fuzzysig

what are the most common oil leaks on rl? trying to find where its coming from
i got oil on the edge of tranamission case bottom and around the oil drain plug and also aeound vtec solenoid area and oil filter

i know it could be the main seal but on b series it usually ended up being vc gasket or vtec solenoid or dizzy o ring leak

or cam seal leak allthe way down to oil pan.
i checked where i can see but maybe there are some hidden places where i dont know

teh CL

iTrader: (1)

I'd say rear main seal or oil pump seal

abusive

I just found a leak on my RL coming from the passenger side's main bearing cap SIDE BOLT is leaking. Apparently it's kind of common with Honda V-6's. Solution is to pull the bolt, put on some Honda-bond and let it cure for 24hours.

fuzzysig

nice ill check that

what about oil around oil filter and vtec solenoid?

thoiboi

Other J series cars have had VTEC solenoid leaks that were quite common. Could also be oil pump which is quite common as well. You should just clean it and see where YOUR actual leak is.

Blues Legend

Yup - wash the engine so you can eat your dinner off it.

Then start looking for weeps from the top downwards.

abusive

Edit

fuzzysig

thanks ill be checking once the weather is warmer

fuzzysig

finally see the girdle bolts on the sides

the one closest to the oil filter is leaking
other ones are probably too
also the old and crusty valve cover rubber bolt seals were leaking too

possibly very tiny leak from rear main seal

can anyone explain how front head would be dark brown from oil deposits and rear head is nice and golden color like it supposed to be

abusive

pure speculation here but, absent any leaks, maybe it's pickup from road contaminants?

fuzzysig

i would have to be driving through puddles of oil to pick up that much


in any case.
i think i got all the major leaks taken care of

both valve covers
the pcv valve on front VC
VC bolt rubber grommets were old and crusty.
front head cam seal leaked alot
rear crank main support bolt next to oil filter was leaking

th eonly thing that might be left is rear main seal i have to see how much its leaking if anything at all since others are all fixed

bfish

What year ?

JPV74

My 06 was oil pump seal and both valve covers.........cost me a lot o money at the shop to get her sealed up.....if I knew this was so common I wouldnt have purchased the car.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Maybe it is just me, but I wouldn't say your car has an issue because it started leaking oil after roughly 14 years. Looked at from a different perspective, show me a car of that age, pretty much regardless of mileage, which doesn't have an oil leak or two, and I'll show you where gaskets have already been replaced.

Our cars have the same basic engine and when I put together my maintenance plan for the TL I decided to budget a bit extra for some major inevitable service items; the extra to be used for seal and gasket replacement. When the clutch was due for service, I had the rear main seal, the engine and transmission mounts, and the stabilizer bar end-links and bushings replaced; even though not all of those items were end of life. Why? Because while the car was apart for the clutch, those other items are MUCH easier/quicker/cheaper to swap out. As for the front of the engine, my timing belt will be due again in a couple of years, and when I do that service, I will also do the water pump, all tensioners and idlers, the front cam seals, the front main seal, the oil pump seal, and all cooling hoses. It is a fact of life for those of us who own older cars, MAINTENANCE is king; you simply cannot expect to buy an old car and drive it 100,000 miles with minimal maintenance. If that is your goal, then you need to buy new cars.

RL09

And that classic leak, that seems to be common, is above the oil pan, on the right side, and seems to be the oil pump 10 dollar gasket. Or something else inside of that bolt. One has to remove the exhaust, and a number of things to get to it.

Someone on here said once they sealed it with HondaBond. (I suppose there's your clue, honda has it's own branded silicon bond)

Is it recommended to use that bond, and better to let the oil sweat out?

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

I would recommend against that. Sweat it out until the timing belt is due, and replace both together. My TL is currently leaking from both front cam seals; enough to make a mess, but not enough to consume a quart after 10,000 miles of driving.