Hi guys

The car has been leaking a lot of oil and I can't see exactly where it's coming from but I have an idea after using degreaser.
I know very little about cars so please bear with me

When standing in front of the car, there is kind of a "black box" directly connected to the left side of the engine.
Everything underneath is basically covered with oil and below this box there is a metal pipe that makes a gradual right angle turn.
Basically right where the metal pipe bends is where the oil is leaking from.

What exactly do you think is the real cause of the leak and how can it be corrected?
I also know there is oil on the spark plugs if that helps.

I know I didn't give the best description but I hope someone can decipher what is going on here

If necessary I'll try and post a pic

 

are the spark plug wires connected to this black box?? if so, then your distributor o-ring is leaking. and the leak in the spark plugs could be two things. one of them could be the seals on the inside of the valve cover that go over the spark plug tubes, or it could be the cam tower o-rings. more than likely its the cam tower o-rings thats leaking into the spark plugs

 

Wow Kayos77 that is very helpful!
I can't believe someone understood my rambling lol

I believe the spark plug wires are connected to the black box but I would have to check.

So if it's the distributor o-ring how hard is it to fix on your own?

Thanks Kayos!

I'll also try and let you know tomorrow if the spark plug wires are going into that black box

 

Hi Kayos

Thanks, yes it is the one with spark plug wires connected to the black box.

How would the O-Ring for the distributor be replaced?

 

haha, this "black box" is the distributor cap. Sorry, I was reading thinking, what is this "black box" he keeps going on about. anyways...

if oil is leaking under the distributor and not inside it, just replace the o-ring. It's pretty simple, unbolt the distributor from the head and pull it out. No need to mark the position of the distributor since it's ODB2 and shouldn't be adjustable. Once the distributor is removed from the head you'll see a small o-ring on the shaft of the distributor. Pull the old one off, install the new one and reassemble everything.

For the oil leaking into the spark plug tubes, I would first try the upper tube seals since those are the easiest to replace. But a valve cover gasket set, remove the valve cover, flip it over and pop out the tube seals, lightly coat the outside of the new ones with oil to ease install and install the new ones, replace the valve cover gasket and reinstall everything. Be sure to get all the oil out of the spark plug tubes and check back on it to see if your leak is fixed or not. If not, you'll have to go further and replace the lower o-rings which is a more in depth repair but there is a how-to on this in the FAQ.

Part #6 is the distributor o-ring.
Part #2 is the distributor cap (aka black box )


Part #1 is the valve cover gasket set which includes part #7 which is the upper tube seals.


Part #19 is the lower o-ring for the spark plug tubes.


Also, remove the distributor cap and look for oil inside. If there is oil inside you'll want to replace the internal seal. There is a how-to for this as well in the FAQ.

 

TouringAccord!

Wow, thank you. That is very helpful!

 

Ok sorry to take this off topic guys but I don't know if this is related.

The o-ring has not been replaced yet and yesterday the car started smoking. I can see radiator fluid on the top of the radiator and there is also smoke coming from near the fans on the radiator which is definitely burning coolant.

I can't see any obvious leaks in the hose and in the past the radiator hose had to be replaced because it burst and I wonder if this oil leak is what originally caused the radiator hose to burst.

Does anyone have any idea what the source of this burning coolant and smoke is?
I know the car is not overheating if that helps and if I turn on the AC fan the smoke seems to disappear because both fans will turn on.