James Matteu Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Engine: C27A4 4spd Automatic Last week, I pressure washed the engine bay at a coin-operated car wash. After driving home from the coin-operated car wash, I found a small drop of coolant that collected right where I am pointing, see below. In the middle of that drop was a steady stream of small bubbles maybe a tenth of a millimeter in diameter. I figure I have a small pin-hole leak on the Radiator. It is so small ! I don't even know if I want to buy a new radiator just yet, I cannot imagine I am loosing that much coolant. Turtlehead and others, tell me what you think, change now or change later. I know the Oil Pan Gasket needs to be changed, but look at the oil coming from above, see the photo below. For reference, I am lying on my back looking up, the Oil Pan is in the foreground, center, and the Passenger Side CV Axle Half-Shaft is at the top of the photo. I am pretty sure that stream of oil is coming from a leaking Cylinder Head Gasket, see the photo below. Turtlehead and others, do you concur? For reference, I am lying on my back looking up, the Passenger Side CV Axle Half-Shaft is in the foreground, right, and the Rear Exhaust Manifold is the foreground, left. Aside from alittle oil above the Cylinder Head Gasket, the Cylinder Head is bone dry until you get to the Valve Covers, I've got other issues there. My question: could the Cylinder Head Gasket and the Oil Pan Gasket be letting this much oil out? See the photo below. Or could my Crankseal be failing as well. The last time I inspected the Crankseal Gasket about 5 months ago, it was bone dry, I just cannot imagine it would have failed so quickly. I bought a new Crankseal in anticipation of having to replace it only to find the majority of oil was coming from an old hard Oil Filter Base O-ring. I replaced the Oil Filter Base O-ring and decided to wait to see how much improvement I saw. You guys let me know if you concur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 Seriously, my last Accord had a oil leak like in the third photo, but I never took care of it. So I would really like for someone to confirm that this is what oil leaking from the Cylinder Head Gasket looks like. I know that sounds silly, but hearing a confirmation would make me feel better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 Hre are more photos for anyone that wants to say one of the valve cover gaskets are leaking. The first shot is of my Rear Head Cover Gasket, right where I spotted the small leak this weekend. You can see the top of the Rear Cylinder Head Side Cover. The second and third photos show the Rear Cylinder Head Side Cover from below; it is the same Rear Cylinder Head Side Cover you can see from above in the first photo. The Rear Cylinder Head Side Cover O-Ring was most recently changed and is pretty much dry. In the last photos, you will see the mess a 3mm crack in this Rear Cylinder Head Side Cover O-Ring caused; I was not able to reach all of the mess with the pressure washer. The fourth is there for continuity, it shows how we pan right and start to move down to the bottom of the Rear Cylinder Head. The fifth photo shows the bottom of the Rear Cylinder Head and the top of the Cylinder Block. The sixth photo shows more of the Cylinder Block while panning left and down. The seventh photo shows Cylinder block under the Rear Exhaust Manifold. See the mess in photo seven the Rear Cylinder Head Side Cover O-Ring caused when it failed? As I look at this sequence of photos, it almost seems as if the oil leak starts above the Rear Cylinder Head Gasket. It almost seems to start at the Timing Belt Backplate. Turtlehead, is this a bad Cam Seal? A bad Cam Seal fits the pictures better than a failing Cylinder Head Gasket. I went back and took another picture, this is of the Rear Cam Plug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted November 26, 2008 Author Share Posted November 26, 2008 I have looked at a bunch of photos of Civics and Integras leaking oil from various places. I never included pictures of the oil on the bottom of the transmission since I thought it was coming from the Distributor o-ring. After looking at all those oil leaks, I am confident I have a leaking Crankshaft Seal (transmission side) along with leaking: - Valve Cover Seals - Side Valve Cover Seal - Both Cam Seals - Cam plug - Distributor o-ring - Crankshaft Seal (Oil Pump Side) - and Oil Pan Gasket I seems that oil is leaking from pretty much everywhere except my rear side valve cover and the filler cap that is on top of my Valve Cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannaBstuntin Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Seriously, my last Accord had a oil leak like in the third photo, but I never took care of it. So I would really like for someone to confirm that this is what oil leaking from the Cylinder Head Gasket looks like. I know that sounds silly, but hearing a confirmation would make me feel better. Sorry, dude. I'd like to help you out, but you'd know better than I. Looks like you got it figured out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtlehead Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I don't see any pictures. Is the site not uploading them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hondahunter Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 they're loading 4 me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtlehead Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 James, check your messages when you get a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 Well, I got into it this weekend. The cam seals were definately shot. Once the backplates came off, it was real obvious. The distributor o-ring cracked away from the distributor in three pieces. I post pictures as soon as I have time, since... I have created another problem. I tried to do the job without properly removing the timing belt. I thought I could slide through the job (being lazy) by slipping the timing belt off one cam at a time. When I couldn't get the belt back onto the front cam sprocket, I left the sprocket off while doing the rear; I figured the slack in the timing belt would make things easier. I got that far when I realized I had now removed the timing belt off of both cams and had never bothered to set everything to Top Dead Center (TDC) before starting. Sooooo, I gave up at around 2 am. I put the cams where I "thought" they were and gave it whirl, of course it didn't start. Today I get to remove the timing belt, set everything to TDC, and reinstall the timing belt. I would have been done by now had I not tried to cut corners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtlehead Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 I guess you forgot to mark the cam to the timing belt. Oh well, I bet you wont do that again. Atleast it sounds like you found your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 Oh well, I bet you wont do that again. ^The understatement of the century. The car runs better now than it did before. It started so fast this morning, like it had a new battery. I think my front cam has been off by one tooth for the past few years. The last time I changed the timing belt, I noticed one cam would be off TDC by one tooth while the other (and the Crankshaft Pulley) sat dead on TDC. At the time, I didn't mess with it 'cause I was scared to change anything to do with timing. I figured it ran before changing the belt, so leaving everything as-is would ensure the car would run after changing the timing belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Matteu Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 ...I have a leaking Crankshaft Seal (transmission side) along with leaking: - Valve Cover Seals - Side Valve Cover Seal - Both Cam Seals - Cam plug - Distributor o-ring - Crankshaft Seal (Oil Pump Side) - and Oil Pan Gasket This past weekend, I changed the Crankshaft Seal (transmission side). It had a 2mm x 0.5mm crack on the inner circumference, I believe this is where the oil was getting out. Not mention the plastic had become hard and brittle. I changed the Oil Pan Gasket at the same time, it was pretty hard, but not brittle. To date, I have changed all the seals listed above except the Crankshaft Seal (Oil Pump Side), at least I do not have to remove the transmission to get to this one, phew! I will probably knock that out this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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