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95 Honda Odyssey burning oil at 1 qt. /800 miles

shiyangshiyang Member Posts: 5
edited March 2014 in Honda
Dear all:

Great topic. I have a 95 Honda Odssey. The original engine has been replaced by the dealar because they did someting wrong for a minor recal work and broke the engine. The new one that they put on for me was 52K miles. It's been several months since the engine replaced. I found this one is still burning oil at about 1 qt/1000 miles two months ago. I did went back and asked the shop foreman. He told me for honda engines, this is normal and adviced me add a qt. of oil between each oil change (every 3000 miles) and it would be O.K. Problem is that I checked recently, it is becomeing worse, it now burning 1 qt. oil / 800 miles. The engine and work should still be in 1 year warenty. Is this a big problem? Should I ask them to have a check something like a cylindar leaking down test? Anyone heard that this kind of problem is normal for Honda--a 2.4 litter engine? Any info/advise, greatly appriciated.
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    seeligseelig Member Posts: 590
    will say 1 qt. per 1,500 mi. is normal, and some say for every 1,000 is normal when brand new. sounds like BS to me and people that i know. where is the oil going? if it isn't leaking, then it must be going through the combustion chamber, which must be causing a pollution problem. go back and have them top it off, and then use them to monitor the usage. does Honda have a customer relations line? try a different dealer too.
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    You need to monitor consumption and find out what it actually is, because before you can make any kind of claim this is what they will ask for. If the consumption is around 1 quart every 1,000 miles, this is considered the low end of normal and the engine could run forever like that and does not affect emissons standards as they are currently formulated. Unless it can be proven that consumption has dropped well below a quart every 1,000 miles, I don't think you have much of a case, because a) this is a published low normal rate of consumption and b) it cannot be shown that this affects the reliability or function of the car itself.
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    seeligseelig Member Posts: 590
    but a qt. every 800 miles? sounds like a problem, or is it?
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Not necessarily, no. It could burn a quart of oil very 800 miles for the next 200,000 miles. Of course it indicates possible ring wear or very bad valve guides or both or even leaks I dunno...but it won't really hurt an engine AS LONG AS it doesn't start deteriorating rapidly. The "problem" is when oil consumption keeps getting worse and worse and worse...then you know something internal is letting go.
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    shiyangshiyang Member Posts: 5
    Hello Mr_shiftright:

    How are you? nice to see your message again. Actually, this is the car that I posted a message this Spring of Timing belt broken because of dealer's faulty installation of the timing belt cover. At the time, the old engine was burning 1 qt./500 miles and with a low gas mileage. You suggested that if I had stated were true, they own me an engine. They did. They replaced the old engine and put on this one (suppose to be at 51000 miles). I question was intended to say, they bought this new engine from Honda and came with one year warranty. If the engine burning oil at 1 qt./800 miles, shouldn't they take it back and give me another one or at least do some kind of repair? something like cylinder ring/seal replacement? The engine that I had before the replacement did not burn any oil even I drove 7500 miles between oil change. I am bothered by this kind of sharp difference between engines. As for add 1 qt. of oil every 1000 miles, it does not bother me too much in terms of inconvenience. I always put 2 qt of oil in my trunk. Massachusetts consumer pretection law says, the shop has to do the repair till customer satisfied or in a workable condition. That is a kind of vague, isn't it. The shop's service representive is so far very nice, so I am a kind of preparing to talk with him first before I send out a letter of intend to file a court claim. Maybe I need more detailed monitoring on the engine and gether more data. Anyway, thanks for the inputs.
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Well, good luck with that. If in fact it is burning a quart every 800, that is below normal, so you do have a case then. But you have to make sure it has been monitored, because they will grille you on that, you can be sure!
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    shiyangshiyang Member Posts: 5
    Mr_shiftright:

    Thank you for the suggestions, I will follow. In your earlier message, you said regarding if it is burning 1 quart of oil per 1000 miles "is a published low normal rate of consumption", I wonder where is this source? Can I find it in a book store, library/manufacture ? I think this info will be very helpful if I need to file a claim.
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    This info should be either in your owner's manual or the factory service manual under the engine chapter. It may also be in the Maintenance and Specification section of the factory service manual, usually expressed as a range and volume, such as 1 qt/1,000 miles. This section may also list fuel mileage, etc. If it's not in any public documents, then you may have to supeona to get it, but I'm sure the techs know where it is published. All manufacturers have these standards.
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