Yesterday I noticed a leak on the pavement after I backed away. I went in for some further examination and it looked like old motor oil (Black or dark brown when you see it on the ground and when it is on your finger; brownish). It leaks pretty heavily, but I notice no change in oil levels on my dipstick. Plus, I just changed my oil two days ago, and the oil is still looking brand new on the stick.

Someone told me that maybe my rear main seal has gone bad. That is the seal on the crankshaft. Is that the correct assumption? Has this happened to anybody?

If I leave that unfixed for a couple months would it damage anything? I have some pics of it for you...



Thanks for any and all help guys!

 

yeah, looks like main seal, is it comming from inside the tranny?, its not comming from the oil pan gasket right?

 

as gar as I can tell without taking the tranny off, yes it is from the tranny.

Would this cause any damage to anything? I should keep an eye on my oil level right? Also, does anyone know what is involoved in repairing this seal? I may end up having to do this myself When I change my transmission.

 

mines been leaking for a while now (200k+ on d16z6 in 89 CRX Si). I just check the oil periodically and keep the revs down that way it doesn't leak as much. If you are going to do it you might as well change the clutch while you are at it since you will be right there at it (that is if you haven't changed the clutch yet). For a two dollar part it sure is more labor intensive than the part is worth. I would go ahead if you haven't and change the front main seal, and any other easily accesible oil seals that are under pressure. I'm putting mine off because i'm taking the motor out and putting something else in later and i'm slack and have no time. Have fun

 

Well I have eliminated rear main seal being bad....I checked my transmission fluid today and there was NONE in there. Im suprised it even went into gear!

I filled it back up with some transmission fluid (10W-30 Mobil1 synthetic motor oil ) I heard you arent supposed to use motor oil, but I read in my haynes manual to use it so I had it on hand and I used it. Goes into gear a lot easier...its a bitch to get into 1st and does a small grind into 5th.....

But anywyas.............

I stil have a leak where the pic is showing it at. Its a fairly quick leak too. I get a puddle within minutes.

Anyone know what the culprit is?
Thanks

EDIT: I haev been watching my oil level and it is perfect...no change in it. Only tranny fluid is leaking.

 

Imput shaft seal of you could have cracked the housing. Im leaning towards the imput shaft seal.

 

Input shaft seal? Isnt that where the axel goes into the tranny? Or is that on the inside where the flywheel cover is? That is where my leak is. Thanks.

 

Input shaft...the piece that sticks into your clutch...the seal is gone there. My car leaked horribly too there. My input shaft bearing went out, took out the seal with it, and the oil saturated my clutch and took it out too [all in a matter of about an hour of driving]. Upon taking down the transmission, the bearing exploding also took the main shaft, oil guides, and a few of the gears with it...it trashed the entire tranny. But you would have heard your bearing go out if that was the case...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B16CRXT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I filled it back up with some transmission fluid (10W-30 Mobil1 synthetic motor oil ) I heard you arent supposed to use motor oil, but I read in my haynes manual to use it so I had it on hand and I used it.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Generally speaking, most people say you shouldn't use synthetic motor oil in a transmission. Too slippery. On the other hand, GM synchromesh seems to be highly rated around here, and that stuff is like water. I personally just use Honda MTF fluid, but may switch to Syncromesh one of these days.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DaX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Input shaft...the piece that sticks into your clutch...the seal is gone there. My car leaked horribly too there. My input shaft bearing went out, took out the seal with it, and the oil saturated my clutch and took it out too [all in a matter of about an hour of driving]. Upon taking down the transmission, the bearing exploding also took the main shaft, oil guides, and a few of the gears with it...it trashed the entire tranny. But you would have heard your bearing go out if that was the case...</TD></TR></TABLE>
DAMN! That sux bad man. I feel for ya. Well, mine is driveable, and I have been driving it like this for about a week. I guess I need to go to Honda and tell them to replace my input shaft seal? What seal do I tell them to use? a 95 del sol DOHC vtec, 91 Integra GS, or 99Civic Si?

Thanks again!

 

The seal for your tranny. Which tranny do you have? It's probably a cross referenced part too [same part for many of the trannys]. If you're any kind of DIY guy, it's not hard to replace yourself.

 

My tranny is a JDM S1. I love DIY! The only problem is that all I have are jack stands and no tranny jack or anything of the sort. How would I get it out and down? I have a feeling I am going to have to replace the clutch at the same time, which if I can get the tranny off, that would be no problem.

 

Put the car on stands. Remove your exhaust manifold [header]. Place a jack and piece of 2x4 under the shallow part of the oil pan [where the header would be]. Support the engine with this. Remove the tranny mount and rear engine mount and everything connecting to the tranny [including starter]. Remove tranny bolts, tilt engine down, slide tranny off. Putting it back in can be a pita, but it can be done [even one man...i have done it by myself but it sucked].

Good luck. Once you get the tranny open, you'll see it isn't that bad...especially since you won't be tearing down the shafts. Just follow the helm!