Rear main seal replacement

[Stoner51]

so my rear main seal is leaking. I am going to get a t2t4 tranny. So I am going to replace it at the same time.
I did this when I put the motor in but obv not very well.

I have a few quick questions.

Do I have to drop the oil pan too? I have an 96 or 97 h22. Its obd2 says 96 on the block. So I don't know which it is. I assume 97 it has the bare aluminum oil pan.

When I replaced it before I just hammered it in. Obv not far enough.
Should I just buy the $45 tool from Honda and do that or take off the whole plate and oil pan.

Last question. I don't see a oil pan gasket on my car currently it looks to be just hondabond. Is this correct?

Oh one more. I went to the dealer to pick up some hondabond they had two type. Hondabond and ultra flange 2.

I got the ultra flange 2 it had a higher temp reading any input on this.


Thanks

Steve

[cp[mike]]

ive always attempted to pull the seal out and replace it without removing the whole plate it is mounted in. I can never do it without potentially scratching the crank, so I usually pull the plate off and push it out from the back. then its easy to put it on the bench and look at it and feel it from every angle and make sure it is pressed back into place evenly and the correct amount. then just mount it back up on the block and be done. I've never used the official honda tool, just improvised round shaped things (that never worked) then finishing it by pushing it with my fingers and feeling it with my nail and/or feeler gauge and always a very close eyeball. And to actually remove the plate from the side of the block, yes, you have to drop the oil pan. ive tried a couple times to skip it, but the pan always interferes with the lowermost studs, and you can't pull it out at an angle because the crank still protrudes past it a ways.

that's how i've come to always do it, and i've had good luck without any further leaks.

not certain on skipping the oil pan gasket, but that is not normal for the normal pressed steel pans that CB's normally come with. Its possible that using just hondabond is sufficient with an aluminum pan, as they are more rigid and dont deform? this is just speculation though. reading online says the "ultra flange 2" is extra goopy and higher heat, specifically for gasketless oilpans. So that would lead to confirm my suspicion, as well as validate your purchase choice.

[Stoner51]

Thanks for the reply.

I didn't remove the oil pan and the plate when I installed it so I'm leaning towards doing it that way this time

I still have my old f22a in my yard. It has two bolts that come through the oil pan. Much like the exhaust manifold studs I was hoping the h22 might be the same and I could just back those out and put new ones in without removing the old pan but I guess I need to be prepared to remove it. I have also read on the prelude forum I frequent that you just use honda bond for the old pan.

Steve

[marcusv8thunder]

I have literally just done this today on my H22a im building up, its a 92-96 version. The plate is best coming off for sure, and therefore the pan too.

I used a crank pulley from a D14 Civic that i happen to have lying about 2 medium taps with a soft blow hammer and it was out. The bolts on mine had lock tight on them so i reapplied that and hondabond the mating surface. lubed the new seal and plate ring with new engine oil, and greased the inner lip. The new seal has to be pushed in/tapped in past flush until it hits the retainer lip on the plate cover.

Im just putting my pictures up of that on my ride thread in a short while if you want to check out.

[lindiz]

Aluminum oil pans have no gasket from factory, only sealant like Hondabond while steel pans do have a gasket. The reason for this is that when the engine heats up the steel pan expand at a different rate compared to the aluminum block, therefore Honda considered a gasket is needed on steel pans while on aluminum pans sealant is enough. I believe aluminum oil pans came on OBD2 H22s.

[Stoner51]

Yes the Honda dealer confirmed there is no gasket for a obd2 h22. Well there is some little piece but a whole gasket per say.

When I removed the plate from the f22a I have left over I noticed there was loctite on the threads as well. Was your loctite red or blue? Mine was red. I found it odd because there are very few thing on the motor that I find the dealer uses loctite. Key there is that I find.

Steve

[marcusv8thunder]

Oh good not just on mine then. On the bolts that came out, it was red. I put medium strength blue back in. Yeah from what I have fiddled with so far on my build, those and the main bolt for the auto/man tensioner also had preset red loctite on it. Got me thinking about the water pump, service manual says nothing about loctite on the water pump though.

[Stoner51]

I didn't see anything in the service manual about loctite on the rear main bolts. Just mentions liquid gasket on the threads of the bolts.

steve