Hello everyone!

We have a 4cyl 2000 Accord that is POURING out oil. The motor has 220k miles and an auto transmission.
I am mechanically inclined but have a very limited knowledge of piston engines (Ive been working on rotaries for 10+years)

It is leaking from the left side (Drivers) of the engine. I thought it was the valve cover gasket and replaced that since it has never been replaced, but that didnt solve it. After completely cleaning the engine from the top down, I found the leak.

This view is from left fender to right fender. Note the oil cap for reference. The circled area is where the oil is coming from. I couldnt get a good view into the recess but a mirror just showed oil pouring out from the crevice.


I took my phone and shoved it in there to take this picture. This is from the back of the engine (firewall side viewing forward to front of car where the top of the image is also the valve cover. ) I have circled the area that the oil is coming out of and running down the flat portion of the engine. The oil is POURING out, just at idle.


If any of you recognize why its leaking and also to help me understand the parts of the engine, I might have a better idea as to what Im looking at.
Also, please let me know if this is a difficult repair or not.
Ive read over the DIY on timing belt/water pump etc repair and I know I am definitely capable of doing that repair because the poster made it so clear. I have a feeling Ill be doing that with this repair also. But, if this leak is something that is more involved internally to the engine, I might not try to tackle it myself.

Any help is greatly appreciated! The earlier I can get this repaired, the earlier my brother can stop borrowing my car haha.

 

This is what a timing belt kit looks like for your car. Notice there are several seals. Anytime you have oil leaks coming from the timing belt area, it's a good bet those seals are the culprit. Thats why it's common to change them with the rest of the goodies (water pump, tensioners, etc) while you're doing the timing belt. Hope this helps......

 

Based on the location, it could be a cam seal. Thoughts, HT?

 

Cam seal is your best bet. It's the only one that far up on the motor that could leak large amounts of oil.

 

Thanks for the reply supracord. I think its because I'm a trial member, I cant actually click on that image. haha It looks like a lot of seals though.

What seal do you think has failed that would cause my leak?

 

Ahh, Thanks for the input Chikin.

Would that repair be difficult? Im going to start searching for DIYs to replace that

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...light=cam+seal

This person has the exact same problem it looks like! haha.

But no post was ever made to tell us what was wrong or how it was repaired =(

 

Well, unfortunately the cam seal is, obviously, on the cam, which means you'll have to mess with timing a bit. It's beyond my skill, but as long as you're taking off the timing belt, you may want to replace it.