H23a1 oil leak problem - Honda Prelude Forum

NAWLINS93LUDE · 12-09-2008, 02:52 PM

Well i noticed when i bought the car that i would have to add about a quart of oil every month. After about a year and having to add more and more i decided to look under the car, last oil change it was clean. Well this time there is oil ALL over the block off the engine! I can see seepage from the valve cover gasket and when i changed the spark plugs had oil on them and i know i need the spar plug seals.

My question is that the most of the oil seems to leak from where the distributor and coil hook to the valve cover what seals are those??? Also it only hits the ground in one place and that is where the auto transmission hooks to the block there you can see it dripping to the ground. But it does leak some seems above the oil filter and hits my exhaust and there is this boot over this switch i think the oil pressure switch its a switch under the oil filter the boot is all corroded so i think that switch is leaking too. But i have a bunch of pictures i need to make a account with photo bucket or image shack so i can upload them. I have pics of the oil spill patterns and the engine itself. What are the main causes of oil leaks in h23a1's???

Also i need to post a pic but i noticed that on my drivers side that a boot not the cv boot is torn. its connected to a arm that's on the most outside edge closest to the drivers door. Ill have pictures up soon but any ideas of what boot this is that torn? i think its part of the steering system but i know its not a cv boot for sure.

G_Loc · 12-09-2008, 03:11 PM

Oil leak hot spots: valve cover, spark plug "doughnuts," cam seal plug (behind distributor), distributor seal, oil cooler seals (oil cooler is where the oil filter screws on to, it unbolts from the block, there is a seal there that hardens over time), oil pan. What causes it? Old age. You've got these pieces of rubber constantly heating up and cooling and over the course of a few years, they get brittle and crack.

The boot that is torn is the tie rod boot. They should be replaced when broken (to prevent inner tie rods from drying out / getting gunked with crap), but most people just leave them like that.