Just bought a 1999 Honda Accord 4cyl vetch 5 speed today with 185,000 miles on it. It has a small oil leak and I do not know much about these cars (I'm a Toyota boy). Anyway, the oil is coming from underneath towards the front of the motor (I'll try and put pictures up in the next day or two). Apparently it was leaking oil around the distributor but that seal was fixed so I'm not sure where it's coming from. If I get down on the ground in the front of the car I can take my hand and put it on two bolts and feel the oil leaking. It seems to only happen when the car is stopped and it's only a little bit. Does anyone have any ideas what it could be? Again, sorry about not having pics up. Just got it today and had to pull it in the garage and go paint a room. Thanks for all your help.


BTW - I did look this up on the net before posting this but it was hard to tell from the pictures I saw if it was the same thing or not.


Any ideas? Like I said if I reach underneath the front there is two bolts under the motor that are leaking oil but just a little bit.

 

 

You are going to need to get some engine degreaser and clean it real good. Then take it for a spin and see where it's leaking and then post some more detailed pics of the area it's leaking down from.

 

Some frequent oil leak sites to check:

1) Oil draining from lower side of distributor (vent hole). This indicates oil passing the shaft seals (not cylinder head oring). Fairly common in this model accord. Oil draining from cylinder head side of the distributor would indicate distributor/cylinder head oring leak.

2) Vtec interface to cylinder head has a complex rubber gasket that hardens and begins to leak w/ age.

3) Valve cover gasket

4) Oil pressure switch (back side of engine above oil filter)

5) Oil pan bolts can loosen w/ age and allow oil to leak. Look for loose/missing bolts and oil on bolt heads.

good luck

 

And if none of those leaks are apparent, then maybe it's the rear-main seal where the crankshaft comes out of the block.