Greetings,

If this post is in the wrong place - I apologize. Just let me know if I need to take this issue somewhere else on here.

OK, here's a run-down of my problem. I've got a Honda Accord LX (see my signature for specifics) and it has started leaking oil onto the exhaust pipe where it curves down from the front of the engine compartment, under the oil pan, and back to the catalytic converter. Since the exhaust pipe burns the oil when it hits, it stinks and makes a little smoke when I'm stopped at a traffic light.

When I bought the car about a year ago, it was leaking oil around the timing belt cover. My mechanic said I needed new seals in there. So, a couple months ago, I finally had the timing belt done, and I told the guy to replace any bad seals in there, plus the water pump. He told me that my valve cover gasket needed replacing too, so I told him to fix it while he had it apart. That had a nice $800 price tag on it.

Last week on Friday, I took the car to the shop for a check-up because I was smelling oil burning inside the car. They told me my valve cover gasket was leaking bad, and that it was going down into the spark plug holes, etc, etc. So I had them put a new gasket on. (Even though the guys that did the timing belt 2-3 months ago were supposed to put a new valve cover gasket on then ... )The oil burning smell persisted, though. They also cleaned and adjusted my rear brakes, and installed a new distributor cap. This cost me $200.

I checked around underneath the car, and noticed a good deal of oil around and on the oil pan. So, I took the car to the shop on Sunday and had a new oil pan gasket installed. This cost me $220.

Anyhow, I am pretty sure I've still got a leak, and it's a little more oil leaking than I would like to just "let it go." Plus, it is dripping right onto the exhaust pipe and it stinks, and I hate seeing smoke coming from around the front of the car at a traffic light - it just looks bad.

Since I am planning to drive this car on a 2000 mile trip at the end of this month, I want it to be as close to perfect as I can get it. Besides, the car is running great - it's peppy, sounds good, gas mileage is right, A/C blowing ice cold air, etc.

So, here's my question - where, besides the oil pan gasket and the valve cover gasket, can oil leak out on the front (not the back where the oil filter is!) of these Honda engines? As best I can see, the oil looks like it's leaking out at some kind of seam about 2 inches below the exhaust manifold. Is that seam where the front of the oil pan is connecting to the block, or what? Is there a seal of some kind that is above the oil pan, but below the exhaust manifold that can leak oil in the front of the engine?

I am stumped on this because I didn't think there was anything else on the front (besides the front-top of the oil pan gasket, or the front of the valve cover gasket) that could leak any oil. Any ideas? This wouldn't be the head gasket, would it? I thought those typically leaked inward ... ?? Also, is it possible that I just need to drive it a few days and see if the oil left-overs from the oil pan gasket and valve cover gasket dries off or whatever? I was actually seeing dripping under the car when I got home tonite - I don't see there being THAT much oil residue left - right?

Anyway, thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to shed a little light on this for me.

Regards,
Dave

 

The head gasket is just below the exhaust manifold. Clean up the engine real goodso you can watch for just where it's coming from.

Across the front of the engine, there's 3 'seams'.
Top is the valve cover gasket - ABOVE the exhaust manifold.
Middle is the head gasket - Below the exhaust manifold.
Bottom is the oil pan - Way below the exhaust manifold.

I think the pressurized oil passageways (in the head gasket) are toward the back of the engine. So the oil openings in the front of theheadgasket aren't pressurized. A little unusual to leak that way, but I guess it's not impossible.

Now for the oil in the spark plug holes... There's ANOTHER set of seals farther down in those holes. You have to dismantle the rocker assemblies & remove the camshaft bearing caps for those. If that's where the sparkplug oil comes from,it won't help to replace the valve cover gasket a third time.

 

Do you see any oil on the front of the engine?

I would pick up some engine degreaser and clean as much of the oil as possible from the engine and top of the transmission to find the fresh oil leaks. Some shops will add a flourescent dye to locate an oil leak.

Check for oil coming from behind the distributor. Another common oil leak is the oil sending unit that is on the back of the engine. If that plastic boot on the connector is filled with oil, then replace that. It is ~$15 from a dealership. Do you still have oil getting into the spark plugs tubes?

 

Ouch, sounds like oil leaks around the spark plugs are bad.

Well, in answer to everyone's questions, here's exactly what I've done and had done:

Timing Belt - plus all the seals and gaskets associated with that. (Original problem was oil leaking around timing belt cover.)
Valve Cover Gasket - replaced when timing belt was done, because the mechanic said it was leaking there too, and he said it had to come off anyway.
Water pump - I told the mechanic to replace this, the old one was fine, but since he had to take it off to do the belt, I just had him put a new one back on to save myself headaches later.

All the above stuff was about 2-4 months ago.

Then, this weekend, Friday, I took the car back to a different mechanic (this is the one I usually go to).
He told me I had oil leaking from the valve cover gasket and that it was pooling around my spark plugs. He said if I didn't get it fixed, it would short-out or ground my plugs. He said my alternator was bad, only putting out 11 volts under a load, he also said my distributor cap, plug wires, and plugs themselves were worn out. He told me my front brakes were shot, and I needed the rear brakes cleaned and adjusted - but that they were fine. (The rear.)

So, I told him to only do the valve cover gasket, distributor cap, and clean and adjust the rear brakes - because he wanted $900 to do everything I mentioned above. I changed the spark plugs, wires, and alternator myself on Saturday. I didn't really see any oil around the spark plugs when I changed them. I think I might have seen a little oil on one of the plugs - but it was very little, nothing that jumped out at me as very bad. It might have been some that dropped in there when he was fooling with the valve cover - I'm not sure. Either way, it wasn't "pooling" and everything like he said it had been.

As far as the front brakes are concerned, I took it to another shop on Saturday and had them put new pads on the front. They told me my master cylinder was bad (which it was), and they told me my oil pan gasket was leaking, and that was where my oil on the exhaust pipe was coming from. Soooo ... I went and bought a new oil pan gasket and master cylinder. I installed the new master cylinder Saturday night, and bled the entire brake system.

Anyway, I couldn't get the rusty bolts on the exhaust pipe loose, and it had to come out to get the oil pan off. So, I took the car down to a different shop (again) on Sunday and told them to replace the oil pan gasket, which they did.

I checked the car last night and saw oil continuing to leak down the front of the engine and onto my exhaust pipe - causing smoke and burning smells. The back side is bone dry. The oil filter area is dry, and the back of the oil pan is clean. The front-side facing the radiator has oil on it, and I can see where the oil is dripping onto the exhaustpipe, which actually looks like the oil is dropping onto the pipe from the far front of the oil pan, and then running down the pipe a little ways to underneath the oil pan, where it drips off onto the ground.

I've heard that the the oil pressure switch and oil cooler assembly are notorious for leaking on this engine, but both of those are on the back of the engine, and that's not where my oil is coming from. Also, I don't see any oil at all anywhere around the valve cover or the distributor - they're dry, and clean.

I will try to pressure wash the front of the engine tonight to see if I can see where this oil leak is coming from. I hope it isn't the head gasket, because I don't have the tools or money to fix anything that major right now.

All in all, I still can't be sure exactly where the oil is coming from, but I can tell you that the back of the oil pan is clean, and the front of it has oil all over it. So, I feel pretty confident to say I'm not leaking any oil from the back of the engine anywhere.

Also, I'll try to send a picture of where I think the problem might be.

Sorry about such a long post - but now you all know everything I know about what's going on with this blasted car. Thanks for all your help!

Regards,
Dave

 

Sounds like its getting nuts trying to pinpoint the leak. Spray some degreaser (SimpleGreen?) on the front of the engine & clean it real good. When the oil first leaks out it's very hard to see because it's still clean & clear. Fluorescent dye?

Maybe it's worth it to idle the engine in the garage for awhile rather than drive around, so the oil doesn't get blown around by the wind of driving.

 

Trust me, as of late, everything on this car has been nuts.

I will look into that oil dye - maybe that'll help figure this out. Although I seriously doubt it, I think there'sa very small chance this could possibly still be residual oil leftover from old leaks that have been repaired. (But I doubt it.)

Either way, I'm going to pressure wash the front of the engine after work tonight at the carwash. That'll at least get a lot of the built-up crud and muck off that's on there now.

The sad thing is, the oil leak itself isn't really that bad - if it wasn't leaking on the exhaust pipe where I have to smell it and see smoke at traffic lights, I wouldn't even fool with it at all for now. (I feel like I've put enough money into this thing for one year.)

Anyway, I'll keep everyone posted on what I do.

Regards,
Dave

 

to me it sounds like the first mechanic didnt use gasket sealer on the valve cover gasket, and thats why it started leaking so fast.

personally i would avoid the first mechanic. correct me if im wrong, but theres not a whole lot to adjust on the rear brakes either, and cleaning them is a very minuet task. I've always been taught it was standard procedure to clean them off before you even inspect them.

 

What about the distributor leaking? I know you must have a rubber o ring that the distributor uses to keep it sealed.

 

But that would probably just run down the transmission and not get on the exhaust, I would look into the head gasket and check for leaks.

 

this would be super-ghetto but you could always JB weld a plate to the block to direct the flow of oil away from the exhaust; just as a temporary fix until you find the source of the leak.