Pesky oil leak from oil pan gasket on high mileage 1994 Honda Accord.
I have a 1994 honda accord with 312K miles that has been leaking oil all of a sudden. I replaced the transaxle seal, crank shaft seal, cam shaft seal, and now the oil pan gasket. All leaks seem to be gone except for the oil pan gasket which I replaced a couple of times (1st with a OEM gasket, then without a gasket and some RTV, and now a professional garage with a gasket). I got a recommendation from a mechanic friend that he once worked on a high mileage accord with so much pressure in the engine that it was pushing oil through the seals/gaskets. I popped the oil cap and sure enough air was gushing out like a full blast a/c. I have pulled the PCV hose off the valve cover for some pressue relief but it still leaks and even leaks nonstop when the car is turned off. Short of replacing the engine is there anything I can do to stop this leak? Does it need a reseal of the gasket after reducing the pressure since there is now a easy path for the oil to flow through it? I only plan on keeping this car going until it dies and I fix my other nicer car. I have gotten mixed non-answers about what I could do to fix the issue: replace or clean the PCV hoses is the biggest cheapest one. Any help would be appreciated!!
Replace the PCV valve and don't overfill the engine with oil. You can try running it a half quart low and see it that helps some. You can try running some oil that is sold for high mileage engines that claims to help soften up old seals. Using a heavier grade of oil might help a tiny bit.
All my oil seals are new so softening up my seals won't make a difference. I am also using a 10w40 with no difference that I can see. And when you say replace the PCV valve are you talking about the whole hose because I replace the grommet already and have the hose disconnected. I am almost always running low on oil so that doesn't seem to make a difference either. Thanks for the reply though.
There is a hose but there is a valve too, it is located in the valve cover and if it is not working properly it will not ventilate your engine like it should. It looks like this ---
OK. I did not replace that part but I did replace the grommet that this valve plugs into. Question: could this make it better if it is not working properly vs. having that hose disconnected? Does the PCV system need to work properly "and" connected to work better than just having it disconnected to vent to the atmosphere if there is too much pressure?
You could vent the engine directly to the air if you plug up the hose that goes to the intake manifold and pull out the PCV but it is better just to replace it as they don't cost much. Pulling the PCV out will allow oil to escape the engine from the open hole and make a mess of your engine. Positive Crankcase Ventilation will be better than just letting it vent to the atmosphere.
Disconnecting the hose only creates a vacuum leak!
Perfect! Thanks for your help. I will try this and report back.
Having waiting about three months with some more tries I report that my oil leak is just as bad as when I started. This is what I tried so far since my last post: -upgraded to 10w40 -replaced the valve -checked the PCV hose My next thought is to permanently seal the oil pan gasket with something very strong like JB weld or something similar. Would there be any problems with doing this other than never taking it off? The heat should not be a problem for the JB, right? If I do this should I also not install the gasket? And if so is there anything special I should take note of when setting the JB? Thanks!
I also tried sea-foaming the engine to see if I could reduce the pressure if it was due to oil build up causing the pressure.
I was thinking of using JB Weld HighHeat Epoxy Putty. Any comments on whether this will work? http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/JBW0/8297/N2548.oap?ck=Search_N2548_JBW_-1_3658&mn=J-B+Weld&mc=JBW&pt=N2548&ppt=C2392
Nevermind...I already did it and it worked! (I used three tubes of the stuff) The only negative I have at this point is that my dipstick doesn't go down the last 2-3 inches. I find it hard to believe that the putty spread enough to block the path of the dipstick but that is the only thing that I can think of. So at this point I am driving blind on my oil level since I never get a low oil light. Maybe I can fix that and just use that in case I am burning oil and don't know it. Thanks for reading, I guess.
The other negative is that I welded the oil pan to the car and it is never coming off! Since the car is old and probably on its last legs I don't care. I wouldn't try this if you have a younger car.
I'm in a need of help with my 1994 Honda Accord Ex oil level keeps getting low.... my mechanic said the oil pan and gasket is good, replaced the axle seals, I don't know much about cars but I'm just a bit worried for my oil being always low/dry. ??
how do you weld steel pan to aluminum block?
I have another question...I am still having a lot of oil pressure in my engine so I rechecked the pcv valve and this is what I am seeing: the pcv valve is blocked and not allowing air through it when the car is running. I know this because if I pull the hose off the pcv valve no air comes out. If I remove the pcv valve then the air comes out. Also, if I blow into the pcv valve while I am holding it in my hand the air comes through. I can also shake the pcv valve and I hear the ball inside it. It is the same one that I bought during this same thread. Any one have an idea why my pcv valve is acting this way when on the engine? Also, does anyone have a good diagram for the breather tube? I am not 100% sure I have it connected correctly since I have an aftermarket air intake. The pic is of the breather hose but I am unsure where the connections go.
Another pic of the aftermarket hose:
Nevermind...I discovered that the PCV valve is fine and that I possibly didn't seal the oil pan good enough. I will know more when I get back under the car shortly.
There seems to be a common issue with oil pans leaking on this generation of Accord which is ‘94-‘97. Leaks most often occur around the curved edges of the pan. Apply liquid gasket around the 4 curves of the pan, place gasket on pan and apply liquid gasket on curves of gasket. This will also keep the gasket in place as you install the pan. It is important to use the proper torque spec and torquing sequence. I uploaded a picture of the sequence. Torque Spec: 10 lb-ft. *Torque in 2 steps. 1) Hand tighten in sequence 2) Torque to 10 lb-ft in sequence Good luck! Hope this helps
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