Hi,

I drive a 1999 Acura EL (aka 99 Civic Si). I had my timing belt changed two weeks ago at a garage. I am now noticing a small pool of oil in my garage. I have never had an oil leak before, and I'm pretty sure something went wrong at the garage.

I've surfed a little, and it doesn't appear that a timing belt change should cause an oil leak. Any ideas on how this could of happened?

Thx,
P

 

Where's all the oil? Driver's side behind the wheel?

If so, it might be a cam seal or a crank seal. 90% of mechanics out there will replace them if they see them leaking. If they were replaced, it's possible that one of them could have been damaged, or installed incorrectly.

If this is your problem, the bad news is that all of the labor (except for the water pump) has to be re-done in order to get to it. See what gaskets were replaced (check your receipt) when the job was performed.

If it's coming from the timing cover, my bet is the crank seal... but don't rule out your valve cover gasket because oil leaks down, and the valve cover has to be removed to get the upper timing cover off.

Get a small mirror and a light and look for oil leaks on the back of the block, too. Look for oil "trails". Hopefully your engine is clean enough to find them.

 

Thanks for the reply. I checked the receipt and no mention of seal replacement. Yes, the oil is leaking on the driver's side near the wheel. It was running down from above and dripping off of the oil pan, but it was dark so I couldn't really trace where it was leaking from.

Based on your info, it's probably the crank seal or valve cover. I'll check for obvious leaks, and give the garage a call. They are pretty reasonable, so hopefully they'll swallow the cost on this.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.

 

Well if they just did the timing belt, and water pump it's probably the valve cover. A lot of mechanics charge you for a new gasket, and reuse the old one (a little trick to make extra money). If they changed the oil too, check to make sure it's not coming from the filter. They shouldn't have messed with anything else that would cause an oil leak.

 

Alright, the verdict is in... The leak was coming from the valve cover, they said they must have pinched the gasket while doing the belt. They replaced it free of charge.

Thanks for the help, I'm going to post a new thread about adding some torque to my EL...