Hi everyone

I made a thank you welcome thread and probably put a little to much info
I am buying my first Honda Accord in about 2 days as its a car iv'e known well for the past 5 years.
A 1996 Accord LX 4 cly non Vtech CA emissioned Automatic.
Its at 117k miles but runs good. Oil changed very regular and general good maintnance. Iv'e known for a while that the rear main seal has been leaking and goes through about 1/2 quart of oil every month. Its a nuisance at stop lights as the oil seems to hit a certain part of the engine that causes it smoke and smell.
I just came across of seeing that while the engine is running its blowing air out of filler cap hole. Just pulsing air no smoke or steam. The engine runs good with no signs of bad exhaust smoke and the oil stays clean and again no signs of coolant or unburned gas.
When iv'e googled iv'e had some mixed opinions of bad rings to needing a new PVC valve or its just normal. Could of this led to the bad oil seal as some have mentioned.
I'm also dreading the thought that the engine has to be removed to get to the seal and wondering the cost of someone fixing it as I don't have the time nor space for this job.
I'm liking the quality of this Honda but like I said on my intro I wish the parts could be a bit cheaper.
Can anybody please give me an opinion of these issues. Its seems to be a constant issue when googled, Thank you everyone

 

Crankcase should be at a vacuum at idle (air pulled into open oil filler opening). Check PCV hose and valve carefully for blockage.

Low idle vacuum might also cause this problem. Check for vacuum leaks.

Other explanation is high blowby on one or more cylinders. A leak down test should ID defective cylinders.

good luck

 

I think just the transmission needs to be removed to access the rear main seal.

 

Thank you TexasHonda, this blowing was found by coinsidence by someone who unscrewed the cap while the engine was running. So I have no clue to how long its been doing it. When I googled some like I said mentioned it leads to seal leaks. Ok at idle it should have vacuum. Other than when I replaced the purge valve i'm thinking most of the vacuum lines are original.
PAhonda thank you, so if it just needs mostly a trany pull does Honda use different rear oil seal than the typical rope or rubber type that would need the crank shaft removed?
I haven't looked online yet for a breakdown of what might be involved. Also i'm so new to the internet, embarrassing at 53. Can someone suggest maby the best links to look at.
Thanks again everyone.

Edit: PVC valve doesn't seem to be clogged but its not rattling either. I can blow through the PVC valve end that goes into the valve but actually forgot the reverse way. The hose isn't clogged either. This being a "one way block valve" shouldn't it be replaced even though no sludge?

 

The rubber seal is shown in the picture here, #31. There's a larger plate to be removed as shown. Don't remove the crankshaft, but you have to remove the flywheel/flexplate.

For the PCV system, on a 4-cyl the motion of the pistons don't balance out perfectly. You think you feel air blowing out, but it's always sucking in & blowing out during each stroke. You only "feel" the blowing out, you don't feel the sucking in.

Sure, you can look at all the hoses for being cracked or rotted, and a new PCV valve only cost a few dollars. But I would pay more attention to whether the breather tube is blowing much oil into the rubber intake duct (upstream of the throttle body). That feeling of air puffing out of the oil cap can be pretty misleading.

 

Wow thank you so much Jim, this info and diagram is great. Perfect breakdown that I was hoping for and a relief that its not needing a crank removal. This weekend ill get a good chance for some time as to breather tube setup and and change the PVC valve, at $5 its a good start. I'll let you know what I find if there is even everything wrong. Like you said i'm concentrating more on the blowing out feel.
I truly appreciate everyones input.

 

These fine gentlemen seem to have answered your question before I stepped in with great advise as always. I just wanted to say welcome from another northeasterner(although currently trapped in NC).

The one car I regret selling is my 5th generation accord(94-97). If you think Honda parts are expensive try lexus, acura, or volvo, nevermind bmw, mercedes or audi.

 

Thanks for the welcome live2rice. Love the Bruins avatar pic!
Till member's live or have lived on our side then they will never fully go through the horrors of under carriage rust issue's like the break lines, sending units etc. Way to much salt use in the winter.
Oh yeah i'm shocked at even these Honda prices. The junk yards Honda's are stripped clean. I'm not even in a bad neighborhood and you won't believe the parts that have been stolen off this car.
Well for now i can do without a lexus or bmw. Would hate to see those prices.
This is a great friendly forum and have gotten more help in 2 days than searching online for months. I also just realized the 96 falls into the 5th generation.
Thanks again and go "Pats"

 

Sorry for the double post but weather permitting tomorrow i'm planning some time on the the issue's I might have and came across something the other day.
After I ran the engine checking for vacuum leaks I pulled a few plug wires shortly after a little cool down and the tubes were soaked with oil. I didn't at the time look down to see what the setup was but do these engines use any type of rubber tubes to isolate the plug connector tubes?
The woman I purchased the this car from has brought it to some fishy mechanics in the past and it always seemed to come back missing parts and some scary work. Believe me no paranoia going on.
One time someone used what I assume was motor oil in the break booster after a so called caliper change and the breaks were locking up after a mile of driving. It took a fluid flush to fix the issue. "who knows he could of even used cooking oil!". Another time the entire jack and spare were missing etc.
Just hoping for some knowledge so I know what I might expect.

 

Oil in spark plug tubes results from leaks in tube seals and also (for LX engine), leaks in valve rocker arm assy to head orings. Changing spark plug tube seals is easy (remove cover, remove old seals, install new), however the rocker arm assy requires removal of rocker arm assys w/ camshafts to replace orings.

Oil in spark plug tubes is probably not related to possible positive crankcase pressure at idle. Very poor spark plug tube seals can sometimes cause spark plug ends to be ejected from valve cover, which could result in vacuum leak. However engine missing would be present.

good luck