I have a 2009 TSX with manual transmission that has about 110,000 miles on it. I drive a lot to and from work averaging 70 miles a day but its mostly interstate driving. I've been having problems with heavy oil consumption. Last time I had an oil change done I checked the levels after 1,500 miles and I was 2 quarts low!! I read that Acura says 1 quart per 1,000 miles is ok but even that seems ridiculous. I use Valvoline's 5w 20 full synthetic oil. there are no signs of leakage and no white smoke coming out the exhaust. Where is my oil going?? there is also this quick grinding noise when I start the car from a cold start. I've read that it could be a faulty vtc actuator but could this be the cause of loosing 2 quarts halfway between my 3,000 oil change intervals?? I don't have a warranty for my car and not too much money to spend on it. I love this car but I'm afraid of how reliable it is now. Is it ok to just keep adding oil making sure it doesn't get low or could this be a major problem that must be fixed now. If anyone has experienced this I would greatly appreciate some advise or fixes that you have encountered. Thanks

 

This is known by everyone 09 6spds burn oil, honda does nothing but waste your time... Best bet is sell the car for a newer year or get something else ... Piston rings are defective

 

How long do you think I can drive it like this though?

 

forever, as long as you top up your oil and never allow it to get low.

 

also the grinding on cold start IS defective VTC actuator and your dealer needs to replace that for free as there is a TSB.

 

This

 

Man, all this talk has me paranoid about my 09 now.

 

wasn't there something about replacing a breather valve or something that'll prevent/reduce the oil consumption of these cars.

scotty kilmer youtube video did a k-series valve replacement referencing the fact that it'll reduce the oil consumption since the valve clogs up over time.

Edit: Youtube video

 

I never really understood why people would say to dump the car just because you have to add some oil every now and then.... I mean gosh, I have to keep adding gas to the tank every 300 miles or so and I never thought to dump the car because of that....

 

Check with your local dealer. There was TSB on this -- what's your mileage? I had mine done at 76,000km (warranty expired at 80,000km). You might be able to push the dealer to get Honda to approve the oil consumption test and do the work knowing that the product was sold as defective.

When I took mine in, we did an oil consumption test. It took a few months. Once they agreed that oil was burning they did a major overhaul.

Let us know what you hear back!

 

TSB 13-006 - Warranty Extension: Sticking Rings Resulting in High Engine Oil Consumption
Applies To: 2009-11 TSX L4 - ALL (Including wagon) - ALL
http://www.urvi.net/forumfiles/SB/B13-006.PDF
http://techinfo.honda.com/Rjanisis/p...nu/B13-006.PDF

 

So your ok with buying a car for 20k.. Then having to keep checking and worrying about oil? I mean if your buying a car for 5k I see being ok with it.... Car shouldn't burn oil from factory simple as that...

 

I am having the same exact issue with my 2010 TSX auto. When I first bought it used with 60,000 miles almost 2 years ago, I noticed the same grinding noise upon cold startup. I took it to Acura and they replaced the VTC actuator for free. Now about a year later I have been noticing that my check engine oil level light flashes very briefly when taking sharp turns or going over a large bump. That's when I started noticing my car was burning oil, about 3 quarts every 5,000 miles, which is absolutely crazy to me. My car now has 85,000 miles, so my factory warranty is up. I have seen a TSB for the 2012 si Civic for excessive oil consumption. The fix they mention for that is replacing all the pistons and rings. Considering this is the same engine, would that be the fix for the TSX? This is very despressing, as I love my car, but I don't think I should be having to put in 3 quarts between oil changes. I want to get rid of it now.

 

Acura has released a warranty extension for this problem. dealership will replace piston rings nder warranty up to 125,000 miles.

 

I start my oil consumption test tomorrow with Acura. So if it burns less than 1 quart per 1,000 miles, it won't be covered?

 

That is correct.

 

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I, like another poster, am having the exact same problem with my '10 TSX with Tech Pkg. A few days ago I noticed the ding and would see something flash on the screen but didn't know what it was. It finally stayed on the gauge cluster long enough for me to see the icon pop up for low oil. Now, it still only pops up intermittently, but it's staying for longer and longer than it did when it first started. I considered going to the place where I last had my oil changed and basically getting a free oil change after them for not adding enough oil, but it's really not their fault from what I'm reading here. I don't know what to do exactly -- I can keep adding oil, but that gets expensive as heck. It's not like synthetic oil is cheap. The engine isn't leaking oil, so the only possible problem in my mind is consumption.

The problem is, the dealership where I bought my car is notorious for shady service practices and crappy customer service, so I'm thinking twice about even bothering to take it there. Has anyone ever had any work done on their Acura at a dealership other than the one from which they bought it? Is there anywhere I can take it to get an oil consumption check done where I will at least get to worry a little bit less about jerkwad service departments who'd try to sell me another car before they'd fix mine?

I got kind of screwed on this car--not certified (they claimed it was, and I was not being smart enough to verify it), so I'm even a little concerned I can't get any work done on it without paying a huge amount. If so, I'd sooner trade it in for a truck (which is optimal for my jon anyway) assuming I can get a decent amount of money for it. I love my Acura but I don't love unscrupulous salesmen and service technicians, and it's hard to find an honest, no-bull dealership these days. You'd think in luxury cars you'd get a little better from them. /tangent

 

For reference, my car has 86k miles on it, and I bought it less than 2 year ago at 44k, so I've driven the heck out of it. Maybe that's contributing to the oil consumption, I don't know.

 

acura wont tell you HOW to drive the car though.... so when you go get your oil changed from them...have fun with the VTEC until 1000 miles....you are sure to burn a little more oil that way... and get your car fixed.... im going to start my oil consumption test soon.