Marty_mcfly

Hey i have a 97 honda civic with a d16y8 i bought the car about a month ago from a shop that picked it of some other kid that blew the head gasket and dint have the money to fix it, after the shop changed the head gasket timing belt and water pump also machined the head sold it to me and ive been driving it ever since recently there was some tapping noise when i got past 3000 rpm. checked the oil and there was alot less oil put some more oil in and this morning there it goes again! the leak seems to be coming from the passenger side of the engine and it seems to be on the lower half of the engine. this is my first car and my first honda so i dont have alot of tools and if possible would like to fix it myself but if i do need to get a shop i dont wont to be screwed over, i might be young but i got bills to pay lol soo if anyone can help that would be great! thanks in advanced !

doctorake

How much oil in how many miles?

sleepyaccord96

maybe a rod knock starting

apexi_rsx

if your loosing alot of oil its most likely the rear main seal

sleepyaccord96

clean engine with brake clean and make sure it is super clean and start it up and look for oil leaking...

BTW, check for vtec solenoid seals

Texas4door

Calling it: Distributor O-Ring.

doctorake

Since you claim to be a noob, is there a drain plug installed?

sleepyaccord96

i am thinking it could be any seal or gasket on the engine...oil pan gasket, vtec solenoid seals, cam seal, front crank seal, rear main....it could be anything!

Marty_mcfly

There is definitely a drain plug installed, the odometer dosent work so i don't know exactly how many miles are on the car im planning in swapping the cluster soon but there is alot of oil leaking i had to put in 2 quartz in last night, got the dipstick right around half way between those two dots(sorry don't know how much exactly that is) and this morning after a short drive down the street to get more oil ,it's just barely over the first one. how do i check those seals mentioned?

civics4lyfe

I'm with this guy. Just had an oil leak start on my daily, turned out to be the dizzy o ring. $2 from honda dealer and 5 minutes to replace. You'll know its this if the leak is directly under the dizzy, the top of the trans housing will be wet with oil.

Pics of oil leak as of now? Check your coolant overflow bottle, if its diluted with oil it may be a head gasket, but the way you described it, it doesn't sound like so.

civics4lyfe

the dipstick only measures the top quart or so of oil, so from mid-dots to right above the bottom one, its maybe 1/4 quart lost, if that.

Its not a rear main seal, those will leak out of the flywheel cover underneath. The vtec solenoid seal will leak around the vtec, check under the solenoid. If its an oil pan gasket the block will be completely dry, or only wet 1/2" up from the pan. Check if its a dizzy o ring, or just replace it (they get old and dryrotted over time) and check your coolant for signs of a head gasket issue.

btw, if your tachs working, and the odometer isnt, the cluster isnt bad. You can snag an odometer itself from a junkyard for 8-10 bucks, the potentiometer (i think thats what its called) that makes the needle move goes bad, I keep spare odometers laying around because of this lol.

Marty_mcfly

Cool thanks ill check it out ill see if i can post pics of it when i get home im working 3 to midnight so pics wont be up till tomorrow but from what i remember there was alot of oil on the tranny where the engine stamp is but there is also alot of oil on the other end of the tranny closer to the battery


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xile6

post a pic.
There is a lot of gasket that can leak.
dizzy oring, vtec gasket, rear main seal, oil pan, black box oring.

And the top dot is full and the bottom dot is 1qt low for the oil.

sleepyaccord96

you all do realize most noobs and regular people have no idea what a dizzy is.

civics4lyfe

you do realize you could have just said dizzy=distributor and actually have added some sort of input for OP.

Marty if the oil leak is in that area then it probably is either the vtec solenoid seal or the distributor o ring. Both get old over time, I would recommend picking up both seals from Honda for ~$15 because pinpointing one won't guarantee you that the other won't go bad down the road.

Both can be replaced in your driveway with a basic tool set in under 20 minutes, I would do that, top off the oil, and then check it after driving the car a little.

apexi_rsx

hes loosing oil too fast to be a dizzy seal even though it could be multiple seals.... i know after a 60 mile drive i lost a quart of oil a day from a rear main seal...

civics4lyfe

exactly but the dizzy/vtec seals are the only probable cause other than a head gasket that would leak in the area as he describes it, rear main wont leak upwards.

jbpnoman

Stop guessing. Go to the parts store or hardware store, and buy a few cans of engine degreaser and a bunch of shop rags. Clean the everliving **** out of the engine bay. Make it look brand new under the hood. Put the car on jack stands, and clean the everliving **** out of the bottom of the engine too.

Once you have that done, leave it on jack stands and start the car. Scamper back under the hood and look. Get under the car and look. Pinpoint where the oil is coming from. It'll be easy once you get the engine clean.

Marvin1985

iTrader: (5)

Remove distributor cap and see if oil is in there. Could be the oil filter o ring for all hell.

doctorake

Do this, guessing will work but take to long.

Marty_mcfly

i am a noob but ive been reading enough random threads to know what a dizzy is lol but anyways this morning i started her up hoping to pinpoint where the leak is and i saw two of them here are some pics to give you a better idea [IMG][IMG][IMG][IMG][/IMG][/IMG][/IMG][/IMG]

Marty_mcfly

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Marty_mcfly

correct me if im wrong but i believe that the vtech and the head gasket correct?? and if you have have a bad vtech gasket will that stop you from going into vtech?

strategy400

It's most likely the valve cover gasket, distributor o-ring, or vtec solenoid gasket. Those are all cheap and easy to replace. Adjust your valves while you have the valve cover open. Lay your hands on a timing light if you remove the distributor or at least mark it's position before removal. Get some Hondabond and apply it to the angled areas of the valve cover gasket. Clean gasket surfaces spotless before assembly, use acetone. Be grateful it's not the rear main seal. Change that filthy oil before it is.
Also, be careful of the aluminium oil pan when changing your oil, the drain plug threads are one step above tin foil. Super easy to strip. If you strip it you will hate yourself and want to die.

Marty_mcfly

i know what you mean about the drain plug , i fell prey to that with my brothers eg and my dads volvo but i know i need new vtech gaskets but is that the valve cover gasket judging by the pictures or can you even see those pics( im not sure if i uploaded them correctly)