Hello,

I was performing a routine oil change and i noticed some kind of fluid leak. I could not make out if it was coolant? engine oil? power steering fluid? I checked all my fluid levels and they looked fine.

I have circled in YELLOW the area that is damp of fluid as seen in the pictures.

The pictures i took were from the bottom of the passengers side look up where the serpentine belt is located. It starts below the valve cover so i know its not the gaskets of the valve cover.

I would really appreciate your input, advice or if anyone has any idea where do i go from here


Car has 192km.

 

Comparing the area you circled yellow below,


to the OEM parts diagram below that appears to be the oil pump area?

If possible, it may be prudent to hose down the area with brake clean, to clean off caked on oil debris, and then monitor said area to help pinpoint what may be leaking?

You don't specifically state the year and trim level of your RDX; therefore, an 07 5 Door TECH was used to demonstrate above.

 

Based on the underneath photos I think the leak could be coming from the spool valve. There's a gasket that hardens over time and leaks. I attached a photo of the gasket and the cylinder head area with the spool valve removed. I recently replaced this gasket on my car, it had a very similar trail of oil down the left side of the timing chain area looking in from the wheel well, similar to your photos.

 

You might be correct. I checked the valve cover and i see no signs of leaks. How would i get to that part and check. Where is it located exactly and how would i get to it?

 

Crankshaft pulley oil seal. Super easy to replace as long as you have a good impact or Honda's pulley tool. 19mm deep socket on the impact.

There's oil above that seal because it hits the pulley which splatters it all over that side of the engine. I replaced mine a few weeks ago.

 

You can get a better look for oil leakage by taking off the upper hose (exhaust manifold hose) heat shield cover by removing two bolts, see photo. This cover is located at the rear of the engine and the bottom bolt is kind of pain because there's limited space. I have more photos and notes if you plan on replacing the gasket.

 

Yes please do send me what you have. i appreciate it. I'll have a look today after work and verify the finding and/or take more better pictures.

I've been thinking long and hard on where the heck the leak is coming from. the top half of the engine is bone dry. But than i get a regional splash type of leak which does not help pin point the location of leak.

I can not see the Crankshaft seal so how would i verify that leak to be the point?

 

The spool valve gasket replacement is not a fast and easy job, there are some bolts that are really difficult to get to and challenging to get started when reinstalling covers.
You have to remove the innercooler and exhaust heat shield before you can get to the upper hose heat shield cover plate.
After the heat shield cover is removed the spool valve is attached to the engine with 3 bolts.
when you remove the three bolts there's a cover plate over the spool valve and a fourth side bolt that I removed and I should have left in place, it's a pain.
You have to move the cover plate back some to get the spool valve out, see my notes for what I'd do differently, I'd leave the side bolt in place and loosen the bottom bolt of the side cover through the wheel well. see photo and notes, this way the top bolt can stay in place and with the side cover place loose I think the cover plate over the spool valve can be rotated back some for clearanc to remove the spool valve.



Exhaust heat shield needs to be removed, flex head ratcheting box wrench really helps, rear and side bolts are removed by feel, can't see them well, all can be removed from the top reaching down for the side and rear bolts.




I removed the top exhaust manifold hose for better access but this is optional.




I tried to show the side bolt that connect the plate over the spool valve to the side cover and what gave me so much trouble. Once the three long bolts are removed from the spool valve this short side bolt still attaches the spool valve cover to the side plate and you need to move the spool valve cover back some to get the spool valve out. Instead of removing the top side bolt it might be easier to go through the wheel well and just loosen the lower bolt of the side cover to you rotate the two cover plates back some, see photo.




I included this information because I removed the side bolt and I removed the connector for more room, if you don't remove the side bolt you don't need to do this.




Some tools to make the job easier and even doable.