Oil leak from exhaust manifold
02-20-2008, 07:22 PM
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Oil leak from exhaust manifold
I have a 95 EJ1 Civic with an LS swap that I'm currently trying to fix up and get on the road for a DD. Today when I went to pull my car out of the garage so I could clean out the garage a little bit, I decided to look at the engine and see how it was running (don't have it on the road yet). I looked at the exhaust manifold and noticed a small oil leak, possible just a couple drops trying to squeeze out of the right side of the exhaust manifold. The leak is right up against the gasket where the manifold meets the block. Any ideas of why this may be? And how serious is it?
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I'm new to this game, so be gentle.
02-20-2008, 08:00 PM
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Re: Oil leak from exhaust manifold
i dont know hondas AT ALL but if its actually oil it could maybe be a valve seal/valve cover gasket/cylinder o ring thiny (on valve cover, at on sr's)/and worse case scenario bad piston ring...i would check compression and do a leak down test if you can and take it from there. the reason i said "if its oil" is because i once had oil on my turbo manifold and actually saw it bubbling out, and a rough idle and sputter sometimes (mind you this happend over night basically) so i shit my pants for fear that i had a bad ring...what it actually was: brake fluid not oil spurting from the resevoir everytime i got sideways due to a bad gasket on it landing in/on a small exhaust leak causing it to bubble and the idle/sputter was caused by a fouled plug from when i blew my intercooler pipes a couple days prior. moral of the story...make sure its oil and not some other fluid from somewhere else.
02-20-2008, 08:09 PM
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Re: Oil leak from exhaust manifold
Depends on how severe the leak is...This just happened to me today actually. Was getting on it and all of a sudden the car ran like pure shit, oil exactly from where you're talking, compression test was fine but im assuming it's a valve seal as the plugs are fouled terribly and it refuses to run correctly(even after the plugs are cleaned).
I would rule out valve cover as if the seals aren't seated right it would only leak in the tubes and out onto your valve cover.
I would rule out valve cover as if the seals aren't seated right it would only leak in the tubes and out onto your valve cover.
02-20-2008, 08:14 PM
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Re: Oil leak from exhaust manifold
Depends on how severe the leak is...This just happened to me today actually. Was getting on it and all of a sudden the car ran like pure shit, oil exactly from where you're talking, compression test was fine but im assuming it's a valve seal as the plugs are fouled terribly and it refuses to run correctly(even after the plugs are cleaned).
I would rule out valve cover as if the seals aren't seated right it would only leak in the tubes and out onto your valve cover.
I would rule out valve cover as if the seals aren't seated right it would only leak in the tubes and out onto your valve cover.
yeah what he said...btw drift event march 22nd in nc...30bucks to enter you in?
02-20-2008, 10:37 PM
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02-21-2008, 03:21 AM
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Re: Oil leak from exhaust manifold
Have you started the car? Does it run rough? It could be anything... it could be a failed headgasket on that corner.....
02-21-2008, 09:18 AM
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Re: Oil leak from exhaust manifold
I have started the car, haven't been able to drive it on the road due to inspection issues. But it seems to be running fine now, a little more vibration than a normal car because I'm missing two motor mounts, but other than that, it seems to be running like it has been. I really hope its not a failed head gasket.
02-21-2008, 09:29 AM
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02-21-2008, 11:18 AM
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Re: Oil leak from exhaust manifold
2 motor mounts? Do you mean torque mounts? I wouldnt run the motor with missing motor mounts.....
Last edited by thermal; 02-21-2008 at 04:33 PM.
02-21-2008, 04:29 PM
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Re: Oil leak from exhaust manifold
i dont know hondas AT ALL but if its actually oil it could maybe be a valve seal/valve cover gasket/cylinder o ring thiny (on valve cover, at on sr's)/and worse case scenario bad piston ring...i would check compression and do a leak down test if you can and take it from there. the reason i said "if its oil" is because i once had oil on my turbo manifold and actually saw it bubbling out, and a rough idle and sputter sometimes (mind you this happend over night basically) so i shit my pants for fear that i had a bad ring...what it actually was: brake fluid not oil spurting from the resevoir everytime i got sideways due to a bad gasket on it landing in/on a small exhaust leak causing it to bubble and the idle/sputter was caused by a fouled plug from when i blew my intercooler pipes a couple days prior. moral of the story...make sure its oil and not some other fluid from somewhere else.