ginahoy

I'm trying to identify a minor oil leak on my '06 CR-V (2.4 i-VTEC). The culprit is an unknown (to me) cover plate with 3 bolts that faces the right wheel well beneath the timing belt cover. It's just above and aft of the crankcase pulley, and just below the curved cut-out on the lower left quarter of the timing belt cover. It's distinctive because there's a large X embossed on the plate. The oil filter is more-or-less in line with the plate, around the corner so to speak, on the rear of the block. I tried taking a photo but no luck getting anything useful.

So far there's no evidence of leakage on the garage floor but this plate and its surrounds are coated with road grime, suggesting a leak at the gasket under the plate.

So what exactly is this plate?

EJ8_Man

Its the chain case cover

ginahoy

Thanks, EJ8, that's the one!
I just noticed a few fresh oil stains on the garage floor so I need to take care of this pronto.

ginahoy

Armed with the ID of the offending part, I did further research and came up with the following repair procedure:

1. raise vehicle on lift, turn front wheels or remove right front wheel to access
2. remove splash shield
3. remove chain case cover
4. remove old liquid gasket from mating surfaces, bolts and bolt holes
5. clean and dry mating surfaces
6. apply liquid gasket (P/N 08718-0004) evenly to mating surface of cover and to bolt holes
7. install chain case cover (8.7 lb-ft torque)
8. clean general vicinity to facilitate follow-up leakage inspections

NOTE: Do not install cover if 5 minutes elapses after applying liquid gasket. Instead, clean and reapply fresh liquid gasket
NOTE: Wait 30 minutes before adding oil, if needed, and wait 3 hours before starting engine

Since I don't have access to a lift or a torque wrench, I'll take it to my mechanic. According to a couple of discussion threads elsewhere, this procedure should take about 15 minutes, although it looks more like a half hour.

Most of this came from a service bulletin (09-10, re: defective VTC actuator), which requires removing and resealing the chain case cover. Presumably the 3-hour post-repair wait is to allow the sealant to set, right? If that's truly necessary, I'll need to arrange to leave the vehicle at the shop rather than wait. And the tech would have to push the vehicle out of his service bay, no?

The service bulletin also says to wait 6 hours before proceeding with the repair to allow the engine oil to fully drain from the VTC system. Wow. I omitted that step since it shouldn't be necessary just to remove and reseal the chain case cover, right?

EJ8_Man

Go to harbor freight and buy a $15 torque wrench. It will be much much cheaper then a mechanic. Go to an autoparts store and buy some $5 permatex silicone gasket maker sealant.

This repair should cost you a total of $30 and 1-2 hours of work. Give the silicone a full night to cure. This repair is not worthy of a trip to a mechanic. You can do this

A trick to know when the silicone is cured run a bead of silicone on a peice of cardboard right after you reseal the case. If the cardboard silicone is nice and rubbery and hard then so is the part you sealed

ginahoy

I may try DIY, however, all the 1/4" drive torque wrenches I found at Harbor Freight website (no store nearby) and every other online store I checked (Autozone, eBay, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowes) have minimum 20 lb-ft setting. The specs call for 8.7 lb-ft (12N-m). Harbor Freight does have a 3/8 drive (item #807) with 5-80 lb-ft. However, I'm pretty sure I need a 1/4" drive socket for those bolts, and there's not enough clearance to use a 3/8-to-1/4 adapter.

My metric 3/8 drive sockets only go down to 9MM, so before I order a wrench, I'd like to confirm that the socket size for those bolts (95701-06014-08) is not less than 9MM (they look smaller than 9 to my untrained eye). The manual shows 6x14 but nothing about hex head size. I tried holding a socket in my hand to check the fit, but I can't quite manage that. If I had a 1/4 drive socket wrench I could reach it, but I don't. I only a 1/4 drive with screwdriver handle. So I would have to lift the car and remove the splash guard just to check what size torque wrench I need!

Hopefully someone here knows what head size those bolts are

EJ8_Man

Get an inch pound torque wrench.
12 in/lb = 1 ft/lb

I had clearance on mine when I looked down there. Most people, and mechanics don't bother with torque wrenches for these types of repairs. But you're doing it right by my stardards using one.

You will need a 10mm socket.

Hondas can be dissasembled with a small array of sockets. You can do a lot with these 5 socket sizes 10, 12, 14, 17, 19.

ginahoy

@ 10mm, I can use 3/8 drive. Good to know. Thanks.

Yeah, I'm an engineer so that part was pretty obvious. That 3/8 Pittsburgh at HF is the only click style wrench I could find that adjusts below 120 lb-in, at least at a price I'm willing to pay. However, it has very mixed reviews, especially at the low range. And based on what I learned, even high price click wrenches may require calibration out-of-the-box.

A beam type wrench is inherently more accurate. I'm guessing you just have to go slow, being careful not to over-torque. I just found a used one on eBay with a very low range (the required torque for these bolts falls exactly mid-range). I didn't realize just how little 8.7 lb-ft of force is until I started researching this.

What's your take on using beam style wrench?

EJ8_Man

I am an engineer, among other things. I understand the desire for perfectionism, and our limitations as humans to achieve it.

I tested my HF torque wrenches after abusing them for a year, and they where accurate to 5%. Which is good enough on a non load bearing 10mm bolt. The silicone is doing all the sealing, the bolt is simply insurance.

Your car is leaking because the silicone failed, not because your bolts failed. If you want the best tools on the market so be it, but for this repair the cheapest on the market will suffice... I use my cheap HF torque wrench on stuff like this, and expensive tools on things that matter like engine internals.

Beam wrenchs are more accurate and more reliable. I still use my grand fathers beam wrenches that are 60 years old with confidence. I use click wrenches as well. I use digital wrenchs to calibrate the click wrenches. There is nothing wrong with any of these when used correctly

EJ8_Man

I am an engineer, among other things. I understand the desire for perfectionism, and our limitations as humans to achieve it.

I tested my HF torque wrenches after abusing them for a year, and they where accurate to 5%. Which is good enough on a non load bearing 10mm bolt. The silicone is doing all the sealing, the bolt is simply insurance.

Your car is leaking because the silicone failed, not because your bolts failed. If you want the best tools on the market I understand fully, but for this repair the cheapest on the market will suffice... I use my cheap HF torque wrench on stuff like this, and expensive tools on things that matter like engine internals.

Beam wrenchs are more accurate and more reliable. I still use my grand fathers beam wrenches that are 60 years old with confidence. I use click wrenches as well. I use digital wrenchs to calibrate the click wrenches. There is nothing wrong with any of these when used correctly

ginahoy

Although I do tend to be a perfectionist, this is work I know nothing about so I try not to make presumptions. The ability to judge the merits of a particular procedure or method comes only through experience, and this business of torque wrenches is totally outside my experience. With such a low torque spec, I'm more worried about over-torquing (10 lb-ft out-of-spec has been reported multiple times for the HF wrench), and end up having to have the car towed from my remote location due to a botched repair. Ouch. I appreciate your wisdom and will go with the beam wrench.

Once question about the procedure... the book calls for removing the splash shield. I just looked under the vehicle and all I see underneath that general area is the frame. Is the splash shield oriented vertically, against the wheel well? This may become more obvious once I raise the car.

EJ8_Man

Fair enough. The splash shield attaches to the lower front bumper and wraps around the front of the car.

ginahoy

Turns out the drip was from a different vehicle so I put off the repair. The chain case cover definitely has a small leak, as evidenced by the obvious road grime around the cover, so I'm going ahead with the repair. I have a question.

The repair procedure I cited in my 2nd post came from an unrelated TSB... so I'm wondering if the splash guard removal is even necessary to access the chain case cover. I can't tell for sure until I get it on a lift, but it looks like the chain case cover bolts can be accessed from behind the wheel.

It would be helpful to know that in advance, since I may need to buy some spare fasteners if the splash guard is attached with the kind that can break. Thanks.

Smackin

Put it off for almost a year! You're definitely determined. On my '02 the splash shield attaches with the plastic fasteners - the kind that sometimes break. I think there's 2 or 3 that go in the wheel well, and the rest at the bottom of the bumper.

Which part is leaking on yours? I have an oil leak in the same area.

ginahoy

@Smackin, it's the chain case cover. Overall the engine is surprisingly clean, given the age, except for the cover and the area immediately surrounding it.

The only reason I mentioned removal of splash guard in an earlier post is because it was listed in a repair procedure I found (re: service bulletin 09-10, defective VTC actuator). But I'm thinking the splash guard had to be removed in that TSB to gain access to the lower pulley, not the chain case cover. It looks like the cover & 3 bolts can be accessed from behind the right front wheel, with steering fully rotated to the left. But I can't tell for sure until I get the car on a lift, thus my question. I'd rather not remove any more parts that I have to ;-)

ginahoy

Anyone??