Hi all,

Maybe someone here can help me. My Accord is a '01 V4 automatic. 176,xxx miles on it.

Not too long ago, I had my mechanic do a major service on the car. Pretty much timing belt, gaskets, seals, etc.

about a few months after that, I started to get a leak. I brought it back to him and he said he replaced the "rear main oil seal?

The leak stopped for a short time but came back. I just had it back to him last week and he said that he fixed it. I guess maybe he's not seeing where the leak is although I told him where it was.

Anyway, as you can see in my picture there is a leak. I spent the day today pin pointing the area, etc.

Today I degreased the undercarriage, oil pan, etc. where I could see wet oil, etc. I then put UV dye in the oil and drove around a bit. Seems that the leak happens when I'm actually driving the car more so than when I'm just idling. I could not find any dye anywhere else under the car except the area in the picture.

The area in the picture is at the bottom of the timing belt cover? I think. It's near the bottom fly wheel near the left front tire.

Can anyone tell me what oil seal is located behind that cover? Any idea's why the leak is happening?

I know my car has high mileage, but it's still running good. No major issues yet.

I'm using 5W-20 Full Synthetic Oil

Thanks

 

Good job putting UV dye in the oil. Excellent method of finding leaks.

As to the source, it could be the oil pan gasket, front crank seal, balance shaft drive oring, front balance shaft seal, cam seal or valve cover gasket.

The Rear Main Seal is located between the engine and transmission. Unless the engine or transmission was removed for this procedure it is unlikely that seal was actually replaced. More likely he meant the Front Crank Seal. That seal is located behind the lower timing belt sprocket.

Realistic posibilities; The mechanic screwed up a seal replacement and scratched a shaft or a seal bore. The mechanic did not replace the seal that was actually leaking. The valve cover gasket wasn't sealed properly and is letting oil run down the front of the engine. The oil pan gasket is leaking.

If the timing covers are removed the leak should be easy to find since you put dye in the oil. Good job on your part.

 

Thanks phootbag for the reply and help.

I have checked the valve cover, the tranny area, the oil pan seal, etc. I could not find any leaks anywhere else.

The area in the picture is the only place I found it.

Looks to be seeping out between the bottom of the black cover and the metal.

Today I think I'm going to get under the car one more time, clean the area's again and run it again just to triple check.

I'm just not sure if I should go to another mechanic because I've already paid for the repairs and don't want to pay another few hundred.

Is the black cover in the picture the timing cover? Are there oil seals inside of there?

I was also thinking about trying something like "No-Leak" to see if that would help, but I'm waiting to talk to my mechanic first.

 

If you put dye in the oil you should be able to use a UV light and UV glasses to identify the source. Once you remove the timing covers you should be able to see exactly where the oil is coming from. This will prevent you from spending unecessary money and time.

Whether or not you trust this mechanic to continue working towards fixing this leak is up to you. Mechanics with integrity stand behind their work.

 

I would avoid additives "designed" to stop leaks.

 

i agree i dont see the value and they dont work it just waste of money

 

Thanks for all the replies!

Well, to start, I spent Saturday and a little of Sunday, wiping the leak areas. Making sure I was not missing anything then run the car slowly down the block again and again and then rechecking.

So far I have determined that I have a small leak from the oil pan seal now. I do know that I have a small leak coming from the bottom of the timing belt cover.

I talked to my mechanic today and informed him of my findings. He said that he will have to open the timing cover and reinspect again using the dye.

(He should have done this himself already, considering that he states he replaced the seal 3 times already. Which was not extra cost to me except the rental for the day)

Anyway, he said that it could be the crank shaft? If it is the crank shaft, would that mean the engine needs to be replaced or is there a sleeve inside besides the seal that may need to be replaced?

I did some googling and found that it could be something as simple as the timing cover being cracked. It could also be the PCV valve, I found that pinching the tube should make the valve click. I pulled the valve and it rattles fine. But if clogged it could cause pressure build up which could force a leak?

I'm hoping not to have to fork out hundreds more.

And if I may ask, is it ok to be running full synthetic oil in the car? Running 5W20

Thanks again to everyone who helps!

 

Synthetic won't matter. I put Castrol "dinosaur" oil in my 275k mi 94 accord and it still runs like new.

If the guy put a crank seal in it and the crank shaft has a scratch in it, it was probably caused by him, assuming it wasn't leaking this bad before the job was done. I would tell him, considering the circumstances, you want to see for yourself what he finds when the covers are removed. At this point it is worth the trouble.

If the crankshaft is scratched you can SOMETIMES position the seal a bit forward/backward to keep the seal from resting on the scratch. If not, yes, the engine needs to be replaced or at least have a new crankshaft put in it.

Personally, I prefer to leave seals alone unless they actually need to be replaced. The most experienced techs can easily scratch a shaft/bore.

I have a customer driving around right now with dye in their oil. They are coming back for a Tbelt job and have an oil leak.

 

Update: So my mechanic looked at the car again today. The leak is actually coming from the balance shaft. he said that it looks like he is going to have to replace the balance shaft. The good news is that if he has to do so, it will be on his dime.

Anyway, I think that during some of my searches, I might have seen things such as "Repair Sleeves" are there such things? If so, can someone tell me how they work and where I might find them?

Thanks

 

 

=Boy, does your story hit close to home!

I have the same problem, except my honda accord is 1991 and about 6 years ago my mechanic change the timing blet, water pump and gaskets and oil seals. Upon getting it back discoverd a slow but consistent oil leak. Bottom line, the mechanic somehow nick/scratched the crank shaft while replacing the oil seal.

The first two times I returned the car to him he tried replacing the seal with genuine Honda seals - still leaked.

The thrid time he tried adding s teflon simms to behind the seal and also replaced the timimg belt a second time since it was being bathed in oil.

Bottom line, it still leaks (about 3 - 5 drops per night in the garage). The amount is small but annoying; you see, I keep the engine and garage clean. I initially pin-pointed the leak by obeserving it coming from the bottom of the lower plastic belt cover. This allowed the mechanic to search in the correct location. I heard that oil deteriorates rubber and since he could not seal the leak I feared that the timing belt would snap; therefore , took matters into my own hands. I drilled a small hole into the bottom of the lower value cover; thus creating a drain to allow the oil to escape easily. To this day, the leak is still there, in fact a little worse. It looses about 1/2 quart every 2 -3 weeks.

Signed JW

 

I have performed repairs to engines that were damaged by techs in the manner you just described. In most cases I was able to position the seal on either side of the scratch, either further in or further out.

If the scratch is too long the component needs to be replaced. I would never let a shop walk away from creating a permanent and potentially catastrophic problem with my engine.

While I have a tremendous amount of experience replacing seals, I never made it standard practice when replacing timing belts simply because the shafts are extremely soft and it's easy to screw up and scratch them. The aluminum case is even softer and easier to damage. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. You just might break it in the process.