help identify source of oil leak near oil pump - D16Y8
 

Hello, everyone. First post. This seems like a great forum.

1999 Civic EX bone stock D16Y8, 170k miles

It has a slow leak near the oil pump. My first thought was the crank seal because the oil is settling on the timing belt cover and oil pan right under that spot. But after removing the timing belt cover I see it is clean underneath the cover. Here is what it looks like.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5621265/cars/oil_pump_area.jpg

The red arrows show where oil is. Any ideas about common leaks that would cause the oil to get here? The oil pan gasket is only a few years old and has gobs of liquid gasket around it. Maybe the O ring seal on the back of the upper-right corner of the oil pump failed?

Re: help identify source of oil leak near oil pump - D16Y8
 

Remove the oil pump and replace the O-ring and then HondaBond the pump mating surface with the block. May as well also replace the oil pan gasket while you're in there.

Re: help identify source of oil leak near oil pump - D16Y8
 

Thanks. I am going to replace the crank seal while I have the oil pump off. I heard you have to be careful with the relief valve spring. Something about the spring coming out while installing the seal or the pump, but you can't see it? Any tips regarding this step? I did not see anything about it in the Helms manual.