i dont know but my mechanic told me Oil Leak

[Dhk59]

Okay so i went to my Mechanic today to look at my car. He said i had an Oil Leak in my timing Belt Cover? and i need to change my timing belt which is a no Brainer. i know im leaking Oil i can see it and my Engine Light Keeps Coming on. so is it best for him to Repair it or should I? My Other Concern is what can
cause it to leak from that Area?

[cvc7chris]

i think your valve cover gasket can cause it to leak

[Dhk59]

i think your valve cover gasket can cause it to leak

How can i check if its coming from there?

[ibr_adam09]

Clean up your engine with a degreaser ( Purple Power works well ) to get rid of the oils that leaking.

Run your motor again and drive it for a bit or let it idle. After a while, you should see the oil spots but this time it should give you a sure "accuracy" of where the leak is coming.

That how I pin point my leaks.

[cvc7chris]

How can i check if its coming from there?

clean around it like Adam said and loook for it to leak from there. but if it's leaking from down deeep towards the block it could be another seal or something else like your rear main seal leaking or something
but if it's up top near the valve cover, it could just be as simple as your valve cover gasket and there dirt cheap. cheapest i've seen is like $11 bucks

[deevergote]

If you are leaking oil on your timing belt, that is VERY bad. Oil can cause the belt to fail, which will very likely destroy your entire engine. Change that belt, and fix that leak!

Rear main seal is on the opposite side of the timing belt... so that's certainly not it (that's another one that SHOULD be changed by now, though... another "if it fails, your engine is borked" part)

Pull your valve cover and look for dampness on or around your timing belt. It'll be fairly clear which parts should and should not have oil on them.

[imd12nv]

cam seal, crank seal, bal shaft seal, oil pump o-ring. all possible

[batever]

cam seal, crank seal, bal shaft seal, oil pump o-ring. all possible

all of those seals are under the timing belt covers and if they leak the timing belt needs to be changed.

If there is a leak at the valve cover gasket on the timing belt side the same thing can happen.

And yes you should have it fixed and not wait. But first pull the codes from the ECU and find out why the engine light is coming on.

Search for "ecu codes" and "jumper" and "service connector" and you will find out how, it's easy

the engine light could be a related or a separate thing. But I would want to know why it's coming on before having a $500 job done. And I would have him change all of those seals while he is in there, except maybe the camshaft seal.

As to what can cause the leaks, well all of those seals are synthetic rubber and eventually they will fail. And 17 years old is about the time it's gonna happen.

the valve cover could leak from being warped or just unevenly tightened, or again from just an old gasket losing its sealing elasticity.

[Dhk59]

all of those seals are under the timing belt covers and if they leak the timing belt needs to be changed.

If there is a leak at the valve cover gasket on the timing belt side the same thing can happen.

And yes you should have it fixed and not wait. But first pull the codes from the ECU and find out why the engine light is coming on.

Search for "ecu codes" and "jumper" and "service connector" and you will find out how, it's easy

the engine light could be a related or a separate thing. But I would want to know why it's coming on before having a $500 job done. And I would have him change all of those seals while he is in there, except maybe the camshaft seal.

As to what can cause the leaks, well all of those seals are synthetic rubber and eventually they will fail. And 17 years old is about the time it's gonna happen.

the valve cover could leak from being warped or just unevenly tightened, or again from just an old gasket losing its sealing elasticity.

Im Doing all of This my self he gave me a ran down on whats wrong with my car all thats wrong is my Engine leaking oil. he took care of all my light problems already. im thinging the engine light is only coming on for the oil leak i may be wrong. But While im down there give me a run down on what i have to replace? One Problem i will run in to is puting the timing belt on becuase im sitll trying to figure out how the hell im going to do it .

[bcjammerx]

Your mech. isn't lying to you.

Make sure you have ALL the seals replaced.

valve cover
distributor oring
spark plug upper seals
spark plug lower orings
cam seal
crank seal
new water pump
new t-belt tensioner pulley
new t-belt tensioner spring
new balance shaft pulley
new balance shaft spring
new t-belt
new balance belt
and of course new accessory belts

Those are all a must


wouldn't hurt to replace the oil pump seals (oring and a seal)
would also need oil pan gasket
oil pickup tube oring

this will cost a pretty penny...if you do the work yourself you will save some.

The belts and pulleys alone are $50 give or take...seals are couple bucks a piece...then there is the other stuff.

[batever]

Im Doing all of This my self he gave me a ran down on whats wrong with my car all thats wrong is my Engine leaking oil. he took care of all my light problems already. im thinging the engine light is only coming on for the oil leak i may be wrong. But While im down there give me a run down on what i have to replace? One Problem i will run in to is puting the timing belt on becuase im sitll trying to figure out how the hell im going to do it .

I won't give you a rundown because it's long. Start by reading the howto at the top of the page on the timing belt. The parts required are listed. Get a Haynes manual too.

Also search for other threads on the timing belt and seal replacement and read them, there's a lot of info here as it's probably one of the top 2 questions asked.

This job will take you between 5 and 8 hours if you are a newbie. If you've done it once or twice before and have picked up some tricks (already know from experience which combination of tools you'll need to get a particular part off for example) and don't have to stop and scratch your head and stop and think so much as you will the first time you do it, you can probably do it in 3 hours in and out.

But you are also gonna be doing all the seals so tack on an hour.

And watch a video of someone changing an Accord timing belt on youtube to get a visual sense of it. John's Farm has one that will give you an overview. But it omits some of the messy details. Which is fine for an overview.

The engine light is not coming on just because of an oil leak per se. It will come on if there is a sensor problem, if a sensor is detecting an abnormal condition, or other reason which *could* be also related to the oil leak Which is why you should pull the code before starting.

[batever]

Your mech. isn't lying to you.

Make sure you have ALL the seals replaced.

valve cover
distributor oring
spark plug upper seals
spark plug lower orings
cam seal
crank seal
new water pump
new t-belt tensioner pulley
new t-belt tensioner spring
new balance shaft pulley
new balance shaft spring
new t-belt
new balance belt
and of course new accessory belts

Those are all a must


wouldn't hurt to replace the oil pump seals (oring and a seal)
would also need oil pan gasket
oil pickup tube oring

this will cost a pretty penny...if you do the work yourself you will save some.

The belts and pulleys alone are $50 give or take...seals are couple bucks a piece...then there is the other stuff.

Bcjammerx has given a a great and thorough list. And is the way to do the job the best way. But I would be concerned that is intimidating for a first timer and maybe slight overkill for the strict symptoms described.

OP, Sticking strictly to the problem at hand, the dist o ring can be skipped/put off for later as it is far from the timing belt. The spark plug seals, upper and lower, can be skipped unless there is oil showing on the plugs. It's easy to do them later and they are easy to get at.

If you are cheap ("thrifty") you can skip changing the accessory belts unless they are on the last legs. They can go for years without breaking and it's not as involved as changing the timing belts to change them.

Bcjammerx implied it by how he listed the oil pump parts, but I want to make clear that there is no need to do an oil pan gasket unless you take the oil pan off to get at the oil pump. Which also involves dropping the exhaust so while it is thorough, unless there is an oil pump leak I would say don't do the oil pump (unless it is actually leaking) if you are a newby, it will make the job way too complex and intimidating.

Again, replacing all of these things is great/ideal and is the safest way to go (pretty much guaranteeing you won't have to go back in there again) but if it's someone's first time better to keep the job simpler is my feeling. You can always go back in in the future and it will be *much* easier the 2nd time around.

[bcjammerx]

Agreed...t-belt really isn't a good thing for beginners