Othello

Is the 04 TSX like the Prelude and really thirsty when it comes to oil or am I seeing the early warnings of a bigger issue?

Backstory:

Bought the car used from an Acura dealership and was assured that the car would have an oil change before I picked it up. 7 weeks later after normal driving around the city and one and a half 800km round trips I notice that the oil level is almost down to nothing. I had to put in almost 3 litres of oil in it to get it back to the full level.

I go back to the dealership and complain (assuming that they never did the oil change) and they agree to change the oil for me as I waited. I checked the dip stick myself this time to confirm that it was new oil and it was full.

Just checked the dip stick again now and the oil is at the first indicator hole, not sure how many litres this equals. It's been exactly 2,268km since the second oil change driving back and forth to work with normal driving behavior...no vtec, shifting around 3500-4000rpm.

So is this normal or do I have reason to have their service look at the car?

curls

run a search - it's a problem that has occurred previously (ie: to me). I am burning 1L/1000km though. Technically, 1L per 1500km is "allowable".

The bottom hole means you are exactly one quart/litre below full (top hole).

Othello

Thanks Curls, I'll run the car to my service dept tomorrow to see what they say. Funny I saw your vin #, I'm 800031

curls

WOW, that is wierd... I will bring the VIN# thing up with my dealer next week - there could be a good chance that very early production TSX's have some sort of problem with the block or head or something.

Very interesting. Please stay in touch w/ me via PM to let me know what the dealer thinks of the problem. Also, HAVE THEM DO AN OIL CONSUMPTION STUDY... tell 'em its burning a LOT of oil, and you've done research and feel you need an oil consumption study done to ensure that all is OK or not. Also, regardless of what they say about driving techniques, etc... it won't cause THAT much oil burning unless you stay at redline 90% of the time.

Mention the VIN# thing to them, too... see what they say about it.

Ellas9

I hate to say it, but I think you guys have a problem. Even a bad break in wouldn't cause that kind of consumption. I don't think the "allowable" makes sense either. I've got an 05 5AT and shift around 2500rpm and have no oil consumption.

The best way to tell the health of an engine is simple. Fuel consumption. City driving in the relatively cooler weather we've had of late should get you anywhere from 9.0L to 10.5L per 100km; highway anywhere between 7.0L to 8.5L per 100km depending on driving situations. I would say if your fuel consumption is worse than those parameters than do a compression test to confirm the issue. Don't bother with the dealer if you've confirmed this problem. They're idiots. Contact Honda Canada and tell them if its not resolved that you will contact OMVIC.

sauceman

I've got a pretty bad oil problem myself, BUT my fuel consumption hasn't ever been better. I'm turning 1000km gas tanks EVEN at -20°C. That's 200km better than last year on average.

curls

Yeah my fuel consumption is consistently better than that.

I'm really curious to know if it's a VIN-related thing (early production design flaw or machining flaw)

curls

btw, Othello, how many km's on your car?? (90,000km here... don't even ask what Sauceman has, LOL)

sauceman

:gheylaugh:

Othello

I just turned over 56,000km.

I spoke to the service guy and he gave me the speel about 1500km/L being acceptable. So I ask him if the engine has a volume of 4.5L and I drive 6,000km does it seem acceptable that I will essentially be running on no oil?

Why does the manual say oil changes at 16,000km if the acceptable loss is 1,500/L?

Well since the service dept closed at 2pm today they couldn't do a oil consumption test but I will bring it in first thing Monday morning and see what's up. Seriously, my 11year old civic never when through this much oil.

Othello

You're getting 1000km/tank?!?!

sauceman

And BTW, you are expected to do some kind of maintenance with your car, and yes, that means checking your oil every so often.

Othello

Yes I realize this, but I simply have issue with the rapid consumption of oil in this class of car, if it was a little $10k econo car or over 10yrs old I may be more willing to accept it .

sauceman

Any high-strunk engine will drink oil. Hondas are no exception.

peter_bigblock

I agree with you guys, 1L of oil consumed every 1,000-odd miles is ridiculous, much less a liter every 600 miles. I would say my TSX is average and I put in maybe 1/4 liter every 5,000 miles, to top it up.

Is it possible that the PCV valve is blowing a TON of oil out of the crankcase and into the cylinders?

sauceman

That's not impossible.

Othello

Sorry I disagree, my two past civics, prelude and accord never drank like the tsx does now. Grant it I did hear that the 2001 ludes were bad with oil consumption but that is one model out of many honda/acuras.

curls

Exactly. My buddy has an S2K and is in VTEC alllll the time in that thing. Never burns a drop of oil.

Also, many other friends w/ Integras, Preludes, and other Hondas, have little or no oil consumption problems, and most of them drive harder than I do.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

My wife and I have the exact same year and model of Civic. My Civic uses very little oil but my wife's uses a lot more. Her car was broken in gently and used dino oil for the first 10K or so, then switched to synthetic. Mine switched to synthetic around 500 miles, then supercharged around 5K miles and driven hard. Her car was traded in for the TSX, and the TSX uses a little oil until I switched to synthetic, then the oil consumption reduced. Perhaps due to the engine is now more broken in. I also have a 93 Prelude that uses 1/2 qt every 400 miles (every fill-up at the gas station). I don't see any smoke at all and it drives like new and great gas mileage. It also has good compression, but it just uses a lot of oil.