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So I'm in the middle of doing my oil pump seals because of a leak I've been seeing from my oil pan. Upon removing the timing belt and examining the crank seal, this is what I see:
Now my question is, does that crank seal look like its leaking? could it be another seal within the oil pump? If not, where else would all this oil be coming from?
So I went ahead and just changed the crank seal out since I already had the part and it was right there. Couldn't find any other source of leaking, so I put everything back just now.
Are you going to do the pan gasket too? It could just be that and it rises over the upper lip due to wind turbulence under the vehicle, there is no cover on the underside there.
Also, this stands out to me in this image:
Just a thought, since you're also dealing with what looks like too much oil on your dipstick. Could be blowing out of the oil filter gasket onto your engine/pan. Kinda out of the box on that one .
Crank seal looked fine. Looking forward to seeing the oil pump seal upon removal.
The oil around the oil filter housing might just be oil from the pan that got blown there. The leak residue actually goes as far as my axle. Im assuming during highway speeds, the oil drips get blown that far back
I actually gave up on removing the oil pump. I removed all the bolts on the oil pan, then couldnt budge the hondabond loose, and plus I was running low on time so I stopped there. Theres really only 1 seal in the oil pump, and that wouldnt cause all the oil leak shown in my pics. I had the intention of making a DIY on oil pump removal, and I was taking pics along the way of removing the oil pan bolts, but didn't get past that :/
In any case, I'll see how the leak progresses next couple days. Maybe its still possible that it was just the crank seal?
This car is definitely starting to show its age(I've got 171k miles now), and my steering rack leak is starting to show too...Hopefully nothing more after I get that fixed.
Last edited by paperboy42190; Dec 3, 2015 at 02:47 AM.
I did my timing belt/water pump in December 2012, and did not do my crank seal at the time. I know I should have....definitely didn't realize it then. I had 125k miles at the time. Regardless, my oil leak is still ongoing. I'm thinking maybe it's from the oil pan hondabond seal? Might be a stretch though since I heard those never leak. Im going to take it to a shop next week and have them diagnose it
it could be the cam seal since you said some oil can see in the TB area (not on TB). I am not sure how TL oil pan put together but most oil pan today they use so call smooth surface finish to mate create a tight fit. If two very smooth surface finish rub against each other they will stick together like magnet (this is how oil pan put together on a 01 LS430).
That's the area I just had a power steering leak dripping down from the high pressure switch behind the motor...that was in addition to some leaking at the connections of the low pressure rubber hose to hoses.
it could be the cam seal since you said some oil can see in the TB area (not on TB). I am not sure how TL oil pan put together but most oil pan today they use so call smooth surface finish to mate create a tight fit. If two very smooth surface finish rub against each other they will stick together like magnet (this is how oil pan put together on a 01 LS430).
I checked the cam seal while I had the covers off, completely dry.
Originally Posted by rockstar143
That's the area I just had a power steering leak dripping down from the high pressure switch behind the motor...that was in addition to some leaking at the connections of the low pressure rubber hose to hoses.
I would have thought PS pump too, but when I did my crank seal, I had the pump removed and its all dry in that area. Plus I rebuilt my pump back in 2011(using your DIY ), so it should be good to go for at least another year or so.
Damn George, I hope you find it!
Well, I rebuilt mine too...but recently had the leak from the high pressure switch. Try and check. It's on the high pressure line that goes over and behind the motor, you can easily see if it's dripping from that...it was leaking a LOT for me but I misdiagnosed because it was dripping down to my lower pressure hose RIGHT below it.
that's the switch
and here was the low pressure hose i thought was the culprit
Got some updates:
I ended up wiping off most of the oil on the oil pan in order to see the leak better. I then ran the engine, while on jack stands and with wheel off, to see if I can see the leak. Here is what I saw:
Look at the faint line of oil streaks going down on the oil pan
Here's a bottom view of the same oil streaks:
I am sure that is from the leak because I wiped it up, and a couple minutes later it would form another oil streak, and if I stare at it long enough, I could see it slowly moving. I'm almost certain its leaking from the oil pan hondabond seal, on the front corner edge. There's no other gaskets/seals around that area.
On the other hand, I also changed the oil filter housing seal just because it was easy and I had the part on hand. The old seal was hardened, but it was definitely not leaking from there.
Got some updates:
I ended up wiping off most of the oil on the oil pan in order to see the leak better. I then ran the engine, while on jack stands and with wheel off, to see if I can see the leak. Here is what I saw:
Look at the faint line of oil streaks going down on the oil pan.
If that belt wasn't in the way, you/we could see the oil pan lip...but, if the streaks I noted above are in the same position in the underside pics you provided (hard to tell), I'd agree that it's time to do the oil pan. As, there doesn't appear to be anything above that in the circled area.
I hope you find it soon, should be easy to find at this point since it's "flowing" at a good pace. I'd remove all of the wheel well shrouding and really get in there to degrease as much as I could to really pinpoint the start of the leak.
I found an inexpensive and environmentally friendly degreaser I used when I replaced my brake calipers:
I decided to take a look at the leak again after driving it for a day. Since I had an impact gun handy I decided to take off my crank pulley. This is what I found:
Not sure what to make of it as the oil streaks in the front were gone, and looks like the leak is actually from the rear corner of the oil pan. Perhaps when driving, the wind and acceleration pushes the oil toward the rear? Still kinda looks like it could be the oil pan seal though.
Last edited by paperboy42190; Dec 10, 2015 at 12:58 AM.
#3 is a very real possibility. I recently had to do this on my daughter's car, and I've been seeing a lot of them on high mileage honda/acuras. I own a small repair shop. Labor wise, it's the worse case scenario, as the timing belt, pulley, oil pump, and oil pan have to come off. In the diagram you posted, other possible leak points that I have actually run into are 11, 15, 26, 12, 13, 14, and 15. You've got to thoroughly clean the area off, and run it until it just starts to leak so you can isolate it.
#3 is a possibility, I had actually ordered all the seals inside the oil pump when I was doing my timing belt last week. wasnt able to get my oil pan off even after removing all the bolts, so I stopped there and put everything back. Im going to continue monitoring the progress in the next couple days/weeks and decide where to go from there, this thing has just been giving me headaches and I dont have the time to keep diagnosing it during the holidays
#3 is a possibility, I had actually ordered all the seals inside the oil pump when I was doing my timing belt last week. wasnt able to get my oil pan off even after removing all the bolts, so I stopped there and put everything back. Im going to continue monitoring the progress in the next couple days/weeks and decide where to go from there, this thing has just been giving me headaches and I dont have the time to keep diagnosing it during the holidays
After having gone through the trouble of removing all the bolts that bitch had come off if I were under there. Get a rubber mallet and go to town on the corners of the pan.
If/when I attempt to remove the oil pan again, I'll have some prybars ready to help get it off. I did use a rubber mallet the first time, but it didn't seem to do anything :/
If/when I attempt to remove the oil pan again, I'll have some prybars ready to help get it off. I did use a rubber mallet the first time, but it didn't seem to do anything :/
too much but honestly I just didnt want to work on it anymore since its been cold(you know these socal winters). Im also starting a new job so it's been really busy for me and I'd rather just pay the price.
well, they put it on a lift, took off the timing covers, and said for sure its from the oil pump. I'm guessing the view from a lift is better than me lying on the floor with the car on jack stands at home. This was done at the acura stealership. They did allow me to use all the seals I provided to subtract a bit off the price.
Last edited by paperboy42190; Dec 18, 2015 at 12:14 PM.
what was your final price on this? i'll have to get this done eventually as well (my shop saw it when they did my TB and valve adjustment service). they quoted me i think 600-700 for parts and labor... (not sure exactly).
right now i'm going the "top off as you go" fix haha
got my car back today. no oil leaks so far, I'll be keeping an eye on it, although I dont anticipate any problems, since the dealer replaced every seal in that area, along with new hondabond.
being that it was a stealership...it was about 1200. Definitely on the expensive side, but I didn't trust that many shops to work on my car for this kind of work. There was an independent shop near me that wanted about 950, but they are booked until january...
it just feels good that this oil leak is finally over, as it was really bothering me. Thanks to everyone who contributed advice in this thread.
I'd be really surprised if anyone can do this in 4 hours on this car. It's definitely easier on the 6th gen accord than this car. I think due to the subframe being in the way when removing the oil pan
.
), so it should be good to go for at least another year or so.
but honestly I just didnt want to work on it anymore since its been cold(you know these socal winters). Im also starting a new job so it's been really busy for me and I'd rather just pay the price.
