2000 Civic VP

I replaced the oil pan gasket last weekend and it is bone dry now. I discovered engine oil seeping between the engine and tranny. The engine stiffener is coated with oil. I recall when I replaced the pan gasket that oil was on the side nearest the tranny.....could it be my rear seal? If so, what would a mechanic charge to fix it? Is it worth fixing on a 11 year old car with 140K or just keep the oil level up and dont worry about it?

 

I would guess its the rear main seal without looking at it. Im sure its not going to be cheap to fix since you have to drop the tranny and unbolt the flex plate to replace it. If it were me and i had to pay someone to do it. I would just watch my oil level unless it is a real bad leak.

 

The dealership wants $466 just in labor! Wow, I will just top her off every now and then.

Are there any other possibilies of why engine oil would seep onto the tranny?

 

If the oil is really down low it could be from taking the oil filter off. I had the same problem before I did my swap, so when the single came out I pulled the tranny just to check.

 

You mentioned flex plate so I'm assuming it's a stick. If it's a stick, be aware the leaking rear seal can get oil on your clutch plates and cause it to slip. Then you are looking are replacing the friction plate and rear seal.

I'd bite the bullet and do the seal and assuming it wasn't done yet, replace the clutch plate as preventive maintenance while I had the transmission off.

Kontoboy

 

Oil can leak out of the distributor and run all the way down around the back of the engine. It will look a lot like the seal is leaking.

 

I'm still trying to diagnose if the leak is my pan or rear main seal. I remember taking off the fly wheel cover (auto tranny) and I did not see any oil in the gears. Could this mean its a oil pan and not the rear main?

 

Due to age and location, I'd still sat rear main seal.

Go to Autozone and grab some leak stop stuff. There's even some made specifically for rear main seal leaks. Give your engine a whole bottle of it and drive 200 miles, topping off as needed. See what happens.