Rep Power: 0

I have a 2002 civic ex that is loosing oil pretty quickly. Needs to be topped up every few weeks. It is definitely coming from the driver's side(left) front of the engine. I cleaned the engine bay a couple months ago and no new oil has shown up around the head/valve cover so it seems to be below that. If anyone has any idea what gaskets/seals may be bad I'd love to hear about it and maybe I can fix it myself.

Edit: Pictures not showing so will try to describe better. Oil appears thickest below the alternator and in front of the timing cover. Side of a/c compressor is also covered in oil. Also heavy around that corner of the oil pan, which might be the problem. Car has 210,000 miles for reference. What could be wrong?

 
Rep Power: 203

Probably the valve cover gasket. Your supposed to put a dab of gasket maker on both sides of the cam when you install it. I'd bet that didn't happen the last time someone had it off. Also check and see if there's oil in your plugs. They do sell it as a whole set of gaskets for the valve cover/spark plugs as well.

 
Rep Power: 0

There is some oil in the plug wells, and the seals around those do look a bit messed up. As for the valve cover I'll look into it but I think the oil looks lower than that. Thanks for the help.

 
Rep Power: 123

Oil leaks tend to walk on you and end up looking like its somewhere else where the leak is. Specially if it leaks a lot. I would say the valve cover is the culprit like stock 99 says...

I had my vtec solenoid leak oil all around to the front of the valve cover making it seem like the valve cover gasket was bad on my old ej8.
Also my crv was leaking from both cam plug and distributor and it went all the way to the opposite side.

 
Rep Power: 0

Good to know. I'll replace the gaskets and use the gasket maker stuff and see where that gets me.

 
Rep Power: 518

If oil is getting into the plug tubes, it can ruin the coil, the rubber boot will get spongy and can leak sparks.

Usually I find the lip of the round seal got caught over the edge of the tube when the valve cover was installed. If the seal isn't actually damaged, you might be able to get it into the proper place with a small screwdriver, and you may need to unbolt the valve cover to lift it slightly if the seal is trapped and can't be moved.

 
Rep Power: 0

The last time the valve cover was removed was at a local mechanic for a timing belt and alternator replacement. Belt has had no issues but I was told the alternator I supplied didn't work so I had to pay for theirs. When tested at AutoZone they said it worked fine. Point is I don't trust this shop anymore. Oil leaked before they touched it, but is leaking faster now. Also the oil in the plugs is new (had removed coils attempting to do timing replacement myself. I didn't get very far.)

 
Rep Power: 518

Pull the coil(s) back out and look closely at the round seals.


I'd try to reject theirs. Unreliable.

 
Rep Power: 518

Check this thread on the round seals leaking:
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...her-issue.html

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks for the link. Similar problem with my seals, just less oil in there. seals look the same on all 4 cylinders. As for the alternator, I knew it wouldn't last long but I wanted a quick and cheap fix. I've got some free time later this week I can replace the gaskets.