1998 Accord EX. A few weeks ago, I started noticing some oil drips underneath. As far as I can tell, it's coming from the left side of the engine (driver's side). It drips down and hits a rail or something that seems to carry the oil more than halfway towards the back of the car; The drips are in a line almost all the way to the rear, while parked.

I ordered some oil UV dye to help pinpoint the source. But looking at the general area of the source, I'm not sure what this is. If anyone can explain what is on this side of the engine and how to disassemble it, that would be helpful. There appears to be an engine mount, and a plastic cover on the side of the engine, but I don't see how to remove that plastic cover.

Are there any known common oil leaks from that side of the engine for this car?
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The drips are coming from the other side of this pulley. This is a side view through the driver's side wheel-well.



It's hard to get a good picture, but the oil seems to be coming from this general area.

 

The big spinning pulley on the bottom of the engine is the crank pulley. The plasic cover on the side of the engine is the timing belt covers. The side motor mount bolts to the block between the upper and lower timing belt cover, but the motor mount/bracket doesn't seal oil.

Oil leaks run down due to gravity. The challenge you have is an oil leak can hit the spinning crank pulley and get slung all over the place. Try to find the highest point where you see oil staining/residual. Then clean up the oil the best you can and use the dye to find the highest point for an oil leak. Dawn dish soap and water work well along with wiping up with an old rag. Possible culprits could be the valve cover or maybe the seals behind the timing belt cover. I'd look at the valve cover in the corner near the oil dipstick for signs of staining.

Any recent work done on the valve cover or in that general area?

 

I haven't noticed any oil on the crank pulley, but I can't really see or get to the far side of it. It must be slinging the oil, like you said, though. Because there continues to be oil in a line down the length of the underside.

There was/is dirt and grime everywhere. I sprayed Gunk engine degreaser and washed it out, so it looks a lot better now. I also added UV dye to the oil. So hopefully I'll get a better view of leak source now.

I've only had the car for 2.5 months, so I have no idea if there was recent work on the valve cover. I did take the cover off to check the gasket and, as far as I can tell, it looks good. It's not broken or overly worn.

One of the five bolts securing the valve cover was loose and broke when I put it back on. But I don't suspect that is causing a leak. The cover still seems solid with only the four bolts securing it.

Now that I added the UV dye, nothing is glowing from the top of the engine. At the bottom, I also don't see anything glowing except the puddle below it. I'll have to start disassembling to dig further.