Possible oil leak...

[vdcoff]

Hey all you honda guys, this is my first honda, it is a beater. I bought it off of some kid for 1800 and according to him it has a new head gasket, a re-build auto transmission, new water pump, new timing belt, new plugs, etc.

I had it parked in my gfs garage the night i bought it, when i woke up in the morning I had a some puddle (size of a quarter) on the garage floor where it was parked. I'm pretty sure it is oil, don't think it was transmission fluid.

I had the car up on jack stands yesterday and changed the oil out and put mobil 1 in it, but i couldn't figure out where it was leaking from. The oil is running down from somewhere and collecting then dripping.

Any ideas of what it could be? I am hoping the block isn't cracked. I told the kid about it, and he said it never leaked as far as he knew.

BTW its a 97 civic with a d18y8 engine.

[renn]

probably oil pan gasket or rear main seal.... for $1800 i wouldn't be too concerned, my honda leaks oil too. it's a common problem but not one that causes any problems.

btw its a d16y8, not d18.

[Foolinaround]

Add some dye into the system and check with a uv. No idea where the origin is even after you crawled under it?

[vdcoff]

Add some dye into the system and check with a uv. No idea where the origin is even after you crawled under it?

yea i couldn't figure out where it was coming from because its collecting no where near where its leaking from, im gonna have my buddy put it up on the lift monday or tuesday so we can take a better look

[vdcoff]

btw its a d16y8, not d18.

thank you! :thumbup:

[Foolinaround]

yea i couldn't figure out where it was coming from because its collecting no where near where its leaking from, im gonna have my buddy put it up on the lift monday or tuesday so we can take a better look

How do you know its collecting not where the leak is from. Its possibly its the rear main,or a cam gear seal(although this would be evident).

[cvcrcr99]

Putting synthetic oil into a motor which has not run synthetic will make a leak seem worse from what I have seen. Clean all the oil off then continually check to see where the leak is stemming from.

[vdcoff]

How do you know its collecting not where the leak is from. Its possibly its the rear main,or a cam gear seal(although this would be evident).

I know because i wiped the oil off from where it is collecting and layed there for 20 minutes and watched it, nothing came out. It is also obvious that the oil is coming from somewhere else higher on the motor, but I can't seem to find it, i'll check again though. I'm leaning more toward the rear main.

Thanks!

[vdcoff]

Putting synthetic oil into a motor which has not run synthetic will make a leak seem worse from what I have seen. Clean all the oil off then continually check to see where the leak is stemming from.

well i wanted to put synthetic in it because i know mobil 1 is good oil, but i agree it is really thin and will make it leak more, I wasn't thinking about that.

[SovXietday]

Where exactly is it dripping from? Front trans? Front timing belt? Back trans? Back timing belt? Somewhere in the middle of the front/back?

The Honda valvecover gaskets love to leak and drip oil slowly down the block. Either way, a quarter isn't anything to worry about.

[vdcoff]

Where exactly is it dripping from? Front trans? Front timing belt? Back trans? Back timing belt? Somewhere in the middle of the front/back?

The Honda valvecover gaskets love to leak and drip oil slowly down the block. Either way, a quarter isn't anything to worry about.

Its near the back of the engine. Im thinking either rear main seal or valve cover. The car has been sitting on my street since saturday afternoon so ill check it out after work today to see how much oil is on the ground. If its not alot i may just leave it alone.

[vdcoff]

So there wasn;t that much oil on the ground, I may just leave it alone for now.

[Honest_Bob]

vtec solenoid gasket?

Seriously.

[01NightHawk]

Rear main seal would be leaking from under the transmission, not behind the block.


You would notice if it were coming from the valve cover gasket, since you cleaned everything up that is.


I'd say oil cooler o-ring, vtec solenoid gasket, or cam seal. Those are the most common that leak and end up on the back of the block. - If it were the oil pan leaking, it wouldn't be on the block, just dripping straight down the pan.


Quarter size drip really isn't much to be concerned about on a DD

[2001teg]

did you double gasket the oil filter?

[enohand]

well i wanted to put synthetic in it because i know mobil 1 is good oil, but i agree it is really thin and will make it leak more, I wasn't thinking about that.

mobile 1 is more gimick than it is sythetic,

google it, mobile 1 is moslty petroleum dino oil...not 100% sythetic...it even says it on thier bottle, (look for the * & the small print)

your beter off going with Nippon or amsoil