I have a 2004 with 35,000 miles on it that has been a weekend car for all but 2 years since I purchased it in 2006. Outside of an accident in 2008 (which was not the car’s fault), it has been trouble free for the entire time,

i was planning on doing an oil change soon, and noticed something on the left side of the engine that concerned me. It looks like rust of some kind, but I’m not savvy enough to know if this is something to be worried about or not. It’s the area I’ve circled in blue in the photo, and I can take some additional photos of it would help.

I’ll also note that the car has been driving as smoothly as ever, and the engine continues to feel strong & revs freely.

Should I be worried or not? What might be causing this?

thanks in advance for your help!

 

Thats normal.

 

Just surface rust on the exhaust manifold flange, very normal.

 

Judging from the photo the car appears in impeccable condition!

Look at the VTEC solenoid just forward of the highlighted area. Completely rust free. (I think the exhaust manifold is cast iron just like Grammy's skillet so will easily get a patina.)

Have you been following the oil filter discussion this week? Appears some are coming with internal welding debris/spall. Consider the filter is a 15,000 mile maintenance interval -- every other oil change -- so you may want to just leave the filter alone this oil change and replace it once we find out if the later filters are really having problems. If you're not changing the filter you can extract the oil out of the dipstick hole and send out an oil sample to Blackstone Labs/. Every oil test adds to the database and helps noting normal vs abnormal engine wear.

-- Chuck

 

You made me go out and take a pic of my 2009 with 86K miles. Side by side.

I did notice a difference on the exhaust manifold cover. I can see at least 3 bolts on the top on yours but on mine I cannot. I went back out and looked closer and realized my cover is larger than yours and covers those bolts. Interesting change.