Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Something wrong with your Honda when it burns 1 quart of oil at 45K miles. I have been driving Honda motorcyles and autos for 40 years and no leaking or burning oil problems at all. My old Accord 95 started burning oil at almost 200K miles. I changed the engine/ transmission and it runs beautifully. My other Accord LX 92 that I gave to my relative still runs now at over 260K miles. Honda at 45K miles is still considered new if I do not want to say brand-new..
I wasn't sure if I understood your other questions, but I thought you were asking about audio upgrades and suspension upgrades. I will have my digital camera back soon and will post these upgrades.
For suspension, I'm using Eiback springs with Koni adjustables. I also added adjustable control arms and a camber kit. The Koni's are set to medium, but are still somewhat firm. This upgrade is definately not for everyone.
For sound, I'm using a Nakamichi 700 head unit and the factory unit. Power is run by two Extant amps(606 and 1001) I 've replaced the interior speackers with two sets of MB Quart QSD 216 and 2 JL 12w6s. This system is built for clarity and does an excellent job.
For anyone who has complaints about road noise or anything similar, check out Dynamat. I've installed three bulk kits covering the floor, roof, inner and outer door skins and firewall. This car is just about as quiet as an Lexus LS.
Hope this helps you
Todd
Unprofessional?
That is totally normal and nothing to worry about at all.
hondalova writes:
My wife's Chevy Van has NEVER been recalled for anything, but it burns a quart of oil every 2500 miles with only 45k on the odometer and the manufacturer says that's "normal operation." To me that's far more annoying and unprofessional.
presumably its the manufacturer's statement that is annoying and unprofessional, not the car's oil consumption...
presuming a well maintained vehicle, is that an appropriate oil consumption on a car with under 50K miles?
Does your front bumper have two small "dimples" in the middle of the front bumper? If so, those are the points at which to drill two tiny holes to accept a couple of non-corrosive screws.
Using a quart of oil in 2500 miles is nothing. ALL cars use SOME oil. They have to! Back in the "old days" it was pretty normal to use a quart every 1000 miles and nobody thought anything of that.
On my Hondas, I rarely if ever check my oil. I usually change my oil between 4-5 thousand miles and it's NEVER low.
It sounds like the poster thinks cars shouldn't use ANY oil at all and the Chevy dealer probably didn't do a good job or pick the right words when it was explained.
now I did own a VW Jetta once upon a time, and that did burn some oil, maybe a quart between changes, again spaced about 4K miles apart, but I thought that was a characteristic of that vehicle's engine.
always smart to check your oil every couple of gas tank refills.
Thanks
There's a tank near the front (of the car) on the left side that I believe is for the coolant, but I just wanted to be safe before pouring anything into it.
And yes, I did find where you put the windshield fluid, that one was luckily marked :P
you can get it from a junk yard and try it first.
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=Acco- rd&catcgry2=1988&catcgry3=4DR+LX&catcgry4=KA4AT&catcgry5=DISTRIBUTOR+%28CARB.%29+%28TEC%29-
My '91 Accord 4 cyl, my 79 Celica GT Liftback 4 cyl., my '99 Maxima 6 cyl., even my '85 Ford Mustang GT (5.0L V-8), all went well over 100,000 miles without losing more than a 1-2 pints per oil change (4,000 mile intervals).
A quart every 2500 miles is in local traffic - on a 1500 mile highway trip upstate when the car had only 750 miles on it, it consumed almost 2 quarts. The car stinks like burning oil all the time (have to close the window its so bad sometimes). Under hard acceleration at high rpm, engine sounds like its piston slapping. But dealer(s) say "within normal operating limits - technician cannot duplicate condition." Oh - twice they told me they removed a plastic bag from the exhaust assembly under the car (maybe the 1st time, but not the 2nd - I check before I bring it in now b/c I don't like to be made to look stupid).
On the bright side, the engine is dry as a bone on the outside and the extended warranty covered the intake manifold gasket problem these cars suffer from at 38,000 miles. But I shudder to think what the rings and the valve seats must look like in there.
The wife's in school right now but, when she starts showin' me da' money I'm thinkin' either a CRV, an Odyssey, or a Pilot for her is on my short shopping list. I'd also consider a Toyota Highlander or a Jeep (mmmm....HEMI...!)
Air Bag Recall.
Headliner replaced due to squeaking and rattles.
Trim panels replaced.
Interior Loose weatherstrip kept falling off. I finally fixed it on my own even though 2 dealerships were not able to fix it. I read the shop manual and attached it properly, so no more loose weatherstripping!
Pluses of the 2004 Accord over my previous 2000 Accord:
Better HP and acceleration
Very smooth transmission shifting.
Minuses:
Dealer service - awful at 2 dealerships. Customer (Dis) Service - useless!
Fit and finish problems are un-Honda like - I still have some rattles coming from the A-panel or the sill panel, which I will fix on my own with some foam tape.
Most of the cars I've owned in recent times haven't required any oil between changes but a few have. I just don't understand why that's a big deal?
My 1984 Z-28 ran like a top but it would usually need a quart of oil added around the 2000-2500 mile mark. It never got any worse and I never gave that a thought since it was completely normal.
A quart of oil doesn't cost much to add once in awhile.
hose connecting to the radiator. The fluid in the tank is green. The level should be between High and Low when engine is cold.
The lubrication system on a 4 stroke engine (ie what is in your honda or your chevy) is a sealed system. Nothing is supposed to leave that system, and nothing is supposed to be introduced to that system under normal operation. Oil will "thin" over time as it loses it's viscocity, and that is why you do oil changes every 3 to 5k. The less viscocity, the more metal directly scrapes against other metal without a liquid, lubricating barrier. This is BAD. Any way you shape it.
If your car is eating a pint or a quart of oil every 1500 miles and has less than 80k on it, this too is BAD. It means your sealed system is no longer sealed. If you have no oil leaks (check drain plug, valve covers, front and rear main seals, upper and lower block seals, oil pan gasket), and no contamination of your coolant (oil/dark spots in your otherwise green coolant), then you have some bad piston rings or valve seals and oil is leaking into the cylinders and being burnt off. A quart of oil in 1500 miles is an extremely high rate of consumption and it means you have a very bad leak somewhere in your system. Once you get a lot of miles on your engine, the rings will wear enough where oil will blow by a bit and you should get minor consumption (less than 1qt every 5k).
When you get on the gas - do you see blue smoke exiting your tailpipe? If so - then you are burning oil. If you do not see it, yet still get the smell and you cannot see any leaks on the front side of your engine - then check the back side... it is likely leaking from the valve covers or upper seal and landing on your hot exhaust, making the smell. This is bad - if your leak is as high as you indicate - it is only a matter of time before the exhaust is hot enough and there is enough oil where it ignites and causes an engine fire. If not extinquished within the first minute, you can kiss your entire car goodbye.
The slapping sound you are hearing is likely to be a lifter or two without oil, or it could be mostly burnt/destroyed rings allowing movement of the piston. This should be accompanied by a lot of engine vibration, and over time this will do enough damage to the piston and the cylinder wall where you will be looking at a full engine rebuild.
The dealer is LYING to you. Take it somewhere else for a 2nd opinion and demand the dealer make good on the warranty. Also get on the phone to GM offices and inform them of the dealer giving false diagnosis and attempting to circumvent warranty coverages. Find the problem and fix it, or else get rid of that car NOW. You will regret it if you don't.
i remember reading another poster's comments somewhere about oil consumption and the pcv valve operation.
this web-site seems to suggest the pcv valve operation can impact oil consumption:
http://www.mightyautoparts.com/pdf/articles/tt122.pdf
The real problem is that there is a big discrepency between what is really "normal" and what a car vendor will do something about, e.g. worst case replace the engine. Car vendors don't pay their lawyers to write warranties so that they will lose money. I agree one quart of oil every 1,500 miles is very high, but even so some manayfacturers warraties protect them clear down to 1 quart per 1,000 miles as being within normal limits.
YOLMV ( Your oil Leakage May Vary),
crus'n in 6th :shades:
MidCow
P.S. - Any dealer car will miles on it, especially demos are suspect. Most if not all test ride miles are very very hard miles.
The original poster was complaining about a quart every 2500 miles! That is nothing, and even a quart every 1500 miles is NOT an "extremely high rate of consumption".
A car that uses that little oil isn't going to belch blue smoke either. If you see blue smoke, you are REALLY burning oil!
You probably wouldn't like a Rotary Mazda. These NEED to use some oil and it'a bad thing if they don't. the two I had would use a quart every 1000-1500 miles whaich was a GOOD thing!
Unless things get markedly worse, the poster has nothing to "fix"!
Not when I'm along they aren't. I keep a choke chain on people when I need to and I won't tolerate abuse or people who scare me!
The overwhelming percentage of people drive as they normally do.
-Radio went out.. the lights in it.
-Trans blew at 42,000 (luckily i had the extended warranty)
-Had to change suspension
The good thing about it is that it still drives, hopefully it will until i get the Subaru STI in about 2 weeks.
My advice is unless it is a safety hazard or belching blue smoke quit losing sleep over it .
The Converter was only half the problem. After I removed the converter and replaced it ,I retested the car and the results were worse. However I noticed that the back end of the old converter was missing most of the internals of the converter. They had to go somewhere ,so I changed the muffler and sure enough it was pluged up. It was a wonder it ran al all.
You can have the best overhaul in the world but if the air going in cannot get out you wont get a good emmissions test.
Co and HC levels now in the .1 and .5 % range and gas mileage around 27mpg city. Have yet to test Hwy.
Thanks for the forum. I hope this helps someone else.
The original poster was complaining about a quart every 2500 miles! That is nothing, and even a quart every 1500 miles is NOT an "extremely high rate of consumption".
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Not doing this as a personal attack or anything, but if you actually believe this for any car under 70 or 80k, then you have no business being in the car business. Any mechanic worth his salt will tell you hands down that this is "not good" and that it is a very high rate of consumption. I guess that is why you sell them and don't work on them.
I really hope you do not try to pass this stuff off onto people you are trying to sell Hondas to. God help them if you do, because when their engine starts going south due to their lack of followup and maintenance, they will say it is "acceptable".
Un-cool... :mad: :sick: :lemon:
Acceptable for a 2nd-tier car ? Maybe. For a Honda ? Not IMO.
Our 6 Honda vehicles over the years would show a loss of 1/4 of a quart at 7,000 miles, which is my drain interval. There's something seriously wrong with a Honda engine that looses a quart @1,500 miles.
If mine passes the emission test this coming October, I will keep it another winter.
Just had the header pipe replaced last month.
Using a quart of oil in 2500 miles is nothing to worry about.
You can think whatever you want to. I don't need insults from a person I seriously doubt has my experience in and around shops for more years than I'll admit.
"A quart's worth of oil loss 1,500 miles suggests that at 5,000 miles - the likely average drain interval among all users - more than 3 quarts or 73% of the total crankcase capacity would have disappeared."
That's why the owner's manual recommends checking your oil level regularly. Our 97 Accord is at 93,000 miles. Oil consumption between changes is negligible, but I still check the oil every other fill up. I use Mobil 1 5w-30 with a 5,000 mile oil change interval.
The heat shield that covers what I believe to be my catalytic converter broke off the other night. Do i need to have it replaced/reattached? Is there any risk of damage or corrosion to the now exposed catalytic conveter? Can i just get the heat shield alone replaced? How much should I expect to pay?
Recommended by a mechanic and this has worked for me. I put it in at about 25K. Less often when I've been buying only quality fuels (Shell, Mobile in my area).
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
worry about it. I took mine off from my 89 many many years ago due to a rattling noise at certain RPMs. After 16+ years, the car still has the original cat.
Yes, you can just get the heat shield replaced alone.
78 BMW 535i - restored it, crate engine, put 20k on it, never used a drop.
87 Grand Am, 2.5 liter engine had 198,000 miles when I sold it and never used more than half a quart even at that high of mileage. No major engine work or rebuilds ever. It had a valve cover gasket start leaking at about 120k. Took 10 minutes to replace that, and all was well.
92 Lincoln Continental - 189,000, about a pint per 3500, but it has a saturated oil pan gasket which is the source of this loss. This car has power steering leaks, transmission and air suspension issues which will be taken care of when I restore the car starting this fall.
92 GMC Typhoon - 4.3l turbov6, 85,000 when I sold it, used half a quart every oil change. Engine was beaten pretty hard when I got it, and I wasn't very nice to it either. Leaky lower seal.
96 Taurus, 3l v6 120,000 - never leaves crosshatches between changes (ie: less than half a quart). Still have this car.
04 Taurus, 3l v6 28,000 - doesn't use a drop. Measured it 2 oil changes ago in fact...
05 Accord, 4 cyl, 8,000 - doesn't use a drop.
The Grand Am was 15 years old when I finally sold it. Best car I ever owned - left me stranded one time due to an ex taking it off-road and putting a hole through the oil pan and not telling me.
I think your "experience around shops" consists of actually swallowing the crap that the mechanics have been telling you by saying that a quart every 1500 to 2500 is acceptable and normal. Even if your car has 200k on it, it should not use oil that fast. You are dropping it or burning it, and neither is good. The only mechanics that are going to agree with you are those who work in your shop and don't want to do the warranty work.
Take care of your cars, and even with high mileage they will not use oil like what this guy is trying to say. I might note that none of the above high mileage cars has ever had any major engine work, nor rebuilds. No rings, boring or pistons.
If you need a quart or more between changes - then you have some serious problems and you need to get them identified and repaired.
If you had asked earlier you could have come by and taken my plate holder from the garage with you :-)
If the dealer will not give you one or sell it to you cheap, I can send it your way.
Dennis
Dennis
I'm following the 10,000 mile interval on our Civic and Accord and although the Civic started out burning about a quart per 3500-4000 during break-in, it has nearly stopped burning it altogether. It's been 7500 miles and it's about 1/2 a quart low.
See THIS is the kinda crap that makes me do my repairs. I sure hope I don't have that kinda feedback on any warranty items I bring my Accord in for.