Great...Prelude's leaking oil AGAIN...

[thawolfman]

Here's the deal....

Back in the Winter of '00, a year after I got my '92 Prelude, the oil light came on. Moron me, not knowing what to do, put a quart of oil in and continued to drive to school. After classes I was coming home and the light was still on, but I was just thinking 'let me get home...' Wellllllp that didn't happen...Engine seized up on me and I ended up paying $1600 to put in a '93 Prelude engine which was from a wrecked Prelude IIRC. I needed the car ASAP for school and didn't have time to look around, and since that was the guy my buddy called (who was luckily in the car with me when it happened) that's who I stuck with.

Flash to today, and as I get to my car in the garage I see something similar to what I saw last time...Oil along the drivers side of the car...from the front left tire to the back left. Soon as I saw it I was like FVCK! So I got in the car, started driving, and everything was cool, then the Oil light popped on, so I'm thinking 'Great....here we go again...' So I pull into a gas station and let the car sit for a minute, and get out and look and there's a small puddle of oil, maybe 3-4" in diameter. So I put 3 quarts in, and as soon as I start the car up it starts streaming out...I just wanted to get home so I just hopped in and drove, and the light didn't come on again until I was just pulling into my street, so it's pretty much dead in the driveway

I just had the oil changed approx 850 miles ago, and it's been good since. It's been making a noise, sounding somewhat like a leaky manifold(so I was told) but that's been around before this happened.


Anyone have ANY ideas as to what could be going on? If you need any more info let me know and I'll provide whatever I can.

Thx
-Ben-

 

[iamwiz82]

Now, i dont want to flame you, but WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DRIVE IT if you saw"...Oil along the drivers side of the car"!?!?!

That should have been a warning sign in your head right there. You should have had it checked out.

 

[thawolfman]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Now, i dont want to flame you, but WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DRIVE IT if you saw"...Oil along the drivers side of the car"!?!?!

That should have been a warning sign in your head right there. You should have had it checked out.

School's ~25 miles away from home, parents are at work....buddy on campus is in class and has classes all night, and I have work to get to(which is where I'm headed now).

What was I supposed to do?

 

[Zenmervolt]

So I put 3 quarts in, and as soon as I start the car up it starts streaming out...

I cannot emphasize this enough, never, never, NEVER put more oil in an engine than the rated capacity. I don't care how fast it's leaking out. Excess oil in the sump froths and overpressurizes the oil system which just makes everything worse and runs the very real risk of blowing a seal. What you should have done was filled the oil to the top mark on the dipstick, bought a few extra quarts, and re-filled the oil every time the light came on. Over-filling the sump is not good.

That said, it sounds to me like a seal is definitely blown somewhere (probably on the driver's side) and that the leak is in an area that is pressurized when the engine is running. You need to clean the entire engine, fill the sump up to the normal point, and then start the engine (with the car up in the air). You should be able to pinpoint the leak fairly quickly.

I would not drive the car until this is fixed, that's just begging for something worse to happen.

ZV

 

[NutBucket]

Sounds like the main seal blew. Its an item that's usually replaced when the timing belt is changed.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Man...don't know what to say other than you take poor care of your car and need to learn some basic maintenance.

The oil light is an oil pressure light...sure, it usually means you're probably low on oil, but now you don't have enough oil and pressure to get oil up to your valves and pistons.

What Zenmervolt said.

If you even get this fixed, you need to start checking your fluids more often. I can't believe after you saw the oil you got in your car and drove it. Darwin award here, people. :/ You should have at least checked the fluid level and checked to see if you could tell where the leak was coming from. Then you should have called someone more knowledgeable -- I'm sure your school/work would understand.

 

[Pepsi90919]

idiot lights 101:

CHECK ENGINE: get it checked at your convenience unless you have a severe driveability problem
BRAKES: pull over as soon as possible and check brake fluid and brake condition... if ok, drive to the nearest service centre.
BATTERY: turn off all electrical accessories and go to the nearest service centre.
SEATBELTS: meh.
OIL: turn the fvcking engine off now and get into neutral and pull over to the side of the road and flag someone down with a phone to call a tow truck

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: NutBucket
Sounds like the main seal blew. Its an item that's usually replaced when the timing belt is changed.

Huh? My old Honda had the original main seal until the tranny went out at 205,000 miles. Didn't leak a drop. I have to wonder what on earth your mechanic is thinking if he's changing the main seal with every timing belt change. I have a feeling you may be getting taken.

ZV

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: NutBucket
Sounds like the main seal blew. Its an item that's usually replaced when the timing belt is changed.

Huh? My old Honda had the original main seal until the tranny went out at 205,000 miles. Didn't leak a drop. I have to wonder what on earth your mechanic is thinking if he's changing the main seal with every timing belt change. I have a feeling you may be getting taken.

ZV

Its not everytime. I don't think mine has been changed actually. It leaks a little but nothing noticeable. It just seemed like the most obvious thing besides a hole in the oil pan or a blown gasket.

 

[edro]

My 1992 Civic has 240,000 miles on it and it runs great. Check the oil pan screw. Sometimes those oil changing places are too fast and strip it.

 

[iamwiz82]

i fail to understand why other people pipe in to tell someone that their car of the same brand works fine. What does that accomplish?

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: thawolfman
Here's the deal....

Back in the Winter of '00, a year after I got my '92 Prelude, the oil light came on. Moron me, not knowing what to do, put a quart of oil in and continued to drive to school. After classes I was coming home and the light was still on, but I was just thinking 'let me get home...' Wellllllp that didn't happen...Engine seized up on me and I ended up paying $1600 to put in a '93 Prelude engine which was from a wrecked Prelude IIRC. I needed the car ASAP for school and didn't have time to look around, and since that was the guy my buddy called (who was luckily in the car with me when it happened) that's who I stuck with.

Flash to today, and as I get to my car in the garage I see something similar to what I saw last time...Oil along the drivers side of the car...from the front left tire to the back left. Soon as I saw it I was like FVCK! So I got in the car, started driving, and everything was cool, then the Oil light popped on, so I'm thinking 'Great....here we go again...' So I pull into a gas station and let the car sit for a minute, and get out and look and there's a small puddle of oil, maybe 3-4" in diameter. So I put 3 quarts in, and as soon as I start the car up it starts streaming out...I just wanted to get home so I just hopped in and drove, and the light didn't come on again until I was just pulling into my street, so it's pretty much dead in the driveway

I just had the oil changed approx 850 miles ago, and it's been good since. It's been making a noise, sounding somewhat like a leaky manifold(so I was told) but that's been around before this happened.


Anyone have ANY ideas as to what could be going on? If you need any more info let me know and I'll provide whatever I can.

Thx
-Ben-

It doesen't sound like he overfilled the engine.. If it was basically out of oil, 3 quarts would have been like 75% full.

You people flaming him for driving the car with the oil light on need to shush. It doesen't sound like he did it excessively.. he pulled into a gas station the first time, and was close to his driveway the second.

That said, you absolutely must not run the engine in that condition. You may have already damaged it, maybe even more than slightly.. but you should be okay.

It should not be hard for you, even if you don't have much mechanical experience, to find the oil leak.

Oil changed 850 miles ago? Hmm.. that's pretty far.. Check your oil drain plug, and your oil filter first. Did you go to the same oil change place with both engines?

 

[iamwiz82]

he saw oil on the ground underneath his car before he even left. The oil was from his front tire to his rear. Thats alot of oil.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: ThisIsMatt
The oil light is an oil pressure light...sure, it usually means you're probably low on oil, but now you don't have enough oil and pressure to get oil up to your valves and pistons.

I wish people wouldn't say that, as it's not true for all cars.

My car has an oil level light. It has an oil pressure guage. Low pressure - guage goes down. Low level, light comes on. Unless you know for sure that's it's a pressure light in a '92 prelude, please don't assume so.

 

[C'DaleRider]

It's been known to happen that the QuickLube places sometimes don't get the old oil filter's gasket off before installing the new oil filter. Takes time to happen, but where the gaskets meet starts leaking and blowing oil eveywhere.

 

Zem

. Excess oil in the sump froths and overpressurizes the oil system which just makes everything worse and runs the very real risk of blowing a seal.

Incorrect sir, a overfilled sump will froth the oil and you will lose oil pressure, not gain it.
(Froth is nothing more than air whipped oil)

Without looking at the vehicle personally, I am going out on a limb and say you may have blown a main seal, either the front (Timing belt end) or the rear.
Why ?

Oil leaking that fast and that suddenly is most likely a seal, not a gasket.
Did you bother to check the drain plug ?

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: C'DaleRider
It's been known to happen that the QuickLube places sometimes don't get the old oil filter's gasket off before installing the new oil filter. Takes time to happen, but where the gaskets meet starts leaking and blowing oil eveywhere.

I didn't even think about that! Good point. However, it prolly would have been much messier if that was the case. He saw one puddle. It would have sprayed all over if that was the problem. No harm in checking tho!

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: ThisIsMatt
The oil light is an oil pressure light...sure, it usually means you're probably low on oil, but now you don't have enough oil and pressure to get oil up to your valves and pistons.

I wish people wouldn't say that, as it's not true for all cars.

My car has an oil level light. It has an oil pressure guage. Low pressure - guage goes down. Low level, light comes on. Unless you know for sure that's it's a pressure light in a '92 prelude, please don't assume so.

It's true for this car, unless it's different from a 92 accord, which I highly doubt.

From Honda Owner's Manual:

Oil Pressure Warning Light

A severe fluctuation in engine oil pressure will cause this light to flash on and off. You should stop as soon as possible, check the oil level, and add oil if necessary.
The oil pressure warning light will come on, and remain on, if there is insufficient oil pressure or when the ignition switch is turned on with the engine not running. If the light should come on while driving, get the car off the road as soon as you can, turn the engine off and check the engine oil level.
Even if the oil level is correct, the engine should be checked by a Honda dealer before the car is driven again.

NOTE:
The oil pressure warning light will only light as a result of low oil pressure. It is not directly an oil level indicator.

The defense rests.

 

[thawolfman]

Just got in from work. I was posting with a but much emotion when I first posted, so forgive me for leaving some details out

When I saw the oil on the ground, I immediately checked the dipstick and it was hardly marked, so I started up the car, and went to the closest gas station, and put 3 quarts in, which is 75% for my engine(owners manual says 4.0qt w/o filter). When I was nearing the gas station, the light came on for the first time, so I hadn't been driving too long with the light on.

The second time it came on I was under a minute away from my house, so again, it wasn't on for very long. I had the oil changed at a different mechanic this time, while the oil on the first engine was changed @ JiffyLube. It was just over 4 weeks that I had it changed, and it's been fine until today. I know I probably screwed up in what I did today, but I really felt that at the time I didn't have any other choice...I really just wanted to get it home

With the first engine I'll openly admit that it was my stupidity that caused it. I didn't keep up on checking the fluids, etc, and I got 0wned for that one. This time I don't know what could've gone wrong....It's going to get towed to the shop in the morning(to the same guy who changed the oil) so I'll know what it is tommorow night.

Anyways, thanks for your input so far, it's all appreciated, even the flames, as I need to learn what to do and not to do when it comes to my car. I wish I was able to do more with it, but I didn't grow up around cars, and don't really know anyone who's a mechanic, or is into them, so I haven't had the opportunity to learn as much as I'd like.

Thanks again guys
-ben-

 

[Zenmervolt]

Incorrect sir, a overfilled sump will froth the oil and you will lose oil pressure, not gain it.(Froth is nothing more than air whipped oil)

Not my day today it seems. I'd thought that the froth ended up increasing crankcase pressure somehow, and I would have sworn that I read that somewhere. This'll teach me not to try to think the day after an all-nighter.

ZV

EDIT: Ah-ha! Well, I was kind of right. Roger was completely right though. See here. If the oil froths the oil system pressure goes down, but the crankcase pressure goes up. If that were the case though you'd have noticed it faster, so I was still wrong.

 

[Eli]

Actually, all modern engine oils have foam inhibitor packages in them.. No modern engine oil should foam.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

pfft, you were ONLY leaking oil? thats nothing. I have a 1989 mustang. I had the following leaks at the SAME TIME:

water pump
radiator
radiator hose
speedometer cable
seal inside transmission
oil pan something or another
radiator coolant resivoir

I am sure I forgot 1 or 2 in here, but this is the majority.

$800, 5 weeks, 2 complete breakdowns of the transmission, and a hell of a lot of frusteration later, its fixed.

Anyone want to buy an 89 mustang?

 

[Ladies Man]

i'll take the 89 off your hands in a flash

esp since it's fixed now

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: DeathByAnts
pfft, you were ONLY leaking oil? thats nothing. I have a 1989 mustang. I had the following leaks at the SAME TIME:

water pump
radiator
radiator hose
speedometer cable
seal inside transmission
oil pan something or another
radiator coolant resivoir

I am sure I forgot 1 or 2 in here, but this is the majority.

$800, 5 weeks, 2 complete breakdowns of the transmission, and a hell of a lot of frusteration later, its fixed.

Anyone want to buy an 89 mustang?

Your speedometer cable was leaking fluid? :Q

 

Actually, all modern engine oils have foam inhibitor packages in them.. No modern engine oil should foam.

Under normal operating conditions.
When a oil sump is overfilled, the crankshaft whips the oil into a froth.No amount of additives will prevent this.