Bad oil leak under intake manifold

I bought this car and it leaked oil Pretty bad. Originally I thought it was leaking at the pressure sending unit or filter. Looking at it further today, I have alot of oil leaking out right under the first intake runner on the passenger side. There is no water/oil contamination, real loss of power, or overheating issues. Could this still be a head gasket or am I missing something?

89 accord. A20a3. 220,000 miles. Looks like previous owner recently replaced intake, exhaust, and valve cover gaskets.

Thanks for any advice.

could be the o rings by the dist they went brittle and leaked on me you sure its not valve cover gasket .......

if they recently replaced the valve cover gasket they probably forgot the sealer at the four corners then over torqued the gasket

Its leaking UNDER the intake runner on the DRIVERS side. Not up top from
the valve cover or from the dizzy on the passenger side.

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Originally Posted by Lead Foot

Its leaking UNDER the intake runner on the DRIVERS side. Not up top from
the valve cover or from the dizzy on the passenger side.

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it can leak from the valve cover and look just like that, if there is no sealant in the corner where the end cam cap is, it will leak out there and run down the back of the engine

Not leaking in the corner. Under the first runner. Just used a telescoping mirror and flashlight to get a better look. It is definitely the head gasket. I can see the oil flinging out between the head and block. The gasket is so bad I can I see the head bolt in the gap. Thanks though.

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Originally Posted by Lead Foot

Not leaking in the corner. Under the first runner. Just used a telescoping mirror and flashlight to get a better look. It is definitely the head gasket. I can see the oil flinging out between the head and block. The gasket is so bad I can I see the head bolt in the gap. Thanks though.

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it's not hard to fix look for the threads on here and it will be much eaisier, it will give you an excuse to change the timing belt, crank seal, and new oil pump seal, as well as a water pump

45 bucks for a new head gasket. 109 for a whole head/intake set. 299 for an eBay complete rebuild kit minus cam. Maybe pay the 400 bucks for machine work and extra 200 for a cheap rebuild kit and build this thing? Maybe bore 40 over and eventually throw some bigger valves in the head. Megasquirt in my future? Lol

Oil filter base gasket, $5.

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Originally Posted by nswst8

Oil filter base gasket, $5.

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You think that's where it's leaking? Will someone actually read and take in what I post?... I took my telescoping mirror and looked under the runner. I can plainly see a gap between the head and block to the point I can see the head bolt. I can plainly see oil spitting out of that gap...

So the question now is should I just take the time and money to do a complete much needed rebuild.

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Originally Posted by Lead Foot

You think that's where it's leaking? Will someone actually read and take in what I post?... I took my telescoping mirror and looked under the runner. I can plainly see a gap between the head and block to the point I can see the head bolt. I can plainly see oil spitting out of that gap...

So the question now is should I just take the time and money to do a complete much needed rebuild.

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I would stay away from the ebay stuff

Yea I kinda get mixed feelings to but I like the sound of 299 bucks. Lol. Recommendations on who to go through for a decent price? What about a cam? Where should I go for oversized valves and which ones am I looking for? Any other work needed for the head besides machining the bigger valve seats and decking it? Ie: valve springs or rockers?

why do whole rebuild when you can just do the head gasket only takes day....then i would drive until dies then rebuild ............unless you have another car for mean time

K. Took the head off last night. Looks like the previous owner did a nice clean job. Replaced all the gaskets, replaced the hose for the iac, and even put antiseize on the exhaust manifold bolts. Where he failed miserably was installing the head gasket. After inspecting everything I saw that the head gasket is perfectly symmetrical except for the single oil feed port on the drivers side. The gasket was installed flipped leaving that port open. He also used a rubber vent hose for the water to iac hose and it was swollen up like a balloon.

The car doesn't leak anymore but does seem to be burning quite a bit of oil so a rebuild is in the near future.

Nice detective work there. Is it burning oil or just leaking it out somewhere?

Thanks. Yea. After driving it around for 2 days eventually I came to a few grades to pass over. The car lost power up the grade and as soon as it kicked down to third white smoke poured out the back. Didn't smell completely like oil or coolant but the dipstick is definitely showing massive oil loss after those climbs. Once the smoke started pouring out the back the oil seemed to almost drown the engine out and cause it to miss because there was so much. HOW THE HECK IS THAT MUCH OIL GETTING INTO THE CYLINDERS?

I'm honestly not sure on this one. If the burning started after the head gasket job, then it could be an installation issue like the gasket didn't seal right or you left a hose off the PCV or something. If install is good, then it could be valve guide seals. Those are known to fail on these cars and would let a lot of oil into the cylinders under load. It could also be rings though. I'm going to say it's valve guide seals though.

I was thinking valve guides and seals. Probably didn't smoke before because hardly any oil was making It to the top of the head since the gasket was backwards. Now that it's all sealed up it's flooding the valves and leaking down into the cylinders. I was thinking maybe the only reason I can get it to smoke really bad on a hill is because the ports that the oil drains back to the blocks are in the front of the head. They are gravity fed. So when I'm going up a steep hill I give more gas, the oil pump pushes oil up the head and that oil fills up the whole valve assembly since it's leaning back. Then the valve guides are submerged and oil flows into the cylinders. Sound plausible?

ok ill chime in being i had a somewhat similar problem. Check the PCV system, make sure that the oil pan end is not blocked ( this will cause too much oil pressure and will cause oil to pass through the valve seals or piston rings. then check the baffle box on the rear of the engine that the pcv system is connected to, this box can become clogged with junk. Be careful tho as there is a o ring seal that attaches to the back of the block. other than that the line goes right up to the pcv and the intake.

if that checked out perform a compression test or leakdown test. i have a feeling that the valve seals are done and /or there is excessive oil pressure being built up to cause oil to pass.

I thought that it might be a problem with the PCV system to. Sorry I have failed to mention I am getting horrible case pressure also. Fumes out the dipstick, fumes out the PCV breather hose or oil cap, high pressure out the PCV at the intake manifold. BUT! No noticeable oil residue in any of those lines! What the heck.

Did you notice if the oil control orifice was in place when you installed the head gasket? It limits the amount of oil pumped to the head. If it was not installed by the previous owner when he did the head gasket, there is way too much oil going to the head and flooding everything up there. You can look on the engine parts list to see the orifice. It also has a small o-ring that seal the orifice to the head and presses down into the block where the oil port is in the head gasket. That very well may be your problem. Before you replaced the head gasket, most of the oil was leaking out the back of the engine.

Oil control orfice? The only thing between the head and the block is the head gasket...

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Originally Posted by Lead Foot

hardly any oil was making It to the top of the head since the gasket was backwards.

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If the head was oil starved, it will be extensively damaged. You need to rebuild the head, if it can still even be rebuilt.

I have another head I can put on it. Maybe I'll do that and check the oil control orifice while im at it.

K. So just did a compression check. 180, 150, 150.... 30. Seems like I have a bigger issue. :(

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Originally Posted by Lead Foot

K. So just did a compression check. 180, 150, 150.... 30. Seems like I have a bigger issue. :(

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that doesn't mean you have bad rings, you need to do a wet compression check, that means put a teaspoon of oil in the bad cylinder, and do the test again, if it doesn't change,the issue is in the head, you could have a burned valve or a crack in the head etc, the two middle ones both being low also could indicate this, possibly a crack between cylinders in the head.

That's more where I was leaning. I would think all the rings would be bad. The other cylinders have good compression. Hole in the piston? Maybe the idiot before me dropped a bolt in the cylinder? But I would think it would smoke more just cruising around, not only when climbing hills... What about an extremely bad valve guide or seal? I honestly didn't examin the valves when we changed the gasket. maybe a broken valve spring and a dropped valve?...

Well a dropped valve would explain compression but not the oil huh? Also using a Gauge with the rubber cone and not a thread in. So middle two could just not have sealed all the way on the gauge. Chances on only 1 valve being burnt? I thought they all would burn, just like rings?

Btw. The dead cylinder is closest to the passenger side. Spark plug was deep brown but not wet. Others were quite lighter.

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Originally Posted by Lead Foot

Well a dropped valve would explain compression but not the oil huh? Also using a Gauge with the rubber cone and not a thread in. So middle two could just not have sealed all the way on the gauge. Chances on only 1 valve being burnt? I thought they all would burn, just like rings?

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sure one valve could be cracked, or burned, if you had something like a cracked valve guide, or a crack in the head that also would explain the oil, don't condemn the rest of the engine until you know for sure