Hello everyone, new poster here.

I am new to Honda engines and needed some help from someone more experienced. I just found a 96 Accord EX that I am very interested in buying but had a question one one thing.

The only issue I found was when the dealer put it on the lift for me, the car had a slight film
of oil on the bottom of the transmission (passenger side undercarriage). The oil looked fairly new, not really a huge leak, not "drippy", but visible. It did not appear to be coming from a higher point and dripping down, it looks like it was coming from the bolts on the bottom of the unit and accumulating down there.

He had put a new synthetic blend in just a few days ago, and I was thinking this may have started a slight leak when I took it for a test drive? The rest of the undercarriage was VERY clean and the car shifted very well in actual driving.(It is an automatic)

Would any of you be wary of a transmission problem from this cue? Or perhaps something I am not aware of that would cause an oil leak here? I am not familiar with these engines to know if there's a vulnerable leak spot around there, and it seemed odd that it wasnt the oil pan area leaking...

The rest of the car looks great and would hate to give up on it if it were only a minor thing.

Any guidance would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Brett

 

I wouldn't worry about the transmission going out just because of a leak. But make SURE the fluid level doesn't get too low or you will have problems. The leak was probably caused by a failed seal or gasket. The 96 Accord Auto transmissions didn't have the problems that the 98-02 models did. However, I don't know jack about transmissions other than the fact that the 98-02 model auto transmissions were junk.
Hopefully one of our trusty techswill get on here andmay be able to tell youa better possiblecause of the leak. Until then youmay want to try to snap a picture of it and post it on here so they can see exactlywhere the leak is coming from so they cananswermore accurately.

 

since you can't see anything from the top leaking down...is it possible the oil runs down the side of the block when changing the oil filter?

it's also possible the oil there is from an engine oil leak from under the timing cover(balancer or cam seals?) oil likes to run along the top of the oil pan gasket toward the transmission.

it could also be a seepy oil pan gasket or a rear crank seal seepage.

 

wipe some off with a rag. does it have a slight red hue to it?
if not, it might be engine oil from the rear main seal or something else ive never heard of.
it just seems unlikely to me that the transmission would be leaking, oil is much more common.