Head gasket oil leak

[ryan427]

About 2k miles ago, the head gasket on my 89 LX was replaced. The previous owner (small aircraft mechanic) did the work himself. He used the shop manual and is a stickler about factory specs. I replaced the valve cover gasket today (I used a Honda gasket) as it was definitely leaking. Naturally, I thought the oil was running down and on to the piece of the head gasket that sticks out (if you're looking down at the motor from the front of the car). From there, oil is running down on to the front of the motor and eventually on to my driveway. Bummer.

A question for those much more experienced than I... Any of you ever had to torque head bolts again after a couple thousand miles of installation? Think it possible this might resolve the leak or are you more likely to think the gasket sucks? The engine is running superbly so I don't think it's a total failure. Still bothers the crap out of me though.

Sorry about the crappy pics. And I understand it is hard to make a determination based on what I wrote. Ryan


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[Dr_Snooz]

Well, it can't hurt to pull the valve cover and double-check the torque on those bolts. I've over-torqued them slightly in the past, but the effect was minimal.

That said, the leak you have pictured there is almost always a leaky distributor oring. It's a $4 part from the dealer, but you can dig a replacement out of any nitrile oring kit (which is the same thing the dealer is going to do). Start with the oring and see what that does.

[ryan427]

Man... I feel like an idiot. I didn't even think of that little seal. Makes sense that it might be the culprit. The distributor was also replaced by the previous owner last year. Thanks for the wisdom. I'm learning. I'll check it out and report back.


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[carotman]

If the distributor O-Ring is in good shape, try to retorque that gasket.

I had a similar issue on my B20A. After I rebuilt the engine, the headgasket started to leak at the exact same place. I replaced the gasket and it leaked again after a couple of hundred miles... I retorqued the bolts and it's been fine ever since.

[2oodoor]

If the distributor O-Ring is in good shape, try to retorque that gasket.

I had a similar issue on my B20A. After I rebuilt the engine, the headgasket started to leak at the exact same place. I replaced the gasket and it leaked again after a couple of hundred miles... I retorqued the bolts and it's been fine ever since.

I had the same issue with one of my A20A1so it's not uncommon.

[ryan427]

As soon as I can get my hands in it, I'll re torque those bolts. I looked at the distributor o ring and it looks good but I am still going to replace it as suggested by Dr. Snooz. I kind of want to re torque the bolts first to see what happens. Process of elimination sort of thing. Thank you all for commenting and lending wisdom/advice. Will report back ASAP.


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[ryan427]

Light bulb here for an amateur. I mentioned I had replaced the valve cover gasket and still saw oil in the spot in those pics. I then assumed it was coming from the head gasket. Something I didn't mention... while replacing that valve cover gasket, I noticed that the bottom distributor bolt wasn't at all tight (it was backed about half way out). I didn't think much of it but tightened it up. Popped the hood a week later and went straight for those distributor bolts (loosened) to examine the o ring that was suggested as the cause of leak (Thank you Dr. Snooz). Again, that o ring looked fine but I was still going to replace it as well as re-torque the head bolts (distributor and head gasket replaced a few thousand miles ago). While loosening the distributor bolts I guess I didn't realize that there wasn't any oil leaking. I tightened up the distributor bolts and did another week of driving (400 miles). Popped the hood this morning and looked at the area... no oil leaking. Turns out, it was likely that bottom distributor bolt all along. Guess the o ring couldn't seat/seal if that bolt was loose? The previous owner, while a very meticulous mechanic, forgot to tighten that bolt when he replaced the distributor. I was looking for a bigger problem instead of identifying the simplest one first. Guess I have a lot more to learn than I thought.

[Dr_Snooz]

Glad you got it figured out.

Typically the distributor oring fails by getting hard. You can feel it, but also see it. If the oring cross-section is square and not round, it's done.

[ryan427]

Glad you got it figured out.

Typically the distributor oring fails by getting hard. You can feel it, but also see it. If the oring cross-section is square and not round, it's done.

Thought I had it figured out. Guess I will need to torque the head bolts and then replace the o ring. Or vice versa. Stupid oil leaks.


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[ryan427]

Well... It seems that sometimes there's oil there and sometimes not. Really odd. This throws the tightening of the bottom distributor bolt theory out the window I guess. I went ahead and re torqued the head bolts. Only one of them took about 1/8 of a turn. The rest immediately popped the torque wrench at 49 foot pounds. Absolutely no oil around the valve cover etc. So weird.

[carotman]

When re-torquing, it's best to slack the bolts 1/4 of a turn then re-apply the recommended torque.

[ryan427]

When re-torquing, it's best to slack the bolts 1/4 of a turn then re-apply the recommended torque.

Wisdom. That's something I really didn't know. Makes perfect sense and I will follow your advice. Latest update: no oil in almost a week. The only thing I can conclude is that when I reinstalled the valve cover gasket, I used a bit more RTV on those 4 points (cam keeper). Additionally, I used a torque wrench on the 3 bolts instead of guessing this time. Weird thing is though that I didn't ever see oil coming from the valve cover area. Or maybe the 1/8 turn that one of those bolts took did the trick. Or I'm an asshole. Idk. Still learning


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