noticed small possible leak...is it my headgasket?
 

i just cleaned my motor and today after a drive, i poped the hood and looked at the motor. i noticed a line of what appears to be oil right over the block stamp. could that line of whatever it is be coming from the headgasket? it looks like it came straight down and right above the block stamp is the head. it was a very thin line and when i touched it, it seemed like it was oil, but i'm not sure. i did paint my motor with high heat aluminum paint, so that was on my hand also.

i do have an oil leak from the cam seal, but i have some paper there for now until i get my new cam seal tomorrow, so i know its not the oil from there. that leak is very small.

any ideas ?

Re: noticed small possible leak...is it my headgasket? (hondaeg8)
 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif

Re: noticed small possible leak...is it my headgasket? (hondaeg8)
 

Dont know if it helps but here were my symptoms

Car would overheat ont eh freeway after a ahrd pull (turbo)

Open hood...coolant overflow FULL and before I shut it down to fix, the overflwo was leaking a littel bit

Cylinder 4 has coolant leaking from where the head mates to the block

Compression was:

160, 180, 180, 180. I suspected a headgasket. So I decided to change the headgasket, thermostat, head gasket and do a flush before I put everything together

Re: noticed small possible leak...is it my headgasket? (hondaeg8)
 

i have none of those symptoms.

it was a very small amount of liquid. not to positive on what it is, either water or oil.

i need to look closer to see if i can see what it is and exactly where its coming from, but it has to be from the head i would think.

look up camshaft seal on honda-tech. see a picture of somone car and where its leaking most likely its ur cam shaft seal or valve cover gasket and not somehthing major like a head gasket. does your car overheat?

Re: noticed small possible leak...is it my headgasket? (hondaeg8)
 

smell it. Water, oil, paint and coolant have distinctly different smells.....

Re: (zad5)
 

valve cover gasket

Re: (Art In Motion)
 

i just replaced the valve cover gasket, so its not that. the leak didn't look to be coming from that high up.

the cam seal...yes it has a very SMALL leak, but i just put a paper towel under it before i left for work so no oil will leak on the motor. the oil would leak on the paper towel. from where there seems to be a leak, from above the block stamp, i don't see how oil from the cam seal would have gotten there with the paper towel right under the cam seal.

my car doesn't overheat either.

since there was very little of the liquid, i couldn't smell it. when i touched it with my finger, paint came off also.

i was just driving normal on the way to work. so i guess when i go home, i'll hit vtec a couple of times and see if it leaks more i guess.

Re: (hondaeg8)
 

probably a cam seal.

Re: (IVI)
 

don't know....

there wasn't any oil on the paper towel when i looked at it.

if the car isnt over heating then your head gasket isnt gone. dont go off but i suggest cleaning the motor up and check to see where its leaking either from the camshaft seal and valve cover gasket. or maybe take a picture of your engine bay.

Re: noticed small possible leak...is it my headgasket? (hondaeg8)
 

i just cleaned the motor and painted the block. thats how i saw the leak.