Oil dripping onto exhaust = smoke from under the hood. Here's what fixed it for me.
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From: San Diego, CA, USA
Oil dripping onto exhaust = smoke from under the hood. Here's what fixed it for me.
I've been trying to diagnose this problem for awhile and could never find any help online... so now that I've fixed it, I thought I'd leave some help for the next person.
I have a 1992 Prelude, but I've heard of the same thing happening on an Accord, and I suspect it probably applies to other Honda models as well.
Oil was dripping from the engine and making its way onto the exhaust, causing a bunch of nasty smoke to come from under the hood. I love my car, but was really beginning to hate that -- bad smell, couldn't drive with windows up, plus embarassing to have smoke coming from the engine.
It looked as if oil was leaking from the base of the oil filter. (Running down onto the oil pressure sensor, the axle, and exhaust.) I first tried tightening the filter, then replacing it making sure to get a good seal. No luck.
Turns out that the oil filter directly screws onto an oil cooler, which has an O-ring under it where it attaches to the rest of the engine. I don't have pictures, but the oil cooler is about a centimeter thick, circular like the filter, and has coolant hoses running in the side.
On my car anyway, you remove the oil filter and then unscrew the threads that the filter just unscrewed off of -- it's actually a sort of bolt that's holding the oil cooler on. Take the "bolt" out, and pivot the cooler away (no need to disconnect coolant hoses), revealing the O-ring in a groove. I had to pick mine out with a tiny screwdriver.
I'd bought a replacement from the dealer for $2.99 (yes it's probably a standard 10 cent o-ring, but 3 bucks isn't much, and it was guarenteed to fit and be the right type), installed it, and the leaking has finally stopped.
My car is at 150,000 miles, and the o-ring was getting hard and permanently flattened. (I suspect my car may not have had the rosiest past, unfortunately... so hard to tell if this mileage is typical for this problem.)
The guy at the parts counter spoke of it like it's a common problem for these to get old and leak, but I had never heard of it and couldn't find anything online about it, so I thought I'd share the info. (I've certainly gleaned a ton of help from other people who've done the same.) It's SO nice being rid of the smoke... and for a mere $3 and 15 minutes. Doesn't get much better than that.
Good luck to the rest of you.
I have a 1992 Prelude, but I've heard of the same thing happening on an Accord, and I suspect it probably applies to other Honda models as well.
Oil was dripping from the engine and making its way onto the exhaust, causing a bunch of nasty smoke to come from under the hood. I love my car, but was really beginning to hate that -- bad smell, couldn't drive with windows up, plus embarassing to have smoke coming from the engine.
It looked as if oil was leaking from the base of the oil filter. (Running down onto the oil pressure sensor, the axle, and exhaust.) I first tried tightening the filter, then replacing it making sure to get a good seal. No luck.
Turns out that the oil filter directly screws onto an oil cooler, which has an O-ring under it where it attaches to the rest of the engine. I don't have pictures, but the oil cooler is about a centimeter thick, circular like the filter, and has coolant hoses running in the side.
On my car anyway, you remove the oil filter and then unscrew the threads that the filter just unscrewed off of -- it's actually a sort of bolt that's holding the oil cooler on. Take the "bolt" out, and pivot the cooler away (no need to disconnect coolant hoses), revealing the O-ring in a groove. I had to pick mine out with a tiny screwdriver.
I'd bought a replacement from the dealer for $2.99 (yes it's probably a standard 10 cent o-ring, but 3 bucks isn't much, and it was guarenteed to fit and be the right type), installed it, and the leaking has finally stopped.
My car is at 150,000 miles, and the o-ring was getting hard and permanently flattened. (I suspect my car may not have had the rosiest past, unfortunately... so hard to tell if this mileage is typical for this problem.)
The guy at the parts counter spoke of it like it's a common problem for these to get old and leak, but I had never heard of it and couldn't find anything online about it, so I thought I'd share the info. (I've certainly gleaned a ton of help from other people who've done the same.) It's SO nice being rid of the smoke... and for a mere $3 and 15 minutes. Doesn't get much better than that.
Good luck to the rest of you.
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MartyA75074
Honda Accord & Crosstour (2003 - 2012)
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Sep 13, 2010 11:39 AM
