkyard.
Click to expand...
well shit I wish I'd have checked back at this thread before I bought some on eBay. Ended up buying a used "kit" with all the bolts and caps for $59 shipped. not half bad. (if anybody needs any of the other parts feel free to hit me up!) I hope to God there's a miracle and the cap fits or I can get it machined for less than an arm and a leg. Anybody have any clue how much an align hone job might cost me?

 
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