I just bought a 96 TL2.5 with 128K. Oil is leaking from the engine compartment at a rate of 4 or 5 drops a day ever since I brought it home. It typically drips more when the engine is running. Since it is now blown everywhere underneath, it is hard to find where it is coming from (it is definetly oil not Trans fluid).
Is this a typical problem? Is there a place where these oil leaks typically occur on these cars?
Thanks.

 

Read the post on common 1st Gen. problems. I seem to remember some oil leak problems. I've had several oil leaks; distributor oring seal, (not fixed) the oil filter base, and valve cover to spark plug tube seals.

Oil filter base is very difficult to access, but I believe others have managed to repair w/o removing the intake manifold.

good luck

 

Make sure that the old O-ring for the oil filter was removed properly. Some CR-Vs had the old ring stick to the block after an oil change, causing an engine fire. You wouldn't have that problem because of the location of the filter, but the cause of those engine fires was the leaking oil dripping onto the exhaust manifold.

~Cheers~

P.S. Welcome to the boards.

 

Thanks,

There is an oil leak at the distributor. How hard is it to replace that seal? Can the distributor be removed without moving the engine? (Clearance issues?)

There is also oil on the block near the oil filter, but the oil filter seal is good. I can't tell if there is a leak or oil from the last change, or from behind the filter where the filter base attaches to block (nearly impossible without removing the intake manifold).

Thanks for any guidance or help!!,
Matt Mitchell.

 

You will need to remove the battery to gain access. Remove the spark plug and coil leads. Disconnect distributor electrical connection. A couple of bolts hold the distributor in place. Oring is on shaft of distributor. Get an OEM oring. It should take about an hour to replace.

Make sure you know your radio code before doing this as you will need to enter the code to enable radio to function.

good luck

 

Thanks for your instructions, it was really quite easy to remove and replace the o-ring. However, I am still getting leaks from the distributor somewhere. When I feel the heat shield there is oil on my hand. I don't know where else it would leak. I did not see any oil coming out of the vent hole in the distributor cap so I don't think oil got in there. I noticed in the service manual that there are 2 other o-rings on the shaft between thrust washers. Can these be replaced or do I need to buy an entire new distributor? Even if these are the problem, where would it leak from? I would think the only other place would be from the cap and I don't see any oil.

I really wan't to fix this it is driving me crazy and my driveway is a mess.

Thanks!!!

 

I'm going from memory, but the distributor shaft is solid, so only path for oil to enter the distributor is by the shaft oring. You may have oil already in the distributor that needs to drain. Also you could be leaking from the valve cover just above the distributor.

I'll take a look at this at home this evening and post again, if I find anything to help.

Did you use an Acura Oring? I remember the oring tolerances as pretty loose and wondered at the time if it would seal. It could be you need a slightly thicker oring.

good luck

 

Well maybe I changed the wrong oring. I replaced the oring on the distributor body that fits into the head. I used the Honda OEM oring and I agree it wasn't super tight. I noticed in my service manual (no part numbers in Chilton's) that there is two smaller orings on the actual distributor rotor shaft (part that connects to the cam and spins the rotor) between 2 thrust washers. It looks like these keep oil from entering into the Distributor cap. It looks like there is a weep hole in the bottm of the distributor body that drains anything that seeps into the distributor rotor and cap housing. Maybe it is leaking from there and keeps the rotor dry. The oil is on the side of the heat shield away from the engine on top of the heat shield. If the oring between the block and distributor body would leak, it would be very hard for it to get on that side of the shield.
Anyway, I called around to try to get the smaller two orings between the thrust washers and nobody can get them, you have to purchase the entire distributor (pricey). Has anyone taken the shaft that goes to the rotor out and tried to replace these orings between the thrust washers with regular aftermarket orings? If you did, is there any special tools required? I am going to attempt this Saturday and could use any advice.
Thanks

 

I looked at the Acura shop manual, and distributor can be disassembled easily. It only has 3 parts, Cap, rotor, and base w/ drive shaft.

I think you replaced the correct oring. Parts diagram I see shows no additional orings. However the oring that you replaced mounts on a non-rotating part of base and there is a rotating shaft key end that engages the camshaft, and there well may be some orings in that assy. I would disassemble and see what you can find. Orings can usually be matched reasonably accurately at an auto parts store.

Post back what you find.

good luck

 

I took the distributor apart this weekend. Oil had seeped through around the shaft (moving part) and out the drain hole inside the distributor cap. My Chilton's manual (for an Acura Vigor (much more detail of 2.5 engine compared to general Acura Chilton manual)) showed that the shaft comes out of the distributor body (plate) by removing the snap ring and retaining pin on the coupler that goes to the cam, and then there are two other orings and a few thrust washers that keep the oil from going through the other side of the distributor "plate". I removed the cap and rotor. I then removed the snap ring from the coupler. The pin does slide, but you can't slide it all the way out because it hits the inside of the distributor body. The other side of the distributor has a plate that the rotor screws to. That plate is press fitted to the shaft and can't be removed. There is not enough play in the shaft to slide it so you can remove the pin. After almost destroying the thing trying to get it apart, I had to purchase a new distributor ($164 plus core) at Advance Auto Parts here in Cincinnati (cheapest I could find). All it came with was the distributor plate with the shaft attached (outer oring that normally leaks was also attached). I put the rest of the pieces back on it and installed it. So far no leaks, from there anyway. I pressure washed under the distributor and under the car. When I got home there was a few drips still coming from underneath, hopefully it is still residual oil from before but at least I fixed one of the leaks.

 

I looked at my 2.5TL this weekend and it appears to be leaking oil from distributor also. Not too bad but I hate oil leaks.

I also have an oil leak where my filter mount base attaches to the engine. This one is a real bear to reach under the intake manifold.

good luck

 

I was having a larger puddle of oil each day under my car. I bought it used from a Honda dealer and it came with a 3000 mile powertrain warranty. I asked them to look at it and they said that it was the seal in the oil pan that the front differential shaft goes through. They said seals are not covered in the warranty and said it would be $1,250 for them to fix it. They said it was a common problem with these cars (B.S.). I argued with them and told them I only paid $4,500 for the car. They said they would pay $400 of the repair bill. I told them I wanted assurance that this would solve the leaking for good and they would not call me back. A few days later I looked at the oil filter housing seal at the engine block again. The more I looked at it I realized that there was more oil leaking from it than I thought and that it is located just above the differential so it may look like it is coming from the differential if you look at it under the car.
I replaced the double oring ($4.50) in about an hour including changing the oil (by the way just remove the airbox and use extensions and universal joints, much easier than trying to remove the intake manifold). I pressure washed the block and I have not seen even a single drop of oil in the past two weeks.
I got a call from the dealer secretary asking what I thought of their service and I rated them a 2 out of 10 and told them that they tried to charge me $1,250 for a repair that would have done nothing and that it only cost me $4.50 to fix it. The dealers General Manager keeps calling me pissed that I rated them so low. Thanks again for everyones help on this forum. I have only had this car for a little over a month, and have had lots of help fixing all kinds of small problems using this forum. Keep up the good work and keep posting.
Matt Mitchell

 

Thanks for the followup.

I'll try the oil filter extension fitting repair when I can pry the car loose from my son.

regards

 

Damn these posts are helpful.

 

I replaced the oil filter extension oring on my 2.5TL recenlty. This has completely stopped all drips from the engine. Pretty tough job w/ poor access. See my post on this repair for further details.

Regards

 

Since I replaced the Oring in November, I still have no leaks at all. Man that is a nice feeling. By the way, as a helpfull hint, if you try to replace the oring without removing the manifold, I used a little grease on the oring and filter base to "stick" the oring to the base until I got it into place and bolted it back down.

I think it is easier to do than removing the manifold (a lot of lines, cables, gaskets on the manifold). You just need a lot of extensions, mirror, swivel joints, and it helps to have someone hold the flashlight for you.
P.S. remove the airbox!!! Easy to do and gives you a lot more room for your hands!!!

 

This is very helpful. I have a similar problem. I have a 96 2.5 TL that I took to the dealership. They could not isolate my problem. They told I have oil leaking from from oil filtering housing distributor and my cam cover is leaking. But they couldnt really isolate where exactly it was coming from. Its weird because I dont see any oil under my car.

 

If you have oil leaking from all those places that you've listed, you better check your oil level frequently. Low oil is one way to ruin these engine. If you do not see any oil under your car, then your leak is probably not that bad. Look on the underside of your car to see if oil is blown all over the place down there also. You can try to fix the oil leaks at the oil filter base housing, distributor, and valve cover yourself. I personally replaced my oil filter base gasket recently. That will be where most of your oil will leak from, especially when your car has just started up. There are DIY in the forum on how to do all these. You can better pinpoint further leaks after replacing all those above. Who knows, there might not be anymore leaks....