Front Main Seal or Other Leak

[kwoodman]

Originally Posted by TexRidge2008

Alright guys I believe we are seeing a trend, It seems that I have heard from more than just a couple of RL owners that on 2006 models the rear main seals are starting to fail after 55k to 60k. (63K for me)
Well add me to that list. Just had my Rear Seal start leaking. I had been noticing oil on the ground in the driveway. From one day to the next it got worse. Off to the dealer we went after doing some digging on the forum. They said very first RL ever having this problem. I told them they need to do some checking on that because there are more than just mine.
Well lets just say thank goodness for Honda extended warranty Total was $1100.00 or so and just had to pay the $50.00 deductable.

Do we know if this has affected any 2007's?

[TexRidge2008]

Not sure. Maybe other 1st or 2nd year RL owners will post up some info.

I just thought is was funny they are saying that they have never had this problem on a RL before.

[07_rtx]

That sucks man! Glad to hear your only out 50 bucks instead of 1100 but still inconvenient and shouldnt happen. Hopefully (for my sake) its only an late 05 and 06 issue. I wont be happy if it happens to mine

[thefinks13]

anyone with an 07 please let me know if you know if this affects our year. my warranty is about to end and im considering an extended warranty but i dont anything about how to get one or if its worth it. im around 32000 mi. and with hunting season here im gonna close in on 35000 really quick. please get back to me if any of you can help.

[just4fun]

Add my 06 to list of leaky Ridges, 130,000 km (80,000 miles) and I got the news that my rear seal is leaking.

Same story as others, noticed a few oil drips on the driveway and had it checked out when the truck was in for service.

Mine seems to be intermittant, it will stop dripping for awhile, then start again. I'm getting it repaired next time the truck is due for service, looks like it's going to cost about $1000.00

On a side note, The leather side bolster on the seat back (drivers side) has ripped. Because I have the green interior the local upholstry shop can't find a color match and replace the panel, So looks like I'm going to have to go through Honda for another $500 hit to repair the seat.

Kevin

[Mr Bigs]

Originally Posted by just4fun

Add my 06 to list of leaky Ridges, 130,000 km (80,000 miles) and I got the news that my rear seal is leaking.

Same story as others, noticed a few oil drips on the driveway and had it checked out when the truck was in for service.

Mine seems to be intermittant, it will stop dripping for awhile, then start again. I'm getting it repaired next time the truck is due for service, looks like it's going to cost about $1000.00

On a side note, The leather side bolster on the seat back (drivers side) has ripped. Because I have the green interior the local upholstry shop can't find a color match and replace the panel, So looks like I'm going to have to go through Honda for another $500 hit to repair the seat.

Kevin

Find another upholstery shop that one is lousy. I can go to my buddy's shop and find Honda's leather samples easily by year.

[just4fun]

Originally Posted by Mr Bigs

Find another upholstery shop that one is lousy. I can go to my buddy's shop and find Honda's leather samples easily by year.

Actually they have a very good reputation, and I live in a fairly small city so there aren't any other automotive upholstry shops to choose from.

They have lots of Honda fabric samples, just not in green leather. I even got the color codes from Honda, and their supplier(s) still couldn't match it up.

If I had a black, grey, or beige interior no problem, just the green that's an issue.

Anyway, this is the wrong thread for this discussion.

Kevin

[just4fun]

Originally Posted by just4fun

Add my 06 to list of leaky Ridges, 130,000 km (80,000 miles) and I got the news that my rear seal is leaking.

Same story as others, noticed a few oil drips on the driveway and had it checked out when the truck was in for service.

Mine seems to be intermittant, it will stop dripping for awhile, then start again. I'm getting it repaired next time the truck is due for service, looks like it's going to cost about $1000.00

Kevin

UPDATE:

After having my 06 Ridgeline diagnosed with a leaking rear seal, and deciding to wait until my next service was due to have it repaired, I began checking my oil level more often as a precaution.

The first thing I noticed was the oil level was overfull. I called and spoke to the service advisor I have been dealing with, and we decided it would be worthwhile to try lowering the oil level to normal to determine if the seal leak was being caused by oil pushing by the seal due to being over full.

The simplest way was to do an oil change. This was done and the proper oil level confirmed.

I have since driven about 1200 km (700 miles) without a single drip from the rear seal and the oil level is holding steady.

There were a couple indicators that had me wondering if the rear seal was actually damaged.

1. The leak was intermittant. It leaked (dripped) a couple times about a year ago during some very cold weather, then never happened again until a couple months ago.

It was still intermittant. I would notice a few fresh drips on the driveway, then nothing for awhile, then drips several days in row, then nothing for weeks, etc etc.

I also noticed it wouldn't leak if parked on a level surface, but would leak if parked on my driveway which has a slight incline.

I have owned vehicles in the past that experienced leaking rear seals, and they dripped a little bit constantly, which seems normal behaviour for a leaking main seal to me.

2. I have been using Amsoil 0W-20 group 4 synthetic oil in my Ridgeline since I bought it about two years ago. (this is not a plug for Amsoil, I just like group 4 synthetic oil and the Amsoil brand is easiest for me to obtain locally. Also, I do not do extended drains, I follow the maintenance minder)

There was discussion about whether or not the synthetic oil was causing the problem, and whether the 0W winter weight vs 5W winter weight was an issue.

Personally I couldn't see it being an issue, but it was, of course, noted on the service record.

I am still running the same oil, with no problems (yet) with the oil at the correct level.

3. The OM calls for 4.3 litres, or 4.5 quarts of oil in the crankcase. Because I was using Amsoil, which comes in quarts, I was supplying the service department with 5 quarts of oil. What I think may have been happening was the technician was sometimes adding the full 5 quarts to the crankcase. (Remember, this is a Canadian owned Ridgeline and our oil is usually supplied in litres)

This may have been causing the oil to push past the seal when parked on a incline until the level dropped to normal, then it would stop, resulting in the intermittant nature of the leak.


Due to the intermittant nature of the leaking it is too early to know for certain if overfilling the crankcase was the cause. But the intial indication would suggest it certainly is a possibility. If it is the cause, hopefully pushing oil past the seal hasn't resulted in any damage to the seal.

The point of this rather lengthy post is to give everyone a heads up. If you notice your Ridgeline dripping oil, before dropping $1000 - $1200 to replace a rear seal, monitor the oil level in your crankcase, it may be the source of the problem.

Kevin

[speedlever]

I'm sure you will keep a close eye on that seal.

I really have a hard time believing that 1/2 quart overfill causes that seal to leak. But I could be wrong.

[groupset]

Several weeks ago after returning from a few days of highway driving (1,500 miles in 3 days), noticed several oil drips on my garage floor where I park my '06 RT. Crawled underneath and determined it was rear main seal leaking. (I pulled the black inspection plate; it was coming from that area.) Cleaned it up and kept checking; with in-town driving only the leak was back within a few days. I'm 4,000 miles since last oil change and the oil is well below the full mark, so I know it's not leaking due to over-pressurized oil blowing past the seal. Took it to the dealer today; they confirmed rear main seal and quoted me $1,050.00 for the repair - when I asked the advisor "what about the 5 yr./60,000 mile powertrain warranty", he said he thought that didn't start 'til '07 model year - I replied it's in my owners manual. He called back a few minutes later and confirmed that they'll cover it under the powertrain warranty. He said it takes a full day to do this repair. My RT has 39,000 miles on it; hope they put a better seal in it than it came with new.