Help. Found an oil leak - Where is this?

[Jonathan Allyn]

Hi All -

Moved the car out of the garage this morning to wash it and saw a couple small oil spots underneath.

I jacked the car up to see where it was coming from and saw this about 6 inches or so above the oil pan. The car only has 36K miles and I just had the TB/WP done about 1500 miles ago. I have never seen the leak before so I am thinking its new. Oil level is fine and car is running great.

I cant seem to find a thread via the search related to mine. Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[pgilliam1]

Either spool valve or cam plug. Typical.

 

[shawn110975]

its hard to say cuz you see the waves or ripples that mean it was being pushed by moving air. so it must have dripped from somewhere above

I would say vtec seals or valve covers seals.

get some carb and choke cleaner and spray the hell out of the area. let it dry

then go on a spirited run about 60mph

go back home and see the new drips. and you will find out where its from

goodluck

 

[Jonathan Allyn]

thanks guys. Will do that. Here are a couple more pics.

 

[nikey22]

my guess is cam plugs... not seals, plugs. Too bad you already did a TB/WP without getting this changed...

 

[Jonathan Allyn]

been doing all kinds of research here and think I narrowed it down to the Spool Valve Gasket (thanks prime!). After looking at it from the top there appears to be some oil around the top as well. Cam plugs are bone dry.

Looks like a pretty straight forward install so I'm ordering the part on Monday.

 

[pgilliam1]

There are 2 seals for the spool valves (both can usually be found on eBay). The one in the picture and another on the top plate with 3 bolts. Replace both of them while you're at it. Make sure all the surfaces are dry - not oily - during reassembly. It's not hard to do and there are good write-ups with pictures on the DIY forum. Good Luck!