acuramanTL

I've got a 2009 SHAWD that I bought used and I recently found out I have this exact same issue. I received an oil change from the dealership, and after just 3700 km the oil on the dipstick barely registered (as in, the first 2 mm of the tip was covered in oil.)

I immediately filled with 2 litres of oil and that brought it back up (although I think it was slightly overfilled).

Here in Canada, the warranty on this car is a 5 year/100,000 km powertrain warranty. I am now at 104,000 km. Does this mean that, even if I qualified for this oil consumption issue,that the engine overhaul would not be covered because I no longer have powertrain warranty? I have a sneaking suspicion that no matter which dealer I call they will fall back on this fact and hang me out to dry (like every frikkin' stealership...I hate 'em all!)

In all honesty, checking the oil level and adding a $4 bottle of oil here and there is not the end of the world (to me at least,) but it is indeed a let down. I will speak to my dealership about this and update. However, going forward I will simply monitor and add oil as needed, and do an oil and fitler change when the MID tells me to.

jim_c

Don't assume anything. And don't necessarily take the word of some guy on the internet (lol). Talk to your dealership. Some times there are silent warranties on issues that are only applied in cases where the owner asks nicely and the dealer wants to be a good guy. Also, the question of coverage is not entirely up to the dealer. Warranty work is approved by Acura and the dealer is paid for it by Acura. So the dealer still makes money doing the work. You may be pleasantly surprised; it doesn't hurt to ask.

lji

Are any updates available docboy?

VanyDotK

iTrader: (6)

I just read through this thread.. Subscribing, I hope the 2013 doesn't have this problem.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

Not all AWD TL, with the 3.7L-V6 engine, has this problem.

So Acura is not acknowledging that this is a problem, and therefore has not done anything to remedy this problem.

As a result, this problem may also appear in all 4G AWD TL's, including the 2013.

EE4Life

Acura Genuine Oils and Fluids Applications
http://www.urvi.net/forumfiles/SB/Ac...plications.PDF

Honda Genuine Oils and Fluids Applications
http://www.urvi.net/forumfiles/SB/Ho...plications.PDF

bombadeer

they did that to me when i stated getting low. As you can have a faulty lps. I told the dude its not flashing on and it full. Its flashing on because its empty. Fixed it ,no charge. Filled it up. down to the very bottom of the dip. in 1000k.. When back filled it up again. Said go another k.

liquidneon

yep, I'm one of the fortunate ones - 2010 3.7L 6MT. I drive the shit out of the car too. So far so good...

xglTL

Any updates with the Oil Consumption issue docboy?

I've got a 2010 TL SH-AWD 6MT... I bought it with 113k kms (~70k mi). The car now has 116k kms (~72k mi) and the oil is just above the low level on the dipstick.

This is a serious and concerning issue. What do you think about adding a thicker weight oil... like 10W20 or 10W30?

xglTL

hey maxikeem.. I have the same clunk from 1st -> 2nd or from 2nd -> 3rd... Were you able to find out the cause? Let me know please!

OnyekwereJI

Subscribing. Have similar issues with my 2011 6MT. On another note, How are the Pirelli's treating you lji? I'm in the market for new rubber, and have heard good things from the P7+ A/S

JM2010 SH-AWD

^^ Just heard today that some Chinese company was buying a controlling share of Pirelli. Better get those P7+s soon.

lji

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but so far so good on the P7 Cinturato AS+; have been through a couple of heavy rain storms, and the tires have held up their end of the bargain.

OnyekwereJI

Looks like the Pirelli's will be my next set of tires. All that aside, would engine braking have anything to do with excessive oil consumption in the 6MT? Partial vacuum pulling oil past the valve seals?

docboy

Unfortunately no good news updates. Recent oil change a few weeks at my indie shows I was 2 QT low, and this is with me even adding 2 QTs prior to the oil change!

Oil was dark/dirty, and my mechanic is not surprised Honda/Acura is not doing anything about it to avoid swapping a new engine. Indie's only recommendation is to keep adding oil (the cheapest option) or trade it in for another car.

My armchair internet research shows oil consumption is not a good sign for the engine. This article Engine Oil Consumption also suggests (like some members on AZ have done) to use a heavier weight oil. In our case, switch from 5W-20 --> 5W-30, which I may try later on.

I've noticed that as the car accumulates more and more miles, oil consumption appears to get worse.

What I'll probably try is to monitor the current oil levels, and as it gets lower and lower, fill up with 5W-30 and see if the oil consumption rate slows down at all.

xglTL

docboy: How is the 5w30 on your TL? I am suffering from an intermittent engine knock especially when the car is in second or third gear with a pull from around 1500rpm.

I am thinking of either adding some Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer, switching to High Mileage oil, or go straight to 5w30 synthetic. I am so confused and stressed out here.

Your thoughts and insights are appreciated.

mylove4cars

A lot of engine breaking might indeed have to do with oil consumption. Engine breaking pushing high RPM's might shorten your engine life-time.

Piotr Sosniak

My '13 Tl Manual has been burning oil since new. Im at 30K miles and last oil change tried the 5W-30 Mobil1 synthetic high milage. Ive put 3K miles of this oil and the car drives the same but the oil consumption is also the same. I've also noticed some oil on what I believe to be the RMS.

Going to stealership this weekend to have them change the oil and start 1K consumption test.

teddyo333

I just came back from the dealership. They have been performing the oil consumption test (every 1000 miles) since my last oil change (@ 4000 miles ago). This week I added a quart of Mobile 1 and the oil still appeared to be below the lower limit of the dipstick. Long story short is that my dealer will be installing a new shortblock next week.

teddyo333

The new short block has been installed and the car is running great. I will still check the oil every 1000 miles just to make certain that all is well.

Piotr Sosniak

We'll see what my dealer does. Im about 400 miles into the first consumption test.

acurakid_slc

'12 TL-AWD, just had my engine replaced by Acura. Also while dropping my car of my SA showed me another 4G TL that was waiting for its new engine to arrive and be replaced.

lji

For those of you who've had their short block/engine replaced, what was the conclusion the dealer came to before Acura authorized this? Or did it involve the dealer having to call Acura's Tech line?

lji

Started a poll on the main 4G page to get some data on how many folks are experiencing the oil consumption issue. Here's the link to the thread. Would appreciate everyone's input.

teddyo333

Based my paperwork it stated that "Checked car for oil consumption issues multiple time. Found that the vehicle was consuming more oil than what was acceptable to Acura specs. The car was within it's 6 year 70,000 mile warranty. The short block and gaskets were replaced to resolve this issue".

It appears as though the dealer has a guideline to follow to verify whether the short block needs to be replaced.

docboy

Sounds like there are good dealerships out there, except here in PNW.

I called another dealership 20min away to see if they will take my case and evaluate the engine for replacement without me having to authorize $700 engine strip down.

Their response: "Since you didn't get oil changes here, we need to do 3 oil changes and monitor the oil levels first." Hugh?? At that point I gave up arguing with the service tech.

There's one more dealership 40min I'll try, but I've pretty much lost all hope on getting a new short block, engine, or whatever is needed to resolve this oil consumption issue.

FWIW: Oil consumption seems to worsen after 1-2k miles after oil change. Yesterday I checked oil level (70% MID) and oil level is below low level on dipstick.

I still have not changed oil weight yet and still using 5W-20. Need to do a little more research.

docboy

Update: Last oil change March 2015 at 54,9xx miles. Tonight I rechecked dipstick and oil is not even showing up at all on dipstick. Surprisingly no low oil level indicator light popped up.

MID shows oil at 60% life and mileage currently at 57,0xx miles. I added 2Qts Mobil 5W-20 oil (thank goodness I picked up a caseful of oil at Costco recently); oil now marks between the 2 markings on dipstick. My garage indie who did oil change made sure oil level was well topped off in March

Engine appears to be consuming a little more than 1Qt oil per 1,000 miles which of course Acura won't do anything about without me authorizing $800 engine stripdown costs.

Local dealerships are useless, Acura refuses to acknowledge problem, and powertrain warranty is not being honored.

Well done Acura, well done.

lji

An article from Consumer Reports on this whole oil consumption within specs nonsense....

Excessive Oil Consumption Isn't Normal - Consumer Reports

docboy

Good article, thanks for sharing. Curious as why Acura TL or MDX with the 3.7V6 engine is not on that list.

acurakid_slc

Tech line was involved with my first consumption test and engine replacement. I believe they are involved again because even after engine replacement the same issues persist, so I'm on my third consumption test. Plus unknown engine noises. I have a scheduled meeting with on of the factory rep's on the 1st of Sept. I'll let everyone know what Acura its self is saying.

PICA

I've owned the car since March 2015. Between purchase and first oil change, oil level remained same. Now it's been 4000 miles since last oil change and the consumption (or leak, doubtful, but still hoping) seems to be getting worse each time I drive it, I drove ~75mi yesterday and it was 1/4" lower on dipstick. In two weeks I've added nearly a quart which is a few hundred miles driven.

JM2010 SH-AWD

Others have noted this pattern. Oil level remains OK for about 4K miles, then it begins to drop quickly. Don't know why or what it suggests about the cause, but it does argue for ignoring the MID and changing the oil every 5K or so. Maybe an expert can chime in as to why this pattern occurs.

DoubleF

I am curious whether there are ways to invoke faster oil consumption on purpose for maybe those in the future trying to get a bad reading to get warranty to deal with the issue. (I don't have this issue, fortunately).

I wonder if doing things like:

- lower octane gas (regular vs premium)
- additives like fuel injector cleaners
- seafoam or other cleaners
- putting weights in the car
- unbalanced air pressure in tires
- partially blocking air intake (due to let's say mods or something)
- Weird things to invoke ECU compensation of some sort etc.

can increase the oil consumptions so that users with this issue can invoke warranty work with less shady actions like draining of oil. Could be useful to help those on oil consumption tests and could also be good info what not to do on a car to cause issues?

HondaOwnerForLife

Multiple Hondas over the years. Never checked the oil. Never had to. Oil changes on'em all between 3,000 and 5,000 miles without fail....


I decided it was time to check the current stable:


2013 RDX - All good
2007 Civic - All good
2010 AWD 6MT - Oil did NOT register on the dipstick. Made wife come an verify on all three cars just to make sure I was really seeing what I did. She concurred - no oil present on even the tip of the stick.
Added 1 QT of 5W-30 (it's all I had in the garage). Now it reads halfway between upper and lower marks.


Current Miles: 59,900
Last oil change: 6/30/15 @ 57,656 miles


Already had an oil change scheduled for 9/18/15. Will see what my mechanic has to say about this. Since I never checked before, I don't have a baseline.


Crap....

HondaOwnerForLife

Went to the dealer this morning between volleyball games. Explained my oil consumption issue with my J37 engine. Next Saturday I begin the oil consumption testing/monitoring once they change the oil. Advisor said they want to check at 800 miles after the oil change, not 1,000. Most here say it is 1,000 miles. Will see what transpires. Still taking it to my mechanic on Friday to explain my observations and get his opinion.

HondaOwnerForLife

Update: My service manager called me today to inform me that he just ordered a new short block for my 2010 6MT. Being persistent, having documentation, and working with a customer-focused service manager are critical for the desired result.

ABDomega

Congrats! It's great that more and more members are getting action from their dealerships.

But, did I miss something here? You were to have a consumption test last month but skip to this month and you're getting a new short block? Did the dealer tear down the motor to reveal damage to the cylinder walls/rings/pistons?

It's also curious that some members here have gotten new long blocks and in some cases the valves were bad.

I can't believe that it's still a mystery what is wrong with these cars!

HondaOwnerForLife

I went to the Service Manager the week of Sep. 14th and explained my observation of Sep. 11th and that I was scheduled to start the oil consumption test on the 19th. I went in @ 800 miles and was down 1/4 QT. Went back at 1170 miles and was down 1/2 QT. On the 11th when I discovered my issue, it was down 2 QT's at 2,244 miles.
After the second check, I sent my data to my service manager, which took into account all of the above, and asked him about next steps. He called me the next day, said he was already in touch with the DPSM, and they just wanted to see my service records since owning the car. He sent the records for the 3 oil changes over the 10,000 miles I have put on it. He called the next day and said the short block was ordered and when he has all of the parts he will call me.

ABDomega

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

HondaOwnerForLife

The car is now at the dealer. Hope to get it back by the end of the week.