Most common oil leak spots?

[dsmjrv]

I recently fixed a very leaky valve cover gasket, but im still getting drips.. its hard to tell exactly where the leak is coming from because oil got everywhere. what are some common gaskets and seal that tend to leak? i want to start replacing every one that is not a complete PITA to replace, starting with the most common leaks and stopping when i have no more leaks. thx

[RAZR]

I recently fixed a very leaky valve cover gasket, but im still getting drips.. its hard to tell exactly where the leak is coming from because oil got everywhere. what are some common gaskets and seal that tend to leak? i want to start replacing every one that is not a complete PITA to replace, starting with the most common leaks and stopping when i have no more leaks. thx

Before you just start replacing gaskets and wasting money clean the block off of all the grease with either degreaser and a hose. or brakeleen either way spray below the cylinder head and dont get electrontivs wet. now drive it for a little bit and if you have leaks they will show and it will be easier to detect them.

You could also get a oil dye kit and then with that you find the leaks with a black light.

[Legend_master]

^thats what I would suggest. Also the distributor o-ring is simple and tends to leak a lot. Might take a look at that.

[POS carb]

agreed. Cleaning off the engine would help you find the leak.
It's a 25 year old car, all seals are suspect.
Distributor o-ring is easy to replace, the internal distributor seal is not.

easy:
distributor o-ring
valve cover gasket
oil pressure sender (if it's leaking you have the right socket/swivels/extensions)

medium
oil pan gasket
pcv oil separator
front crank seal
front cam seal
internal distributor seal (easy if you are a good mechanic)

difficult
rear crank seal
oil pump seal

[dsmjrv]

wow thanks, thats exactly the type of post i was looking for.. i leave the car overnight and i get one drop from the right and one from the left of the motor. i hope the dist. O-ring fixes one of them as it is the most obvious wet spot

[Dr_Snooz]

At your next timing belt service, replace all the seals under the timing belt cover (including the oil pump seals). That will fix your left hand side leak. Distributor oring is probably your right hand side leak.

My method for finding oil leaks is extremely lazy. I start at the top of the engine, replacing the seal with oil directly under it. Then I drive for a long time. Old oil will become dirt saturated and hazy, but new oil will stay shiny. Then I replace the next seal down near the shiny oil and repeat the process. Eventually, you'll get it. That will also be about the time you've replaced all the seals. Then you'll find that your new seals were actually old seals that sat on the shelf for 24 years and are now leaking again. It never ends, LOL.

[ecogabriel]

I've been lucky with the Timken seals that Rockauto sells in my 3G. Other seals -Felpro, NAPA- have given me problems recently; I had to replace a timing belt in the Camry after only 30K (Felpro camshaft seal) and recently had to replace the same seal again as it started leaking after 2 years (and I do not give the Beck Arnley seal that much time to endure)
Maybe vendors are packing crappy seals for the older cars... it may pay off to try Honda-sourced seals unless real NOK seals (Honda OE I believe) are available.

[2drSE-i]

I've been lucky with the Timken seals that Rockauto sells in my 3G. Other seals -Felpro, NAPA- have given me problems recently; I had to replace a timing belt in the Camry after only 30K (Felpro camshaft seal) and recently had to replace the same seal again as it started leaking after 2 years (and I do not give the Beck Arnley seal that much time to endure)
Maybe vendors are packing crappy seals for the older cars... it may pay off to try Honda-sourced seals unless real NOK seals (Honda OE I believe) are available.

I don't know. I would think the Honda seals are more likely to be older than dirt.

[Hauntd ca3]

i not long ago done the dist bearing and seal. they arnt very hard to do.
hardest part is getting the shaft out with out ruining the bush.
seal and bearing cost bout $15 and took bout an hour to do