97 Accord LX F22B2 engine oil leak

Hi guys

The car has been leaking a lot of oil and I can't see exactly where it's coming from but I have an idea after using degreaser.
I know very little about cars so please bear with me :)

When standing in front of the car, there is kind of a "black box" directly connected to the left side of the engine.
Everything underneath is basically covered with oil and below this box there is a metal pipe that makes a gradual right angle turn.
Basically right where the metal pipe bends is where the oil is leaking from.

What exactly do you think is the real cause of the leak and how can it be corrected?
I also know there is oil on the spark plugs if that helps.

I know I didn't give the best description but I hope someone can decipher what is going on here :)

If necessary I'll try and post a pic

Its hard to tell exactly what you are talking about, so I put a pic of a 97 LX engine.  I'm not sure what metal pipe you are talking about.  It could be an A/C line.

Is the black box circled in red or green.  Green is the distributor and red is the air filter.  The distributor is more likely the source.  There is an O-ring that can break down over time.


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From your description, the area is on passenger side end of the engine. If that is correct, the most likely sources are the distributor, VTEC solenoid, or valve cover. Oil leaks are difficult to trace. Some add a UV dye to the oil, which enables use of a black light to trace the leak path.
 
The distributor (round black assy w/ wires emerging and running to valve cover) is most likely source of leak. There is an oring that seals the distributor from the valve cover interior. It deteoriates w/ age, becoming brittle, allowing oil to bypass. Not hard to replace, but it can be tricky to correctly reinstall the distributor key into the camshaft keyway, as they are keyed to fit only one way, but it is not obvious which way is correct. Some professional help may be needed. Job should only take a good mechanic perhaps 15-minutes to complete.
 
good luck
 

Hey guys

Thanks for that.  I think it's the distributor O-Ring as this is the one that has wires emerging from it.

PAHonda, thanks, yes it is the Distributor (red circle)

Would it be possible to do this yourself, how long would a n00b take to do this job?

I take it this is not a serious problem, assuming I make sure the oil levels are always good?

Pretty easy to do, so here goes.  Read thru it all & then decide if you want to do this yourself...
 
This view is like you're standing at the passenger door hinge, looking at the distributor.
 

 
See how the mounting bolt holes are slotted?  When you remove the distributor, you have to mark it so you can put it back in EXACTLY the same position.  I'd suggest cleaning real good, putting a big fat mark with a felt-tip marker, then using a knife to scratch a nice fine line.  Make sure it's good before you loosen the bolts.
 
Take off the distributor cap, the black plastic thing.  Three screws.  Move it to the side without removing the fat sparkplug wires.  If you really need to remove the sparkplug wires, make sure you draw yourself a map of which one goes where.  It matters.  You'll probably have to remove the wiring harness plug, but that should only go together one way.
 
Notice which way the rotor #3 is pointing.  Remove the mounting bolts & pull the distributor out of the engine.
 
The new O-ring is #7.  It's probably $2.  Unfortunately, this picture doesn't show how it fits into a groove.  Put some engine oil on the O-ring.  You'll have to stretch it into place after removing the old one.  BE CAREFUL you don't put any scratches into the surfaces of that groove.  Or the inside surface of the hole where it came out from.
 
There's a blade on the end of the distributor shaft.  You can spin it around if you like.  Please notice that it's offset from the center, but not by much.
 
Look down into the hole where this thing goes.  There's a slot that corresponds to that offset blade.  Make sure it's offset the proper way, or spin the distributor shaft to match.
 
If you use a big enough hammer, it IS POSSIBLE to put that blade in backwards.  That would be bad.  It should slide nicely into place.
 
Spin the distributor to the exact position how you marked it, & tighten the bolts.  Put the rest of the stuff all back together.
 

The red circle is the air box.  Double check what circle you are refering to, so we can give you better information.

quote:

ORIGINAL: PAhonda

The red circle is the air box.  Double check what circle you are refering to, so we can give you better information.

OOPS...  that's right, good catch.  But the air box doesn't seem like a likely source of oil.
 

Sorry guys,I meant Green Box, it is definitely the distributor.

Thanks JimBlake for that guide!

When you take off the distributor cap, pay attention to a couple things...
 
Inside the cap (#2) there's a small piece of graphite with a spring.  It should hold itself in by friction.  Don't loose it.
 
Make sure the distributor cap O-ring (#9) hasn't fallen out of place.
 
Don't lose the little spring in the coil (#11).
 

JimBlake, you guys are really great and that is very helpful.
I'm going to try and do it myself in the next week or two.

Its really not a bad DIY job.  Just follow jim blake's instructions. 

You might want to spray some WD-40 on the screws holding the plastic rotor to the distributor body, because mine were corroded and I broke the screw.

there is no need to remove the distr cap, if you are just going to replace the o-ring,,  do as Jim said on marking the distr ,,  than just unplug the connectors and remove the 3, 12 mm  bolts,, like Jim said be very careful on repositioning the distr properly on the way back in...
remove the spark plug wires out of the tubes ( valve cover) instead of removing them from the cap, this way  it will be a lot easier to reinstall them in the proper place ,,

There's always different ways to do anything.  Here's my thoughts...
 
I wasn't sure the plug wires would give enough slack to work with.  If you're wrestling with it hanging on wires, you might be more likely to scratch the sealing surfaces for the O-rings.
 
You can't screw up the plug-wire firing order if you leave them plugged into the cap.  I've pulled plug wires so often that I know how to put them back.  97LX said he's kind of a newbie...
 
If you spin the distributor shaft, you'll notice the magnetic sensors inside the distributor will make it feel kinda notchy as you spin the shaft.  If it spins, you'll have to twist it back to it's previous position.  The most obvious way seems like knowing which way the rotor is pointing.
 
I'm probably over-analyzing how many different ways an inexperienced mechanic can mess it up...
 

Hey JimBlake, you're not overanalyzing because I'm a n00b and I appreciate it actually.
Ok sorry to take this off topic guys but I don't know if this is related.

The o-ring has not been replaced yet and yesterday the car started smoking.  I can see radiator fluid on the top of the radiator and there is also smoke coming from near the fans on the radiator which is definitely burning coolant.

I can't see any obvious leaks in the hose and in the past the radiator hose had to be replaced because it burst and I wonder if this oil leak is what originally caused the radiator hose to burst.

Does anyone have any idea what the source of this burning coolant and smoke is?
I know the car is not overheating if that helps and if I turn on the AC fan the smoke seems to disappear because both fans will turn on.

Sounds like your radiator is leaking, or maybe it's the hoses.  You'll need to pinpoint the location of the leak.
 
 - Leaking from where the hoses are clamped to the radiator nozzles
 - Leaking from a radiator CAP that's going bad
 - Leaking from where the tank (top or bottom) is crimped onto the core of the radiator
 - leaking from a hole in the radiator core itself.
 
With a pressure adapter, you can pressurize the radiator when it's cold.  That can let you find the leak because it doesn't immediately evaporate.  These things fit onto the radiator in place of the radiator cap & pump it like a tire pump.
 
My first thought is that it's not directly related to the oil leak.  You may as well treat them as separate problems regardless of the actual cause.
 

Thanks Jim
I finally got a good chance to look at it during the day and the top of the radiator is cracked :(

Does anyone know if this can be patched or welded up?
I'm probably going to sell this car soon and I don't want to buy a new radiator.
This car has been quite the lemon.

I never mentioned that the car itself runs very rough even though it's been maintained very well :(



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I can't honestly recommend patching it up, because the plastic tank is prone to brittle fracture.  JB Weld is good stuff, but to make it stop leaking you'll have to smear it around so your buyer will notice it.  And still it'll just burst open one day.
 
Drain it far enough so you can make the crack really clean & dry.  Rinse around there enough so you get all the antifreeze out of the fracture.  That won't be real easy.  Then smear it INTO the crack, not just over the top.
 

Yeah I was going to suggest JB Weld as a band-aid.  But the crack will reopen as JimBlake said.