4b8

All,

I find this hard to believe, but a service rep at Acura just told me that 1 quart of oil every 1,000 miles is normal. I currently use 1 quart every 2,000 miles. 42k miles on it, and I dont drive this car hard.

Anyone else confirm this as normal?

dwest1023

Has this been the case since you have owned the car? I don't think this is the norm. My 09 does not seem to use any oil. However I guess every car manufacture has to has some mileage point they use to determined excessive oil consumption. With Acura IK is the cutoff point on the high side. Is your car a stick? Sticks seems to use more oil, probably due to higher shift points.

Devil Dog 21

I have a 10 SHAWD with 42k on it and haven't experienced anything close to 1 quart of oil per 1000 miles. Do you have another dealership you can take it to?

Edward'TLS

Unfortunately, even if we all think that it's not normal, but if the factory says it's normal, there's nothing we can do about it, other than continue to keep topping up the oil.

lji

There's a factory bulletin out to dealers that state that using 1qt every 1000 miles is "normal". This is why they state in the manual to check your oil at every fill up. Mine's recently started to exhibit this and have been to the dealer about 4 times now every 1000 miles. They've topped off the oil each time and the last time I went in, they mentioned it didn't use any oil over the last 1000 miles. So, I'm perplexed. I've been using Royal Purple Synthetic for all oil changes and will switch to another just to see how things work out...

Devil Dog 21

If my TL starts requiring 1 qt every 1000 miles I'll switch brands in a heartbeat. No car should require that type of maintenance imo.

LawnPro

There could be an oil leak to check for if a car is going through 1 Qt. every 1k miles.

JM2010 SH-AWD

I think the OP is using a quart every 2K miles. Acura says 1 quart/1000 miles is their threshold for an abnormality. A quart every 2K still seems on the high side.

My '10 MT seems to use about a quart every 4-5K miles. Seems to be the nature of the 3.7 beast, especially with the 6MT for some reason.

The car has a 6 year powertrain warranty. Unless this usage pattern worsens appreciably, I'm not too concerned. Ever ask a BMW or Audi owner about oil consumption?

Suzuki7502k

Doesn't seem normal, I have a 2011 3.7 and it doesn't burn any oil at all. Sounds like a a V8 American motor.

JM2010 SH-AWD

^ Check the other thread on this. Quite a few 3.7 owners report oil use, while some, like you, do not. Same is true on MDX and RL with this engine.

Edward'TLS

Oil consumption is the norm for most Audi vehicles.

BEAR-AvHistory

Seems high. In theory you would never have to change your oil just do a fresh filter every 7500 miles because in effect you have all ready changed your oil twice during the cycle.

jangkai

My 09 3.7 is at 82k and since passing 50k it seems to be using up more oil. I even got a low oil warning once around 60k mark when I had neglected to check the oil level during one cycle.

I check my oil every 1k now and change usually at 5k while adding a quart around 2.5k. So it seems like my car eats one quart for every 2000 miles ish.

BEAR-AvHistory

My TL has been gone for awhile, I used the 7500 mile cycle & don't remember adding much oil between changes, just part of a quart. The BMW uses about 1 full quart per cycle.

Six Shifter

I didn't really pay much attention to oil consumption until the last months of ownership, and it appeared to require 1 qt about every 4k miles. The 1 qt per 1000 miles frequency takes you into early Mazda RX-4 territory before they did an engine swap for me ... rotary's were notorious oil consumers back in the early 70's.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

Not only in the 70's, even the latest rotary engine on the RX-8 consumes engine oil.

The operation mechanism for rotary engines is vastly different than that for piston engines. For rotary engines, a small amount of engine oil is required to mix with the intake charge for lubrication. Thus, engine oil consumption is the natural process for rotary engine operation.

chiptouz

Well last week I got the same low oil message in my 2009 SHAWD Tech and checked the oil. It was down 2.5qts in about 6k miles. I bought the car used in Oct. It was a CPO and had like 65k miles. I called the dealer and they told me to bring it in. They looked over the whole engine and couldnt find a leak. They are going to track it every 3k miles to see what the engine is doing. My service tech told me that being down 2.5q in 6k miles was not the norm. It does seem consistant to what you all are reporting though.

Shoot2Thrill

No consumption on 3 cars.

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

My 09 after it hit around 60k miles started consuming more oil than what I'd consider normal and I got low engine oil light 3 times from 60-72k. Unfortunately I never cared to monitor the usage.

PaulAWD

You can just put in 4.5 qts every 4500 miles and not worry about going under the car and having to drain the oil. Problem solved!

My 2004 MDX with 205000 miles goes thru about 1 qt per oil change @ 7500 mile oil changes

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

Unfortunately, the oil is burnt away, but the sludge is left behind inside the engine.

Geo2

I have a 10' TL AWD and at 60K it was (1) quart every 3000 miles. At 100K it was (1) quart every 2000 miles.
Now at 150K I'm seeing a loss in power and (1) quart every 1500 miles. I change the oil every 3-4K but I'm telling you this doesn't slow down or get any better. I own (3) Accura's and NONE have this issue except the 3.7 TL AWD. I have had other 10' TL AWD owners stop me in Gas Stations and before they say anything I stop the and say, "Oil Consumption?". They either laugh or shake their head. Great vehicle with a problem that Accura will not acknowledge. BTW, I got the ,"One quart every 1000 miles is normal" speech from my dealer as well...

Beak14

Geo2, have you ever changed your cats? I wonder if you're having back-pressure issues, since you're burning oil, and clogging your cats. Well, I'd surmise that cat-clogging would be taking place, considering the incomplete combustion of oil.

There are others that know far more than me, perhaps they'll stop by and say something.

Geo2

Hi Beak, You're most likely more knowledgeable about this than me, but I can understand how clogged cats can rob you of power, but wouldn't the release of back pressure with new catalytic converters actually increase oil consumption? Thanks for the interest and insight...

Beak14

So, you're thinking that removing the resistance for the piston on the exhaust stroke would have an impact on the piston on the intake stroke? Yeah, I can see that. These high-vacuum engines make me a bit nervous. As the cylinders, or rings, wear, you'd think that all that vacuum would pull the oil right past the rings and into the combustion chamber.

In the end, I don't know.

If you can swing it, I'd figure that replacing the cats would restore that power you lost, and it would be worth it. But, after you replace your cats, would you have to deal with an increase in oil-burning, due to the increase in vacuum (if vacuum does increase)? It does sound plausible to me. A bit like a vicious circle, huh? But, this is way over my head, so I'm not going to make any conclusions. However, I do think that thinking out loud, is appropriate, in this case.

Good luck!

Oh, and what about this:

" At engine speeds below 4700 rpms, the three "high cam" followers are decoupled from the valve rocker arms, while the "low cam" followers are actuating the 4 valves. Above 4700 RPM, under the correct conditions, the engine control computer signals VTEC® actuation, sending oil pressure to three locking pins, which couple the rocker arms to the "high cam" followers. This increases the lift and duration of both the intake and exhaust valves (+28% lift, +35% duration on the intake side, and +10% lift, +11% duration on the exhaust side). With this new intake/exhaust VTEC® system, more valve timing control is possible, resulting in 47 percent more valve overlap over the standard intake-only VTEC® system. "

That's in regards to the 3.7, and I got that information here: The Temple of VTEC - Honda and Acura Enthusiasts Online - Articles - I agree Jeff!: New Hardware

It'd be nice if Honda came out of the closet and let us know what's happening.

Okay, no more wild theories for me.

Did we talk about the cars with a manual transmission?

Ant$

I wrote this on another "oil" thread,,,I'll just rewrite it here...




last oil change, dealer noticed that I was 2.5 liters short (dipstick was normal and no warnings on the screen).
they asked me to come back 1500 miles later and I was short 2.5 liters again. They notified Acura Corporate and then they did some sort of compression test and foind internal leakage.
they're changing valve seals, piston rings and other stuff...ALL FOR FREE. I have a 2010 manual trans sh-awd that I bought new from that dealership.
I'm supposed to get it back maybe this tuesday or wednesday.

Anicra

If you cannot get it fixed at one dealer goto another dealer. Seriously I had a rotory engine that went thru 1/1000 oil I could see blue smoke when you gunned it. If you Acura is burning oil at that degree, gotta find some dealer that will fix it.

Dejan

How could dipstick show a normal level if you were that short?

Reorge

I'm stopped oil burning in 3 different "J" engines; My TL, My Dad's 2008 Honda Odyssey, and my Ex's 2008 Odyssey.
They were all starting to burn 1/2 to 1 quart after 4,000 or 5,000 miles and now they don't burn enough to see or measure.
I also stopped it in my son's 2004 Accord with 4 cyl "K" engine.
This is an inexpensive repair so it's worth a try.

There is some talk on the internet about late model J engines getting carbon buildup on the piston rings which allows the thin oil to pass and burn in the combustion chamber.
One model Accord V6s even have a TSB to update the ECU software and change the spark plugs because of oil burning and plug fouling.

To clean this carbon off the rings I do the following:
1. You need a 1 quart bottle of Marvel Magic Mystery Oil and a bottle of Chevron Techron Concentrate Plus Fuel System Cleaner 20oz.
2. 500 miles before my next oil change I add 1/2 the MMMO to the oil and the other 1/2 to the gas tank.
3. Add the Techron cleaner to the gas tank.
4. Fill the gas tank.
5. Drive normal

I don't know if it'll work for you but it works for me.
The oil levels now don't move on the dipstick for all the vehicles I mentioned above.

the_razor

Nice, I was thinking of using BG-109 but going to consider your steps as well. Was it a one time process ?

Ant$

good question

Edward'TLS

^^^^^
I believe the dealer meant that the dipstick was showing a normal low-oil level that was consistent with an oil level which was 2.5L down.

Blk10TL

I have been having an "oil consumption" problem but it turned out to be a bad oil pump and a rear main seal. I'm waiting till I need to replace my timing belt to replace the oil pump. The rear main seal was taken care of.

Girl-Trapped

I know this thread hasn't seen a comment in a couple years, and there must be dozens of threads having to do with the oil consumption issue, but I wanted to highlight this comment since it has also been my recent experience with my 2010 3.7L engine.

I bought my car back in April 2019 with about 80k miles to replace my Honda Crosstour. I know there have been several Honda engines in the last 10 years or so that have had chronic problems with oil consumption, bad piston rings, carbon build-up on the newer DI intake valves, etc. With this in mind, it didn't feel like I was taking any more of a risk with this car than the other Hondas I've owned with similar problems over the years--none of which, btw, have affected any of the cars I've had.

Because I do my own vehicle maintenance and know about the oil consumption possibility, I began checking oil levels with every gas fill up. Seems like I was adding about 1/2 qt/week or so--I made sure to always keep a quart on hand in the trunk even though I wasn't being diligent enough to actually write it down with dates and mileage. Besides, didn't really seem like it was much more than the 1qt/1000miles threshold anyway. Other than that, the car is mechanically flawless--no knocking or pinging in the engine and she LOVES hanging around the 5000-6000 rev range. While paying attention to the oil, I also began making sure the rest of the normal maintenance is current on the car--3x3 tranny fluid replacement, keeping enough air in those HPT, etc.

One question I've really been wondering is why it's such a prevalent issue with the 3.7L engines across Acura's SH-AWD lineup? As I dug into some Google searches relating to the differences between the 3.5L and 3.7L engines, I found myself very impressed by the modern hot-rodding techniques Honda used to squeeze an extra 25 HP out of what appears to be the same basic engine block. I say it this way because one of the significant differences between the two engines is the use of High-Silicon Aluminum cylinder liners on the 3.7 instead of the standard Iron liners used in the 3.5. As I dug into the cylinder liners, I found out that several auto and motorcycle manufacturers used various aluminum-silicon-nickel alloy combinations for high-performance and racing applications. Pretty interesting stuff! Especially since I've always driven my Hondas in the upper-rev-range they were designed to run in, and this car is no exception.

Getting back to the above quote, I had to speculate that if carbon build-up on the piston rings was a possible factor in the oil consumption problem, then maybe some oil-, fuel-, and intake additives could help clear the crud and at least reduce the problem. When I fully understood the extent of Honda's hot-rodding efforts with the 3.7, I performed similar measures--I added almost the half-quart bottle of Rislone High Mileage Engine Treatment into the crankcase, a full bottle of Gumout Multi-System Tuneup (with PEA) in the gas tank, and a full bottle of the SeaFoam intake manifold spray bottle with a helper holding the revs during that step. I've now spent the last week and a half keeping the engine revved in the VTEC range as much as possible using Drive-S and manual mode with the paddles. Haven't looked at fuel economy yet, although I'm sure it's terrible, but I can tell you that I have not added a drop of oil since topping it off with the treatments back on 9/16.

I don't know how long the treatment will last, but the reduction in oil consumption so far has been impressive. I'm only at 3000 miles since my last oil change, but I'll probably do one soon just to ditch any excess carbon that may be in suspension. I'll probably do another full round of treatment and maybe take a look with a bore scope soon since I'm now at 90k miles and it'll be time for new plugs soon.

csmeance

3.7L has higher side piston loads than the 3.5L engines, this causes a lot of wear on the oil. Euro cars spec oil with high HTHS to avoid the issue but still burn 1 quart/500 miles. Stick with a good oil and filter and you'll be fine. Most folks run too thin of an oil in the 3.7L and don't change it frequently enough.