VI Boost

hey, i'm having an oil issue and wanted to see if i could get any helpful ideas on what could be the cause. i'll make this as short as i can.

about 6 weeks ago when i first got my car (00 EX), while draining the oil i noticed there was barely any oil in the engine (a little less than a quart). i changed the oil, and everything was fine. there were no visible leaks, and the oil level was still full a week after i changed it. but for the last 2 days, my oil light would blink a few times once in a while in between shifts or while slowing down. i checked my oil and it shows no oil. i've been sure to check if there were any puddles of oil where i park, but there were none, and the oil drain plug is on tightly. there isnt any oil in the coolant from what i can see and there is no blue or white smoke coming from my exhaust.
i looked around in the engine bay and noticed that a head stud was missing, or maybe it's broken. right below the valve cover, there is some black sludge buildup. i'm not even sure if it's missing a stud at all, because from my knowledge, there is supposed to be a ground wire bolted on to where the missing stud should be, but instead that ground wire is bolted on to the ps bracket. do you guys think that might be the problem? i'm going to try to get a compression and leakdown test done tomorrow. any other suggestions?

here are some pics:










anything looks off to you guys? thanks again for looking

VI Boost

anyone?

cycopath

Mine was doing the same thing before I swapped it. No oil spots any where. Nothing. I was so [freak]ing confused. I had 0 quarts of oil in it after a few days. litterally. It looked like it was leaking out at the valve gasket at the same spot. I never did fix it though, just kept filling it and finally did my swap.

Yours is proabably doing what mine was, leaking when it was running and just pouring out of that hole onto the road and underneath your car disapearing forever.

VI Boost

yea, i just want to get the problem solved. i'm not planning to do a swap anytime soon, and i don't want to have to be putting oil in it every few days.

Davus

The empty threaded hole in that picture is normal indeed. I have it too on my y8, and yes it's intended to be used as a grounding point (though I never got good continuity when I tried it >_&gt.

Also, PS bracket mount point is stock, no concern there. I don't know what Honda was thinking when they did all this.

CivicExMaster

fill the civic up where it needs to be, go for a drive and right before u park it for the night put a piece of cardboard under the engine. the next morning check if its leaking, if nothing is showing up and the oil is still going down leave the cr idle over the cardboard for ahwile. if nothing yet it could be blowing out ur exhaust due to bad rings. u will notice smoke if thats the case,

cycopath

I'm almost sure it's leaking out when on and drving, mine only did it when driving, leaks right down to the road and when you park the car none will leak out unless it's under load. I would remove the heat shield from exhuast manifold and see if there is oil caked on the block. If it is, it's leaking down. I would try and replace the valve cover gasket. And when you do, get some hondabond and put it on the edges (where they have most problems, and see if that works.

cycopath

Change the vavle cover gasket and hondabond all the egdes ( just a little bit on the head and then install valve cover) And see if that works. From the way it looks and they way mine looked, it should work if it's only leaking there...

VI Boost

thanks for the suggestions, i'll fill it up and try what you guys said and let you know if anything comes up. and about the valve cover gasket, is there place other than the dealer that i can get one at, or do i have to go there? theres an auto zone and advance autoparts about 5 minutes away from me, but the nearest dealer is about a half hour away. thanks again for the suggestions.

em2_coupe

you also might wanna check to make sure your temp is staying down cuz you could be burning the oil too. its probably not likely.

VI Boost

yea, i have been monitoring the temp, but it's been normal. i'm going out to buy some oil now and fill it up. i'll let you guys know if anything turns up.

cycopath

I would get it from Honda. ****, order it to be shipped to your house from http://estore.honda.com

SinsEvil666

If you look right under the valve cover where the "missing" bolt from the ground wire is at....there is black all over in that corner....i agree with changing the valve cover gasket...u might have oil leaking from that side, and the timing belt cover just does not let you see it.

cycopath

Yea I forgot to point that out, you probably have alot of burnt oil built up inside the timing cover.

Honda-Pilot

If your car is losing oil, it's either going on the ground or out the tail pipe. A civic oil and filter change takes 3.5 qts of oil. If you are losing it that fast, you will definately know it because you'll have a huge cloud coming out of your exhaust or you'll have big puddles on the ground. That's a lot of oil to lose in a week.
Check the basics. When you put the oil in the car, are you removing the oil cap and putting it in the valve cover? When you're checking the oil, are you using the dipstick that is between the timing cover and the oil cap? When you did the oil change, did you tighten the drain plug and oil filter all the way. Also, sometimes the old oil filter gasket will stick to the oil cooler. When you put the new filter on, you'll end up with 2 gaskets installed, and it will leak. Look under the car and see if you can see fresh oil. Good luck.

VI Boost

no smoke comes out of the exhaust at all. not even a little white or blue smoke. i first changed the oil a month ago. i put another 3 quarts in it yesterday, left it over night, there were no oil puddles on the ground. the dipstick is reading full now, so i'm monitoring to see when it begins to go lower. i'll try to replace the valve cover gasket tomorrow, and i'll remove the timing cover to see if there's any burnt oil in there. thanks a lot for your help. i've been wanting to paint my valve cover, so now it looks like i have a good reason to actually remove it and do it now. i''ll keep you guys updated.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cycopath &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would get it from Honda. ****, order it to be shipped to your house from http://estore.honda.com</TD></TR></TABLE>

thanks for the link

redline870

their known for having bad oil pressure switches located directly above the oil filter and that would explain why it only leaks when running because otherwise there is no pressure in the system. jack it up and check to see if there is any oil residue on the filter, as if it was running down the filter and dripping off. thats kind of a lot of oil to lose from a valve cover so i doubt its that. its either leaking it or burning it and if its burning that much you would definitely see smoke behind you and people would keep their distance from behind you. jack it up and look for leaks it should be very noticeable.

cycopath

Wrong, mine was doing the same exact thing and could not find out why, but it was all leaking out of the valve cover gasket. The car did not smoke AT ALL and did NOT have any sign of oil ANY where on the ground. Only leaked out when I was driving when it was under load.

redline870

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cycopath &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wrong, mine was doing the same exact thing and could not find out why, but it was all leaking out of the valve cover gasket. The car did not smoke AT ALL and did NOT have any sign of oil ANY where on the ground. Only leaked out when I was driving when it was under load.</TD></TR></TABLE>
but if that much was leaking from the valve cover dont u think the side of the engine would be soaked with oil? from the pictures his looks like only minor seapage.

trav143

it mite be come ing out tor tell pipe
if it smoks thas it

redline870

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by trav143 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it mite be come ing out tor tell pipe
if it smoks thas it </TD></TR></TABLE>
wow i hope your not driving anywhere tonight. trav143 + = . if you read the op then it says clears as day that there is no blue or white smoke.

Frickr

you could only be burning oil while under load. when you idle you only have so much psi built up, and might not leak or burn it at all. but if its reved up a little bit and the psi is higher, it might leak out somewhere.

much like hondas burning a little oil when going into vtec

didder

my turbo civic has only 4 valve cover bolts the middle broke (go figure)

i was a quart low after 600 miles of driving, and it was extreme driving not just dding lol. it wouldnt leak at idle just like you said, but after driving it would leave a huge puddle because the oil just flows to the bottom of the block and drips off when parked.

your scenario seems similar, but i cant believe you would be losing that much oil and not have any on the ground...

change your valve cover gasket, honda bond the corners on the distributor / cam gear corners then put the gasket on top (sorry to repeat what everyone else is saying)

then have one of your friends follow you and ROMP on it they'll let you know if your burning oil or not. what are friends for?

cycopath

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by redline870 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
but if that much was leaking from the valve cover dont u think the side of the engine would be soaked with oil? from the pictures his looks like only minor seapage.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Mine was, just never noticed it, it was soaked under the exahaust manifold, and I mean SOAKED, but when it hit the block, it caked right on and didn't leave any mark on the ground.

His pictures look like it can be leaking into the timing belt case.

Honda-Pilot

Oil doesn't disappear into thin air. It's either leaking, or being burned in the combustion process. Look at the under side of your car, do you have a coat of oil going from the front to the back of your car? If you do, it's because it's leaking while your driving and the wind is blowing it all over your undercarriage. You're leaking to much oil to have it not be obvious. You just need to get under the car and do a little inspecting.