QuestionI recently purchased a 1998 honda prelude. I drove the car for approximately 3 weeks, when during my morning commute to work had the engine oil pressure light come on. I pulled over and checked the oil, and it was completely empty.
I added 2 quarts of oil to the engine and returned to my drive, the light was now off.
When leaving work that night, I drove immediately to the closest gas station and purchased another 3 quarts of oil, checked the oil and noted it was slightly low.
Everything was fine until almost home, when the light came on again and it was out again.
Upon inspection, it appeared the oil was coming out of the engine at the mating point of the head and the block.
I assumed head gasket, so I purchased a head gasket.
I pulled the head off the motor, and the head gasket is not the issue, it appears fine.
I did note that the top of the pistons looked rather charred, but no damage was noted to the cylinder walls, and I cannot visibly see any cracks and a straight edge laid on the head/block doesn't show any major warpage.
I have no idea how to proceed, as I need to be as conservative with my money as possible right now, but need this fixed.
AnswerWell Chris, the first question I would have asked is, where is the oil going? My first suspicions would be an oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket or even check the oil pan plug or the oil filter which may have not been tightened/ overtightened.
If I don't see smoke (black would be oil, white/grayish would be a head gasket) coming out of the exhaust then I know its something else besides a head gasket. Another great indicator is, if there is coolant mixed with the oil when you check it could lead to the head gasket being the issue.
I generally tell folks to wait about 10-15 minutes after pulling over to get a more accurate reading of the oil level because majority of the oil is on the top of the engine after you stop, letting it drip down will give a better reading.
I cannot rely on your reading of the dipstick unless the car has been sitting for atleast that time. I had an incident with my old Acura Legend that had the same problems only to find out that it had a clogged oil sump! The old owner sucked at oil changes and alot of build-up occurred, I flushed the engine not knowing how much there was and ended up clogging the filter at the oil pan with CHUNKS of shellac and varnish, my oil pressure light went on because it was clogged.
It could be a majority of things, but lets approach this systematically.
I would have checked my parking spot everytime to see if I was pooling oil, trying to see if there was a leak.
Whenever I get someone with problems such as yours, I ask them to go with me to Autozone and get a bottle of engine degreaser. The we head off to the local car wash and I make sure I cover the distributor cap ( if it is still old school ) and I spray the entire engine paying attention to the valve cover, engine oil pan and other areas that may be a source of the leak. Afterwards, I ask the owner to drop the coins and I power-wash the engine until I can see metal. A clean engine is not only visually appealing but it also make trouble shooting leaks a breeze. After the clean, the car has to be driven anyways so by the time we get home its dry, I inspect for leaks at that point. I would do this first (after you assemble the engine back). Pay close attention to the oil pan gasket, the valve cover gasket, even the distributor seals, check the oil plug and the oil filter (some people change their own oil and remove the old filter but the oil seal from the old filter stays and the new filter now has two seals, not good, causing it to leak). From what you've described, it sounds like a huge leak, but let the car sit before you check the dipstick.
I am sorry to hear that you've already gone for the head gasket first, just remember that the best indicators for this is white smoke, coolant mixed with oil and most of the time the car overheats.
Let me know how things go and I wish you the best.
