Hey Kinetica, I fighting the same oil leak. I had a Vortech SC and then went turbo, that's when the oil leak apeared. If I clean up the care after driving and let it sit I get no leakage,but after driving it and letting it sit I get oil collecting on the top edge of the oil pan and a small puddle under the car. At first I thought that it was coming from the chaincase oil seal (behind the crank pulley). But after replacing that the leak was still there. Things I knwo for sure...

1. It's not leaking from the pan.
2. It's not leaking from any oil feed or return lines.
3. It's coming from the front of the motor

I'll have a friend check the idler bolt area and see if that's the source. If I find anything out I'll add it to this thread.

 

Thanks for the list, 3ngin. I went sorted through the probable causes. The only maybes are going to require that I take off the SC to get a better look. Thats what I am trying to avoid doing myself.

And it sounds like we may have the same problem, Scorpion. I would be interested to see what you find at the idler pulley.

 

Either way, I think it's definately install related. It didn't leak before, now it leaks.

Now, that may not mean that it was the installers fault. If a crack really did develop, it may not have started during the install but most certainly happened afterward, perhaps during tuning.

 

There is an o-ring behind the chaincase cover, but I can't figure out what exactly it's there for. Those of you with the shop manual take a look in the head section and see if you can help me figure out what this is for. The Idle pulley actually bolts to a holder which is bolted to the chaincase. I don't think there is anyway for it to be leaking from there, but will have my guy take a look. Man I hate being in Iraq at times like this.

 

I am dropping it off at the dealer today and they are going to fix it!! I will let you know what they uncover.

 

It was the longer bolt that was pressed up against the block, causing a small crack. The dealership fixed it for free and so far no leaks!!

Thanks for everybody's help.

 

Id liked to have seen that with my own eyes. If they tightened the bolt up im sure it would have pierced the block. If its gone through you will have some bits of metal in there. Furthermore, that will be difficult to seal even if its a crack. I would want sealant in there, plus some sort of O ring or gasket - but that will be tricky. Either way I would not be happy.

Im a mere amateur and I realised this was a potential ussue when I was installing mine. I gauged the length of the hole using a piece of solder wire and measured it against the bolt length.

MB

 

So the fix was replacing the chaincase cover?

Dark Blue: It can't pierce the block. If you look at the service manual you'll see that it's not easy to do with that bolt.

 

Sounds like the dealer fed you a line of shi'it. And they fixed it for free? Since when has a Honda dealer been willing to do things for free?

 

He sanded and used hondabond to seal it, let it dry overnight. So far no leaks, but if one does reappear (because the seal gets broken) then they will replace the chaincase cover.

This dealership isnt like most, they are very S2000 friendly. They host tech days and let us use their lifts, plus give us discounts on labor and parts.