Good morning folks! I have a (very) slow oil leak I believe is coming out of my rear main on a 2004 Civic. I have seen a plethora of "magical" (chemical) products that claim to do everything between sealing up blown head gaskets and stopping oil leaks, but as a mechanic I have never used any of them as I feel it's just best practice to replace the failing parts. I did, however, use Marvel Mystery Oil once on my 1998 Chevy S10 and it stopped the hydraulic valve lifter tick, and it has not come back after 10 years. But I don't know if MMO reconditions seals, or even if it would even be the best seal reconditioner if it does.

I would tear apart the engine and replace the rear main, but I think this car may very well be retiring to that highway in the sky soon, and I really don't want to take the time. The oil leak is very slow...no more than 1 quart per 1,000 freeway miles which is about every month. As I said, I have zero experience with seal reconditioners, so I have no clue which ones (if any) will actually do the trick. I dont want to just google it because last time I googled an additive for one of my engines I ended up using Seafoam. Come to find out Seafoam is alcohol based and is a terrible thing to put in your engine in the quantities they recommend, which is why I am here.

Has anyone had any success with any seal reconditioners, or has anyone had a catastrophic failure as a result of using any? Any experiences shared regarding this is most appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

 

Not really.

 

My daughter's 01 Civic had a bad oil leak. I tried this stuff after seeing Derek of Youtube channel Vice Grip Garage use it successfully.

edit: it worked great.

 

Yeah, it's called putting in the work and replacing the failed seals and gaskets.

 

That's actually what the guy at the parts counter said to try...it's a very small oil leak, so I will try it, thanks!

 

C'mon Derek, if you read my post you will see that this car isn't worth my time to pull the engine and replace the seal. I always do the work and replace the part, hence after 30 years of mechanicing I still have not used any of those "magic" seal fixes.