Thunder82

I bought my 07' TL-S three weeks ago and have been working through all of the issues that the previous owner likely knew about. It started with sluggish performance/stuttering cleared up by replacing the cats and jpipe in this thread :

https://acurazine.com/forums/problem...ng-5-k-922133/

The car now seems to have the power it should, but it's burning (or leaking) oil like MAD. To the tune of 1qt per 300mi. I have put 700mi on the car since replacing the pre-cats/jpipe and I had to add 2.5qt (!!) to the car earlier today when I checked the oil level. Awesome. Taking an educated guess, I imagine oil getting to the pre-cats is what caused the last pair to fail.

When I replaced the cats/jpipe, I also did a compression test (all 240 except cyl 2 @ 220) and replaced the plugs, which showed no sign of burning. I also did an oil change, so I know it had a pan full of mobil1 5w20.

I'm thinking i'll take it in for a leakdown test and have a mechanic search for other obvious things. Do you guys have any other thoughts? I'm reading it may be intake/exhaust valves - might have something to do with lower compression on cyl2?

Regardless, I'm wishing I hadn't picked up the previous owners problems - all masked behind faulty cats!

mzilvar

iTrader: (3)

That sucks

Is it blowing plumes of light blue smoke out the tailpipe? I'd imagine if it's burning that much oil you'd see it even just idling. That stinks, did you buy from a dealer or private party? As-Is? Could look into the lemon laws if it wasn't an as-is sale, if it's as-is pretty much stuck.

If it's burning all that oil those new cats won't last very long.

I wouldn't think a valve, if it were something with a valve it'd have to be a valve stem seal and I don't know of anyone that's had trouble with them in this car.

Maybe rings on the pistons if it is burning oil a leakdown test should reveal that, you'd lose pressure and listening at the valve cover by removing the oil fill cap you'd hear it hissing out.

I'd pull the plugs and get a look at them too, see if the coil packs are covered in oil or the spark plugs have oil on them.

A fouled plug will get you in the ball-park or an oil-soaked coil pack would mean time to replace the seals in the valve covers.

And it's very easy to get a rip in one of the rear cover's spark plug tube seals, since there's not much room to manuever it back into place once it's removed.

If one of the valve cover spark plug tube seals gets torn during installation oil will flow right onto the coil pack and can make it's way by the plug into the cylinder.

polobunny

I'm with mzilvar on that one. Burning oil is pretty obvious. If you can't see it yourself at idle, have someone follow you while driving around a bit.



That way you know if you're burning it or losing it somewhere.

TacoBello

It's not very common for the J series engine to burn oil. The previous owner really had to beat the shit out of it and neglect it really really bad in order to do so.

My first J series, I used to bounce off the rev limiter on the regular and I drove that car hard and it never consumed a drop of oil.

My guess is that you're leaking somewhere-probably multiple places.

Thunder82

As always, thanks for the thoughts guys. I took it to a Honda dealer that I trust this morning (certain mechanic) who said the thing looks tight as a drum and does not appear to be leaking anything - said the previous owner must have neglected it and beat the crap out of it. He verified the low bank 1 compression and pointed to the piston rings being faulty. Apparently this isn't the first J series they have seen with this problem. They wrote me up a list of faults and recommendations and told me to take it to the Acura dealer down the road that initially took this car in on trade. (5mo & 900mi ago!)

I drove it down to the Acura dealer after, which is where it sits. They are doing a leakdown test (of course at my expense) and are going to see what they can do. I don't have high expectations, but guess I have to run through the standard hoops, having the "professionals" test and document everything to see if I can get Acura to do anything. Regardless, I'll let you guys know what they come back with.

mzilvar

iTrader: (3)

I see, if you bought it from dealer it probably wasn't an AS-IS sale. They usually have some type of warranty, at least initially for the first X miles due to state laws or it's implied. If paperwork wasn't completed stating that it's an 'AS-IS' sale then lemon laws should be able to be applied.

Given the problems you've already had, failed converters, and now finding with how much oil it's burning you should definitely be covered by some of your state's lemon laws.

If rings are bad it's going to be a steep repair bill most likely or them swapping in a used motor with X miles on it.

TacoBello

And it's not everyday you stumble across a J35 motor either. I mean, they're definitely out there, but not nearly as many as the J32.

OP, like stated above, if I were you, I'd start digging to see if you have a way for the dealership to cover this mess. I think you might be in luck since you bought it from a dealer, however, time/mileage may be against you. I'd act fast, if it's not too late already.

Thunder82

Yeah, the car was traded in to a local Acura dealer and then wholesaled to a smaller dealer. Car has a "full" 30 day warranty through their own repair shop, but I'd rather have Acura fix it if possible. I've already had problems with the dealers shop - they are shady as hell.

If I'm going to get the dealer I purchased it from to fix it, I know i'll need backup and documentation from Acura to prove it, so either way the leakdown test is not wasted money. I'm hoping to get a firm "we won't do jack for you" from Acura by next Monday, at which point i'll drive it over to the smaller dealers shop to address. (car was purchased Dec 1st, so should have enough time for Acura to properly diagnose)

And again, thanks for your help guys. At minimum it's nice to vent it out..