Just spent 3 hours chasing a phantom oil leak on a 2012 Civic

I had this 2012 Civic come in last Tuesday, oil dripping steady but not a drop from the usual spots. Pulled the valve cover, checked the oil pan gasket, even pressure washed the whole engine bay to start clean. After 3 hours of staring and running dye through the system, I found it was a hairline crack on the oil filter housing where it mates to the block. You ever have a leak that made you feel like you were losing your mind?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_foster538d agoTop Commenter

Man, I feel your pain... that's exactly the kind of leak that makes you question everything you know about cars. @anderson.spencer hit it on the head about aftermarket filters too, I had a similar headache on an old Accord where the gasket from a cheap filter had fused to the housing and just barely seeped, took forever to spot even with dye. Nothing worse than chasing a ghost leak for hours only to find it's something dumb like a hairline crack or a stuck gasket.

anderson.spencer8d ago

Your mileage may vary but check those aftermarket oil filters too. Had a buddy's CR-V where the filter gasket stuck to the housing and caused a slow weep that took forever to find. Sometimes the simplest things get overlooked when you're hunting the big stuff.