Thanks TLguy2013 for the info! I'm keeping a picture of the letter on my phone just in case .

The dealership managing the oil consumption test is the original selling dealership for the vehicle so i'll get the ISD next time i'm there. They've been pretty helpful so far and i've done all the things you've mentioned... especially checking the level after the initial change to ensure it isn't overfilled. Will do the same after each top up. Not crazy about having to crack the engine open to replace the oil rings as the car runs fine otherwise but on the other hand it may just be a matter of time before one too many low oil levels damages something. Would love to hear from anyone who had the oil rings replaced and if the car performed differently afterwards (better/worse) or if they had anything else done (all rings?) while it was open.

Regards,
LC

 

Update-1: Checked the dipstick last Friday morning and oil level was just above the minimum level line, oil life @ 80% and approx 2,000 kms (50/50 hwy/city) from the change. Dropped by the dealership for the first of three checks and oil top ups - they added 0.8L of oil to bring it up to the max level line. Previous monitoring showed that most of the excess oil consumption occurred during city driving. Hwy driving didn't seem to have as large an impact.

LC

 

Has anyone in the US received a letter from Acura? I don't want to go into the dealership for this issue without a letter since the warranty is for 6 months from receipt of the letter.

 

Just received my letter today stating the warranty has n
been extended to 8/125k. Going to dealership on Monday.

 

Just took my car in for the second oil check. Dealership confirmed it is burning oil and have ordered the parts which are on backorder. It will be a month or two for them to come in. It was burning at least 1L every 3000 km. Or so. Seems to burn more oil at a faster rate the further I was from the initial oil change.

 

Well I'm sure that will be my same fate. I did a consumption test a fee months back and it was confirmed as eell. Good to know Acura will fix it now FOC ....no money out of my pocket according to the notice.

 

It's good to hear Acura is working to look after this issue for people. It's unfortunate that we have to deal with the issue at all, but at least it's looked after under the warranty extension. Thanks to those that keep us up to date on where things stand - for the benefit of other owners.

One question though - are you finding the Acura service dept. co-operative? Or, are they still resisting and stalling like they were before the warranty was extended?

 

They are cooperating this far. First step in the process is for them to do an oil consumption test to prove that it is burning more than normal...although it shouldn't be burning any at all. After that if there is proof of it burning in excess....they will do what's necessary to fix the problem.

 

I just got my letter from Acura today. They will take care of any problem of excessive consumption brought to their attention by 9/19 regardless of mileage or age of car. Say what you will about Honda/Acura, but in my experience they stand by their products like no one else. My car is over 9 years old, and if it has an oil consumption issue, they are going to repair it under warranty. What other company stands behind their cars like that?

 

I totttot agree with you. They do stand behind their prods. Right now I am in the beginning stages of an oil consumption test and have no doubt in the end they will do a repair on mine as well. Mine is still in geegr shape with anout 65k on it......2012 model. Kind of excited about it.

 

 

Got my letter today as well (I live in Virginia). I'll be taking it in to begin the consumption test. Good timing because I'm past due for an oil change.

 

 

I received my letter yesterday. Call me cynical, but I am not going to say that they stand behind their products until we hear about how they handle claims. I'd like to start hearing from folks that Acura is fixing these engines and not telling people that oil consumption is normal.
I am in the midst of a consumption test. My first 1K they measured a 1.5 qt loss.On my previous invoice (after my first reading) they state that I need to bring it in once more. I am hoping that this is true as this test has been a massive inconvenience for me.

I bought this vehicle used from an Acura dealer. After I bought it I discover that the previous owner had gotten the low oil message (digging through the Nav screen....I didn't know about this until after I bought it). On the carfax, it shows that the car had come in the very next day for an oil change. Of course, no mention of any issue was reported. So I was annoyed that this particular Acura dealership withheld the full story on that visit.
During my initial ownership, I was about 2qts low when I first discovered that it was burning oil. I didn't get the low oil message. So my thought was, how low was the oil when the previous owner got the low oil message? So in my case, I have that nagging thought of how much damage was caused by those 2 low oil instances?

 

Received my letter yesterday. Is "normal" still 1 quart per 1k miles? Read a few comments from Canada guys with different interpretations from different dealers.

 

 

I called both the dealer and Acura yesterday. Acura will not give you an explanation of excessive oil consumption, they said only the dealer knows what that is. I was able to get out of both them and the dealer that normal is 1qt per 1000 miles, anything beyond that could be excessive. The dealer is the only one that can perform the oil consumption test, I tried to see if a Honda dealer could do it since they are closer for me, but no, only Acura.

Additionally, the letter advises you that this is only a warranty extension to 125000 miles or 8 years. So, my 2011 warranty expires this year. Not sure if that means it is now expired or at the end of 2019. I didn't think to ask that question. The letter does state that it will cover any vehicle regardless of year or miles until September of 2019 - so get your consumption test done now.

I have been checking my oil and documenting it for a couple years, since about 80K miles. Mine typically burns a quart every 1500 - 2000 miles or so, so probably not enough to warrant a repair...

The interesting part is that the warranty extension is for engine oil consumption that exceeds clients expectations. Not sure about the rest of you, by my expectation is that this car would not burn oil at any rate and that I should not have to worry about oil use between standard oil changes - in my case the dealer told me every 3500 miles for an oil change. All my other cars are 5000 miles or when the MID says to change the oil...

 

Be thankful. I would not consider 1/2 qt in 4K miles as consuming oil. This is a rounding error.
I could live with 1/2 qt per 1K miles. I also have a Subaru which I've had for 13 years and this is normal for a Subaru. My 2011 MDX varies. Worst case it burns 1.5 qt per 1K miles. Best case (all highway miles) I burn 3/4qt per 1K miles.

 

I believe it is 8 years from the original purchase date. My 2011 was purchased (by the previous owner) August of 2010. So I would not have been covered by this warranty extension based on 8 years. (Would have expired Aug 2018) But since they are covering all 3.7L engines until Sept 2019, we are good.

 

Acura sent me a letter today. They want to do an oil consumption test on my 2010 mdx. I hope they fix my issue I burn a qt every 500 miles also.


Problems of 2012 Acura TL SH-AWD 3.7 V6 Engine | carleg[/QUOTE]

 

Received letter yesterday. Called local Acura dealership today to schedule appt and they said first step was I need to bring in to have oil filter changed at my expense and then will perform 3 consumption tests at 1000 mile intervals. So that sounds like 4 appointments. I'm kind of miffed why I should have to pay for oil filter replacement when I wouldn't normally need one at this juncture. Are the rest of you having to pay for this to start the process?

 

I did not. Maybe they misspoke and you just have to pay for an oil change?

 

Just checked my receipt - the oil filter was changed as part of the initial oil change to begin the oil consumption test. It was less than $10.

 

After it states 125,000 or 8 years, it also states that the mileage is unlimited if the service is performed before Sept 2019. My MDX has 160,000 and it is still covered.

 

As I had mentioned earlier.....I am not ready to give Acura kudos until we see results. Ok, so here is what happened to me today to get a reading on my 2nd 1K miles....

Background first - At my initial oil change to begin the oil consumption test, they overfilled my oil by a significant amount. I'd say 3/4-1qt too much. I didn't notice until I went home. I called them and they said oh sorry, we'll make a note. When I went in for my first reading, I didn't argue because they measured 1 1/2qt of use, which is in line with what I see. That time they filled it just right.

So today I drop the car off and then go back after a couple of hours to pick it up. I check the oil level religiously. It was a little below low that morning. So when I pick it up, the service advisor tells me "good news, you only needed 1/2 qt." I told him no way that is correct. He said the the technician showed that the oil level was a little over the halfway mark when I brought it in. Again. No way. I told him that I checked it twice in the morning and it was a little below low. I had no recourse. It was my word against theirs. The advisor was decent about it. I did point out how can the car burn 1 1/2 the first time and only 1/2 this time? He agreed, but he was stuck.
So I go to the car and before I leave, I check the oil. It is right at the low mark. This is after they added 1/2 qt. I called the service advisor out and he looks and said "You were right, Let me add oil". So he added 1 qt to get me to the high level. So total oil added 1 1/2qt. He updated my ticket to show that.

If this is the kind of shenanigans and crap that we have to deal with, thanks for nothing Acura. Had I not caught them adding too much the first time and then being off by 1qt the second time, my vehicle would be showing well within spec. When in reality it is burning 1 1/2qt per 1K miles. Also, they never reset my MID at the initial oil change.

So now I have this extra bit of stress for my upcoming 3rd check. Will I have to battle with them? Will they lie? I am a bit annoyed right now as I am not a combative person and I was pretty upset today. The service advisor was a decent guy at least. Also, if these guys can't even perform an oil change properly, (Overfilling by 1qt once, underfilling by 1 qt the next time and not resetting the MID at the initial) do I trust them to tear down the engine (assuming they cover me with the 1 1/2 qt @ 1K miles will trigger a repair)?

Sorry, part of this rambling was me venting.

 

Most tech won't want to work on this issue since the warranty pay is not there unless the dealer doesn't have any other work

 

I got a good news call from my dealer. They completed an oil consumption test on our TL and confirmed that the consumption is outside of the normal range. The regional people also approved the case, so the dealer got an OK to start the repair work. They are hoping to get replacement parts tomorrow and complete everything before end of the week. Overall, I am pretty pleased with the service and the experience. The fact alone that they are not trying to make an idiot our of me by feeding bunch of crap is a big plus. Already bought two cars from them so I am unsure if that was the factor or not, but since my wife is psyched about the RDX, we will be back for our 3rd purchase from them.

 

Congrats. Hopefully the rest of us get some relief from Acura.
My wife was also ooogling an RDX A-Spec. She has a '16 Infiniti QX50 now (previously had a 2007 RDX with the Hondata reprogram) She likes the power of the Infiniti but wants the added height of the RDX. I haven't told her that Hondata has maps for the new RDX as I fear that she'll want it even more.

 

Congrats! how much oil was your TL consuming during the oil consumption test?

 

I believe it came up to be about 1 quart for about 1000 miles.

 

This is pleasantly surprising to me. Manufacturers consider this to be "normal".

Had a nephew with a Rav4 that burned at 1qt per 1K and was told after his consumption test that this was normal.
Have a cousin with a Jeep with a 2.4l that also burns 1qt per 1K and he too was told that it was normal.

 

 

What really pisses me off is when you go in to the dealer for oil change and consumption test, the manual says 4.5 Quarts. The line should fall BELOW the top line. They seem to be adding WAAAAY more than the manual states because it ALWAYS goes WELL ABOVE the line.
This contaminated the test results! Does anyone have any ideas on how to address this? Alo if you buy the DIY oil change kit from Acura it comes with 6 quarts. WTF. Anyone care to chime in ?

 

This isn't rocket science. Pull the service manager aside and show him the oil level and demand they correct it.

 

I received my letter today and will be scheduling an oil consumption test shortly. I'm curious what the long term effects are on these engines which have run with low oil for such a long time.

 

Got my car back yesterday. It took about a week for my dealer to perform the fix. So far so good. I will keep an eye on the oil consumption and report back if there is any improvement.

 

^^ Can you notice any difference in how the car drives or the engine performs? Do they recommend a break-in period for the new rings?

Thanks.

 

My wife usually drives this car, and I only pop in on the weekends when we go out as a family. The dealer didn't mention anything about break-in period; heck, they didn't even bother to reset the oil maintenance minder; however, when I drove it I could not really tell a difference, sorry.

 

I LOVE you for this. Sometimes we get lost in the details and emotion of things. Thank you for this. I will do just that when My time comes around. i plans to go in on my next oilchange.

 

Hi all, so I'm the minority in this post with a 2007 MDX that's burning oil.

I realize the car is way out of it's warranty but attempted to call Customer relations anyways. They said unfortunately it's not covered. Oh well... Just an FYI for any other earlier model MDX owners out there reading this.

Guess I'll just have to keep a jug of oil in the trunk at all times and keep close track of the mileage. I never noticed this issue until I started changing my oil myself, the last change I noticed my used oil jug was very light. Checked my dipstick prior to my recent oil change this weekend and it was dry.... Changed the oil this weekend and again, super light used oil jug.