I own a 02 Honda Acoord SE that has 228K plus miles. My car is in good condition and Kbb list the trade -in value at around $2400. I love my car and would like to keep it running for another 227k miles. Repair and Maintenance problem- I discovered a mysterious oil drip/leak at the begining of this new year. I took my car to Meineke were I get my oil changed and had them replaced the bolt and washer on the oil pan but I continued to find oil spots on my garage floor. I took my car back to Meineke - after examination they said it look like the car is leaking oil and transmission fluid which they think is due to bad seals and/or gaskets. They referred me to a reputable auto repair place, Complete Automotive. I took it to Complete Automotive and told them that Meineke thinks that the car is leaking oil and transmission fluid. Complete Auto put some kind of dye in my car and told me to drive it and bring the car back in 2 days. Two days later Complete Auto exmined my car and said my cam, crank, and balance shaft seals needed to be replaced along with my value cover gasket. I also agreed to replace my timing belt and water pump since it was replaced last at 113k miles. The work was done but the oil spotting on my garage flloor continued. I took my car back to Complete Auto they examined it and said that my VTEC Gasket needed to be replaced- total cost $55.90. I ask the owner, mechanic if he think the spotting on my garage flloor could be coming from the transmission fluid and he said that the leak was oil. The work was done 11 days ago. Yesturday I discovered some more oil spotting on my garage floor again? I’m frustrated !!! What do you think?
Hold on now.
You got the “VTEC gasket” replaced and there’s still an oil leak?
It sounds like they’re just guessing at this point.
Or they never found all the oil leaks to begin with.
Does this engine have a distributor? If it does, look for oil under the distributor and on the heater hose that is directly below it. If you see swelling of he heater hose and/or oil on top of the transmission there, then you need a new O ring on the distributor. BTW, you only need the O ring, not a new distributor, but to replace the O ring means you pay the R&R labor for replacing the distributor, but that should be less then one hour.
The other gasket that goes bad on this engine is the oil pump gasket. This should have been replaced when the timing belt was done, then it would have been a $10 job, now it means all the labor for the timing belt plus removing the crank gear just to get at this gasket. Ouch. I would just put an oil pan under the car on the garage floor and watch the oil level until the next timing belt change is due.
Since everyone is thinking that the transmission is leaking also, I’d bet on the distributor O ring as to being the source of your leakage. About half the oil that leaks from this O ring drips from the transmission. If that heater hose is swelled up, then replace it as well because it will start leaking coolant pretty soon and this engine does not tolerate overheating at all.