oil leak

[dan3490]

well my homie has a 1999 honda civc with a b16 in it.. so i just got off the phone with him seein if he got his car running from a differnt issue after installing his jdm 4-1 headers so he took it for a ride and i guess he hit somthing or bottomed out but theres lotsssssssss of oil i guess.. i said its from the exhaust where the sensor is... maybe oil from the cylinder head ? what would cause that rings/headgasket? i seen oil in the far left exhaust port when i put my 4-2-1 dc headers on his car cuz his dc headers cracked. any help would be appriciated

[STIBungy]

Get under the car and look. No way to tell where its coming from over the internet. Some things to check: oil pan crack, oil filter loose, oil pressure sender loose/broken.

[sirtef9]

If he "Hit" something and its leaking oil, then check either your oil pan, or transmission case, get pictures if you can.

[dan3490]

thanks alot yea im thinking its somthing to do with with the oil pan...so what would cause oil to come out of the #4 port?

[sirtef9]

maybe a totally unrelated problem?

[u13se]

it wouldnt be an external leak if it were in the manifold. your looking at rings or valve seals at that point

[dan3490]

from what i heard when he drive the car and broke down its a oil leak from the engine... and the oil from inside the port is a diff problem.. i seen that way befor he did what ever he just did

[hrcDSM719]

Because of the possibility of previous oil leaks, take a can of brake clean, and clean off as much dirt and oil as you can, then re-start it and let it run for a little bit. After letting it run, crawl back underneath it and locate your source!

Cleaning it beforehand lets you see the entire leak trail, helping to determine where it origionated from.

But, as mentioned above, the most likely case is tat he hit something hard enough to crack either the tranny housing or oil pan. If the oil pan is cracked, make sure to check the sump as well when you go to replace it. Make sure its not creased or smashed to the point that it will be clogging itself. If your sump cant get oil, the rest of your engine wont either! Hope that helps!

[dan3490]

ok well i talked to my homie he said its not leaking from the engine or oil pan.... it is leaking all the engines oil from the exhaust were the 4-1 connects to the cat if im not mistaking (where the sensor is).... so what could that be? i would take it to tobi but its not my car and the car is stuck in greely

[sirtef9]

oil filter? oil sending sensor? basically anything on the back of the motor

[hrcDSM719]

^ agreed! A somewhat common problem with older engines is the oil cooler o-ring that goes between the cooling plate and engine block. Also, oil pressure switches tend to leak with age as well. Another more simple thing is the oil filter o-ring. It may have been double gasketed, ar it may have a broken seal.

Try cleaning the area really good, then follow the oil trail from the bottome to the top. That should give you a decent idea of where its coming from. Pictures would be a definate plus to aid in helping you out, or if you have a chance to crawl underneath and check it out. I dont know you freind, but chances are he may not be too savvy with locating leaks, and having a second person to describe the leaks from first hand experience couldnt hurt.

If there were oil making it INTO the exhaust stream, the car would be smoking like a freight train. BIG blue clouds!

Check it out, let us know!!

[dan3490]

its a 99 si all stock internals single ply head gasket ect... its not leaking from the block at all... its leaking from the cylinder head into the header and down out the end of the 4-1 header only... (all the oil).... hes thinking of just swaping it with a stock sohc so he dont have to deal with the problem if he cant find a answer

[sirtef9]

1 Pic would make a huge difference in whether your gonna get a good answer or not. Was the head gasket recently changed? Head work? Anything? Sticking a SOHC in an SI because you can't figure it out is Retarded if you ask me. 1 picture, That's All!

[dan3490]

the car is a ex.. with a 99 si swap.. ill tell him to take a pic

[-importsports-]

do a compression check in that leaking cylinder, if you have oil in that exhaust port...your ring landing probably broke! usually when your piston rings start going out, your intake ports start getting oil in that runner.

[dan3490]

you mean the exhaust ports?

[-importsports-]

you mean the exhaust ports?

oil will be in the exhaust ports if your piston ring landings are broke, do a compression test and go from there. If you have a leak down tester, even better. Start there.

[sirtef9]

What about if you get oil on the spark plugs after it sits a week? Like alot of oil on the sparking side?

[hrcDSM719]

That could be a tube seal leaking (valve cover side, down into the plug hole and past the threads) or a serious internal issue.... A leakdown test would be very helpful in determining where the oil is coming from.

[sirtef9]

It's on a beat down neglected 13yr old B16 motor so who knows

[hrcDSM719]

....true that! It may be easier to pull off your header and look into the exhaust ports to see if you have oil on tha stems of your valves. That would indicate bad seals and possibly guides as well. Is it only one cylinder that has oil on the plugs?

[sirtef9]

no 3, 1 doesnt lol