Acura2003-

Just had the dealer identify a worn cam lobe and the assumption is that this is the source of the tapping noise occurring over past few thousand miles. 78k miles on vehicle. Burns half quart per 6k miles. Mostly highway miles. Dealer estimate is around $2500. Any chance Acura would foot any of the bill?

altair47

Rear Camshaft 14200-RKG-010 cost up to $400 + 6 hours of labor. You can judge for yourself whether the dealer wants it fairly or not.
How about the rockers, are they ok?
Where are you located and what fuel do you use?

Acura2003-

He didn’t mention the state of the rockers but did say he recommended replacing all of them which seemed strange. Located Houston. Always 93 octane

BROlando

I don't think Acura will cover this, but...worth a shot since its a known issue

Do u know what type of oil is used in the car? And how often is it changed.

Just data points to collect, if you don't mind giving them. This is a common issue, as I mentioned before. Would be nice to know what makes it more likely to appear.

WDPanda

Did you ever run low on oil?
Did you go all the way down to 0% on the oil life indicator?

Acura2003-

5W-20 Mobile 1 Syn. Last few changes. Before that Pennzoil Ultra Platinum. I’d let it get down to about 20% so about 8k I suppose.

Wondering if you think the likelihood of goodwill is less mostly due to 10 year age? Also, I did not do oil changes at dealer, hopefully that’s not an excuse for them to not help.

it is currently at a Honda dealer so I’m trying to decide if I should have them reassemble then drive it to Acura and do it over again. Probably without a loaner

Acura2003-

I always check the dipstick indicator between changes and it’s never been more than maybe 3/4 qt low, never went to 0%. Maybe 10 is lowest. Pardon my naďveté, but I tend to throw away the windshield stickers and never realized the % oil life is based on 10k miles.

BROlando

the oil % life on the dash is variable, depending on how you drive.

If you make a lot of short trips and/or drive the car hard...the % life will go down faster.

I think the general (albeit not totally scientific) consensus is to just do oil changes every 5K miles to avoid these type of issues.

There is, however, some link with people who use extended oil change intervals (beyond 5K) and cam lobe wear. Seems like a higher instance for people who go more miles between oil changes.

Thank you for the data points.

There's no way to know what Acura will/won't do without asking Acura. Make your case logically and clearly and ask them to cover it. Something like, "I do all my oil changes and maintainence at the dealer at the proper schedule per the dash reminder. A camshaft should last the life of the engine, and not under 80K miles (regardless of age). Especially since Acura prides itself of producing reliable and long lasting products. I think this is a manufacturing issue and I'm asking Acura to cover it under good will".

Along those lines (just my suggestion)

WDPanda

Tl6m

did you end of getting the job done? i think i have the same issue. I also got code p0420 and p0430 for catalyst system below threshold for bank 2 (maybe they are connected?).what happens if you leave it as it is (does it damage the engine further)?

Acura2003-

I paid for the work. Noise went away. I suppose if you let it go, once the wear goes beyond the hardened surfaces, the degradation will accelerate and the debris may cause additional wear on the rest of the moving parts. I can upload my invoice tomorrow if you’re interested.

Tl6m

yes, that would be nice. but almost 3k for this job is going to kill me, bought this car for 8k with 200kmiles, thought it was just the tensioner on the timing belt.