96CivicEXSedan

The problem is my 1996 Honda Civic EX Sedan has at least a couple leaks in the engine. It's a dark fluid and it stains the driveway. I now have the very classy and showman-esque wooden board underneath my car. I'm not proud of that!

Anyways, I am a real car newb. However, I am trying to get better and the first big project I want to take care of are these engine leaks.

When I set a big sheet of paper underneath the engine it revealed there are 4 drip spots. I realize this may be 2 leaks at best if the leak is higher up and then some fluid is simply sliding down a pipe and falling off.

Anyways, the engine right now is filthy and it's hard to see where a black liquid may be coming from.

I imagine the first task would be cleaning the engine with some sort of de-greaser. If this is true, what should I use and how should I use it?

Also, I can take hi-resolution pictures of anything if necessary. Finally, I also have some Rhino ramps as well that I just bought (thinking they can help with this problem).

Thanks for the help!

Former User

Start with the common sources of oil leaks:

Top of engine
Valve cover gasket, distributor O-ring, VTEC solenoid

Bottom of engine
Oil pan gasket

96CivicEXSedan

Thanks for the reply!

Unfortunately you're talking another language to me! lol... Do you have pictures or anything that might help guide me along? I guess I'm wondering if a leak would be perceptible just by looking in these spots.

92bseries

buy a haynes manual for the motor you have in the car, they help ALOT

Former User

The spark plug wires run from distributor cap to the spark plugs located below the valve cover. Look for an oil leak anywhere that the valve cover meets the head and also below the distributor where it inserts into the head. The VTEC solenoid is located on the passenger side of the valve cover rearward of the distributor. It has an electrical plug. Look for a leak below it.

The oil pan is on the bottom of the engine. The bolt used to drain the engine oil is inserted into the bottom of the oil pan. Look for an oil leak all along the top edges of the oil pan where it meets the block.

96CivicEXSedan

Thanks for the replies! I will be looking around in there this weekend!

EX-T

There aren't many places it could really be leaking...

Could be a rear main seal or front crank seal as well.

DCRB

here's what i would do if i were you, since you seem a little green behind the ears thus far (i'm sure you'll learn as you go though!)

start off by taking some paper towels and some degreaser and going to town on the engine n trans. make everything super clean. then, pick up some uv dye, pour it into the motor, run it for a bit, then take a black light (i believe they sell kits with the dye and a uv pen light) and shine it all over till you see where the leaks are.

once done, post pix and or discriptions of where the leaks are.

good luck!

builthatch

an easy way to not chase your tail with something like this is to put specific flourescent dye in the oil, drive it a couple days, and use a blacklight to find the source. but with these engines it's pretty easy to find once you inspect the usual places such as those that Ron sugg'd.

EDIT, oh, the guy above me posted that already, sorry.

96CivicEXSedan

Ok, well I just looked around and took 18 pics... I really have almost no idea of what I'm looking at but maybe these pics can help someone nudge me in a direction.

I will try to wipe things up and clean a bit as the next step.

Ive attached 10 pics here but there are 8 more of various pictures from the area. Thanks.

96CivicEXSedan

I'll just make another post with the last 8 pics...

Former User

You did not post any pictures at the top of the engine -- e.g., below the distributor, around the VTEC solenoid, and around the edges of the valve cover.

There's a lot of oil at the bottom of the engine, so the oil pan gasket must be considered. However, gravity pulls everything downward, so oil leaking at the top of the engine eventually ends up at the bottom.

Your best bet at this point is to clean the old oil off the surface of the engine and then watch carefully where fresh oil first appears. Post those pictures.

96CivicEXSedan

I actually thought of that shortly after I was done looking at the bottom... it was pretty gruesome!

Here are more pics, and there was definitely fresh looking oil in these areas.

builthatch

is that car an automatic? i swear that fluid looks red...

btw, judging from those photos, the only way i'd try to negotiate that leak is with dye. otherwise, i'd HAVE to clean it properly and start over - it's just so dirty. that is not good for your engine, it's not good for troubleshooting.

96CivicEXSedan

First of all, thank you for the replies and help. You are fast!

The car is automatic. Nothing looked really red to me, but those pictures are pretty true to color.

I've never cleaned an engine before. I'm a car newb though. I was wiping it down with a cloth and some WD 40 though... didn't work too well, and it was unrealistic to think I could get it very clean because spots were tight. So I'm going to look for some engine degreaser and try that route. I might go to a car cleaner and use the wand to hose it down. Is that entirely okay for the engine? The last thing I'm going to want to do is more damage. Thank you.

builthatch

i've never cleaned an engine that dirty, but in the past for engines somewhat dirty i've used an all purpose cleaner called optimum power clean at full strength, let it sit, then agitate it with a round semi-stiff paint brush, then spray the assorted areas with an adjustable spray bottle filled with hot water (the kind that can be infinitely adjusted between spray and stream). i did it this way to avoid having to cover any sensitive electrical items.

for that engine...man, i'd probably do the same thing, but cover the distributor and spray the entire engine with cleaner, and then spray the entire thing down with something like one of those high pressure wands. i'd be careful not to hit anything with paint on it...those pressure washers can remove some paint, that's for sure.

now that i think of it, i did use Gunk engine degreaser one time a LONG time ago. it's strong, and stinks, but it worked very well. it sprayed on and foamed the grime off. i rinsed it off but remember being concerned about the run-off.

Dale_K

Buy a spray can of "Gunk" and follow the directions. It is made for cleaning oil & grease off engines and works great. After you clean it maybe you can pinpoint the spots where it's leaking, although my focus would be those wet clean areas.

You might want to check the PCV valve and hoses. In a properly working PCV system there should be a slight vacuum inside the motor. Not saying yours is bad but it would be worth checking. Don't know how you do it on a Honda, myself but somebody else can no doubt tell you.

ALL-OUT

I used 'purple power' on mine. I went to a Do-it-yourself car wash, sprayed the entire engine and transmission waited 5-10min and power washed the entire engine bay with the pressue washer and it came out imaculate. Then just check it later that day or next day post pics and hopefully we can tell you exactly whats leaking, and how to fox it. GL

builthatch

regarding checking it this particular engine: on the intake manifold there is a hose that goes down to a fitting on a little black box. that hose is the PCV hose, and the fitting on the black box is the PCV. it pops right out of the box (which is called the oil seperator - it's a baffled box that collects oil via oily mist, and dumps it back into the oil supply in the block)

if you were concerned about checking the PCV, check the hose, where it connects to the intake manifold nipple, etc. then check the PCV. if you shake it, you should hear a rattle. it's a one-way valve, essentially. if it's working right you can blow one way, it won't let air through; blow the other, it will.