Questions and Answers
Honda Oil Leak
Q. Dear Vincent, I have a 1989 Honda Accord that my daughter gave to me last November when she bought a new car. I had sold my old car and was using my camping van for transportation. I absolutely love the Honda and would love to keep it for a long time.
It runs well and is very peppy. Well, she always had a very slight oil drip ever since she bought it about 5 or 6 years before. Her mechanic in NC said if she is not losing oil, don't bother with it. She had asked him about the mileage being over 100,000 and he said ask him again when it is over 250,000. He said it has a great motor.
My problem started when I decided to get the air conditioning fixed before the hot weather hits. (I live in Florida) My daughter lives in the NC mountains and hadn't used the air. Just to give you some background -- the garage I have gone to for the past 7 years always had a great mechanic but he left about 2 years ago. The new mechanic is very polite and sounds like he knows what he is talking about. But during the past year or so, whenever I need something done on my van camper, it gets tied up for a few days at a time (even though he says it will be ready). After I take it home, I always find something that is either not put back together right or it has some other minor problem. Of course, I don't get charged for the return trip, but I feel he is either rushing something or being careless.
Well, when I took the Honda in to get the A/C done, it needed a dealer part and then it got fixed. He also was going to replace the valve cover gasket while it was there. When I picked it up he said he had a hard time getting the old gasket out because someone had glued it into the valve cover. He said he couldn't get all of it out and had to make up his own gasket to fit it. This bothered me, I felt perhaps Honda may have a reason for the gasket being affixed to the cover. Well, within the week, I was smelling oil as soon as the motor got hot and it was smoking when I stopped at a light. I checked under the hood and I can see oil leaking down the front of the cover. I called him and he said I must be burning oil. I replied that I am not BURNING oil but that I am LEAKING oil from the valve cover ever since it got fixed. I even suggested that perhaps if the gasket cannot be replaced, perhaps a new valve cover might be needed. He said to bring it in and he would look at it. Well, when I called him, he said he needed more time to check it out - so again he had the car two days. He determined that my problem is oil blowby and that the oil is leaking out the valve cover and elsewhere. I said, ok what do we do about it? He replied that the O rings need replaced and that is a motor job and that he didn't recommend such a big job.
When I looked on your web site, the blowby definition says "during normal engine operation" I am no mechanic, but I feel that the exact timing of the oil leak problem was too coincidental. I want to take the car to another mechanic. I moved about 5 months ago and usually drive the 25 miles to their garage because I don't know any mechanics near here. Finding a new, reliable, and honest mechanic is always risky business, especially for a widow. I love the Honda. It is zippy, easy to handle and fantastic on gas mileage. What would you suggest? The following is the information I know about the car.
1989 Honda Accord -- I think the engine is 2.0 -- it has automatic transmission. The mileage is 151,239 (I have put 6,000 on it myself) I believe it is fuel injection. It has P/S and A/C but I don't know anything about the type of brakes or steering. I would really appreciate your suggestions. I just don't feel that the O rings would go so suddenly, without any previous problems. Thank you very much for your help.
Sincerely,
MaureenA. Well Maureen, it sounds to me like this new mechanic leaves something to be desired. From what you have related to me shows that he is, at the very least, careless and at most incompetent.
When you get a car back from a mechanic, it should be put back together right and have no repair related "minor problems."
I had a similar experience a few years ago with my Nissan Van. It was the firth recall on it and since I was working at a Nissan dealer, I did the first four. When the fifth one came out, I took it to Haldeman Nissan in Bordentown, NJ to have it done.
When I got it back, the drivers power window no longer worked and the heater control panel fell inside the dashboard when I turned it on. There were grease stains on the carpeting. I never got out of the parking lot so they said they would take care of it. It was disheartening because I knew some of the techs that worked there and I knew they were better than that. I was not a happy person.
As for the valve cover gasket, what happened could have very well caused a fire. The valve cover gasket on my van was recall number one. They did blow out and several vans did catch fire and burn down. Old valve cover gaskets can be a pain to get off, but they do come off. It just requires a little work. There is no reason to leave a piece of gasket on the valve cover. That's just asking for trouble.
"Oil blowby" sounds like double talk to me in this case. I'm sorry, the more I read your question the more upset I get. This guy just isn't doing right by you. I would find out, if you can, where your first mechanic went and take the car to him. If you can't find him, take it to another shop. This guy does not deserve your business and you can't do much worse then him.
