My 95 prelude has just been found to have an oil leak. When I drive and then stop, smoke comes from under the hood and smells of burning oil. I brought it to the Honda dealership over here and the guy told me I have multiple oil leaks and it would cost anywhere between $1500 and $2000 to fix it because they have to take the tranny out to get to the oil seal/valve.
Do you guys think I should just keep the car and monitor the oil levels closely or should I just not bother and get a newer car. I really do not want to sell my Prelude because I love it and just got it repainted.
Get another estimate. It depends entirely on where you are leaking from. If it's something like the rear main seal, then yeah it's going to cost $$. I would not take the word of this person you spoke to however, it sounds very high.
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ok thanks. I am driving it to NYC this weekend and will take it to my dad's mechanic. He's very honest and even takes me under the car to show me where problems are.If I can fix it for under $1,000, then I think I'd be willing to do that. My car has almost 140k miles on it though.
man dealership will tell u dat just to get more money off u but its probably just the flywheel cuz i just had the same problem last week on my 93 prelude. its way cheaper if u buy the part it cost only $80-$95 depending wat brand and for labor probably about $150 it takes a few hours to install. But just find a good mechanic and they'll probably fix wateva else is wrong but it wont run u dant much money especially $1500
man dealership will tell u dat just to get more money off u but its probably just the flywheel cuz i just had the same problem last week on my 93 prelude. its way cheaper if u buy the part it cost only $80-$95 depending wat brand and for labor probably about $150 it takes a few hours to install. But just find a good mechanic and they'll probably fix wateva else is wrong but it wont run u dant much money especially $1500
How does the flywheel cause oil leaks? What the hell are you talking about?
Sim1 don't listen to this guy. Your dad's mechanic sounds like an honest reasonable guy...have him look at it.
Wow, I'm about to go Mr. Clean all over this thread. But before I get to this, it's time to drop some relevant knowledge.
A leaky rear main oil seal is very common in our cars. The cost to replace it is usually around the same labor quote as that of replacing the clutch/flywheel. That's because you have to remove the tranny, clutch, and flywheel to get to it. (Also take off the oil pan & downpipe, to take off the seal plate, if they don't want to pop it out. it's up to the shop's perfered method) Because of this, I'd recommend saving up for a new clutch & flywheel to put in, while they're doing the seal job. Labor prices for clutch jobs are usually in the $350+ range, depending on your market. If you don't have the money for the clutch/fly and labor, I'd say you're fine with keeping a close eye on the oil and saving your money until you have enough. As a precaution, I'd keep some oil in your trunk, in case you need to top it off whenever. Other common oil leaks, in our cars, are the distributor o-ring (you can replace this yourself), cam seals & oil cooler seal. Your dad's mechanic or most others will charge less than a dealer, for the same work. Dealerships charge A LOT per hour, for labor.
Now for the rediculous...
Your flywheel is NOT going to cause your rear main seal to fail. If you can't shift or you bang the hell out of the clutch, the clutch will fail not the flywheel. You'll probably have a spring pop out of the pressure plate housing and get mauled and twisted between the flywheel and pressure plate, marring the heck out of the flywheel, but not destroying it. In which case, you'll hear a rattling/grinding coming from the tranny area when driving, until you step on the clutch pedal.
Finally...
This is a serious tech forum, treat it as such. This is not instant messenger. This is not a chatroom. If you want to contribute, then do so in a mature, clear way. If you can't type out words like an adult, refrain from using all caps, or capitalizing every word, users will not take you or your posts seriously.
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Thanks for your input everyone. Yeah, the Honda dealer said soemthing about the main seal and that the reason it'd be so much money is because he'd have to take the transmission out and stuff. I have an automatic, so I dont know if that would make things easier or not. I have been keeping two bottles of oil in my trunk and I check my oil level like twice a week (which seems to be how often I have to top it off). Whenever I have to add more though, its never THAT much.
Knowing now that its probably the rear main seal, I'll just see how much my dad's mechanic would fix it for because I heard the part doesnt cost that much, its just the labor. I am driving 8.5 hours to NY on Sunday and plan on making a few stops to check the oil and add some if need be.
I had the same problem with the smoke. I put a UV dye in the oil and found a leak that most people forget about. The O-Ring between the block and the oil filter housing was flatened out, and my oil pressure switch (right below oil filter) has a small leak. The oil was blowing around so much, it looked like a mail seal, but it wasn't. Cost me $2.65 for the O-Ring, $26 for the oil pressure switch.
Give it a shot.
Thanks for your input everyone. Yeah, the Honda dealer said soemthing about the main seal and that the reason it'd be so much money is because he'd have to take the transmission out and stuff. I have an automatic, so I dont know if that would make things easier or not. I have been keeping two bottles of oil in my trunk and I check my oil level like twice a week (which seems to be how often I have to top it off). Whenever I have to add more though, its never THAT much.
Knowing now that its probably the rear main seal, I'll just see how much my dad's mechanic would fix it for because I heard the part doesnt cost that much, its just the labor. I am driving 8.5 hours to NY on Sunday and plan on making a few stops to check the oil and add some if need be.
If you haven't noticed already, you should have at least a general sense how much oil you need for every 1000 mile interval. Generally speaking, if you're losing more than a quart per 1000 mile, I'd suggest you get it looked at earlier than later.
Personally, most long trips will be fine as the car is moving and leaking usually occurs when the car is at rest.
I had the same problem with the smoke. I put a UV dye in the oil and found a leak that most people forget about. The O-Ring between the block and the oil filter housing was flatened out, and my oil pressure switch (right below oil filter) has a small leak. The oil was blowing around so much, it looked like a mail seal, but it wasn't. Cost me $2.65 for the O-Ring, $26 for the oil pressure switch.
Give it a shot.
Where can I find UV dye for this?
Mine just started doing this, and I'm hoping to drop a new h22a4 in my 95 next year, but in the meantime, I'd love to have a car that doesn't suck :-p
I had the same problem with the smoke. I put a UV dye in the oil and found a leak that most people forget about. The O-Ring between the block and the oil filter housing was flatened out, and my oil pressure switch (right below oil filter) has a small leak. The oil was blowing around so much, it looked like a mail seal, but it wasn't. Cost me $2.65 for the O-Ring, $26 for the oil pressure switch.
Give it a shot.
good call, i was about to mention this...
EDIT: I'm glad to see we have a noobie with a little bit of knowledge.
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