hotsnowman

Hello,

New owner of an '04 6MT with 135K for about a couple weeks and been browsing Acurazine since purchase. TB/WP just replaced prior to purchase. Have a mysterious oil leak that I've been trying to pinpoint since day 1 dripping from the oil pan and possibly rear main seal(?) and had 3 different shops check. All have said the incorrect drain plug has been installed (bolt is popped out a bit but tight) and think that's the main culprit. Otherwise, one said it was the oil pan gasket, the second said it was the VCG, third said it was the VTEC solenoid/oil filter gasket. They are all reputable independent shops. My gut is telling me it's the dreaded oil pump seal, which makes this situation worse since again TB was just replaced. I am still in shock that leak wasn't caught when I had my PPI done. The leak is serious to the point where I have to put cardboard under the car though the puddle is pretty small.

I tried to diagnose it myself this afternoon and cleaned off all of the oil pan/filter housing and rear main seal(?) with brake parts cleaner. Turned on the car and let it roll for about 15 minutes and let sit for another 10. No major drips but I did see seepage coming from the oil pan gasket and a bolt just above the oil pan (SEE PICS) and the rear main seal. Otherwise there was no seepage above the oil pan gasket or on the filter housing NOR was there any leak on the drain plug. I checked on the hood as well near the timing cover I did see seepage but it looked like it was from the valve cover.

Oil pain gasket and seepage from bolt circled

Rear main seal

Another angle of that mentioned bolt


Took this with a scope near the valve/timing cover

Here's that one at another angle

And another

I'm planning on heading to the Acura dealership to see if they can pinpoint it but I'm gonna wipe off the residue again (should have done prior to taking it to the 1st 3). What are your thoughts on where this leak may have come from? TIA

altair47

Everything is simple. Clean everything up with brake cleaner. Start the engine, crawl under the car with a good flashlight and look where it's leaking from. 95% leaking oil pump gasket.

hotsnowman

That's what I did, cleaned off the underbody and didn't see anything notable right away. Just took it to the dealership and oil pump indeed needs to be resealed. They also claimed the rear main seal isn't leaking and that the residue from the oil pump shifted over to that area as well.