I took my car to the mechanic to have a oil pan gasket installed and he tells me that since I had one done this year already he does'nt think I need one. The problem is I am loosing oil from somewhere and bad (about a quart every 4-5 days). The mechanic says its wet around the timing belt cover and could be the camshaft seal, is that a big job or no? Also, what other seals do I need to replace along the way? Does anyone have a suggestion on gaskets of a certain brand? He also says it could be an oil pressure switch on the back of the block, where would you start? Sorry, the vehicle is a 1990 Honda accord with a F22a1 engine that has been ran very hard!

 

I would first do the PCV valve, cheap and easy fix, but can eliminate possible more leaks from forming. I would do the cam gear seal, then maybe timing cover gasket, valve cover gasket set. You really need to just find where all the leaks are coming from, and replace the gasket its leaking. A really easy way to do it is to wipe a leak area off, go for a small drive, and see if the leak is coming from that area, or dripping down from a higher area. I had the same cam gear seal leak on the timing side, and I had no idea where it was coming from. It is also possible that you may be actually just burning oil. If the engine was run very hard, the rings could be worn out that they are leaking oil to the combustion chamber and it is being burnt.

 

There would be blue smoke coming from the tailpipe if it was burning oil, but only black smokes comes out from the cat. delete.

 

Replacing your cam seal is sorta of big job because it requires you to remove timing & balancer belt, remove your rocker arm assembly, and then remove your camshaft to get the seal off. So it'll take up about some good hours to do everything and double checking your work so timing isn't off while trying to fight to put on the T-Belt.

I would do water pump, timing & balancer belt if those haven't been done. Also, I would do front main seal, front balancer seal, and tensioners(if has not been done). These are important and will serve the engine a long life. I might go bisimoto stage 2 non vtec cam(Doesn't require valvetrain upgrade; only recommended) as well if I have the dough and since everything is out already.

 

i agree with the second part of what tamadrummer1120 said, you need a step by step process of elimination. clean everything up, drive and then look for fresh leakage. PCV is also a good idea. easiest thing to replace and cheaper than the qt. of oil you're putting in.

(there are also UV dye kits available, but i wouldn't suggest spending the money unless you plan to fix several cars with this problem)

i can give you a list of possibly leak points if you want to check them (lists are very helpful for me...):

rear main seal
front crank seal
camshaft seal
front balance shaft seal
rear balance shaft o-ring
distributor o-ring
internal distributor seal
valve cover gasket (VC o-rings and rocker o-rings would leak into the plug tubes)
oil pressure sending unit

anyone feel free to ammend my list if i've left anything out.

 

Yeah Hondamark is very correct on all of those. I mean I have seen a lot of those gaskets just leak over a period of time if the car is not maintained. And if there was one I would be worried about, its that distributor seal, that can not only kill the dizzy, but eliminate the possibility of the car even starting. All for a simple seal leaking.

Good list brotha!!

 

I had a big puddle of oil every morning under my 91 accord. It stopped after replacing the oil pressure sensor. Is easy to replace, is right above oil filter (oil filter has to be removed to access). The rubber boot on the switch will probably be rock hard and will need to be broken off (just compress with a pair of pliers). Switch is less than $10 at autozone.

 

you don't have to remove the cam to remove the seal

 

First of all thanks to everyone who took the time to help out. I just got back from the mechanic (after cleaning my engine last night at 12:30) and he has confirmed it is the oil pressure sensor (thanks dafang)! Also nus dogg I think I'll try the upgrade on the camshaft. I wont need to change out ecu or anything will I?

 

Op, if you are mechanically inclined you can change your oil pressure switch (oil pressure sensor) i'm assuming they are the same. Change your oil, remove filter and voila OPS, Fairly easy if you are mechaniccaly inclined. Socket size is on defangs post