mystery oil leak..

[backyard_mechanic]

heya guys, new to the forums, have my own little "shop"(my driveway) that i do a bunch of mechanics work for people(flyers in the papers, clasified ad's etc). my neighbor has a 2000 honda accord 4door, with the non vtec 4banger, h22? it has a mystery oil leak, and im talking like half a quart in 15 minutes when its running and a quart an hour when its not running. i have 3 ideas, bad oil pump seal, bad front crank seal, or a bad cam seal.

 

reasons for those ideas,

 

Cam seal, its all over the timing belt, the timing geat is wet, the inside of the timing cover is wet and it is all the way down the entire cover, not just the top piece.

 

Front crank seal, its all over the bottom of the motor, all over the oil pump, its wet between the oil pump and the block and its dripping all over the tensions rods and left front lower suspension.

 

Oil pump seal, there is obvious damage to the seal itself (either age or poor previous install), BUT there is NO oil on the back side of the harmonic balancer, and no oil on the inside of the crank pulley.

 

i've cleaned off the motor and put more oil back in it and and cant seem to find the origons of this leak because the oil just goes everywhere again...

 

any ideas are appreciated, no rush, neighbors wife is off for a week and its her car, so, i i have till sunday to get it fixed.

thanks guys

[mpearce1974]

heya guys, new to the forums, have my own little "shop"(my driveway) that i do a bunch of mechanics work for people(flyers in the papers, clasified ad's etc). my neighbor has a 2000 honda accord 4door, with the non vtec 4banger, h22? it has a mystery oil leak, and im talking like half a quart in 15 minutes when its running and a quart an hour when its not running. i have 3 ideas, bad oil pump seal, bad front crank seal, or a bad cam seal.

 

reasons for those ideas,

 

Cam seal, its all over the timing belt, the timing geat is wet, the inside of the timing cover is wet and it is all the way down the entire cover, not just the top piece.

 

Front crank seal, its all over the bottom of the motor, all over the oil pump, its wet between the oil pump and the block and its dripping all over the tensions rods and left front lower suspension.

 

Oil pump seal, there is obvious damage to the seal itself (either age or poor previous install), BUT there is NO oil on the back side of the harmonic balancer, and no oil on the inside of the crank pulley.

 

i've cleaned off the motor and put more oil back in it and and cant seem to find the origons of this leak because the oil just goes everywhere again...

 

any ideas are appreciated, no rush, neighbors wife is off for a week and its her car, so, i i have till sunday to get it fixed.

thanks guys

You say it continues to leak even when not running at a rate of 1 quart in a hour?? This is where I am a bit lost?? Why once oil should be in pan or most of it, is it continuing to leak a full quart??

[backyard_mechanic]

You say it continues to leak even when not running at a rate of 1 quart in a hour?? This is where I am a bit lost?? Why once oil should be in pan or most of it, is it continuing to leak a full quart??

 

 

considering i came inside for lunch after pulling the covers and belts off and theres a 3x3 puddle on my driveway under the car after about an hour of me being inside, then yes, my guess is whats left in the oil passages etc is leaking out. but who knows

[JesseCuster]

quite a pickle there lol

[Xeryon]

I would guess crank, otherwise how is the oil getting into the timing area? it's underneath a cover to keep it drier and cleaner which would also block outside leaks from getting in.

 

If the timing belt is soaked in oil I would think it might be a good idea to replace that belt as well

[James Matteu]

Oil + Timing Belt = disaster; change it now.

 

Check the Oil Pan seal, and (only 'cause this has happened to me) be sure the Oil Pan Drain Bolt is actually screwed in all the way. I forgot to torque mine and at finger-tight it actually took nearly two weeks for it to work itself loose; the oil puddles progressively grew larger in size each day but I could not figure out where it was coming from. My mistake was that I assumed it could not be the Oil Pan Drain Bolt since I had just changed the oil, meaning I assumed I torqued it down like always.

 

I would think that the Cam Pulley Oil Seal and the Crank Pulley Oil Seal should be changed together, they are likely the source of the oil you find inside the Timing Belt covers.

 

Any oil coming from the space between the transmission and engine? This is a leak from the Rear Main Oil Seal and should be addressed as well.

 

Any oil landing on top of the transmission is usually the Distributor O-Ring, though it typically should be changed at the same time that the Cam Pully Oil Seal is changed.

[lceah]

I say rear seal too

 

Also, just wondering if you have looked into the valve cover gasket too...oil there?

[Xeryon]

Not to be negative, but distributor o-ring, cam seal and VC gaskets would not continue to leak when parked (since they are at the top of the motor)

 

To a certain extent a rear main would leak some upon stopping as the free oil filtered down to the pan. Oil pan gasket, and crank pulley gasket would leak significantly upon stopping but should cease to leak after a short period. Drain plug and drain plug gasket (if your car has one) would continue to leak until there was nothing left whether car is running or not.