2136gamer

This is my first post.... So, I replaced my HG, Timing belt, Thermostat, and bunch of other things on my 03 Civic... everything still stock.

So the story began when I snapped one bolt and one (double-threaded) stud from the thermostat housing connected to the block.

Ordered both the stud and the bolt from the dealer and replaced them. However, now I'm seeing an OIL leak from the T-stat housing right below the EGR connector. Isn't this odd? As you can see in the posted picture, it looks like it's seeping from the lower corner of EGR, and T-stat housing.

Has anyone ran into this sort of problem before? Any suggestion on how I should approach the problem?? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

ezone

The oil SHOULD be coming from the round black plastic plug that sits where a distributor would go if it had one.

It's like under $10.

Item #6 here http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...EAD+%28SOHC%29

2136gamer

Thank you for the reply. Do I have to remove the valve cover or the thermostat housing to replace this plug?

ezone

Carefully pry it out and snap in the new one.

You will need to remove the EGR valve to make room for the cap to come out, so you may want a fresh gasket for the EGR valve.

2136gamer

But it looks like it's seeping between the T-stat housing and the block.. I can see it clearly coming out between them.

Matt_75

ezone's right. If you really think it's a problem else where, clean the area up from the oil (brake cleaner), replace the plug and monitor it to see if it's really leaking somewhere else. That plug is a very common leak point over a long period of time.

2136gamer

I will definitely try this tomorrow and give you guys an update... Thank you so much for your time.

ezone

You can't see it coming out there, you see it collecting there.


You had that housing off, did you not?
Are there oil passages in that housing?
Anything open into the crankcase areas?
You used a new gasket, of course, and torqued it as per the service information?
There should be no way it could leak anything, oil or otherwise.

OTOH, rubber gaskets and seals harden and shrink over time, miles, and heat cycles. Plastic gets brittle in the same conditions.
Guess what that round plug is made of, and guess what its seal is made of.

You can search the site and find several threads about that plug, many with pics.

HTH

2136gamer

Yes sir, you're the man . I put my hands around that sucker and guess what I found... Replaced the plug today, applied some honda bond on it and also replaced the EGR gasket.

I found that the plug was missing half of the O-ring. Should i check for it inside the valve cover? I will check for any leaks tomorrow. Again, thanks to both of you...

Is there anything I can do within the forum as my token of appreciation?

ezone

I would probably yank the cover off and look. Hopefully you haven't run the engine and it's still sitting like 'right there' where you can get to it.

Your valve cover gasket SHOULD be brand new so there shouldn't be a problem with reusing it.

Look at the bottom of the user profile box on the side of each post, find the set of icons at the bottom: Click the scale icon and do whatever you feel appropriate. Thanks!

2136gamer

The engine was already run so didn't bother to look into the Valve cover... I'm hoping that the O-ring came off when I took the head (with the valve cover) to the machine shop. Thank you guys so much... no OIL LEAK so far. Very satisfied.