Engine oil leak advice ?

simon06

Hi, I am looking for advice.Recently I bought a 1.6l vetec 04 civic privately with 90k miles on it.The condition was very good and had fsh,but unfortunately several weeks later of light use it sprung a major oil leak on the engine.It completely covered the back of the engine head to tail, that was how bad it was.The oil level was spot on when I bought it and had recently been changed.I took it to 3 garages for an estimate, and they all said it was leaking from the cam cover gasket and the front main crankshaft seal, also that the oil had contaminated the timing belt so that would need replacing aswell.Garage number 2 was pretty blunt, and said it looks like high oil pressure and that if they replaced the seals it would just start leaking again.I ended up taken it to garage number 3 because they had better reviews and they renewed the cam cover gasket,front main crankshaft seal and replaced the timing belt for around £400.I thought that was that and that it was just one of those things.Just 2 weeks later it started leaking again from behind the crankshaft pulley under the timing belt cover,but only a slight weep of a leak.I took it back to garage 3, hoping that it was their mistake,but they said that it is now most likely leaking from the front camshaft oil seal.Garage 3 said there was no visible oil leak from that seal when then had the timing belt cover off before and that there would be a charge to replace this seal.Garage 3 said that to replace the front camshaft oil seal would be an involved job because the engine mount is in the way.I asked them could it be high oil pressure that popped the seals and they didn't seem to think it was a cause. So now I am at a crossroads of what to do.Do I get the front camshaft oil seal done and hope that the rear engine oil seals havnt already been strained and possibly the next to go or just sell it asap before it turns into an even bigger money pit? Thanks

EdGasket

"but only a slight weep of a leak."

^^^^ you can live with this and just top up with oil occassionally. Usually oil leaking from the camshaft or crankshaft seals will just run down the face of the engine block and out the hole in the bottom of the timing belt cover so should not contaminate the timing belt though there is a small possibility.

Taking the top engine mount off is not a big deal; don't know why the garage are making a song and dance about it. What is their estimate to change the camshaft seal and are they 100% sure its that and not still weeping from the crank seal?

simon06

Hi thanks for getting back to me.The garage looked at it again and oddly changed their story and said it was just some oil residue and that they have pictures of it so am going to leave it at that.On a different topic the car has a slight leak on the outer cv boot and clicks slighly, but only on full lock at the moment.I took it to a garage and they said that the driveshaft is on its way out and that it makes more financial sense to wait until it gets worse before fixing it.What is the best money saving option here ? Try and sell it before it gets much worse(would I even be able to sell it in that condition?) or wait until it gets much worser and then I guess replace driveshaft,cv joint,boot etc ? Is it not a major problem until the cv joint starts clicking when the car is being driving in a straight line ? Thanks again

arcon5

I wouldn't sell it over a drive shaft

Strider590

Could be high crankcase pressure (not oil pressure), caused by a blocked PCV valve or the breather system generally.

If a previous owner had done away with the breather system to retro fit an oil catch can (which most people don't have a clue how to do properly), this could be full of oil and preventing the crankcase pressure from being released.
The reason I mention this is this car is most likely the 1.6 Sport, which is basically a slow TypeR lookalike, it could well have been modded in ways that would make a motorsport engineer cringe.

High oil pressure would be more likely to cause a head gasket failure than a crankshaft seal.

EdGasket

The CV joint can just be changed. Once the shaft is out, the outer joints just knock-off. Did one on my Civic for around £30 but a garage may just rather replace the entire shaft which could be £200. If you see a leak around the outer CV boot then it is likely split. That would be an MoT failure. Plus if it is split, you will lose grease and dirt will get in with a possibility the joint could seize or jam. If it was me, I'd fix it/get it fixed. Get some quotes but if the joint is already clicking then just replacing the boot is NOT an option; the whole joint needs to be replaced..

tommyjj

How do you drive it?

Are you a sedate driver, or do you thrash it to death?

I would check the cylinder pressure, to make sure gas isn't blowing by the pistons and increasing crankcase oil pressure (though I've not heard of this happening on a Honda with less than 100k) and also check the crankcase breather system to see whether it's blocked or otherwise not functioning.

It seems unlikely that so many gaskets and oil seals would suddenly fail at the same time for any other reason.