This is a cross post from hondaforum.com Hope I didn't break any rules or anything,

So,

In Aug of 14 I had the timing belt and water pump replaced on my car.

2004 Civic LX 4dr Auto 1.7



They replaced the cam seal, valvecover seal, and cranksaft seal as part of the work.



No problems with the car. Until yesterday. It was about 7 degrees in NY yesterday. And to make a long story short, the car basically started hemorrhaging oil. Like so much I thought the filter had come loose or fallen off. I managed to get the car to a shop quickly, so no engine damage It was freezing, dark and I had to way to get under the car to take a look so I left it at the shop. I have no previous dealings with this shop. They called me this morning, and I am expecting them to tell me that the filter was loose or something. Nope, they asked if I had had the timing belt changed recently, and if they replaced the seals. I said yes, and as far as I know the seals were replaced. The guy didn't stipulate whether he was referring to the crankshaft seal, or cam seal. he didn;t quite speak English all that well, and the best he could give me was "I can't say what happened, only that these seals were leaking" All told the replaced 2 seal, and the timing belt again, and 2 other belts that had been doused in oil.



I started wondering what the hell could have happened. I called the original mechanic ( I looked at the invoice and there was a 12 month warranty but you needed to bring it back to him, and the car was 30 miles away) He seemed as confused as me. I wasn't accusatory but just wanted to let him know what happened. he assured me he used decent third part parts (National seals he said) and that he stood behind his work. He then also told me he was on vacation when the work was done lol. Anyway I told the guys who were currently working on my car to give me all the parts they took out. They did, three belts and two seals. I asked why this could have happened, and they said "He didn't use Honda parts". Well, OK then.



Here are the two seals that I have questions about:









And











I'm looking for help identifying the second one. To me it looks like the original OEM seal as it is made in Japan. My google-fu on the numbers came up empty.



Also, are these both cam seals? I know the top one comes up as a cam seal if you google national 320595 and it is for an 04 civic, but not sure what the Land H before and after are, and a search turns up nothing.



In anyones mechanical opinion, did the original guy maybe leave an original seal in? the bottom one? Also, if you look, the bottom one seems to be torn in 2 places, would that cause massive oil leak?



Anyway, thanks in advance for any input. I'd just like to know what I am looking at here.

 

An I am thinking about it more now.

Since the guy gave me back 2 seals, I am assuming he took them off the crankshaft. again, a bit of a language barrier and I may not have specifically asked. I will call them tomorrow and hopefully get a definitive answer. anyway, if he did indeed take them off the crankshaft, the top gasket is actually a cam gasket. Is it at all possible that the original mechanic used the wrong gasket? ie. put the cam gasket on the crankshaft? Would it have fit, would it have lasted this long before blowing?


Sorry for all the Q's for what is at best speculation at this point. I just need to be pretty informed if I am going to go back to the original mechanic with this.