Khash

My 2010 TL has been consuming oil. Ed Martin Acura of Indianapolis service manager showed me a printout of an Acura bulletin outlining oil consumption of- get this - a quart every 1000 miles! None my Hondas or Acuras had ever needed extra oil between oil changes. I don't know what is different.

B20SOL

All engines are gonna burn oil, there is absolutely no way around it. Most people are using the maintenence minder to tell them when to service their vehicle, unlike all your older cars that never kept track of driving habits and engine data. Listening to your dad telling you to change your engine oil every 3k miles was and still is good advice. You can't overchange your oil and for those of you going 10k miles between oil changes and listening to the manufacturer tell you to do so is bad sense. I have 5 tsx blocks laying in my garage because you people think that a motor can go 10k miles between oil changes and not burn oil. Then all of a sudden your timing chain fails because of low and dirty oil. I'm not comparing a TSX to a TL but the design of a combustion engine is hardly unchanged with the exception of many more monitoring sensors. Use common sense and change your oil when it needs it, not when a computer thinks it needs it

Edward'TLS

My family has owned a total of 12 Honda/Acura cars since 1984.

None of them required/requires adding a single drop of engine oil in between oil changes, except the two 2012 3.7L-V6 SH-AWD TL's that tend to burn oil like all the Audi's.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

same here, atleast 12 not counting the honda motorcycles that i have had in the past....the only one to burn or consure oil is my 2010 sh-awd....i went 6k on my last oil change and it was one qt low....22k miles on the clock

typeR

heres a little interesting mod offered by kingmotorsports

Honda and Acura engines modified for performance, whether all-motor or forced induction, often require additional venting as the factory vents simply cannot handle the crankcase pressure generated. Adequate venting is crucial to keep crankcase pressure at a minimum to avoid premature internal mechanical wear, seal failures or excessive oil consumption.



this is about valve covers

ejbrandt

I have not really monitored my TL's oil, I guess I better start.

aphmd

I wanted to give everyone an update; I now have 78,000 miles on my 2009 TL, and my oil consumption is the same as I originally posted when I started this thread. I continue to use
fully synthetic oils, and I've tried several, with no change in consumption: Pennzoil Platinum, Castrol Edge, Mobil 1. I'm wondering if this is all due to the fact that I use full synthetic oil, but I don't want to switch to synthetic mixes or conventional oil after all these miles.

Little Gator

I just came back yesterday from a road trip from Dallas thru Lubbock, then thru New Mexico, & up to Pueblo, Colorado. Then I had a day of 200 miles thru the very twisty mountian roads of south/central Colorado. The weather was great as was the drive. I had not one single car problem. But I did have to keep washing off a lot of bugs. After 2100 miles, the oil level that I measured very exact before leaving only dropped 1/8 of an inch on the dipstick.

2010 TL SH/AWD, 6sp/MT

Paprides

Well stated. I received one of those notices for my '08 Accord, which used a quart between scheduled changes. During 22 years of Honda ownership (cars and bikes) some have used oil, some have not. Each engine responds to it's own peculiarities, although the engines with the lowest viscosity oil tend to use more than say, my VFR800 (10-40) that's ridden, ah, "briskly," throughout the riding season.

ionian2k

My 2012 TL SH-AWD burns half a quart every 1k miles. It eats 2.5 quart of oil between oil change (5k miles). Car has 14k miles now. The burning is going strong. Is this normal on cars you service?

I am on my 2nd dealership now and each one gets me to do endless oil consumption test. I think Acura is trying to run out my warranty. They so far have refused to ackowledge the issue so I can't even take advantage of lemon law according to a lemon lawyer.

1Lieutenant

Thought I would update on oil consumption on my 2012 SH AWD.

From new to first oil change at 5600 miles, I used 1 quart per 4K miles. During this time I topped off every time it was down 1/2 quart. Changed the oil with Pennzoil Ultra 5W-20. First 2K miles used 1/2 quart, as before. Next 2K miles, no oil consumption! Either it is finally broken in or the Pennzoil Ultra made a difference. I will continue to check.

Steve

ionian2k

status update:

After 4+ months of doing a new oil consumption at 2nd dealership here is the result after a fresh oil change:

The first 1k miles the car burned 1/2 Qt of oil

The second 1k miles the car burned 1/2 Qt of oil

The 3rd 1k miles the car burned a full Qt of oil

The dealership logged and forwarded information to Acura technical center and guess what they said? No repair is recommended at this time as the car is operating just fine!

Lemmon lawyer said Acura has to acknowledge that there is a problem before I can take advantage of lemon law. I guess I am screwed. Acura Client relation services lady tried to convince me that car is okay. I guess I spent over $40k on a luxury car so I can carry a bottle of oil in trunk and top it off every 1k miles I drive. What a luxury!

dwest1023

Wow, I cannot understand how Acura thinks that is normal oil consumption. My 09 has 29K and though I have not checked the oil close, Ive never added between changes. Ive never seen the low oil light. I a drive my tl very aggressive and take trips from washington to Ohio. No problem with oil consumption. I've use Royal purple oil since the first oil change and maybe its makes a difference. My Miata which I practically race does not use the oil that you are. I might add 1/8 of a quart between changes. I feel your pain and I would be VERY upset if I were in your shoes. I hope Acura gives in at some point.They have to know your oil consumption is high.

dragonwang

I don't understand on what the lemon lawyer stated makes sense. Let me get this right, so basically, if Acura doesn't confirm there is a problem with the oil consumption, then lemon law won't apply? If I was Acura, I would deny it so I don't have to give away a free car. Does that make sense?

lji

Found an excellent post over at honda-tech.com. The poster mentions it's for the 4 cyl Honda's as he's not aware of oil consumption issues with the Honda sixes. Find it here

adam38

Oil consumption problems are common now partially because most of us are running longer oil change intervals than we did years ago, so oil consumption which has always been mostly normal appears to be worse. Many automakers say 1 qt/1000 miles is normal. Of course there's some CYA in that number, but really....1/2 quart or 1 quart every couple thousand is not unacceptable. Switching to a slightly thicker oil will likely slow it down a tad, like to 5/30 instead of 5/20. Keep in mind that Honda uses 5/20 for fuel economy reasons only.

JM2010 SH-AWD

^^ Longer oil change intervals, much lower viscosities, and asking oil to do more work (e.g., cool the bottoms of the pistons) means more oil consumption than 10-20 years ago.

Edward'TLS

If we start using higher viscosity oil, such as 10W30, will it fix the Acura 3.7L-V6's abnormally-high oil consumption problem ?

mid9pitstop

Greetings All,

I'm new, but have been on this site now and then... very educated web site.

I've been thinking of getting a used 2010 TL SH-AWD, preferrably the 6MT. Learning from bad experience that I had with Accord VTEC engines that I had owned, specifically the oil consumption, I searched/Googled around... And, that's how I ended up here.

From the signatures of those who responded to the original post, it looks like only those who own/ed the SH-AWD manual transmission that have/had the issue with oil consumption. I'm wondering if the automatic transmission version doesn't have this kind of problem. Also, I'm wondering if most, if not all, 6MT are facing the same oil consumption problem.

Could you all share with me your experiences/stories regarding this issue?

All inputs/comments will greatly be appreciated.

Cheers!

ifixjetz1

I have the 3.7 6MT, and my car uses oil. Usually i will check it when i hit the 4k mark on my oil change. I add 1.5 qts of oil and im good to go. Im not too concerned about it. In comparison, My truck with 220k on it, uses about 2 qts every 1500 miles. I use 5w-30 with a bottle of Lucas

TL Rower

Just to put this on record:

I bought my car with 7449 miles on it June 19 2013. Supposedly CPO'd correctly with Oil and filter change. My Manual says 5-20 weight.

"SH-AWD models: Acura Motor Oil is the preferred 5W-20 lubricant for your vehicle. 5W-20 oil is formulated for year-round protection of your vehicle to improve cold weather starting and fuel economy."

I needed to add 1 FULL quart of said oil at 9484 miles, that's 2035 miles.

Am I happy about this? No, I left Audi to avoid these problems; but here I am. I love this car, how it drives and the experience but this is not acceptable.

MB

1Lieutenant

32K on my 2012 3.7L. 1QT per 3.5-4 K. No apparent abatement. Guess I will just live with it. By the way, I have auto trans.

KarKraze

Haven't had any issues with mine so far,however the car has never gone over 6 K Kms without an oil change.During that time i have never had to add any oil.

2010 Sh Awd, Auto.

Acura2010

I'm with you man, if you remember my previous post last month about my issue, the Dealer has started an oil consuption test on my vehicle. I actually am going in this week for it's first reading. It's been 1500km since they started the test, so we will see how much it burns. I'm not happy about it either, but i'll have to hope the dealer takes care of me. Mine is a 2012 SH-AWD 6MT, i currently am about to hit the 60,000km mark.

fsttyms1

I have seen the J motor have leaky rear mains and consume oil and have oil buildup in the intake mani simply because the PCV valve was bad.

fsttyms1

Ive been going 10 and 15k intervals for 600k miles now, never have i consumed more than half a quart in that time. Not one single issue, and i fully intend to go that long with my new fully built 3.7. (which has almost 3k miles on it now and the oil level hasnt changed. 3k is a complete waste of money and oil. Engines dont fail from following the maint minder, engines fail because they run out of oil. If your motor used enough oil in that time frame blow/seize you have LARGER issues. Use common sense and periodically CHECK your oil level.

dnd2984

iTrader: (6)

Didnt want to start new thread but here is my observation. I got a new 2013 AWD this past May (built date is October 2012). Oil monitor at 30% and close to 5k miles on the car.

When I bought the car the oil level was right at the top mark on the dip stick.

Heres the reading today, car has not been turned on since Friday(or 2 days ago)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97033171@N07/11162473873/http://www.flickr.com/photos/97033171@N07/11162473873/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/97033171@N07/, on Flickr

This is 2 hours after the oil change, I only added 4 full qts to see where the oil level reading would be, will be adding half a quart tomorrow.

Oil used is pennzoil platinum 5w20 with K&N filter.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97033171@N07/11162469343/http://www.flickr.com/photos/97033171@N07/11162469343/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/97033171@N07/, on Flickr

JM2010 SH-AWD

^^ That's about average, I think. Mine seems to use about half to a full quart every 4-5,000 miles. It doesn't bother me; but with oil change intervals at about 7500 miles, you just need to check the oil occasionally.

ABDomega

How do you guys know how much oil the car is consuming if you add oil between intervals? Or do you not add between intervals and then measure what you have left at oil change?

amill

Keep track of what you add. I usually have a brand new quart I use for topping the car off. So you can just see how much is left when you change the oil.

ABDomega

Ah, derr. Okay, thanks!

smp

I have a 2010 TL SHAWD live in the Northeast and have been observing what I beleive is excessive oil consumption. Now have almost 43,000 miles, noticed for about the last 10,000 miles my TL consumes a quart in 4,000 miles, no leaks. I have owned many cars over the years, have not experienced this level of oil consumption. I am very concerned, advised dealer, their position, Acura's position is to watch it.

aphmd

I was told by my service rep the same thing, that it is normal to consume 1 quart every 1000 miles. That would mean that if we followed the old-fashioned oil change recommendations (every 3,000K), we would be down 3 quarts when we went for the change. It is obvious that many bulletins are kept secret. My Honda Prelude also burned a lot of oil. Also, my Prelude AT transmission was replaced for free after the warranty expired, and the repair slip stated "recall", but there was no official recall.

JM2010 SH-AWD

The "bulletin" mentioned above is no secret. It is Honda/Acura's standard position, well-known, on when it considers oil usage to be a problem requiring remediation. It is consistent with other manufacturers' position. We may not like it, but that's what it is. If your car is using a quart every thousand miles, in my opinion, you have a real problem that requires immediate attention. I haven't read on AZ or heard of any TL's consuming oil at anything close to that rate. The 3.7 motors, especially it seems, with MT, may use about a quart every 3-4000 miles, but not all do this.

Edward'TLS

Same factory bulletin (1 quart every 1000 miles is considered normal) for Audi , which is notorious for it's oil burning engines.

Rugry

I have a 2010 SHAWD 6MT with ~30k miles on it & it's using a quart every ~2k miles. I've not talked to my dealer about it yet, as I've only owned the car for one oil change. It's due for the second oil change & I plan to talk to the dealer, but sounds like it won't get very far. Like some others, I travel with a quart of oil & a funnel in the trunk. BTW, this funnel is very cool & stores nicely in my car...excellent if you change your own oil also. www.formafunnel.com

Thanks for all the posts & info. This forum is a great resource!

php007

This thread has been a great read, thanks for all the great info. I am the orignal owner of a 2009 SH-AWD with 65000 miles. My question is has anyone else noticed their tail pipes turn black with soot build up? I have had this issue for a while along with the oil burn.

aphmd

From the Mobil 1 website:

Question:

Define Minimal Oil ConsumptionI always hear that 1 quart in 1,000 miles is normal oil consumption based on industry standards but I can't find any "published industry standard.” Can you clarify what is minimal oil consumption?

Answer:

Oil consumption is very specific to vehicle manufacturer, engine size and design. Even within a specific engine model, normal oil consumption can vary quite broadly based on how the engine was initially built, how it was broken in, and even the lubricant viscosity being used.
--------------

The truth is that the 2009 3.7 TL was Honda's first car to incorporate a new design for VTECH: beginning with the J37A4 3.7L SOHC V6, SOHC VTEC was used with both intake and exhaust valves. Previously, SOHC engines benefitted from the VTEC mechanism only on the intake valves.

Maybe Acura's new VTECH design was a dud regarding oil consumption.

Slithr

You may be on to something here. This problem seems to affect the 3.7 much more than the 3.5.

vtec260

Just changed the oil at home for the first time after buying my TL used. Sadly, got around 3.5L out of the crankcase (+/- a few mL for loss when removing the filter) when it should be holding 4.3L of oil. I guess I will check the dipstick more often with 12 TL. With previous 01 Accord, 03TL and 09 MDX, oil consumption was never an issue for me.