head gasket bad?? - Honda Forum / Acura Forum

civic99gsr · 11-08-2006, 11:49 AM

I have searched several threads on this matter and still have one question...

My car runs fine with no smoke and no overheating but I have oil all along the bottom of my head gasket but it is also on the top left half of my motor... So here is my question...

Can the dristributor cause this much oil to leak while driving??

If I drive the car for a little while it will leak fresh oil like it is coming down from the distributor... It will also leak enough to drip down to my pavement... And this is only after driving will it leak this much...

D-Series · 11-08-2006, 01:06 PM

Do you have a breather on your valve cover?

Also check your valve cover itself to see if it was tightened down enough. Pull off Dist and check the seal.

civic99gsr · 11-08-2006, 01:22 PM

not sure about the breather but I will look when I get home... we changed the valve cover gasket to make sure it wasn't that... still getting the same oil leakage...

i am also going to check the distributor seal when I get home... what should I look for with that or will it be obvious that it is bad??

D-Series · 11-08-2006, 01:25 PM

When you pull the dizzy off there should be a round gasket around the part where the dizzy goes onto the cam.

Try to clean it all off and start the car to see if you can notice where it is leaking from. Or does it only leak when you are driving?

Double check your valve cover gasket. Use Hondabond or something of that nature on the valve cover gasget. Just helps in sealing it.

civic99gsr · 11-08-2006, 04:44 PM

all the oil is coming from around where the dizzy is but it is also around the bottom of the head but only on the front... could it drip down and get on the front like that by driving??

02ExK20pwr · 11-09-2006, 12:21 AM

i had this problem on my '92 protege... there was always clean oil all over the top of the trans (which is the same side as the distributor...) i could've swore it was the head gasket leaking on an oil passage... but was never sure...

civic99gsr · 11-09-2006, 07:29 AM

Yes its all over the trans and is actually getting on the front of the head also...

civic99gsr · 11-13-2006, 02:03 PM

It was the cam seal that was causing the leak... Hell Yea!!! But we did break two bolts putting the valve cover back on... thank god i have a b16 sitting in the garage with nothing to do or I would have been screwed....

Thanks for the help guys

02ExK20pwr · 11-15-2006, 12:51 PM

is the cam seal on the same side as the trans?

jon · 11-15-2006, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 02ExK20pwr

is the cam seal on the same side as the trans?

yea

02ExK20pwr · 11-15-2006, 01:05 PM

is the seal part of the distributor?

H9Omega · 11-15-2006, 01:35 PM

This is a very common problem on most B-series VTEC engines in which im assuming you have. Well many people believe it is there headgasket but it shows no symptoms, first things to check since you have already changed your valve cover gasket.Check the distributor o-ring, if it seems hard replace it.Next thing on the list check your exhaust cam seal which is a little cap and lastly check your VTEC solenoid. In most cases it is the VTEC solenoid gasket that is bad. If the gasket is wet than that means that is your problem. Good luck!

civic99gsr · 11-16-2006, 07:57 AM

When we changed the cam seal we did not have a torque wrench and I know that it calls for one when changing that BUT how important is it to get the plate that sits over the cams to the right tourque? We got them to what we thought was right and hopefully it did not hurt anything to drive it home, but I have not drove it since and we are going to go back in and use the tourque wrench this weekend.

H9Omega · 11-16-2006, 01:16 PM

My dad which is a tech usually torques it down to about 17ft lbs. Any tighter on my motor will lock the cam but usually it's only about how tight a ratchet will go nothing more. You should be fine as your and if that doesnt fix your problem than it is most likely your VTEC solenoid gasket.