Tegger <invalid@invalid.inv> wrote in rec.autos.makers.honda:

> Tegger <invalid@invalid.inv> wrote in
> news:Xns9C3CC11DD1500tegger@208.90.168.18:
>
>> "C. E. White" <cewhite3@mindspring.com> wrote in news:h2ic1f$ib7$1
>> @news.eternal-september.org:
>>
>>> Compared to my Sister's old Civic, your engine is clean. Looks like a
>>> weeping valve cover gaskets to me. From what I have seen, this is
>>> standard operation proceedure for older Hondas.
>>
>>
>> There's absolutely no inherent reason why that should be so. Honda
>> valve covers (including the OP's) are traditionally cast-aluminum.
>> They fracture rather than bend, so the mating surfaces tend to remain
>> intact and true unless obviously damaged.
>>
>> My money is on an original (or aftermarket) valve cover gasket that is
>> not sealing properly. Has the OP even checked the nuts to see if
>> they're tight?
>
>
>
>
> I just had a better look at the OP's images 04.jpg and 05.jpg.
>
>
> OP's original text:
>>> Photos: http://drop.io/OilyHondaEngine
>>> [note that image size is 2048x1536 pixels, and the website preview
>>> is too small to see detail; click download to see orig rez]
>
>
> See the seepage from the hold-down bolt gasket at right? This is NOT
> normal.
>
> I suspect bad installation, aftermarket gasket, or simple neglect.

All of your comments have been helpful.

I will try to find all my tools---I had been out-of-country for a couple
of years and the socket wrench set and other tools I have, have become
scattered and "stored away." I have more or less lived here for 15 years
and this car has been taken care of by the dealer service personnel, whose
work I have checked and have been generally pleased.

The car had a "major service" I guess while I was away, I believe, and I
have not been given the details of what the major service was. I
suspected normal wear-and-tear and not careless maintenance work here for
several reasons: my wife is a university officer and she gets chauffered
vehicles, and sometimes the chauffers/drivers have driven the Honda, and
they tend not to care so much about the autos of others...so I assumed
that they were doing things like gunning the engine and creating
unnecessary havoc as they usually do with government-owned vehicles. So
my thinking was coming from that perspective.

Anyway, I will check all this out. Thanks.