I have a 96 civic lx 4dr which I was having an overheating problem with. My dad said it was a combination of the distrubutor needing to be sealed because oil was leaking from it (he sealed that with silicone), the water hose had torn at the end going into the engine (he cut off the torn piece and re-clamped the hose), and finally.....apparently after no longer having the leaks (or so I thought) but still having overheating issues I ended up having to change the water pump. A few days before changing the water pump I noticed that the power steering fluid was being lost (it's all over the under-hood of the car directly where the resevoir for the power steering is. Also to mention, after my dad fixed the hose and distributor I had to drain the oil and change the filter. I put 3 quarts back in but I'm losing oil which I noticed when I checked yesterday (the dip stick is actually completely dry (checked three times). I'm not sure, but is it possible that the new oil filter isn't tightned properly and t he oil is coming from there? Thanks in advance for your help.

By the way, also could someone please help me with that power steering fluid issue? I want to degrease the stuff under the hood but it would be pointless if I'm having power steering shooting up everywhere and oil leaking. Thanks again for your help in advance.

 

Yes you can under-tighten an oil filter, but it's rare. Never use a wrench to tighten it, hand tight is plenty. Far more common is having two rubber gaskets under the filter (one from the old filter stuck on the engine and one new one). The double gasket will blow out and cause a rather catastrophic leak. Or using the wrong filter that sort of fits but leaks.

May be good to degrease everything and then shortly afterward look for new oil which would show the location of the leak.

 

I cleaned theumm....don't remember what it's called right now....that you're supposed to remove old oil from before putting in the new filter and there was no old gasket there that I know of but I will still have it checked out after I take your recommendation. Sometime this week I will get started on degreasing everything. As far as the power steering fluid though, would there be any ideas on as to why it would be shooting out like that?

 

Based on your information, I would look for a power steering (PS) fluid leak(s) where the hoses/lines connect to both the reservoir and the pump (see picture). Here's how to locate the leak. Open the hood and fill the PS reservoir with Honda fluid. While standing near the PS reservoir, have your Dad start the engine and then turn the steering wheel full right and full left. During this time, you should be able to see where the leak is coming from. Have your Dad turn the car off as soon as you localize the leak as PS fluid is expensive!

Note, if the leak has sprayed oil all over your compressor, PS, and alternator belts, they may also need to be replaced.

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If it's spraying out it would have to be the shaft seal (fluid comes out from right behind the pulley on the pump) or one of the lines/hoses on the high pressure side (between the pump and the rack).

To reinforce what Ron said, it's very important use only Honda PS fluid, not generic. Generic fluid tends to cause the seals in your steering rack to become leaky. And don't let it run dry as that will ruin your pump.

 

also 3 quarts is abit low..... you didnt check the oil after refiling and starting up the motor did you.......

remember the oil filter you put on is EMPTY.... motor needs to be started up and let the oil pump fill the oil filter. only takes about 10seconds of the motor runing. at least thats what i always let it run for then turn it off and check fluid level and add more.....



if your motors overheating check the compresion.... you could have a blown headgasket...... also check radiator cap WHEN THE MOTORS COLD... open it and if you see any oil in the fluid. BIG PROBLEMS WITH THE MOTOR!!!!!!!

and when i change my oil filters i always put them on as tight as i can by hand then go about 1/4turn more with a filter strap... just to be sure its tight.... and if your oil filter had double seal and it blew out than you could QUICKLY see a trail of smoke behind you as well as a oil pressure light VERY QUICKLY..... trust me been thier done that.... luckely i was stoped at stop light when the oil pressure light came ON and i killed the motor ASAP!!!!!!! runing it with the oil light on WILL KILL THE MOTOR VERY FAST!!!!!! no mater where you are at even if driving KILL THE MOTOR and either coast or push the car to the side of the road! its not worth trashing your motor!

 

lol make sure your PCV valve isnt sticking out, where is it located you ask??? well on mine its right under intake mani you can see it through the forks of intake mani

 

There's no engine light, no oil light. My cousin says it's possibly because the power steering rack is going bad (I have noticed it slips very rarely since the end of last year before the accident). I have ordered a new rack but it hasn't arrived as yet. All of your points make sense. Already checked the pump and hoses by starting up and having someone turn the wheel hard both ways and saw no signs of leakage. The alternator belt is actually still dry much to my surprise. I don't have the money to even buy OR PS this week so I'm really taking it easy with the car (am not driving it so much); for now there doesn't SEEM to be any type of leaks from the PS but I will still monitor it. Also, I know that only honda PS should be used but believe it or not that's pretty hard to come by here. To be on the safe side, I will probably change the PS hose and have some PS fluid special ordered next week if I can't find any if that's possible. By the way, the radiator cap is brand new, I got a new one because I couldn't find the one that was on it after filling the radiator tank (hidden in plain sight lol). I think also as a precaution, I will have all those clamps changed because I've noticed that they tend to tear hoses rather than the screw on ones.

To addication: I actually DID check the oil after starting it up and it seemed fine at the time. Generally I check my oil about every three days or once a week just to monitor the levels.

To Cyphen: I have no clue what you're talking about other than the words "PCV Valve". I'm not sure of differences that much but it's A/T not M/T (that's IF they don't both have manifolds). I DO however recall sometime last year that my cousin mentioned that valve somewhere on the engine which was before an engine swap so I'm not sure if that's still a factor.

By the way, in terms of the steering rack, I've began to avoid taking as much hard turns as possible and I haven't really seen much spills, maybe it really does have something to do with it spilling. But then again the PS resevoir gets lower in level so I'm still a little cloudy on that.

 

If the reservoir is getting lower there must be a leak somewhere.

The PCV valve should be inbetween the branches of the intake manifold, the top end has a hose about 5/8 inch diameter that goes up to the part of the manifold nearer the throttle body. The bottom end goes down to the black metal box on the back of the engine near the oil filter (possibly directly, possibly thru another hose). If it comes loose from there it will spit oil out of the hole.

You should replace the hoses, when they tear at the end that's a good sign that the whole thing is rotten. Also when you're ordering parts from the dealer buy the rubber seal for the distributor and fix that properly too.

 

Thanks alot. Will do....as soon as I get some money lol. Thanks again!!