1994 Acura Integra oil disappearing?

Tiny
CBORDEN
  • 1994 ACURA INTEGRA

Engine Mechanical problem
1994 Acura Integra 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Manual 175000 miles

ive had my integra for only a year and when my clutch blew out and I went out and just decided to check my oil and the dipstick comes out completely dry but when I change my oil I got the recommended amount in there and when I got my valve stem seals replaced the technician told me my exhaust side smelled alot like gas like it wasnt burnin it all off and on the front side of the engine some oil seems to be leaking oil front the head gasket area but ive also already replaced the head gasket another mechanic said it may be the fuel regulator is bad and is dumping too much fuel in and washing down the cylinder walls or I was thinkin the piston rings were bad or going bad any ideas?

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Friday, April 30th, 2010 AT 7:45 PM

51 Replies

Tiny
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Hi cborden,

Thank you for the donation.

Honda engines would not have any problem with oil leaking from the head gasket. If it is from the front end, ie near the timing belt side, most likely source would be the camshaft seals or valve cover gasket near the camcarriers. During installation, sealant have to be applied at the corners of the valve cover gasket to prevent leaking.

For exhaust fumes to smell strongly of gas, there are many possible causes.

If the injectors are dumping in too much gas, the spark plugs would be sooty and you would have erratic idling issues. Starting would be affected as well.

A bad catalytic converter, O2 sensor, Throttle Position Sensor, clogged air filter, fuel pressure regulator ( this item seldom fails for Honda), clogged fuel return hoses are some of the possible items.

Piston rings can go bad at high mileages so is a possibility with your case but after replacement of the valve seals, do you still have oil consumption issues? Do you have a lot of grey exhaust smokes at high rpm?

If too much fuel is being dumped into the cylinders and cleaning up the piston rings, you would have compression and difficult or non starting issues.

Note : I have seen very few honda engines with problem on pistons rings.

Is the performance of the engine as good or better than replacement of the valve seals and head gasket?

Recheck the timing belt installation. A off time cog can cause erratic idling and strong exhaust fumes and performance issues.

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Friday, April 30th, 2010 AT 11:04 PM
Tiny
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The oil is leaking for the front end but not on the cam side its coming from where the head meets the cylinder head right where the head gasket is and im thinking when it was replaced maybe the head wasn t torqued down enough
and my spark plugs were getting sooted up but someone told me thatr bosch wasnt good for honda so I changed them out for ngk
and wouldn t a cat or bad o2 sensor throw off a check engine light?
Cause I dont got one
and I havent noticed black smoke coming out the back but the back of my car has a black trail coming up it from the exhaust side
and recently the car seems to pause for a moment before it wants to start
and the performance seems the same after the seals were redone I just wanted to get em done cause the engine was old
and the car has been retimed about three times within the last few months

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Saturday, May 1st, 2010 AT 9:37 AM
Tiny
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The head gasket is the steel type and if it is not torqued correctly, the engine would be running badly.

At the front there are no oil pressurized passages but if the cam seals are leaking, the oil would drip down and out to the front.

A bad cat might not throw any codes and if fuel is being dumped through the cat, it would run red hot.

Was the ignition timing checked?

The black trail indicates the cat is not working correctly.

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Saturday, May 1st, 2010 AT 10:21 AM
Tiny
CBORDEN
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What about when I go to check my oil the dipstip comes out dry?

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Saturday, May 1st, 2010 AT 11:42 AM
Tiny
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Does the exhaust emit grey smoke at initial start up, maybe a few nimutes after starting up?

Is the leak very bad?

How many miles have you driven the vehicle after oil replacement?

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Saturday, May 1st, 2010 AT 11:58 AM
Tiny
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I havent really looked to see if the exhaust was emitting smoke and idk if the leak is bad but the oil slowly disappears i dont know what to do ive changed valve seals the pan gasket head gasket
i dont even drive the car 3000 miles before oil replacement and it seems the oil is gone after a month and i dont race the car i try to take it slow cause i know the engine s old and i dont need anymore problems
i probably did oil change early last month and thats whats left
and some sort of liquid is comin from the passenger side of the engine
whats ignition timing?
i have after market cam gears that i cannot get the specs on
and could all the oil loss be from cam seals?


http://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/522752_DSC01186_1.jpg



http://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/522752_DSC01187_1.jpg



http://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/522752_DSC01189_1.jpg

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Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 AT 2:56 PM
Tiny
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Adjustable cam sprockets means the valve timing might not be accurate and that can cause the timing to be off and that can result in the incomplete combustion.

The liquid leaking from between the tran and engine area could be from the distributor or its O ring.

You might need a thicker grade oil if the one that you are using is being depleted too fast.

Ignition timing is the time the spark fires and is affected by the distributor position.

If the cam seals are not properly installed, it can leak quite badly. You would need to remove the valve and timing cover to have a visual inspection.

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Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 AT 3:19 PM
Tiny
CBORDEN
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Last time i got it timed the tech said everything was set to zero but since i cant get the spec cards to the gears theres no way to be certain that its 100 percent
i would have to remove the distributor in order to replace the o ring?
the oil im using is recommended for the engine what grade should i use?
could the distributor be off and cause a premature or delayed spark to occur and result in these conditions
how would i know if they were properly installed (cam seals)and how would i reinstall them properly
i have new replacements (cam seals) i just figured the old ones were still good because there were no obvious sign of leaking there profusely


http://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/522752_DSC01122_1.jpg



http://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/522752_DSC01188_1.jpg

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Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 AT 4:15 PM
Tiny
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You are right about the cam seals not leaking judging by the picture.

Ignition timing is adjusted by turning the distributor clockwise or anti clockwise. If the timing is too advanced or retarded, it can cause performance difference.

Yes, the distributor has to be removed to replace the O ring.

The recmmended oil is 10 W30. You can try 20/W50.

For the camshaft sprockets, they have to be adjusted to get the correct valve timing. Our database do not have the specifications for the valve timing.

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Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 AT 5:26 PM
Tiny
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I removed the distributor the o ring looks fine and it doesnt seem to be leaking any oil from that side


http://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/522752_DSC01192_1.jpg



http://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/522752_DSC01193_1.jpg


i was lookin at the seal behind the vtec and it doesnt look to be seated all the way but would this cause all the oil to disappear


http://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/522752_DSC01194_1.jpg


and doesnt 20w50 seem a little drastic?
and i figured you didnt have the specs its just my luck but how would i correct it without buying new wheels
i thought that the rotor on the distributor is supposed to be at the #1 plug while the gears should point straight up along with the crankshaft?
the aftermarket gears are not adjusted and are still pointed at 0

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Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 AT 5:40 PM
Tiny
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Is there any oil stains below the VTEC valve? The cam end cover would tend to leak as well. Unless leaking is noticed, if not it is not going to cause the oil to disappear.

No, 20/W50 is not really drastic. In fact for slightly temperate regions that is the recommended grade.

The distributor is only installed in one position but the tightening points are slotted so the distributor can be turned clockwise or anticlockwise to a certain degrees. A timing light is required to check the correct position.

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Monday, May 3rd, 2010 AT 8:53 AM
Tiny
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I replaced all the gaskets when I replaced the head gasket
and imma have to check the vtec to rule that out
and how would I fix the distributor s timing with the light exactly

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Monday, May 3rd, 2010 AT 12:40 PM
Tiny
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The timing mark is at the pulley.

With timing mark clipped to 1st cylinder spark plug wire, aim the mark at the pulley. You would notice the mark on the pulley. Match the center mark of the 3 close slots to get the correct ignition timing.

The VTEC valve tends to leak when the gasket hardensover time.

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Monday, May 3rd, 2010 AT 3:38 PM
Tiny
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Ok so possibly buy a new vtec gasket
but would that fix it because it doesnt seem that a small leak like that would make all my oil vanish after a month or so
and what if that doesnt correct the problem?

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Monday, May 3rd, 2010 AT 5:25 PM
Tiny
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The 3 conditions/areas that causes oil depletion are :

1. Oil leaks from seals, drain plug, oil filter or gaskets. Leak have to be substantial and easily visible to cause the condition.

2. Bad valve seals. Though they have been replaced, there is no guarantee that it could not be the cause. Quality of the seals and installation error can be a factor. For this condition, grey smoke would be emitted during abrupt revving of the engine if the exhaust valves are bad as the oil is being discharged directly into the exhaust system. For intake seals to be bad, the smoke emision would be at a lower rate as the oil is being burnt in the cylinders before being discharged.

3. Worn piston compression and/or oil rings. This would result in the high blow-by gases in the crank ventilation system and oil would be discharged to the air intake hose from the valve cover ventilation hose or the PCV valve into the intake manifold.

If it is only high blow-by, smoke emission would not be high as the oil is being mixed with the air to be burnt in the cylinders.

If it is the oil rings that are bad, smoke would be visible under high rpm loaded conditions.

If leaking is the only cause of the oil depleting, rectifying the leak would solve the problem. If you get under the vehicle, you would notice that the lower portion would be damp with oil dripping onto the floor after running the engine.

Whether replacing the VTEC gasket solves the problem or not would depend on whether it is the only cause.

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Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 AT 11:13 AM
Tiny
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Im hoping its just a leak and that the vtec gasket is bad because oil is leaking from that side of the engine and I guess over a month of continuous leaking the oil could be all gone and im in the process of purchasing a timing gun to retime my engine
with your help and the help of a local technician I better understand how to retime the vehicle a lot better
and I just hope its not the rings or valve seals
first of all I just had the seals done and its a pain to do them
and piston ring jobs are expensive and it may be time to get the rings replaced but im just not financially ready to get that done yet

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Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 AT 3:18 PM
Tiny
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Is it possible that not having any oil control orifices could cause any problems?

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Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 AT 3:58 PM
Tiny
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It would cause oil pressure and/or noise problem but not depletion of oil.

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Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 AT 4:06 PM
Tiny
TENNHICKS
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Have you noticed it smokeing when you first start it. It very well could be the valve seats need replaceing.

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Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 AT 4:12 PM
Tiny
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No I just checked yesterday but and there was no smoke but there was some liquid coming out the exhaust

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Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 AT 9:52 AM

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