1998 Honda Accord Oil left car

4DOLLAR

MEMBER
1998 HONDA ACCORD
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
17,300 MILES

Our Honda Accord has been running fine with no problems until yesterday. My husband checked the oil level in the 4 days ago and everything was fine. Yesterday he "gunned" the engine passing a slow moving vehicle. Afterwards we saw smoke coming from behind the car, once we came to a stop sign we noticed that it was coming from the under the hood, at that time, my husband notice the car was running hot. We got home and once we pulled into the driveway the car completed shut off. The next morning my husband checked the coolant and the oil. The coolant level was a little low but not enough for the car to have overheated. The oil level was not even registering on the oil stick. What could this be? We are thinking possible blown head gasket, or oil pan hole. Any ideas?

Sunday, January 24th, 2010 AT 8:33 PM

1 Reply

MATHIASO

MECHANIC
1,209 POSTS

Hello _

I do not believe it is your head gasket.
Engine oil leaks occur most often at the valve cover, timing chain cover and the front and rear crankshaft seals,
As an engine ages, heat can cause cork gaskets to harden and shrink. Heat can also cause rubber (neoprene) gaskets and seals to harden and lose elasticity. After six or seven years of service, the engine may start to leak oil. The older the engine, the more likely it is to leak oil due to aging gaskets and seals.
Locate the leak after fixing it, cross your finger that engine is not seized because it overheated until it died.
You should have stopped the vehicle when you noticed it was overheating depending how long you drove from that point.