Massive Oil Leak

GG6K

MEMBER
HONDA ODYSSEY

I have a 2002 Honda Odyssey v6 automatic with 104, xxx miles. Ijust purchased the vehicle and it is spotless, well it was. When I bought the vehicle 1 week ago there were no leaks at all under the hood and on the undercarriage. I specifically looked and it was bone dry and it wasn't steam cleaned as everything was equally dirty. The problem is, my wife was driving the car and parked it at a friends house. Got back in the car and noticed a oil leak. Well, the underside of the drivers side of the car was coated with oil. I pulled off the inspection door between the transmission and engine and looked to see if it was the main seal. It dosen't appear to be the main seal as there is no oil running down the engine block. It appears to be engine oil that is leaking, not transmission fluid as it is a different viscosity and a different odor. At anyrate, I am sunk as I can't figure it out. Does anyone know if these cares occasionally "belch" oil. I would estimate the amount of oil lost, based on the amount of spray on the inderside of the car at 1/4 to 1/2 quart. The transmission fluid was not down but the engine oil was about 1/4 quart. Oil stain is between the transmission bell housing and engine block. Nothing on the front side or "up the side of the engine, just on the bottom and back. Please help me. I am at a loss.

7 Replies

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

You will have to wash it down and have a look while it is idling. I would be checking that the oil filter is tight and that there is not an old filter seal still stuck in place. Remove the filter and wipe the seal surface down, check that the seal is fitted in the filter properly, it may of dislodged and is not sealing properly.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Monday, November 5th, 2007 AT 9:21 PM

GG6K

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3 POSTS

Thanks for the response to my question. I took it to Honda and they say that it is either the oil pan gasket, highly unlikely according to the tech as the Odyssey has a Permatex "silicon rtv" type gasket instead of a conventional formed gasket, or it is the rear main seal. They aren't sure but he thinks it is the rear main seal. I know it isn't the oil filter as there is no oil on that side of the engine. Does anyone out there know if a rear main seal can fail suddenly and result in a massive leak like I described in the initial post. What about the oil pan gasket. Anyone ever heard of that failing? Seems really odd if that is the case. Tech said it could be a cracked block. If that is the problem it would be $5000 to fix. He said if it was the block it would be a slow leak. Please help. Any comments would be much appreciated. The tech at Honda cleaned off the engine and I drove it 5 miles and parked it and put a piece of cardboard underneath the car and afte parking it for 5 minutes there were approximately 5 oil drop areas that were atleast the size of a quarter. Thnaks again and thanks for the help.

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Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 AT 7:17 PM

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

The chemically sealed sumps don't just start to leak, not unless all the sump bolts are loose. As for the rear main seal, this would be most unusual to happen so quickly, the seal would have to tear for it to leak at such a rate so quickly. If the oil you are seeing is coming from the bottom of the bell housing (where the engine & transmission are joined) then I would suspect a rear main seal. I feel that it would be worth the exercise to remove the transmission & inspect it also there may be an oil gallery plug leaking at the back of the block.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 AT 10:46 PM

GG6K

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Thanks for the response. I think that I willlet the Honda dealer take it apart to see if it is the rear main seal. I think that it is due to the amount of oil that is leaking. In my opinion it would have to be the rear main as the amount of oil lost is significant and would be consistent with a pressurized oil system, the rear main bearing, as opposed to unpressurived, the oil pan area. I will keep you posted. I do agree with you that it is freaky for the main to tear or fail catastrophically but I guess anything is possible.

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Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 AT 6:32 PM

JOSEPHCRICHARDSON

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I know this is an other post. But gg6k. I have the same issue and wondered if you had ever had this work done - what they found and what it ended up costing you.