Hello everyone.

1999 Honda Accord Ex Automatic Transmission, 2.3L 4 cyl, totally stock everything.

I replaced my axle seals the other night, drove around, seemed fine, came back, saw there were still drips on the flloor, figured I put the seal in wrong. this is the axle seal on the drivers side (left side of transmission). I got under there, certainly looked like oil all over the seal area, but the seal didn't look wet, but I figured it was an optical illusion. So, took everything apart, removed the axle and seal, cleaned it up. But just for a sanity check, I was able to now reach my arm above where the axle normally is,and stick my hand over the top and touch the "top" of the transmission there. And....there was oil (or fluid of some kind, seems dark like oil, trans fluid still seems pretty red in my car, fluid changed about 5000 miles ago). So I thought...hmmm....maybe it's not the seal. I got out from under, came over and looked from the top, sticking my hand in there to see if I could feel any more oil, and yes, I can feel oil on this "sensor" (put in quotes because I think it's a sensor, part of why I am here asking a question). But man, it's not easy to see, it's on the back side of the engine (sorta) and seems to be plugged into the transmission. I've provided a few pics and a trans diagram of the sensors to see if I can get some help here to figure out what this is, and more importantly, does this leak or could there be something else further away. I checked the distributor, no leak from it that I can see that's dripping down, so I don't think this is the usual suspects, but hey I'm puzzled so any thoughts are good on this one. It seems to have only a thin black wire coming out of it, not a series of wires, just one black wire.

As you can see in the pictures, it's below the green plug but slightly further back, seems to have tape on it and seems to be wet with oil. If this isn' the leak, what else is in that area that would drip down and appear at the axle seal area below?
I took one pic further away to give perspective as to where I am looking. The diagram shows a "clutch pressure switch" in the general area, but would this leak? And, what could be above that switch if it's dripping onto the wires?





Any ideas?

 

That doesn't look like the pressure switch, not sure what that is.





This is the 2nd gear pressure switch.

 

OK, help me think it out from a different direction: is there anything in that area that leaks oil? The head? I think I am going to need a boroscope to see in there.

 

If there is an oil leak from anything, VC, dist, sloppy oil change, pretty much anything, the air flow around there is a bit goofy and oil can be blown all over. Oil from a leaky distributor can wick along the underside of that heater core hose that goes to the head under the distributor.
Best thing to do is get some simple green, spray it down with cleaner when warm, let it sit and then hose it down. Go for a drive and see if any fresh oil shows up.

 

Yeah, true. However, I have it up on jackstands and no axle on one side, so I think I will "drive" it on the jackstands slowly to see if it's easier to spot. Before anyone says anything, there are now like 8 jackstand and 2 jacks under there to make sure nothing happens. I'm not going to race it, just run the car and see if I can spot the leak. I did sit there and clean it this afternoon with the simple green, as you have sugested before. Thanks. Will update once I figure it out or if the boroscope shows me anything new that I can't understand.

 

Take off the air intake tube and take some photos from different angles. There are only so many sensors, solenoids, switches, etc.

 

Well, I put the borocope camera in there and it cleared up where the leak is coming form. By bringing the camera underneath the intake area, I see that it appears to be leaking from both the Spool valve gasket and the Vtech oil pressure. I guess those gaskets and o-rings must have finally given out. Picking up new ones today at the dealer and hopefully that's the leak. Appreciate the thoughts, as was said above, there are only so many sensors and areas it should normally be leaking from.

If that's the worst of it, I am happy. Now I can put the axle back in and get this guy back on the road.

 

So it turned out it needed three things, all leaking from same general area: o ring from VTEC Oil Pressure, Vtec Spool on top and side. The rubber was dried and hard, and completely flat from all those years. Just to be safe I also put in one more axle seal as well, since I had pulled the axle to look at it.

Finally, no leaks again. That was a very interesting trail of oil that led me on a bit of a chase. I should have known to start at the top and then work my way down, but it was so deceptive that it was coming off the axle seal location.

Anyway, all's well that ends well.

 

Glad to hear you fixed it. Although mine is a manual transmission, I make notes of threads like this since I also have a 1999 Accord EX. Mine could certainly have the same VTEC system leaks. Rubber dried and hard can cause so many troubles. I've heard that's a common point of failure in 2-stroke engine carburetors.

Any kind of leak can be deceptive and tough to pinpoint. When I see a leak from my garage ceiling it doesn't necessarily mean the hole in the roof is directly above it since the water can flow then drip.