Hey guys,
I'm pulling my front cover off to replace the oil pump o-ring. My engine has fluxuating pressure. Sometimes it's good but most often during longer drives my oil pressure gradually decreases and hangs below 30psi at 3k and then at idle it's really, really low. So im fairly certain that o-ring is bad. Now, I'm familiar with preloading the eshaft by holding the clutch depressed the entire repair to keep that needle bearing thrust washer from moving.
My question is straightforward. On a stock 13B-REW with the standard front cover and everything, do i, or do i not want to install the teflon washer with the o-ring? I've read mixed recommendations and because this job is such a PIA, I want to ensure I reassemble it correctly. I'm 99% sure the Teflon washer is in there from the factory, but I haven't rebuilt one of these in 15 years.
thanks for your time.

 

The newer 280hp high power spec 13B-REW comes metal front cover gasket that doesnt use o-ring or teflon.

N390-10-502

 

Thank you! I was unaware of this gasket removing the requirement of the o rings, which is soooo much better!
completely unrelated question; any issue with installing short m6x1.0 studs under the engine to install the oil pan as opposed to using the bolts? Not sure if that's good, bad, or indifferent, but I certainly prefer studs over bolts. 😉

 

I can't find it now but I saw someone worried about the metal gasket not having enough area to seal and they machined a little metal spacer that looked like a washer that would fit in the depression where the oring+teflon washer used to go and use that with the metal front cover gasket. I thought it was a non issue and not needed, my front cover just has the gasket. Thoughts?

 

studs for the oil pan are great and preferred by many builders

 

My engine does the same thing

Could it be a number of things? Like clearances not being tight? What make you think its an oring and not a

 

Increasing the surface area while maintaining the same clamping pressure decreases the pounds per square inch (psi) of the sealing area and increases the chance for leakage.

What I did to try to improve the seal with the metal front cover gasket is apply a very thin coat of Hondabond to both sides of the sealing surfaces.

Since it is the outer ring it is far from the oil passage and you dont have to wory about obstructing the oil passage.

 

How are you measuring oil pressure? The factory pressure sensor has a reputation for sometimes reading too low. The sensor on my car was behaving very similar to what you're describing, showing dangerously-low numbers at idle. I added an aftermarket sensor to my car, video comparison of my car's original sensor vs aftermarket sensor here: