I have a 2001 Acura Integra LS with 92,000 miles on it. I was looking under the hood today and noticed black grime on the bottom of the block where the header is. There was this black tar like oil grime all across the bottom of the black. I scrapped most of it off, but need to take the header heat shield off to get the rest.

What is going on?

 

Anyone know?

 

Did this just start to occur???

 

What is the highest point on the engine that has oil on it? Is the valve cover leaking?

 

I don't think this just ocurred. Oil doesn't look old at all, and could be months or even years of buildup. Doesn't really smell like oil either, but seems like there may be sand or some of grit stuff in it.

Valve cover is not looking and I also looked at cam plug, but did not see any oil running down that side. In fact I have never ever seen oil on my garage floor and oil is never low.

The oil is on a ledge on teh block beneath where the dipstick goes. I would say lowest point on the block.

 

If you look where the dipstick goes into. You see a ledge there, that is where the sludge buildup is.

 

if it looks clean above the area of the dip stick it should be your oil pan gasket