I'm at my wit's end. been fighting this oil leak since the day i fired the motor up for the first time. It seems to be seeping between the pan and the gasket, all the way around the back of the motor, from pulley to fly wheel. the front is dry, it's just the back that is leaky.

I've replaced the pan twice, countless oil pan gaskets, rear main twice, tried the gasket with silicone on the corners like Honda says, tried putting it on twice, tried using just silicone no gasket (yeah... don't do that). i don't know what else to do. the o ring in my oil cooler is about a year old, same with the breather box o ring, which is also silicone'd, and my oil pressure t doesn't appear to be leaking either. this is the only thing keeping me from getting tuned.

I don't think that i'm over tightening my oil pan when i install it, i go in a criscross pattern just like my helms says to, starting in the middle and going around front back front back etc. till they're all snug. when i install the new gasket i made sure all the old gasket/silicone is scraped off, then use lacquer thinner or brake cleaner to clean up the mating surfaces before i install the new gasket. pan seems pretty strait.

The gaskets i'm using are oem o rings, Felpro rear main set, and a Knecht's idk what brand oil pan gasket that said not to use any silicone in the instructions but it does not have the metal rivets like oem


here are some pix:













sorry pix aren't the best, i'm a pretty big guy and it's hard to get the right angles under there >.<

 

From your last picture, I think I see a leak that's not on your pan.
I think it's your oil filter

 

hmmmmmm didn't notice that. figured it was just my axle flinging oil around. gonna ditch that oil cooler any ways

 

What spec are you torquing the oil pan bolts/nuts to?

 

Oil never goes up, filter or cooler or the fitting for the pressure switch is leaking.

 

My initial reaction/suspicion is the same as "4drEF," that's what immediately caught my eye as I scrolled down.

 

You probably already know but when installing an oil filter it is important to put some oil on your finger and rub it around the rubber seal on the filter. This prevents the rubber from burning or drying out. Hope this helps. If you already did this try using an oil filter wrench to tighten it slightly. I normally only do it by hand without it leaking.

 

Agree with the oil filter pic. Also didn't mention using a torque wrench on the pan bolts, though I don't think that's the problem.

 

you guys are right i have not been using a torque wrench, if anything i'm over tightening them, which could be a problem as well since that would squish the gasket out causing leaks right?. i'll pull off the sandwhich plate and re install a non oil cooler bolt and see if leaks go away.

jpnolan, yeah i dip them in oil before installing, i'm using oem oil filters which seem to come some what pre lubed as well, however i run a small film of oil around the o ring any ways. i spin them on finger tight then hand tighten them till it wont spin any more. normally it's a bitch to get them back off when i change my oil, so i didn't think they could go tighter with out crushing the filter, it's almost like they lock into place?

if anything i figured that oil was being flung around a little bit as the crank rotates around (i do redline it a lot), i know the counter balances don't sit in the reserve oil but oil has to drain from the bearings some how right?

 

bummer man =/
I read you following a proper shop manual and assumed you were using a torque wrench.
Oil pan torque is really low and yes, you are correct that over tightening can lead to leaks.

 

When you fix it post results, I'm curious to know what it is.

 

thought i'd update this a little bit, i pulled off my filter and my oil cooler, block, while a bit dirty (i haven't washed the back of my motor since building it 3 or so years ago) it is dry where the t fitting or oil sensor would be leaking if it were. also, oil cooler o ring is still in good shape, so i'm thinking i just squished my oil pan gasket all to hell

 

well after driving around tonight, it's still leaking, my friend thinks it's my breather box. more specifically he thinks the box may have split apart some where? i'm going to get one from the yard tomorrow to rule it out

 

I'm gonna go with you oil pan gasket. I had a very similar leak and I had to buy a new oil pan to get it to seal right
Hope this helps

 

could always use some hondabond on the pan. How hard are you beating the car? You shouldnt have that much oil accumlating in the breather box if just going down the street and back....

 

regarding the oil pan gasket, i'd opt for this to rule it out for good
http://myhondahabit.com/index.php/my...an-gasket.html

as far as torqing goes, i go by feel rather than using a tq wrench and never had a problem with leaks

now as far as pinpointing the leak, i'd personally get a uv flourescent leak kit. all the guess work is taken out and no more running around

 

Here's another option on the oil pan gasket...can't remember if they're cheaper or not
http://js-products.webs.com/

 

updating this: replaced my oil pan gasket again, and did it like the manual said, torqued to 10ish foot pounds. i had to guess by hand because my torque wrench wasn't clicking on my oil pan bolts so i tested it on a stationary bolt that was torqued a lot more. i used a crappy duralast inch pound wrench.

any ways it's still leaking, but looks like it's coming from the oil filter/cooler. so i'm going to remove that tomorrow and run a filter right off the block how it was origonaly intended to be. the rest of the pan is dry, accept from where its under the oil filter and running about a little bit, and there's oil built up on the filter and the cooler.

 

Oil coolers are famous for leaking, and rarely help.

 

i too am leaking oil right now. i have yet to determine the location.

but i am going to buy the UV dye and see how things go. you might want to try the UV dye as well to see where its comming from before doing something else.

 

thanks that's my plan if the cooler delete doesn't fix it. good luck fixing yours!