1996 Accord Oil Leak-under timing cover

[91-93-96Geoman]

Need help here. I have an accord with just over 180K. Recently, an oil leak developed. Here is the jist: A few drops here and there (to be expected).
INTERMITTENTLY, a pool of at least 1qt or more dumps out onto the pavement. Leak is definitely at front of engine coming from behind the front dust/timing cover. Can anyone tell me the most likely place a leak of this type would occur from.

Thanks...

[jeffcoslacker]

There's a balance shaft seal under there that likes to fail, and blows major oil into the cover....

It's not hard to replace, just pick the old one out and drive the new one in. Replace the water pump and timing belt while you're in there, the belt is ruined and the pump will have you back under there again at some point...

[91-93-96Geoman]

Originally Posted by jeffcoslacker

There's a balance shaft seal under there that likes to fail, and blows major oil into the cover....

It's not hard to replace, just pick the old one out and drive the new one in. Replace the water pump and timing belt while you're in there, the belt is ruined and the pump will have you back under there again at some point...

Hello, thanks. I replace the water pump, timing belt, balance belt around 40K ago, but did not replace any seals. I suspect I could attack the main problem and replace both belts without touching anything else for now. Ebay sells a complete OEM front engine kit with all shaft seals, all belts, all tensioners, and gaskets for around $170 bucks. Lots of manual labor here.
Thanks for the reply while I weigh my options.

[91-93-96Geoman]

News as of today: Definitely was the balance shaft seal. Once I got everything off, I touched it with my finger and it separated from the block.

I think this must be a KNOWN problem from Honda that they are hush-hush about. The new seal I ordered from the dealer has a "balance shaft retaining bracket" that bolt onto the block to hold the balance shaft seal in place.

The bracket is C-shaped and can be installed from under the car without removing major stuff. Just unbolt the lower timing cover enough to insert the bracket under the cover and over the seal area. The bracket bolt is just outside the cover (not under it) directly to the left of the balance shaft.

Spread the word! Thankyou for the much needed assistance.
Regards.....

[mpumas]

I think there was a TSB that descirbed this problem for your model. I know that there was a TSB on the 90-93s and the fix was the same. So I would go visit your Honda dealer and have a sit-down. You might not get any compensation for this one but there may be others out there that they can bring to your attention. and fix.

[jeffcoslacker]

Yeah they realized it was a common thing, but occurred well out of warrantee on most units, so there was no recall, just a TSB, and they started putting the seal retainer on them at one point in production (I think in your model year, so you must have an early one)...

Now that you say that, I have a '95 the wife drives...just had a timing belt and pump done before we took possesion of it, I should look and see if it's had the retainer installed or not...might save me some trouble later.

Thanks guys, for jarring that memory loose