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-   -   Oil Leak after Head Gasket Replacement (https://www.hondacivicforum.com/forum/mechanical-problems-technical-chat-8/oil-leak-after-head-gasket-replacement-96112/)

martinc98 12-06-2013 05:23 AM

Oil Leak after Head Gasket Replacement
 
2 Attachment(s)
I need help trying to isolate where a pretty major oil leak is coming from after replacing the head gasket in a 99 Civic EX.

Here's how I got here:
Car apparently overheated (bad radiator)... son didn't notice, kept driving until check engine light came on and engine started dying. Blew the head gasket, but not sure what else..

I've replaced the head gasket - got the head resurfaced and a valve job. It tested good after that.

After getting it all back together, It started ok, seemed to run pretty smooth, but I immediately noticed a big leak coming out of the crank pulley area.

My first thought was that I'd somehow crimped the head gasket, or there was some block damage that was the source of the leak.

I've attached a couple pictures... I can't really tell the source.
I see oil pooled in the opening behind the cam pulley... could that seal be leaking? Or could the belt have simply carried the oil up to there?

I see some oil on the lip between the block and head on the left of the cam pulley... but did that just run down from the cam seal??

Or could it be from the crank seal (I didn't replace that while in there... probably should have).? And all the oil is just getting carried up to the top area by the timing belt?

I only ran it for maybe 30 seconds before seeing the leak and then tearing it back open...

Any thoughts advice on what my next step should be?

mk378 12-06-2013 06:21 AM

That much oil probably came from the crank area. The oil pump is integrated with the front end of the engine and the crank seal. Likely the seal(s) melted.

Driving overheated until the engine stops almost always means the whole engine is toast.

martinc98 12-06-2013 06:29 AM

Thanks, I'll check that seal...
Do I have to pull the oil pump to replace it, or is this just a press in seal?

I was concerned that the block may have cracked or warped...
Short of pulling it out, are there any other checks I can do to tell what other damage may be there?

It did start up fine and sounded ok other than this oil gusher...

Would I have heard some major noises if something more core to the engine had died?

martinc98 12-06-2013 07:30 AM

I think I figured out one really stupid thing I did (or didn't do) that would explain the oil leak.

In the first picture above, there's no cam seal... it came back from the cylinder head shop without one and I didn't think to put a new one in... so no cam seal would probably explain a lot...

I've also replaced the crank seal...
geez!

I'm guessing the rear main seal is probably cooked also... so I should probably pull the tranny and replace that one too??


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