is this bad? dangerous? expensive to repair.
Mechanic (not Honda service) said let’s watch it…which I am perfectly willing to do unless…
Let’s Watch It. Chasing Down Every Little Leak On A 4 Or 5 Year-Old (Middle-Aged In “Car Years” ) Car May Be A Waste Of Time.
Is the car using oil ? How often do you check ? If it is indicating a decrease in oil volume, as measured by dipstick, how much oil in how many miles ?
Most Owner’s Manuals (don’t know about Honda) recommend checking oil level at every gas fill-up. Keep monitoring the oil and if the level doesn’t drop alarmingly, I’d let it go.
CSA
If you’re not leaving puddles (maybe just a small drip?), if its not dripping onto something really hot (like an exhaust manifold), if you don’t have to continually add oil, then I’d just watch it. On your end that means checking the oil very regularly (like maybe every fill up). As CSA implied, the middle-aged car that isn’t oozing some oil is probably rare.
thanks - oil level just right! I’ll keep checking
This vehicle have a timing chain???
thank you too! middle aged in car years - gulp…no puddles
I don’t know - I called Honda earlier…no timing belt…same as a chain?
A belt is NOT the same as a chain.
A chain is made of metal…and needs to be lubed with engine oil. Then the covers need to have gaskets to keep the oil from leaking. If a belt…there is no need for the belt cover to have a gasket and thus very confusing as to what could be leaking. It sounds like this vehicle has a chain…but I didn’t think it had a chain…that’s why I asked. You really need to get this clarified.
I recently replaced my front crank seal in an Escort. The receipt for the crank seal read “timing cover gasket” - don’t ask me. The car doesn’t have one. But the part I received was the front crank seal.
So its probably a good idea to get clarity on what is leaking. But my own answer wouldn’t be likely to change.
Going by the Gates guide it looks like the last time Honda used a belt on anything was '04