1993 Accord Major Oil Leak
 

Guys I need your experienced opinions please.

This is a friend's car. It has been leaking oil for years. She was dealing with it by adding oil regularly.

Then one day she got out and noticed a large puddle under the car. She drove it straight home (about a half mile) - leaving a trail of oil all the way. From that trail I can tell that it was running onto the ground from the driver's side (front of the engine).

I am no stranger to working on cars, but I do not know what I am dealing with here. Everything underneath is drenched. I guess my first question would be - what comes to mind based on the location of where the leak seemed to be coming from?

Below is a short video clip. Everything is wet it seems - from the oil filter to even the inside of the the timing belt cover.

Thank you - if anyone can help get me pointed in the right direction here. My temptation is to fill the engine with oil - add dye - and then start it - to try and pinpoint things that way.

welcome to the forum. 1. wash the engine clean top to bottom. 2. run and check for leaks. being it is a 93 accord, it could be from the oil pan gasket, crank seal, valve cover gasket, oil filter, drain plug, rear cam seal/plug, rear crankshaft seal/plug, distributor seal.

Thanks for the reply acmech.

I've been reading, and just learned about a problem on these engines with the balancer shaft seal behind the timing belt. Are you familiar with this? I looked at some youtube videos. The next time I am able to I'm going to look to see if the seal retainer is in place. If there is not one, I will probably start pulling things apart to get a look behind the timing cover.

Thoughts?

to check the crank seal.

Roger that. I will check it.

how many miles does the 93 have, it may be ready for a timing belt which includes the pully, water pump, crank seal, and cam seal. done all at one time to prevent repeat work again.

I don't recall the miles, but I do know that the timing belt was replaced 'fairly recently'. The woman who owns it now says $650 was paid for the job.

My guess at this point is that whoever did it skipped any of the seals - and did not install the seal retainer for the balancing shaft. When I next get a chance to look at the car I will be looking at this area closely.

Visual inspection from the top down
See if the valve cover is leaking
Then move down to see where the leak may be coming from.
The idea is to save oneself from doing too much work
If it was coming out as fast as stated in the Opening Post then should be able to spot a place by putting something under the car
Run the engine for a short time and see general area of where it is coming from
Then follow upward to find leak

Good luck

Thank you. This makes good sense of course.