00Dog

1993 Accord with 115K and I thought I'd be okay going with synthetic (didn't want to do an oil change for a long time) but I've created an oil leak. I don't see any leak and there's nothing on the ground but when I go through a drive-through or stop at a light, I can smell oil burning. The exhaust runs from the front of the engine back under it towards the rear and I think oil is leaking onto it. The car isn't worth anything so I'm looking for products you have used succesfully to stop oil leaks.

Shovelhead

Why not drain the synthetic and switch to a "High Milage" oil?

I personally don't like stop-leak additives.
That's kinduva Used Car Lot fix.
Solving the problem saves money in the long haul.

hobbz

might try some lucas... i had good luck with it on an old prelude i had

madhat

What weight did you use? Sometimes, using a little heavier weight will cure some tiny leaks.

I agree on the stop leak... it's just a bandaid. Some people I know have used it and driven for 100k miles after... but I'm not a fan of it unless it's an emerengcy...

1-2-3

At 113K, you should have allready had the timing belt replaced, which means you gotta do a little diggin, which should have been the time to fix a few of those leaks. On ours, the valve covers would leak. A tube of silicone and and hour on Saturday, and it was fixed.

If you haven't had the timings belts changed, you need to be thinking about doing so. When one of those go, your motor will sound like a coffee can full of bolts as the pistons hit the valves.

high bid

Yep, had a 93 accord. add these items to your repair list, radiator because factory is plastic and cracks, CV axles which your probably due for some(buy from Oriely), possibly ignitor, replace the water pump the sametime as the timing belt, definately the normal stuff, plugs, cap, rotor, brakes. I ran regular penzoil 10w40 in mine w/a fram filter for 200K+ plus miles and the thing never missed a beat getting 25/32mpg....sold it and bought the dodge. Couldn't tow a boat w/it. Overall, extremely reliable and a good car.

bulabula

Ditto on what Ed said. I encountered the same issue on my old Volvo; and switching back to some cheaper dino oil solved the leak problem.

96_12V

There's a lube specilist at my work, a chemist to be specific. His simple advice regarding switching over to synthetic oil in an older car: "If it doesn't leak now, don't do it." It hardens gaskets and creates all sorts of fun. It's possibly the rear main seal, which isn't fun to change on those.

By the way - that '93 with 115k is still worth around $3k in central Illinois - it's worth repairing in this case. As long as you could keep the rear quarters from rusting through, there's not too much other than what was mentioned that goes bad on that generation Accord. I've owned two '91's, and liked them (in some ways) better than the 2000 5-speed Accord I have now.

00Dog

I did the timing belt and water pump. It wasn't leaking back then. I guess I'll switch to a regular oil, slightly heavier and see what happens. Maybe some Lucas too.

Marty86

Maybe this sounds dumb, but did you check to see if you spilt a little oil on the exhaust manifolds or somewhere on the engine and its burning off?

00Dog

I put the synthetic in over 3k miles ago and I just started smelling the burning oil. There is a lot of seepage out of the valve cover but I think it is leaking lower down as well. Regardless, I drained it today and filled with conventional 10w40. It is just my run to work beater so I'm not too worried about it but thanks for the tips.