Diagnosing an oil leak
 

Hi all,

I'm trying to track down a few oil leaks on a '98 EX automatic with 139K miles. Thank you to those of you who replied to my earlier post about possible front/rear main seal leaks. Someone suggested trying the valve cover gasket first, in case oil is running down the front and rear of the block.

I changed the valve cover gasket, and cleaned the engine, and waited a week to see if I could spot any further leaking.

There is still a small leak coming from the front, but not out of the weep hole at the bottom of the timing cover. It looks like it might be coming from the oil pan gasket.

There's also a small leak coming from the back of the engine, but with the mounting stuff for the auto transmission, I can't see up into where it's coming from. I also noticed some wet spots along the side of the engine that faces the front of the car, around the oil pan bolts.

This all has me thinking oil pan gasket? How common is it for that to fail?
Also, any ideas on how hard it is to replace the oil pan gasket?

Thank you!

I think replacing the oil pan gasket will solve the remaining leaks at both the front and back of the engine. Make sure to apply a high temperature silicone gasket sealant at the locations indicated in the service manual.

Also check whether you see any oil leaking from below the distributor. If so, replace the distributor O-ring with one from the Honda dealer.