1999 Civic Coupe Oil Leak - Possibly Valve Cover Gasket?

ClangClangBoom

New Member
Hey all, this is my first post here. I finally decided to come to the masters for help with this issue.
I have been having an oil leak issue. I'm not sure how long it has been going on, but one day I actually smelled the burnt oil when I stopped my car and that's when I decided to look for it. I think it is leaking from the valve cover seal, so I already tried replacing that gasket. This did not help the issue though; still leaking. I did NOT replace the spark plug grommets that came with the set from Autozone, since I didn't see any issue with those.

The highlighted area in the second image seems to be my worst problem area.
The car is a 99 Civic Coupe, EX. With the original D16Y8 motor in it. (At least I think thats the motor number, from what I remember). No notable problems in driving the car.

Any advice on how to continue troubleshooting this leak would be appreciated.




Edit: Also, am I missing some type of plug near the dipstick where those threads are? I can see straight down to the gasket.
 

ClangClangBoom

New Member
boofoo said:
The oil seems to be coming from the valve cover bolt directly above your highlighted area.

1) Replace all of the valve cover bolt rubber seals, and torque the bolts to spec using a torque wrench.

2) Replace the PCV valve.

Then go from there.
Click to expand...
Will do, thank you very much!
 


ClangClangBoom

New Member
I have not. When I had the valve cover off replacing the gasket, I saw them but getting them off seemed very difficult, so I skipped it at the time. I have a very limited toolset at my house. Typically when I work on my car I visit the in-laws for my father in law's tools. I do have a set of new rubber seals handy though.
 

ClangClangBoom

New Member
Yeah, I planned on changing my oil and oil filter this weekend anyway, so now I can do that while I'm down there, too.
 


ClangClangBoom

New Member
I may or may not be in a bit of trouble. Trying to take the pcv valve off proved to be a larger problem than I thought. In the process we managed to break it in half, then half of it fell into that small box it attaches to. Would I be okay to install a new rubber grommet and the new PCV valve in, and leave those pieces loose in there? Otherwise it will be a huge undertaking to get it all out

Edit: Did some research on these forums. Looks like it's possible to retrieve, but it's just gonna be a pain in my ass. For the time being, this is my daily driver, so I have it capped off and I'm gonna be putting about 3 miles on it each day. This is gonna be fixed ASAP though. I HAAAATE leaving things half fixed on my car.

8:39PM CST Update: Ordered a new grommet from Rockauto. Next weekend I should be able to put that new one in, plug in the new PCV Valve, and just let the old one live out the rest of its days in the breather chamber. I don't see any harm it can do.

5/13 Update: turns out it was the valve cover gasket. When i replaced it I did a poor job cleaning off some old gunk and silicone someone had put in. Wiped/scraped that off and it no longer appears to have a leak.
 
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