PRODUCT DETAILS
Genuine Honda B-Series Valve Cover Gasket (12341-PR3-000) - B16/B17/B18 VTEC
If you've got oil seeping around your valve cover, or worse, pooling in the spark plug tubes, the valve cover gasket is usually the culprit. On a B-series that's now decades old, the original gasket has hardened and stopped sealing. This is the genuine Honda replacement, form-fitted to the B-series VTEC valve cover for a proper seal that keeps oil where it belongs.
Why Yours Is Leaking
Worth understanding, because it's a near-universal issue on these engines by now.
The valve cover gasket is rubber, and rubber hardens and shrinks over decades of heat cycling. Once it does, it stops sealing against the head, and oil weeps out from under the valve cover, you'll see it running down the side of the block, smell it burning off the exhaust, or find it collecting where it shouldn't.
The version that catches people out is oil pooling in the spark plug tubes. The same gasket seals around those tubes, and when it fails there, oil fills the tube wells and can foul plugs or soak into coil packs and wires. If you've pulled a plug and found the well full of oil, this gasket is very likely why.
Do The Tube Seals And Grommets Too
Practical advice, since you're already removing the valve cover.
The valve cover gasket job exposes the other rubber seals up top, the spark plug tube seals and the cover bolt grommets/washers. Those are the same age and material as the gasket you're replacing, so they've hardened right along with it.
Doing all of them together while the cover is off is how you fix the leak properly rather than replacing the main gasket and having the tube seals weep a few months later. It's a small amount extra for parts that are only accessible with the cover off anyway, so it's worth doing in one go. Depending on your engine, some of these come as part of a full valve cover gasket set, worth checking what your setup uses.
VTEC Head Specific
Worth confirming, since it matters for fitment.
This gasket is for the B-series VTEC valve cover, the B16A, B17A1, B18C1, and B18C5 heads. It's form-fitted to that specific cover shape, so it seals correctly on a VTEC head.
Go by your engine to confirm you're on a VTEC B-series, and this is the correct gasket for it.
Use The Genuine Part
On a seal, fit and material are the whole specification.
A gasket that's slightly off dimensionally or made from lesser rubber either doesn't seal cleanly or hardens quickly and leaks again. Honda makes these to the exact spec of the valve cover, so it seats properly and lasts, rather than being a cheap gasket you're revisiting in a couple of years. On an inexpensive part like this, the genuine one is the easy call.
Fitment
1994-1997 Honda Del Sol VTEC (B16A)
1999-2000 Honda Civic Si / EM1 (B16A)
1992-1993 Acura Integra GS-R (B17A1)
1994-2001 Acura Integra GS-R and Type R (B18C1 / B18C5)
Part number 12341-PR3-000. Genuine Honda. For B-series VTEC engines.
Who Should Grab This
This is for the B-series owner with an oil leak at the valve cover or oil in the spark plug tubes, and for anyone refreshing a high-mileage VTEC engine. Genuine Honda, form-fitted for a proper seal, and the right fix for a leak that's near-inevitable on an engine this age. Do the tube seals and grommets while you're in there, and stop the leak for good.
Fits: 1994-1997 Del Sol VTEC, 1999-2000 Civic Si (EM1), 1992-1993 Integra GS-R, 1994-2001 Integra GS-R and Type R. Engines: B16A, B17A1, B18C1, B18C5 (VTEC). Part number: 12341-PR3-000. Type: genuine Honda valve cover gasket. Note: also worth replacing spark plug tube seals and grommets while the cover is off.