technical questions about oil loss on honda 1.5

[ThrawnPH]

Hello, I am new to this forum, so I hope I have the right place for what Im asking. I am going tomorrow to purchase a 1989 civic dx automatic, and I am told by the lady that owns it that it has an oil leak. She washesitant to say how much in what amount of time it leaked, so I am assuming that its more than a little leak. She tells me that after having the problem traced out it turned out to be a couple of o ring type seals, and the guy that put the new ones in for her told her he thought one of them wasnt the correct one. Now the problem I am having is this guy is inaccessible, so I cant ask him what seals they would be. She doesnt remember, so Im kinda stuck. I would assume that its the front and rear main seals on the engine, but with regards to the past experience I have with cars, I have learned never to assume anything, so I am here asking if anyone has any idea what type of oil seals would be like an o ring in the 1.5 16 valve honda engine, where they are located on the engine, and how difficult it would be for me to replace them, and I do have a decent amount of mechanical knowledge, just not on foreign manufactured vehicles. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ivymike1031]

a large number of the seals in that engine are like o-rings. The valve cover seals, for example, are rubber, and similar to an o-ring in appearance and operation. There are lip seals at each end of the VC assy, if I remember correctly.

The water pump uses an o-ring (but wouldn't leak oil).

Also, the spark plug tube seals (part of the valve cover seal assy) are rubber.

In general, O-ring seals are vastly superior to typical fiber or metal gaskets, and you should be happy that they are used so generously on this engine.

[FYRHWK1]

could be more then 1 leak as well, the motor is likely burning oil through the rings/valveseals by now, on top of leaking it out of a seal, hopefully it isn't a headgasket problem, in that case the motor needs at least a basic rebuild.

[BeEfCaKe]

Originally posted by ThrawnPH
Hello, I am new to this forum, so I hope I have the right place for what Im asking. I am going tomorrow to purchase a 1989 civic dx automatic, and I am told by the lady that owns it that it has an oil leak. She washesitant to say how much in what amount of time it leaked, so I am assuming that its more than a little leak. She tells me that after having the problem traced out it turned out to be a couple of o ring type seals, and the guy that put the new ones in for her told her he thought one of them wasnt the correct one. Now the problem I am having is this guy is inaccessible, so I cant ask him what seals they would be. She doesnt remember, so Im kinda stuck. I would assume that its the front and rear main seals on the engine, but with regards to the past experience I have with cars, I have learned never to assume anything, so I am here asking if anyone has any idea what type of oil seals would be like an o ring in the 1.5 16 valve honda engine, where they are located on the engine, and how difficult it would be for me to replace them, and I do have a decent amount of mechanical knowledge, just not on foreign manufactured vehicles. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Why bother buying the car then? Why not wait a bit... wait until she remembers... and then consider again..

[ThrawnPH]

ok, first off, I am ecstatic about having the vastly superior o ring type seals, and no I cannot wait to buy this vehicle, and no its not the head gasket. I am thinking it was the 2 mains she had replaced, but I wasnt sure if they were o ring types or not. As far as anything else I am at a loss. The problem I am having is that I have an 88 civic dx, but the transmission has locked up in it, and it does burn oil thru the rings. Now as for changing the engines, thats just not possible at this time and I have to have a car that I can drive asap, thats why I was asking if the mains were o ring type seals and how hard would they be to replace. Thanks for all who responded...

[ivymike1031]

AFAIK, the mains are standard lip seals.

[ThrawnPH]

ok, it turns out that its the timing gear seals, one of them at least that is leaking. And its leaking a considerable amount of oil, how hard is it to fix? Will I have to pull the engine to fix it?

[ivymike1031]

If you're talking about the front camshaft seal, then no, you won't have to pull the engine. I'm not sure what other seal you would be talking about.