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I know nothing about cars but I know I have an oil leak and a pretty bad one. It's an 01 ex manual. Can't figure out where it's coming from.
not sure if these pics help but I didn't know how else to take them. But I have noticed if I back in my driveway and the front end is pointing downwards I don't see the oil as much on the driveway
The photos are way too grainy for me to see anything.
First places to check would be valve cover and cam seal. Another thing you can do is wipe it down the best you can and buy a dye kit and add it to your oil.
That oil spotting is on the opposite side of the engine. Only thing I can think of to cause oil on that side is cam or crank seals, oil pump, or valve cover. Will have to take timing covers off to inspect
upon further inspection, I'd be willing to bet valve cover gasket. It's looking a bit high for oil pump or crank seals and a bit too far back for cam seal.
I agree with the bad valve cover gasket and/or cam seal possibilities.
Additionally, it could be something with the PCV valve/breather cover area. I don't know if the breather cover (black cover plate on firewall side of engine, under the intake manifold) has an RTV seal or what, but maybe it is leaking.
Another (very improbable) possibility is that the rocker assembly has been removed before, but when it was re-installed no RTV was used at the endcap on the driver's side.
Are you sure this is engine oil? Could it be power steering fluid (assuming you have power steering)? If you have power steering, check the level in the reservoir? Is it low?
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Re: Oil leak help
Originally Posted by xRiCeBoYx
That oil spotting is on the opposite side of the engine. Only thing I can think of to cause oil on that side is cam or crank seals, oil pump, or valve cover. Will have to take timing covers off to inspect
upon further inspection, I'd be willing to bet valve cover gasket. It's looking a bit high for oil pump or crank seals and a bit too far back for cam seal.
pictures are so bad I just threw it out there since it's hitting the ground
I have power steering and the level seems fine. I go through some oil it seems and then other times not as much. When the manifold and catalytic converter were replaced there was a lot of oil where that was removed from. I think I may be fighting a loosing battle but I only paid 500 for the car. I was thinking of trying the dye kit has anyone tried it and is it easy to do?
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Re: Oil leak help
First off, I hope you didn't bring it to a car wash to clean the engine, especially at operating temp. Some people do and get away with it but there's just as much a chance to harm the engine or electronics such as the alternator, sensors, etc.. if not covered properly prior to spraying.
For future reference: Better to get some disposable junk rags and spray the engine from the top down with Gunk degreaser while the engine is cold (avoid spraying electrical components). Put the front of the car on jackstands or ramps. Put a large metal pan ($10 Walmart Automotive section) or cardboard under the engine to catch drain-off. Use the disposable rags to wipe off the engine as much as possible from the top down.
If you have jackstands or ramps then put the front of the car up, put chocks on front and back of one of the rear wheels + have the e-brake engaged. Inspect the engine from the bottom with a very bright (preferably LED) flashlight first while the engine is cold and then idling from cold start until operating temp to search for oil leak source. Inspect from the top as well during the idling process.
Also, inspect for torn CV axle boots as those can spray grease (not oil) almost anywhere when the first tear open.
Baby powder or athlete's foot spray applied to the engine (suspected leak source area) can also help isolate an oil leak.
I don't usually recommend throwing parts at a problem but if you can't track down the leak source a cheap place to start, and basically a maintenance item on D17's, is replacing the cam seal end cap, valve cover, and spark plugs tube seals. They are a common source of oil leaks and even if it doesn't solve the issue they are likely to leak if in the near future. Replacing those items ($25 or so in parts) will narrow down the possibility to the VTEC gasket if the leak source is from the top of the engine as it appears to be in your pics. During cam seal and valve cover gasket replacement it's a great opportunity to remove the PCV valve and spray it out with brake cleaner spray.
Other oil leak sources such as crank seal, oil pan, rear main seal cannot leak up, only down.
