Hello. I have a 1997 Honda Accord SE with an automatic transmission and the 2.2L 4 cylinder engine (F22B2) with 267,000 miles. I've had the car for about 3 years and 47,000 miles and it has always had a burnt oil smell in the time I've had it. After some research I've found that the smell comes from oil falling onto the hot exhaust and is commonly attributed to a leaking valve cover gasket. A couple months and about 3000 miles ago, I did a valve clearance inspection/adjustment. I also found oil soaked on the spark plug wires when I took them out. I went ahead and used a new valve cover gasket when I put the valve cover back on since I figured the old one was probably leaking and contributing to the smell. I also replaced the upper spark plug tube seals. Now I can't see any visible signs of oil leaking from around the valve cover and the cylinder 1, 3, and 4 spark plug wires are now dry. The cylinder 2 wire still has oil leaking onto it. Unfortunately I didn't know at the time that there was a lower set of seals to be replaced under the rocker assembly that I wish I had replaced at the time. I also replaced the oil pan gasket about a year ago. So even 3000 miles after replacing the valve cover gasket there is still a burnt oil smell and it is especially pronounced after long trips. I can still find a small amount of oil on the side of the pan closest to the transmission and above the exhaust pipe of course, so it's no mystery where the smell is coming from. I will say after replacing the VCG that there is less oil under the car now and very little if any on the ground so if there is still a leak, it has slowed or more likely the leak is coming from somewhere else. Less likely there could still be some residual oil yet that has leaked out from before the VCG replacement. So my question is where might this other oil be coming from? I of course won't rule out that the oil pan gasket job and VCG job weren't done perfectly. Maybe the VCG isn't seated quite right and there is still a minute amount of oil leaking out around it that I can't see. Is it possible that the cylinder 2 spark plug tube that is still leaking is contributing to it? Either way, I would appreciate if anyone knew why there is still oil falling onto my exhaust and creating that awful smell 😂. I'm not too worried about it since I'm not losing oil at an alarming rate but I would like for the smell to be gone because it is driving me nuts! Thank you for any knowledge or advice you may have!

 

Your best bet to find the leak is to clean the oil off the engine as best you can, then spray something like athlete's foot powder on the engine and oil pan. Drive the car a bit then try to find the highest point where you see oil stains.

Places to look are the oil pressure sending unit on the back of the block, the distributor, and valve cover. The only way for the #2 spark plug tube to leak out is if the whole tube is filled with oil. I think the SE has the F22B2 engine like the LX and DX where you have the lower seals. If you have an EX engine, then you don't have those lower seals. It is possible to get the upper seals installed with the wrong side facing the spark plug tube. This is more prominent on the EX version, but still possible on the SE/LX/DX F22B2. See the video below.

 

Thank you for the reply and advice! I will do my best to try and find the leak source(s) using the methods you described. Also I forgot this information in my last post but it's probably worth mentioning that before I had the car, there was a timing and balancer belt service done at 177,000 miles (90,000 miles ago and 8 years ago). This also included the camshaft seal, crankshaft seal, and balance shaft seal kit, as well as a crankshaft position sensor. I figure it's possible after that time and distance that any of those seals may start leaking again too. Oh and I also replaced the oil pressure switch last summer along with the oil pan gasket but I will be sure to check for leaks there regardless. And I will definitely be watching that video soon! I don't plan on getting rid of the car any time soon so I think it would be worth it to have all new spark plug tube seals. I'm also pretty sure I paid attention to install the upper tube seals in the correct direction but I suppose it's possible that one is upside down. I also used some RTV on those upper seals which I later found out I probably shouldn't have done, especially since they were new. I also used RTV on the curved parts of the valve cover gasket and the corners. I don't know if this could possibly prevent an effective seal? Thank you again for the advice! I definitely have a better idea now of where to go from here!

 

Just do your best to clean up the engine and don't assume that a new part like the oil pressure switch isn't a source of the leak. That pressure switch is crimped metal, so you can cause a leak by tightening a new part with too much force. As for the timing belt seals, you should look for signs of oil at the bottom of the timing belt cover.

It sounds like you are close to being due for another timing belt replacement. I think it is 90K miles or 8 years, but verify in your owner's manual. Since it is a bit of work to get under the timing belt cover, you may want to have replacement seals on hand if you are doing the timing belt job yourself.

 

Thanks and will do! And that's a good point that new parts can't necessarily be ruled out as the source of a leak so I will be checking those as well. For what it's worth, I checked the outside of the valve cover carefully with a mirror to make sure the gasket wasn't out of place and it appeared to be in place and made sure the bolts were torqued to spec. Also no easily visible traces of new oil coming out from around the valve cover. And the lower tube seal replacement looks time consuming but not too difficult if done carefully and following the correct sequence, etc so I imagine I will be doing that at some point. And I believe the owner's manual calls for a new timing and balancer belt every 105K miles or 7 years so I'm already past the 7 years obviously so I could see myself doing that sooner rather than later. Will most likely take it to a mechanic to get that done and will absolutely replace all the seals involved. May even replace the water pump too while the cover is open because I have no record of that ever being replaced so it could still be the original. Thanks again, I'm definitely curious to find the source(s) of the leak!

 

It's been a while but I thought it might be worth mentioning that I found my leak! Turns out it was the distributor O-ring. So I replaced that and the inner distributor seal around the shaft and it has since stopped leaking around there and there is no evidence of further leaks on the ground or under the car! I will say for anyone else who does this that it's advisable to replace the heater inlet hose near the distributor (the one that runs from the block to the water valve) while it's off as oil that has leaked out of the distributor has likely gotten on it and may cause a future coolant leak.