ok, i have had a problem i meant to post for the past few months but a trip over to the land of sand and sun has postponed me from posting it. i have a 92 dx hatch with a d15b7 in it, it has roughly 151, 300 miles on the motor. the problem is down on the bottom right corner of the head where it meets the block right where the corner of the head and plastic timing belt cover meet, i have an oil leak...i dont know how to classify in in civilian terms but itd be a class 1 possibly 2 in military terms as far as the severity of the leak. i pressure wash my engine every month or 2 just to keep it clean so i can keep an eye out for leaking oil. this spot has been leaking oil sincei have owned the car and i am wondering how normal is it for the oil to be leaking out from under the timing belt cover like that. i have to add maybe 1/2 a quart of oil every 3k miles. i have checked the head in that area and there appear to be no cracks in the head and the car as far as i know overheated once when the previous owner decided to use another vehicle to help him stop. i know this is probably bad enough to have warped or cracked the head but i dont know anything about getting behind that cover to see if the head is cracked back behind it. is it common for oil toleak behind the timing belt cover or could this be the start for this engine to meet the many other d15b7's that had catastrophic head gasket failure. eny help eith this appreciated. i plan to assess the situation once i get home for my break in a few weeks. thanks guys


military knowledge of oil leak classification
class1- fluid seepage great enough for area to look wet but not cause drops
class 2- fluid leakage great enough to form drops but have a staedy continuous dripping

class 3 - fluid leakage great enough to for drops to form and drip steadily every 1-3 seconds(automatic vehicle not mission capable)

It could be a leaking cam seal. Onyl way to find out is to remove the valve cover and upper timing cover.

Oil eats the rubber that the timing belt is made of! Do not let it leak and drive it for prolonged periods of time. From what you described, it could very well be leaking onto the timing belt, and most Hondas are interference motors, meaning that the pistons will crash into the valves if the belt breaks.

shit, thanks for the heads up, guess i better start mtor shopping. i am going to keep the dx motor and buy anhter dx shell throw this motor in there and bobs your uncle get my money back lol. i will have new gaskets and stuff put on the old motor before putting it back in recieving car. thanks

cheers
maxwell

1/2 qt per 3k oil usage, if that is really correct with the mileage that you have on it, I would bet the leak is not very severe as some of that oil consumption could be minor oil pass on compression of the pistons. How long have you owned the car and run with this problem? I would take off the top cover of the timing belt cover and inspect it. If it is oily, fix the problem. If it is not, and the belt looks good and the tension is ok, I would let the problem go for now. There are also engine oil stop leak additives you could try.

might be the valve cover gasket