[sudolg1]

Hey everyone,

I noticed an oil leak while change the oil of my car at 25K miles. I cleaned if off good to make sure it wasn't just something I may have spilled or something. Well, now it has 30K and its there again. It is a very small leak on the front of the engine. It is not even enough to drip on the black panel underneath. But its a leak and I didn't want it to get worse. So I took it to the dealer (had to go anyway for the 3 recalls) and they cleaned it up and sprayed it with some powder and asked me to come back to see if they could see where it is coming from. I haven't taken it back yet but I'm going to take a look tomorrow. I'll report my finding. Was wondering if anyone else has seen this type of leak. Looks like the front seal or oil pan. Otherwise, when you change your oil, you may want to be on the lookout.

Greg

 

[Motty82]

Do you replace your oil drain plug every oil change?

 

[sudolg1]

Absolutely. But its not coming from that location. It looks as if its coming from the crank seal. I don't know. The powder disappeared so I don't know how they are going to locate the leak. I really hate oil leaks...

 

[dflach]

Having owned many American vehicles, including a Harley, I'm used to oil leaks as they seem to be a "built in feature", but I would be upset if my Honda Insight started leaking. - The question I have, though, is why would a person replace the oil plug with each oil change? I don't do this work myself, so I don't know how it's made, but it seems unnecessary to replace it with each oil change. Can you fill me in on why this would be done? Is the plug disposable, or is the seal itself what is replaced?

 

[Lawson Huntley]

I can't imagine renewing the oil drain plug unless the threads were damaged. It's supposed to be a life-of-car item. I usually change my own oil on most of my vehciles and there is nothing special about the Insight that would require putting in a new drain plug with each oil change.

 

[james]

It's not the drain plug that gets replaced, just the washer. I think it's like a gasket, and crushes a little to make a good seal. Anyway, they're about $0.07 (plus $6.95 shipping ) if you order them online.

 

[flunkysama]

1. I've changed the oil in my old honda without replacing the crush washer and I never had any leaks. I just clean the seating surfaces before putting the plug back in. The oil in the pan is not under any pressure.

2. Finding oil leaks can be tricky. The wind tends to blow the oil around. Generally try to follow the leak up the engine the highest point where you find evidence of a leak. You'll usually have to clean eveything off and then check it after some driving. It the oil isn't dark, it can be hard to see. I've used a flashlight and looked for a sheen.

The usual culpurits are cranks seals and valve cover gaskets. Because the insight mounts the oil filter on the oil pan, there is a seal for high pressure oil between the block and oil pan that could be a problem. There's also the VTEC valve on the cylinder head too.

I've also seen people look for an oil leak when the problem was oil that was spilled on the engine when the oil was changed.See if the oil level is falling on the dipstick.

 

[sudolg1]

With regard to the crush washer, you are right in that you can reuse it. But they will eventually leak if you don't replace it. For the amount of money they cost, I just replace it every time. I bought enough to last a lifetime.

I truly believe its coming from the crank seal. I think they figured out how to make the oil pans not leak these days. Crank seals do leak as parts move around it. It is not even enough oil to drip to the ground over 5000 miles of driving. But its a leak and its under warranty and I'm gonna make them fix it. Cause when it hits 36K miles, its going to start pouring out!!! Its going back in on Monday.

 

[sudolg1]

Well, its been a while but thought I'd reply with the initial diagnosis of my oil leak. They have told me that the dip stick o-ring was cracked and was the cause of the leak. I could tell you that the o-ring (both of them) was not cracked and there was nothing leaking from this point. I know because they sprayed powder around it and it showed no leak. But I let them replace it, power washed the engine and I'll wait until the next oil change to see if there is a difference. I personally believe it is the crank seal and they would rather not fix it. Stay tuned....

 

[Atheos]

Do a search on a thread titled the same as yours (Oil Leak) that I wrote about a while back. Dealer had mine for a few days for the repair.

 

[Resist]

I've noticed a small leak, higher up on the back of the engine. So I know it's not my oil drain plug, (I don't replace my gasket with each oil change either).