Help! My Lude is sick...(56k Warning) - Honda Prelude Forum

Qveon · 12-08-2002, 09:48 PM

Well i woke up and moved the car this morning to find this:

And my oil was low so i added some oil and drove around to dinner and came back and parked it. and checked it 3 hours later:

So i hope you can help me out with what the problem is. Here is some picks of the under side of the car:

And its dripping off of the lower left hand bolt and the crease of the tranny:

MR.CLIFFORD · 12-08-2002, 10:01 PM

I think there was a recall that affected some ludes about the rear of the oil pan seal backing out under pressure. To me it looks like there is oil everywhere. It is pretty difficult to see where the oil is coming. I would check to make sure all the oil pan bolts are tight until you can take it to a mechanic to check it out. I think that seal would be a first step!

Qveon · 12-08-2002, 10:05 PM

Ok here are some other symptoms:

I had low oil today (well my car uses about a quart or so every oil change, i burn a tad)

My power steering is low

Most of the puddles of fluid are coming from the front of the car. like in the pictures. those puddles are coming from up front. <--- Any ideas?

And WTF is all that red stuff:

And if you look above, there is that red stuff on the 2-1 part of the header too.

What could have dripped all over the header?

Thanks for any help!

AlexLude · 12-09-2002, 12:32 AM

Hmm... ran over a dead animal bro? Looks like that fluid is BLOOD from some roadkill that got baked up under there! :-) hahah j/k

Looks like a number of things.. first of all make sure you brought your prelude to do the recall thing about one of the seals backing out under pressure.. doesn't look like this is it b/c all the oil would be on the floor.. but for sure it looks like there is a leak:

- Oil pan seal
- Oil pan drain bolt (might be due to overtightening)
- Rear Main Seal

make sure to check your cam seals and crank seals . if you look in your engine block towards the left of it near the cap and rotor, do you see it leaking down towards the side of the block? If so, that could be the end cap seal leaking. I'm sure 3 out of 5 of these is the culprit.. so check it out at your local shop ASAP. Just my $0.02.

- Alex

cantdrive55 · 12-09-2002, 01:16 AM

It's kinda hard to tell without being there and sticking my finger in there, but to me it looks like the oil, after exerting pressure, is coming out of the oil pressure sensor and then dripping down from there. You also want to check to see how tight your oil filter is, as a loose filter will also cause leakage.

Qveon · 12-09-2002, 08:24 AM

but the dripping seems to be at the very front of the car?

Satan_SRV · 12-09-2002, 09:24 AM

Did you change your valve cover recently?

Qveon · 12-09-2002, 01:22 PM

nope and no liquid is not dripping from by the distributer.

kennethmina · 12-10-2002, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Qveon

Fram oil filter???? no no no... bad bad bad

mrmumbels · 12-10-2002, 07:52 AM

i would say a little duct tape and a beer. but not too close to the pipe

red92s · 12-10-2002, 08:31 AM

I also think it looks to be the thickest by the oil prssure sensor. Get under there with some simple green and clean everything off really well, then let the car sit for a while. . .should make the problem easier to track down.

VTEC Shore Lude · 12-10-2002, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kennethmina

Fram oil filter???? no no no... bad bad bad

Whats wrong with Fram, what do u recomend.

I am having the same oil leak problem except mine only leaks when the car is on, we determined it to be the inner threads of the oil pressure switch adapter. This peice screws into the block and then the oil pressure switch screws into it. i think thats what cantdrive55 was referring to. hopefullt the threads on the block are ok cause if they are messed up that = big bucks to drill the block.

Qveon · 12-10-2002, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Prelude Type ShizL

Whats wrong with Fram, what do u recomend.

I am having the same oil leak problem except mine only leaks when the car is on, we determined it to be the inner threads of the oil pressure switch adapter. This peice screws into the block and then the oil pressure switch screws into it. i think thats what cantdrive55 was referring to. hopefullt the threads on the block are ok cause if they are messed up that = big bucks to drill the block.

Well i could just bust out some pipe dope and seal it back up or thread-lock...

VTEC Shore Lude · 12-10-2002, 03:08 PM

EDIT on my problem....upon further investigation of my oil leak, we found that the oil filter housing gasket was bad. Check that out. As far as the pipe dope is concerned, that **** doesnt work on the parts i described upove for too long.

Fast&furiuslude · 12-10-2002, 03:17 PM

omg that looks so familiar, my driveway and underbody of my car looked just like that! It was my balance shaft seal,and rear main seal. Be prepared to spend big bucks buddy

also did someone put the wrong tranny oil in ur tranny b/c mine did that to and i put the right **** in and it was fixed.

Qveon · 12-10-2002, 03:58 PM

UPDATE: It only made that big puddle once. Its not dripping anymore accept for a tiny little bit of oil cause of the seal i think. But its not gobbing blobs of fluid anymore.

-=Levels=-
Oil: OK
Tranny: Red OK
PS: Low but unchanged
Antifreeze: OK
Both Brakes: OK

kennethmina · 12-10-2002, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Prelude Type ShizL

Whats wrong with Fram, what do u recomend.

Well, Fram and Napa oil filters are commonly believed to be the worst. They are cheap but bad.

Go for Mobil 1(expensive), Bosch, and STP.

http://www.ntpog.org/reviews/filters/filters.shtml

check it out. But I know it before I read here. Some autozone dude told me that.

j_t_heilbrun · 12-10-2002, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kennethmina

Well, Fram and Napa oil filters are commonly believed to be the worst. They are cheap but bad.

Go for Mobil 1(expensive), Bosch, and STP.

http://www.ntpog.org/reviews/filters/filters.shtml

check it out. But I know it before I read here. Some autozone dude told me that.

Hate to tell you but NAPA filters are made by WIX and are some of the best in the world.

Qveon · 12-10-2002, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kennethmina

Well, Fram and Napa oil filters are commonly believed to be the worst. They are cheap but bad.

Go for Mobil 1(expensive), Bosch, and STP.

http://www.ntpog.org/reviews/filters/filters.shtml

check it out. But I know it before I read here. Some autozone dude told me that.

I agree with you, but when you are changing your oil every 3000 or less and not in real harsh conditions, Why the heck do you need a $10 oil filter and let me guess, the most expensive oil which is $3.50/quart x 5qts? that makes my oil change cost over $27.50

Now if you were running your car for 7500 then changed the oil. Yes i would see a point in buying the expensive brand stuff, but not for every 3000 miles

Here is a quote from the site:

Quote:

Conclusions
Essentially you will have to decide for yourself. How often do you change filters? If you answer is 3k miles or less, some of the cheaper filters are likely more cost effective and probably safe to use (like the Fram or domestic Honda). If the answer is 5k miles or more (say you use synthetic oil), I'd suggest a high-quality filter that should last longer like the Mobil 1, STP/Bosch, or Japanese Honda filter.

kennethmina · 12-11-2002, 03:10 AM

Whatever you decide to go, bro...

It's just my 2 cents. I would pay alittle bit more and get it right. Bosch and STP are not that expensive. They just few dollars more than Fram.