I am planning to buy a 2001 Honda Civic with 40000 miles on it and got it inspected thoroughly today. I was told that "there was a minor oil leakage" @ the rear of the engine. The mechanic said he could not say if it was a problem with the "rear seal" or not without removing all the components of the engine [ with a labor cost of 500-600$]. Has some one experienced such a problem and what is the likelihood of this being a rear seal problem [ or would it just be a "valve cover gasket" problem - read this in an article ?] . Shoud i go ahead and pursue this car for buying or is it too much of a risk to take ? [&:]

 

Just to clarify... by the "rear" of the engine, do you mean the flywheel end?

 

if you knock off a few grand from the price because of that leak, I'd go for it

 

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. I am not sure if its the flywheel end, would clarify that info. by tomorrow. In the mean time, I asked the seller tp take it to a Honda Dealer & inspect the "oil leak @ the rear of the engine" . The seller told me that the Honda Dealers found a "Loose Oil Filter" and was fixed. I would like to know, if the "loose oil flter" could be a genuine cause of a oil leak @ the rear of the engine or is it some thing that I shouldnt concur to? The asking price for this Civic LX [40000 miles, 2001] is $10,900. The seller is not willing to reduce the price by a max of 10, 400$. Would like your feedbacks on these.

Thanks

 

It's possible that the leak was caused by a loose oil filter, but that would mean that whoever did the last oil change was a complete idiot.

 

Yep...either that or something there could be warped