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.

[IMG]local://upfiles/5767/BFA8E98A64C3496A87509EDBDBF98A91.jpg[/IMG]

 

From your description, the area is on passenger side end of the engine. If that is correct, the most likely sourcesare 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.

 

OOPS... that's right, good catch. But the air box doesn't seem like a likelysource 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 toa couplethings...

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.