2015 Honda Civic oil leak

[stcif]

July of 2015 my daughter bought a new Honda Civic, 4 cylinder, with the CVT. When I did the first oil change last year I noticed the bottom of the transmission appeared to be oily. Oil wasn't dripping but it appeared oily. There is a small black metal plate I would call an inspection plate between the engine and cvt next to the oil pan. I took the plate off to see if oil was coming from in there. Didn't see anything obvious. I checked the oil filter, oil pan, oil drain bolt etc... to make sure there wasn't an obvious leak from those areas. They all looked good. I'm thinking this thing is leaking where the cvt mates to the engine.
I told my daughter to set up a service call with the dealer to have this looked at. She did and she was told there is no oil leak. They also told her they "dusted" the bottom of the engine and to bring it back in the future so they can check.
Fast forward to last week. I changed the oil and I can see the "dust" they put on the bottom of the cvt and engine. This "dust" was definitely oily. The inspection plate had black dried oil on it. Now I know there is an issue. My daughter is out of town so I set up a service call. I drop the car off. I get a voice mail within an hour. I'm thinking they are going to say no problem found since they called so quick. Sure enough that was the message.
I go to pick up the car during early evening when all the techs are gone for the day. The employee who gave me the keys also gives me the paperwork. Of course it says no oil leaks found.
The employee then tells me he remembers this car coming in last year and how they "dusted" the engine. I explain to him that there is definitely oil leaking from somewhere. His response is, "they all leak". I couldn't believe he said that. I questioned him on that and he said all the Civic's leak. It's not a big deal and he sees them come in with hundreds of thousands of miles. He was very nice about it and I saw some humor in what he was telling me because I just couldn't believe he said that. I left him with what a friend once told me, "oil is supposed to be on the inside of the engine".
I guess my main reason for this post is to see if anyone out there has a newer Civic that is also leaking oil, and if so, where is it leaking from. I now know I have to take some steps with management at the dealer or possibly Honda Corporate. Thanks for any info.

 

[Hokiefyd]

In my experience, if it's not enough to leak on the ground, no automaker will consider it a leak. I once owned a 2007 Chrysler minivan that had a leak from the transmission pan seal area. Similar to your situation -- it was enough of a leak to make that area wet with oily residue, but not enough to cause a ball of liquid to drip. Their response is it wasn't a leak.

We didn't own the van for long, but in the end, I didn't feel it was worth making a fuss about. Yes, it SHOULD be drier than that in that area. Would it eventually cause a problem? Most likely not.

You could press the issue with Honda on principle, but I suspect it's not worth the stress it'd bring you.

 

[Burt]

Not sure that I'd want them to partially tear apart the drivetrain and put it back together again to stop a leak that doesn't drip. Just get them to document that the problem existed during the warrantee period.

P.S. I know this isn't answering your question - sorry.

 

[SatinSilver]

Talk to the service manager about the issue instead of a service advisor who wants to make a nice fat commission.

Sounds like the rear main seal is leaking which does involve removing the trans from the engine. I had one leaking on my Accord that the dealership told me about after it was out of warranty. The first dealer quoted $700 so I called around and found another one that quoted $500. After they finished the repair I called Honda Corp who agreed to pay half the bill so it cost $250.

There's no way this is acceptable. Call Honda corporate and they will open a case file. Don't hesitate going to a different dealer for a fresh set of eyes and again deal with the Manager. Advisors are fine when dealing with run of the mill type stuff. When ever I had something out of the ordinary the advisors at the dealer would bring me right over to the manager and I always left satisfied.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

No car that new should leak oil. Maybe ATP AT-205 and/or Maxlife might help

 

[Mr Nice]

What color is the lubricant ?

No way any Honda with this low miles should leak.

 

[JamesBond]

We had a new 2005 accord that started to be oily on the transmission side at the bell housing or at a seam along the transmission within a year or so. Fast forward to now, the oily area has grown but has never dripped on the ground. I was worried at first, but now I don't care.

I know this doesn't solve your problem, but maybe it's not as bad as it seems.

 

[The Critic]

I recently had a 2010 TL SH-AWD in the shop with the same issue. This one had more miles...about 50k I think. The dealer looked at the car and said that there was not enough seepage to warrant a rear main seal replacement. You're probably not going to get very far with this one.

 

[Doog]

My daughters 2009 Civic 1.8L has had the oily pan for 3 years....never a drip never low on the dipstick. One of these days I'll clean it with a power washer. Maybe. Now at 110k. I'll be switching it to PP HM next OCI.

BTW, my daughters engine is covered by the Honda recall on cracked 1.8L engine blocks until December 2018....that could be it. I'll get to it before Winter.

The engine runs like a Swiss watch....110k and has had PP since 39k and is totally clean inside.

 

[sasilverbullet]

My 2014 and my son's 2014 Civic w/CVT's do the same thing. My neighbor is a Honda mechanic and he said every Civic has the same issue.

I've done about 5 oil changes on each car and I've never seen evidence of oil on the splash shield and I've never put a drop of oil in either car.

 

[stcif]

Thanks for all the replies! From what I can tell it's oil, not trans fluid. Based on what I'm reading here this isn't uncommon and prob a rear main seal. That makes sense.
I'm dumbfounded that this is really common. My daughter's last car was a 1999 Accord EXL with the V Tec 6 cyl. Sold it last year with 170,000 miles and never leaked oil. I'm thinking Honda's quality took a hit?? She test drove an Elantra, Sentra and Corolla also and decided on the Civic mainly due to how it drove and the reliability of her Accord. Time will tell.
To me this is unacceptable but I'm not sure if it's worth the fight or not. She's only got 13 thousand more miles before the warranty is up. About 23,000 miles now in one year!
Since this is BITOG - the oil on the first change was Mobil 1 AFE, 0W20. Last week I put in Magnatec 0W20. It was on sale.

 

[gregk24]

I would probably speak with the manager, and if he does nothing then hit up corporate. Ive done it twice in the past and both times it ended in my favor.

 

[NothingNew]

Originally Posted By: stcif
She's only got 13 thousand more miles before the warranty is up. About 23,000 miles now in one year!


Sounds like the basic 3-year/36k mile warranty ends in about 13k miles. The limited powertrain warranty should be good for 5-years/60k miles.

 

[4WD]

No SME on Honda - but this was always common on GM trucks.
Surface oil like that early on - and some would then go 200k before it was a slight dripper ... Then go another 100k ...

Have a good look around the parking lot at a ten year old Walmart - I'm surprised at how some of those pass inspection - but not on the check list (yet)?

 

[bvance554]

I've never heard of such a thing as if its not hitting the ground, its not leaking. I'm more shocked that here of all places, some people seem to be ok with that. Its a new car. It shouldn't be leaking. Don't want to tear into the drivetrain?? But you're ok with it leaking?

I bought a new Saturn once and noticed a transmission fluid leak on the first oil change. It wasn't dripping on the ground, but the fact that it was leaking was never questioned. It did take them three attempts to actually fix the leak, but the leak was never questioned because as the OP said, the oil is supposed to be inside. I think I'd try a different dealer first.

 

[JTK]

Our 2008 Honda Odysey always had black oily residue around the bell housing inspection plate. Even when new. Never a noticeable drop on the ground and never consumed any. I attributed it to a very slight rear main seal weep. I'd prefer not to have it like that, but just consider it corrosion inhibitor rather than disturb things unnecessary.

 

[NavyVet88]

My 13 civic is a littler over 3 years old and I've put over 100k miles on it myself and I haven't had this experience. I do sympathize with you especially with it being brand new. The only dealership that is near me has only done an alignment for mine so I can't say yay or nay on my experience with them either.

It does boggle my mind how they won't even acknowledge that there is clearly oil "seeping" from some where and like you stated in your post, "oil is suppose to be on the inside of the engine".

 

[4WD]

Ok, will gladly defend what I said on GM trucks - many, many, have done that - includes my bro in law with 380k trouble free miles - it had a greasy area early on too ...
Yes, the drip thing is fairly subjective ... But it is something outside of a well established pattern on some vehicles ...

 

[DuckRyder]

Though I doubt I would want them pulling the engine or transmission for what sounds like it amounts to seepage...

 

[Hokiefyd]

I join others in encouraging you to consider your risks in both scenarios:

Scenario A: No action. The rear main seal area may stay "moist" for ever. Both of our cars have what I would call a slight amount of residue back here. It's a wet seal -- wet seals often seep just a little bit. Your chances of this ever becoming any issue are incredibly small. You'll probably never have to add oil because of it and you'll probably never see a drip on the ground because of it.

Scenario B: They replace the rear main seal. They'll have to, at the very least, disconnect the transmission from the engine, and likely will need to remove the transmission from the vehicle. They then need to open up the oil pan and perhaps loosen the crankshaft bearings to drop the crank a little bit to work with that seal. I don't know the particulars of that engine, but it's major work. Risks: they mess something up. Your new car is up on a lift for a day or two, tools are flying around, paint can get scratched, etc. And for what? What are you mitigating? Some slight seepage that will never turn into a problem?

This isn't to let Honda off the hook, but to encourage you to make the right decision for you and your interests. Decide if it's worth it to you to risk possible other damage to the car to fix something that will likely never be an issue anyway.