Hi. In January I had my 6 month oil change on my 1997 Honda Accord LX 4 cyl. car (approx. 112,000 miles). Everything has been fine until about a week ago when I noticed a relatively large oil spot on the right side of the garage floor (about 3-4 feet in diameter). I brought the car to my mechanic, who put it up on the lift and cleaned all the oil off underneath and then told me (a) he couldn't find the source of the oil leak; (b) both the oil and transmission fluid levels appeared normal. I took the car home and have been monitoring it since with cardboard under the car on both sides. There really hasn't been any further oil leakage until today, when I noticed four more spots of oil, each about the size of the bottom of a small plastic water bottle, again on the right side.

I will continue to monitor it before I bring it back to the mechanic but I am hoping someone might be able to give me some guidance as to what could be causing the leaking. Because the car is old and has a lot of miles on it, I like to stay on top of maintenance and repairs as much as possible.

Thank you in advance for any help. I have tried to give the information required but if I have left anything out, please ask me and I will do my best to provide it. I am grateful for any help anyone can give me.

________________

1997 Honda Accord LX 4 cyl.

 

By RH sides, I assume you mean the pax side?

If yes, this reduces the possibilities to :
1) distributor oring and/or shaft seal. Distributor is actually in the middle of engine compartment, but might drain slightly to RH side off top of transmission.
2) Valve cover gasket (same drainage path as distributor)
3) Axle drive shaft seal on pax side. Differential fluid would be leaking.

good luck

 

Yes, sorry, I mean passenger side. Thank you for your helpful reply in reducing the possibilities of this on and off again leaking.

__________
1997 Honda Accord LX 4 cyl.

 

Wow, a 3-4 ft puddle as first sign of leak would be a worry to me as well.




Shouldn't come from a distributor O-ring leak. too small.
unlikely from valve cover gasket, based on my past valve cover gasket leaks.

Conjecture - Hhmmm, such a large leak (never seen one that big) seems - maybe only one left ...

 

Thank you Uhoh. Just to clarify in case it might change your analysis at all, it was not a 3-4 (closer to 3' in retrospect) "puddle," but rather stain that could have easily been mistaken for an old spot had I not known it wasn't previously there. When I touched it to confirm, it was oily to the touch. Thanks again.

_______________

199 Honda Accord LX 4cyl.