Honda will fix/replace my engine, BUT.. Read Inside
Okay I'm burning a quart and a couple of ounces of 10/40 oil per 1k miles. The Tech Advisor at a Honda Dealer called Honda Corp and Corp said if they open up the engine and find that there's problem with the Valve Seals and or Piston Rings they will fix it and replace whatever that needs to be replaced. BUT if they find nothing wrong with it, then I will owe them Labor Cost, which is $1200-1500
I asked the Tech Advisor if there's any Test that we could do to find out if the Seals or Pistons Rings are damaged and he said no. He said I could pay them to do a Check up and run a couple of test like Compression and Leak Down but it will not tell us if the seals or rings are damaged.
Oh and when he used a rug to wipe my exhaust he said I'm burning oil, cause the stuff in there is thick and moist.. So what should I do? And is there anything I can do to find out what exactly is wrong without taking the engine apart.
WTF??? A compression and leakdown tests are for checking to see if the valves or rings are not holding pressure!!
THEY CAN EVEN NARROW IT DOWN TO WHICH END OF THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER IS CAUSING A PROBLEM!!!!!! (Rings or valves) It wouldn't tell you if the valve seals were bad, though.
You should call honda's service # (in your warranty handbook) and speak to someone over there.
The dealer and HONDA agrees that there is something wrong with your engine, but they are going to charge you if they can't find what it is?? That is BS!!!
PM someone else in socal to get them to do a compression test at the minimum for you. If I wasn't living in norcal, I'd check it out for you.
If you are burning that much oil, they should have done compression/leakdown tests already, and also checked to make sure the PCV system was working properly!!!!!! Your service advisor is incompetent!!!!!!!
yeah they can do alot of checks with at the most by taking off your valve cover.. it seems like more than normal but preludes do like to suck up the oil.. check out the threads on it..
Originally posted by alphajesse The dealer and HONDA agrees that there is something wrong with your engine, but they are going to charge you if they can't find what it is?? That is BS!!!
Yah basically according to the Tech Advisor, Honda said with my permission they'll tear down the engine, check the valve seals and piston rings and if it's worn or damaged they will replace it without a problem.
But if they find out that everything is working fine and that my engine just burns a lot of oil, then I have to pay for the labor cost.
Maybe I should take it to another dealer. I dunno, I mean I understand why I have to pay if they find nothing wrong with the engine. This damn situation is like gambling...
If you are burning that much oil, they will find something wrong. I have seen vehicles with cracked ring lands that didn't burn that much.
It SHOULD show up in a leakdown test. It should take them less than an hour, I would even be willing to pony up the dough if I were you to perform the test. I am not sure if Honda specs anything for it in the book for a leakdown, but you should blow their minimum psi compression that they do state. For the leakdown, it should be obvious if your rings are bad by listening/feeling for air coming out the PCV hole. Pull the PCV and the breather tube to the intake, plug one, then feel the other. Should be like a hairdryer if you are losing that much oil past rings.
No way to check valve seals though you should NOT have a problem with them with <70k miles unless one is missing or dislodged.
honestly...honda techs are just good parts replacers, not real mechanics. if it's not basic work they generallty don't have a clue about real engine work unless they do stuff on the side. i would talk with performance shops that do swaps and engine work,they know much more about hondas.
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OUCH... how long have you been consuming this much oil and did you ever get it documented before?
And what dealer did you go to? If you're near Robertson Honda in North Hollywood...go there. I was pleased with their service.
As someone else mentioned, you need to contact Honda Corp directly... and speak with a Senior Case Rep. PM me if you want some more info. on my dealings with them. You should ask Honda Corp to authorize the dealer to perform a compression test, without charging you. Then, if the results are low, you have a good arguement to get "them" to cover all costs involved with the tear down.
Originally posted by AccordSleeper honestly...honda techs are just good parts replacers, not real mechanics. if it's not basic work they generallty don't have a clue about real engine work unless they do stuff on the side. i would talk with performance shops that do swaps and engine work,they know much more about hondas.
that is so true, dont do it man i was burning the same amount of oil when i first got my car and took it back every week telling them to fix whatever was wrong, bottom line is honda knows there is a soot problem with the ludes they gave me a service news paper saying
"BLACK SMOKE ON HARD ACCELERATION:'97-01 PRELUDE"
on'97-01 preludes, at wide open throttle, you may see what looks like black smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. that smoke is just soot in the exhuast system. It's a normal characteristic and NOT a reason for concern. this soot also collects on the rear bumper because of the aerodynamic turbulence behind the vehicle.
i called customer relations because the service manager gave me the # to complain and they just flat out told me after i said i have see twin turbos put out less smoke than mine and she said well, it is a honda 1-800-999-1009 have your vin#
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03 350Z SOLD
07 Nissan Titan
Last edited by mickey99us; 07-27-2003 at 02:02 PM.
My car is not new, it's a 98 and if I change oil to something with less viscosity like let's say a 5/30 I will burn a quart every 500 miles. And Im not concerned about the Soot on the rear bumper or what not. I'm concerned about the 1 quart it burns every 1k miles.
Do you still burn 1 quart every 1k miles? If not how did you fix it.
i burn alot less since i went to mobil1 5w30
but i think its all in how you drive because before i went to lude fest i changed my oil and when i got back i was down 1 quart
i drove my car hard that day.
when i first got my car and was using honda oil it was like 1 week and i checked the oil and there was just a little dot of oil on the dip stick, so ya synthetic was for me
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01 prelude SOLD
03 350Z SOLD
07 Nissan Titan
Originally posted by mickey99us i burn alot less since i went to mobil1 5w30
but i think its all in how you drive because before i went to lude fest i changed my oil and when i got back i was down 1 quart
i drove my car hard that day.
when i first got my car and was using honda oil it was like 1 week and i checked the oil and there was just a little dot of oil on the dip stick, so ya synthetic was for me
I don't use VTEC most of the time, I prolly use it like once a week, literally. And I shift around 3500rpm... With Mobil1 5w30 I will burn all that up in 500 miles.
Originally posted by Mugenlude I would call Honda... you shouldn't be paying for them to find a problem. That is their job, not your job to pay for the times that they guess wrong.
Wait a minute... is your car under warranty? If it isn't then everything makes more sense...
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1-800-999-1009 have your vin#
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