Daughter's 1998 Accord, auto trans, 250,000 miles.

Her car is in pretty decent shape, but leaks oil through the crankshaft seal (transmission side). It leaks about 3/4 quart every 2 weeks. Last year it would leak about 1/2 quart per month.
I looked at instructions and videos and all basically say remove engine and tranny together. Some say raise it up, others say drop it down under the car.

I keep looking at her car and see 3 engine mounts and 1 transmission mount. It seems like I can do the following.

1) raise front end of car
2) Remove wheels, brakes, rotors, calipers, CV axle nuts on both sides.
3) disconnect passenger side control arm and remove passenger side CV axle, and wheel hub on passenger side.
4) disconnect anything that attaches to the tranny like the shifter cable, sensors, etc...
5) remove bolts that holds the trans to the engine (hold up with brace of some kind).
6) remove transmission mount
7) slide transmission to the passenger side about 1-2 feet.
8) remove flywheel
9) remove crankshaft seal and put new one in
10) put back together in reverse steps.

Does that sound doable? Or am I missing something like lack of room ( for transmission to move 1-2 feet)? or do I need to remove the subframe?
Can you remove the subframe without having do something with the engine? I can get a hoist to hold the engine up is the subframe is hold the engine up. ( I am trying to avoid disconnecting all the stuff that attaches to the engine).

There has to be some clever trick to get to the seal without having to remove "everything". I would think I can remove the tranny without messing with the engine.

Any ideas?

 

Is this a 4 cylinder engine or v6?

 

Sorry.. it's a 4 cyl.

I bought a Chilton manual and some of the steps don't make sense.

step #

13) install hoist to engine. Why install hoist if there are 3 other engine mounts holding the engine?
15) loosen the 3 bolts attaching the front engine mount. Why do this, when the engine should not have to be moved.
18) drain the transmission fluid. Why do this? is it because fluid will come out when I remove the CV axles? or do they just assume I am removing the tranny completely and may turn it upside down?
20) remove the subframe center beam. Does this beam help hold the engine? If so, then I can see why I need an engine hoist. Or will the outside frame move because of the engine weight?
28) remove the 8 drive plate bolts one at a time while rotating the crankshaft pulley. Why do this? When I pull the transmission off, won't it stay with the transmission?

Then when installing everything:
37) install torque converter onto transaxle mainshaft with new hub o-ring. Why do this when it didn't say anything about removing it? I looked at steps 1 - 36 and don't see anything about removing a torque converter.
it also says to install starter motor in this step.
38) raise transaxle into position and install mounting bolts. Why did I have to remove the starter in the first place, when here I can install the transmission with the starter in place?

if you look at step 28, there is no mention of installing the drive plate during the installation process. Does this mean I don't have to remove it in the first place? or did they forget this step and I need to put it on before I raise the transmission into position?

Still trying to decide whether to do this work, or just sell it letting the buyer know about the crankshaft seal leak.

Thanks for any input!

 

I would use a hoist to support the engine if you have a hoist. If not, then look to see if a large block of wood on the oil pan and a jack would give you the extra support. Just look to see if you have the room to do this. You just need enough pressure to support the engine, so raise the jack until you first get movement on the engine, then stop.

You may need to detach the torque converter from the engine, because you may not have enough room to pull back the transmission to clear the torque converter. You definitely need to reinstall the bolts, so the manual has an error.

Draining the transmission fluid will help to remove weight and avoid spilling when removing the transmission. Drain into a clean container if you plant to reuse the fluid.

Removing the starter probably gives you more clearance to pull the transmission and plus you avoid damaging the starter or damaging something else when removing/installing. You should be able to pull the starter at the beginning and reinstall at the end, because I am sure you don't have to pull the transmission to replace a starter on your accord.

You will have to look at the center beam to figure out why it is being removed and how it may or may not support the engine. I think the jack on the oil pan with extra support on the engine will avoid any shifting. I doubt you would have any shifting anyway.

I would also recommend watching as many youtube videos as needed on this type of job until you are comfortable you have all the steps/tips needed to do this job.

 

I am slightly confused about the torque converter.
I thought if I am taking the tranny off, I can remove the bolts that holds the tranny to the engine.
Then slide the tranny to the passenger side and the torque converter and drive plate would stay attached to the transmission.

Then I can remove the flywheel from the engine and remove the bad crankshaft seal.

I'll try watching a few more videos, but most really don't cover everything.

 

I believe the reason Honda wants you to use a hoist is so you can set up a rear support for when you remove the trans mounts. In the FSM, they show a support"T" bar that mounts to the engine to allow you to support it. The reason for it is because you're going to remove the front sub, and the rear trans mount is attached to the cross beam.

 

This is only part of it, but I think answers a couple things...
Step 29 is where you unbolt the flex-plate from the torque converter. The torque converter stays with the transmission & the flex-plate stays with the engine. The "flex-plate" is like a thin lightweight thing that takes the place of a flywheel. I guess Honda calls it a "drive-plate".

Step 30 shows a brace for hanging the engine to support its weight. You can make that out of 2x4s or something, and it might be less in-the-way compared to a jack under the oil pan.

 

OK, things are starting to become clearer.
Now just trying to decide whether it is worth it. Right now I am having to add 3/4 quart of oil every 300 miles (every 2 weeks). last year it was 1/2 quart per month.
I guess that means the crankshaft seal is pretty much done for.

Should I just try to sell it for say $1000?
The paint is faded and the overcoat is 1/2 gone. But brakes, alt, starter, AC compressor, power steering, etc are pretty much 3 years old or less. Transmission was rebuilt and has 40,000 miles on it. engine does not burn oil ( no smoke).

 

Honestly, it's your call. Keep in mind you have what's commonly known, as a known quantity. Meaning you already know the car, what it does, and what it needs. You know what's been replaced, and what hasn't been. If you fix it, you'll still have all of that knowledge about it, and know it'll go at least another 100K or more miles.
So, if you replace it, will you know as much about it's replacement? Meaning starting the learning curve all over again fixing it instead. Now, I'm not saying "don't replace it", and I'm not saying "don't fix it" either. Just that it's your decision, and only you can decide which way to go. If you do sell it, inform the buyer about the oil leak, and let them decide whether or not they want to fix it, or keep feeding it.

 

Right Toecutter. That's what I'll have to think about. I believe it would take me 2-3 days to do the work. Then she might keep it another year or so.

There is no hurry. We have all summer to think about it. She is not driving it as much during the pandemic, so we have more time to think about it.