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2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

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Old Mar 23, 2014
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2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

Yesterday I noticed motor oil all over my oil pan. Upon further inspection I noticed a seal / gasket between the crankshaft and oil pan. I thought it was the oil pan gasket, the part that is curved just below the crank. Well I took the oil pan off and realized the original rubber piece was still hanging. So I spent a lot of time changing the oil pan gasket for no reason. This is a bad leak that really needs to be fixed. Here are some pics of what I'm talking about. Any help would be great thanks.
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Old Mar 23, 2014
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Re: 2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

You can see it best in the third pic.
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Old Mar 23, 2014
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Re: 2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

Lower timing belt cover gasket.
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Old Mar 23, 2014
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Re: 2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

Lower timing cover gasket has squished out....but that's not your oil leak.

The timing cover gasket is only a dust seal.

The oil leak is elsewhere in the timing belt area, probably front cam seal/front crank seal/valve cover gasket or the like.
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Old Apr 13, 2014
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Re: 2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

Thanks for all the advice. This past weekend I jacked the car up and went to work on it. I ended up not changing my timing belt since it only has about 10k miles on it. As soon as I took a look at my lower timing belt cover I realized it was rubbing up against the crankshaft pulley and some of the bolts that screw into the front of the block were busted around the casing. There was a little oil around the crankshaft seal, so I ordered an O.E.M crankshaft seal and lower timing belt cover. I put everything back together and there was no oil leak to speak of; for the first couple days. Now I can see a small drop of oil on the bottom of the lower timing belt cover and its dropping down onto the crossmember. The only other thing I know of that could leak is the cam seal and there was no sign of leakage around it. Im not really sure what to do next. Any suggestions would be great.
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Old Apr 13, 2014
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Re: 2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

The usual suspects that would be leaking oil into that area are the front crank seal, front cam seal, valve cover gasket......and MAYBE the oil pan and gasket. Anything else would be unusual.

The oil pump is there too, but if the seal between the pump and block leaks it seems to end up on the sides of the block.


Remove the timing covers, clean everything off, reassemble just enough to run.... and watch for fresh leaks to form?
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Old Apr 13, 2014
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Re: 2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

I forgot to mention I also have a new valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket. Neither of which were leaking when I replaced them, I was just trying to replace the easy stuff first. Also new crankshaft seal. I left the cam seal alone because I didn't see any leaks.
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Old Jul 5, 2014
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Re: 2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

I'm a Honda factory trained master tech.
Hope that helps you feel safer about trusting the advice.
I see your leak everyday. Its the oil pump behind the timing belt pulley.
It is silicone sealer (Hondabond) and a single o-ring.
It leaks onto the oil pan gasket making it appear as if the seal were leaking.
I believe its 5 10mm bolts holding the pump face on. you also need to unbolt the oil sump. obviously this all happens after you remove the t-belt, pulley, and oil pan. Replace the oil seal (small o-ring) and get a tube of fresh H-bond. you'll see the areas that need the silicone when you remove the oil pump face. Get all the old silicone off.
Make sure you get all the bolts out before you pry on it or you'll break it.
Good luck.
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Old Jul 6, 2014
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Re: 2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

Originally Posted by madmax99
I'm a Honda factory trained master tech.
Hope that helps you feel safer about trusting the advice.
I see your leak everyday. Its the oil pump behind the timing belt pulley.
It is silicone sealer (Hondabond) and a single o-ring.
It leaks onto the oil pan gasket making it appear as if the seal were leaking.
I believe its 5 10mm bolts holding the pump face on. you also need to unbolt the oil sump. obviously this all happens after you remove the t-belt, pulley, and oil pan. Replace the oil seal (small o-ring) and get a tube of fresh H-bond. you'll see the areas that need the silicone when you remove the oil pump face. Get all the old silicone off.
Make sure you get all the bolts out before you pry on it or you'll break it.
Good luck.
Thanks for the advice, I wish I had this info a couple weeks ago. I sold the car last week, I was spending too much time working on the car. I dropped the oil pan twice on the car looking for the leak, it would have been an easy fix had I known the problem. Thanks again. By the way I stuck with Honda and bought a 2012 Civic Ex-L, hopefully I won't have any issues with it for awhile.
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Old Apr 3, 2025
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Re: 2002 civic ex: Mystery gasket/seal

Originally Posted by k5amu1
Thanks for the advice, I wish I had this info a couple weeks ago. I sold the car last week, I was spending too much time working on the car. I dropped the oil pan twice on the car looking for the leak, it would have been an easy fix had I known the problem. Thanks again. By the way I stuck with Honda and bought a 2012 Civic Ex-L, hopefully I won't have any issues with it for awhile.

The answer to your problem is your VTEC seal is right there by the engine block.
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