MagusAptus

First, let me preface this by saying that I'm not a mechanic by any means. I was checking my oil level this afternoon when I noticed what looked like oil around the passanger's side of the valve cover. My MY2000 S2000 only has about 13,000 miles on it, and I'm very careful about how I treat it. From my limited knowledge, I think this is the valve cover gasket, but I could certainly be wrong. Take a look at the pics:

http://www.magusaptus.com/images/s2k-leak1.jpg
http://www.magusaptus.com/images/s2k-leak2.jpg

This may be normal; I really don't know. I've had two Hondas before this and I've never seen that. I really hate bringing my baby to the dunderheads at the Honda dealership, so I wanted to get some advice here before I drove up there. My oil usage after the break-in period has been minimal-- I switched to mobil 1 synthetic at 8.5k miles, I usually end up using about a half-quart every 3k miles topping off. Thanks for any help!

bayarea408

i just went outside to check to see if i have this problem on my car. REPORT: my car doesnt have the leak, i dont think this is normal. maybe someone else on here can vouch. You might want to take it to the dealers and let them take a look to see wassup IMO.

Austin_S2000

That is definitely not normal.

You have a leaky valve cover. Sorry but sounds like warranty work.

robw01

Oil on the outside of an engine is never normal.

It does look like a leaky valve cover gasket, but I'll throw this out there just as another thought... Could it be carbon from a leaky exhaust manifold gasket? Is the build up oily or powdery?

MagusAptus

Thanks for all of the responses. robw01: The buildup is very thick and oily. Looks like I'll be taking a trip to the dealership. Thanks again.

JBoggs

just checked mine since ive burned 1.5 quarts of synthetic in 2500 miles, i saw little spots surrounding the valve cover exactly like that and surrounding the pcv tube, dealership is gonna get weird on me since i went there the other day asking about getting the valves adjusted and said id get a friend to do it since it was gonna take over a week to get an appt but i never got around to it, time to defend myself against the dealer ::sighs::

bayarea408

1.5 qts w/2500 miles doesnt seem normal to me, i change my oil every 3k miles and the most i would burn in that 3k miles would be 1/2 qt. How many miles do you have on your car?

JBoggs

20300 ish

bought it with 140 miles already on it "demo car" and ive heard how the salesmen get to drive the ones that come in so i knew i was gonna end up with something wrong down the line with them breaking it in for me, eh shouldve ordered one but they wouldnt admit there was gonna be a 2002 model

DJHohum

JBoggs, im in the same boat as you! i bought my 01 with about 50miles on the car and who knows how those 50miles were driven. i also burn a lot of oil, almost at the same rate you burn oil. do you think that improper break-in causes perminent damage or does it just take longer for our cars to stop chuggin oil? what do you guys think.
Mike

JBoggs

got an appt for tomorrow for the dealer to take off the valve cover to check for leaks and adjust my valves while theyre at it

we'll see what happens

but the guy said if they couldnt find a leak that 1000 miles for every burned quart is within the manufacturers specs, my accord never burned a drop of oil, and im guessing its cool and all to burn more than half of the oil i put in every 3k miles

thanks bryan honda for breaking it in for me

if i trade up for an 02 i will make sure i see it come off the truck and stay with it, no more joyrides