I need some help here. My wife's 2.3L 4 cylinder Accord just developed a big oil leak that appears to be coming from the cam gear area. I haven't pulled the cover off yet, as I wanted to make sur there was a seal there first. The Haynes book I have here is a little vague on whether or not there's actually a seal there.
Does anybody know for sure IF there is one? And do I need to pull the cam out to replace it? Or can I just pull the cam gear and replace it that way? I did replace the timing belts and water pump (it was leaking) about 8 months or 3,000 miles ago, and I didn't see any oil leaking in that area. It was very cold sunday morning, but the car has seen colder weather prior without any leaks. Right now it's only leaking (pretty damn good) when it's running, and I've parked the car until I can fix it (she's driving my Toyota at the moment). Help??

 

welcome to the forum. cam gear unbolts off to change the cam seal.

 

Thanks for the reply acmech52. Like I said, I wasn't sure if there was a camshaft seal there, as Haynes doesn't call 1 out. They only mention that if there is excessive wear of the front cam bearing, that you need to replace the head. I really didn't want to get into a head swap. Do you know where I can find the seal? Is this a "dealer only" part? Thanks for the help.

 

most automotive parts places have the seal. ( the best seal is honda dealer. ) suggest if you gonna save money, get a honda service manual. I usually get one for each of my type honda. save a lot.

 

Yeah, I've been looking into getting a FSM for it. I've got them for my GM's and my VWs, but not this car. I also ordered up a seal from my local Carquest store that'll be in later today. So far the car hasn't really needed a lot of things that I need a real book for, and Haynes has covered quite a bit on what I did need it for (timing belts). I've still got the "harmonic balancer" tool here (glad I bought it), as it looks like I'll be resetting the timing belts again after getting the cam gear off. Man that double belt set up is a royal PIA to deal with. I think I spent an extra hour setting it up when I changed it while doing the water pump.

 

This happened to mine after someone didnt know how to put on the o ring around the plug well; they pinched the o ring on the well during torque and split it. Filled the plug well with oil and it leaked under pressure. Do you by chance have oil in your plug well around the leak? (just an idea, don't hate me!)

 

Bob2000 just think how much the dealer would have cost to fix what you fixed. only down side is, you can't blame anyone for a mistake.

 

Tore into yesterday, only to find out it was actually the balance shaft seal that got spit out and dumped 2 quarts of oil on the ground. I'm just glad it happened in the driveway, rather than out on the highway.
Ordered up the Dorman balancer shaft seal kit that has the retainer bracket (this is a recall fix for Honda), and got that installed today. Did an oil change while I was in there, since it was close to a 1000 miles before being due again. I did order up a Honda seal too, but that won't be in until monday, and the wife wanted her car back. Plus, the Honda seal doesn't come with the retainer bracket. It'll probably get installed at a later date. All is well again and no oil leaks.

I do know what you mean by fixing it myself, versus sending it to the dealer for repair. That job probably would have cost 300+ just for the $12 part. For me, the time consuming part of the job, is getting the plastic and other parts out of the way, just so you can do the job. I replaced a handful of plastic clips while I was in there too. Hopefully it'll make taking that lower shield off easier the next time I'm in there. As for blame, I can't blame anyone, although I wish I had known about the retainer bracket, as I would have installed it back when I changed the belts (7,000 mileas ago). But then this car does have 226,500+ miles on it, so I kind of expect some things to pop up, it is a 16 year old used car afterall. Thanks again for the help.

 

good job.

 

Just thought I'd let you know I just ordered up a Service and an Electrical trouble shooting manual from Helm for my wife's Accord. Figured it wouldn't hurt, since we're going to keep the car for a while.