ABDomega

Why?

Just stop in at your local Acura dealer every year for your new engine!

the_razor

has any one tried Eneos 5w20, on their website it states their oil minimizes oil consumption.

Minimized Oil Consumption
The consumption of motor oils depends largely on the type of base oil. Because ENEOS 5W-20 is blended from high-performance base oils, it has minimized oil consumption when compared to a 5W-30, so users can look forward to adding less oil to their engines.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

Honestly, I wouldn't buy into that at all or else everyone would be using a similar formula. I'd also look through BITOG to see what they recommend, I've been using Penzoil Platinum 5w20 in my TL and it seems it goes through maybe .5qt every 5k miles.

Try different oils yourself. My S2000 will eat through Mobil1 Extended Performance but does well with Castrol Syntec Edge.

Mr Marco

I was out of warranty...

All this talk about new engines gave me new car fever. I traded the TL off today on a new Wagon. Now I just need to find some sucker to buy my other wagon!

I started adding up the cost of ownership with the addition of new catalytic converters every 30k and it just didn't make good financial sense.

Sad to say goodbye to such a great daily driver.

Mr Marco

BTW, what the hell am I going to do with a full case of Castrol GTX 5w20???

Nothing else I own takes 5w20.

csmeance

return it to walmart

ABDomega

If I don't get a new engine by the time my power train warranty expires (a year from last month) I'm probably going to trade it in or sell it.

If Subaru releases the 2017 Impreza with the 1.6 DIT and a 6-spd I'm pretty sure that's going to be my next car. And maybe I'll save up and get a second hand 128i as a second/summer car.

Mr Marco

Yum! My sister has an Impreza, I shot through a corner ditch with it (that's what you get when you park your car in my driveway for a week.) Such a great driver. Outback was my wife's choice, otherwise I would have picked another sedan with a blown V-6 (See CTS-V.)

Mr Marco

After some deep thoughts on the issue, I think I'll just use it for oil changes on the old wagon. After removing some of the paint from the front bumper and depositing it on the garage door molding, it has become the scrub beater-mobile I should have bought from the start (I went to buy a $2,500 station wagon and came home with a BMW.) IDIOT, fool and his money, sucker born every minute...etc

akrauss

So I have just started to go through all the discussions here and elsewhere regarding the oil burn issue and Acura's response to owners.


I am original owner of a 2009 TL-SHAWD with just over 80,000 miles. Although the problem may have been ongoing for some time, it was around 70,000 miles that I realized something seemed to be wrong as I was dumping a quart or two of oil in between oil change intervals which I always had done timely, as indicated by my car's diagnostic warning.


I brought it to my dealer in Bedford Hills, NY and they checked oil, which was low - - -again. They topped it off and said to drive it 1,000 miles or so and come back for them to measure burn and report to Acura. This went on two or three times - - with them adding 1-2 quarts each time. Several weeks ago they advised that the "problem" was clear enough to bring to attention of Acura and wait for their response. A few days ago I spoke with the dealer who said Acura agreed that engine short block needs to be replaced and it will cost approx. $7,000 of which Acura agreed to contribute $6,000. I told them I will need to consider the offer and get back to them shortly. I confirmed that if we were speaking at 70,000 miles instead of 80,000, it would have been fully covered under powertrain warranty. Given the problem (read defect)clearly existed at around the 70k mile point and the dealer made me drive several thousand miles to "diagnose" the problem, I intend to speak directly with Acura to plead my case in effort to contribute zero !!


Can people advise how much Acura offered them towards the partial engine replacement?


As noted, many people have had the same problem after the so-called fix and gone through two or three engines, which is something that really concerns me.


I am aware of the Honda class action and settlement, is there any similar suit that has been filed or close to be filed for TL owners ?


Thanks for all this valuable information. I really love my TL in virtually all other respects, which makes this even more upsetting.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

You're complaining that Acura is going to cover $6k out of 7 (85%) of the cost of a brand new shortblock outside of warranty and you're going to consider it?

Jesus fuck that's some entitlement. It's not on them that you waited until outside of the warranty window. Do you have any actual evidence it existed before? If not I'd be taking their offer.

akrauss

MuffinMan - Your terse response is completely uncalled for. As stated, I just received this "offer" and had not looked into the issue online whatsoever. Indeed, from what little time I have now spent researching, it seems a strong argument could be made that Acura knew this manufacturing defect was a problem before they even sold me my car. Moreover, as I said, for months before my dealer began to "diagnose" the problem, I had been noticing that oil was low and putting in a quart or two on several occasions. So YES, it is quite evident that the problem existed for at least several months prior to Acura's diagnosis. Having no knowledge that this "excessive oil burn" issue was widespread and an acknowledged problem, I had no reason to believe when I dropped 1 or 2 quarts of oil into the car on occasion that it might be a signal that I need a new engine !!! While I am certainly a car enthusiast, I am NOT a "gearhead."


I have not YET read through the depths of this thread and don't know your backstory or agenda as it pertains to this issue or whether you have some affiliation with Acura/car industry. While we are on the subject, why don't you tell me ? What is your connection to this issue and how was it resolved for you, if at all, by Acura ?

Arcelyte

Wow, Acura is covering $6K... They told me they weren't going to do shit for me. Even after I showed them the thick book of Acura/Honda service receipts.
I second taking the offer.

akrauss

Sorry to hear. How many miles on your car when "diagnosed" and what was their stated rationale, if any, for not offering help ?

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

Lol, I've got no affiliation with Acura and I'm not sure why you'd put offer in quotes since it's on the table and it is very much a generous offer.

Unless you have documented proof of oil consumption during the actual powertrain warranty then it didn't happen. Period. That's just how the world works. You could tell me the oil consumption started after 500 miles brand new and it's got as much weight as you claiming it started at 70k. What you do have is documented proof outside of warranty and Acura is still offering to cover a significant chunk instead of telling you to pound sand (which they very much could).

Also, I'm not sure how you think they'd know the first model year of a vehicle would have oil consumption issues and sold it to you "knowing" this... it's the first year of the vehicle. Do you think Acura has a crystal ball? Maybe they should've seen our Takata airbag recall before they sold the vehicles?

My vehicle consumes ~.5qt every 5k miles and I'm 100% comfortable with that.

Taquila1

iTrader: (1)

can u imagine the cost of recall if they aknowledge the issue

Arcelyte

It was noticed at 60k, brushed off until 85K when I started bitching about. oil consumption test done at 112K and at 130K. Both showing same results.
I drive 50K plus miles easy per year.

The POS kid at Acura Customer care was basically telling me that it is normal for cars to burn oil like that after 100k miles. He was also not aware of any engine problem and made it seem like I was making up the fact that other people were having engines replaced. Because my consumption test was not done at 60K when I first noticed and reported it. They wouldn't be doing anything. So I'm going back to Lexus at the end of Q3. I will never buy another Honda product again. Because of the Millennial POS Anthony in Acura customer care.

Arcelyte

You mean like a airbag recall that affects 25% of the cars on earth.

sockpuppet

airbags ≠ engines

WNY PAT

I have 2 Acuras: a 2013 TL Tech with SH-AWD and a 2013 MDX with tech and RES. We have about 40K miles on the MDX and about 34K on the TL. Both have the 3.7 w/ 6 speed auto. I've only had to add oil on occasion to both cars, maximum 1/2 quart in 4,000ish mikes. Love the motor and transmission. The TL is a fun car to drive, it's my daily driver, and the MDX is the wife's car and the family hauler. It drives great, even loaded down with kids and their gear. So, my experience has been no oil consumption.

sharontha

I had a 2010 Audi A4 which was consuming about 1qt for every 350-400 miles I drove. I traded that in in Sep 2014 and in Oct Audi settled a class action. So if a lot of TL customers have this issue its knly a matter of time before they will have to fix every one of these.

One thing to note... make sure that they put the issue you complain about on your sheet.Did not realize until later but Audi would say they checked it but did not put it on the printed sheet... which means you have no recorx of complaining about the issue before the Warranty ran out.

WNY PAT

I've been checking my oil level pretty religiously since 20,000 miles. I'm using Mobil 1 full synthetic 5-20 with NAPA ultra premium filters. I do my own basic services (oil, filters, transmission, rear diff, transfer case). Point being I know exactly how much goes in and I generally put in 4.75 quarts each change. I go 5,000 miles between changes and only once had to add 1/2 quart at about 4,000 miles. Otherwise, I've never added any at all and the dipstick has always read towards the top of the marking. I too wonder what the difference is between motors like mine and "identical" motors of the many people here suffering with this problem.

EE4Life

See the following July 2016 Acura Tech Line Summary Article:

BTS160705
Engine Oil Consumption
Affected Vehicles: 2010−13 MDX, 2011−12 RL, 2010−14 TL, and 2010−13 ZDX
http://www.urvi.net/forumfiles/SB/BTS160705.PDF
http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/p.../BTS160705.PDF

Otherbmw

the second link does not work but the first link seems to indicate some sort of fix might be on the way.

james357

iTrader: (2)

My question is how do all 4G TL's less the 2009's have this issue according to the pdf? My 09 eats a quart or more per oil change

dan19

This new "Tech Line Summary Article" is a game changer in my opinion. To summarize it says that any client - with listed vehicle - who has excessive oil consumption issues are to be put on a oil consumption test. A service bulletin is coming in the near future. If vehicle is out of warranty they are already thinking of goodwill consideration!

Is it possible Acura knows the 3.7 is the problem but is just increasing the sample to diminish the issue? This is what makes most sense. If they start to do oil consumption tests on 2010-13 MDX, 2011-12 RL and 2010-14 TL then they will have an enormous amount of positive feedback mixed in with the negative expected results from the 3.7.

I would like to think they are just doing a thorough investigation of the issue but listen folks, history tends to repeat itself. Why would Acura so easily admit fault to a potential billion dollar problem?

I am very curious to see what the service bulletin will say that is coming "in the near future".

IIDXholic

iTrader: (5)

Awesome his came out as I am burning quite a bit

mrphilipanderson

This is a real problem. My 3.7 TL consumed massive mounts of oil. I cant even make it k miles without the oil% going room 100-0% within the irst 2000 miles.
My 5 days a week commute is less than 10 miles round trip with errands to target on the weekends. Yet no leaks. no Check engine lights.

Otherbmw

The article says for those complaining about oil consumption then run the test. I don't think they are suggesting every vehicle run the test. Where would the positive feedback come from?

perhaps the solution isn't so expensive - I doubt it but you never know!

Otherbmw

yikes. How many miles on your car? When did you first notice a significant increase in oil consumption?

JM2010 SH-AWD

All of these cars were equipped with versions of the J37 engine, so Acura is saying to dealers, if someone with one of these vehicles comes in with an oil issue, check the oil consumption. I assume the rest of the bulletin to mean that they have found the culprit and will have a fix. The real question is how will they deal with people out of warranty who have excessive consumption (presumably more than a quart/1000 miles).

LNJ

So any way to check other than the dipstick?
At what point does any of the warning lights on the dash go off?

mossman77

I have a solution...attach a quart-sized gravity-fed reservoir to the side of the crankcase and when the oil gets below a certain point, the reservoir would replenish the lost oil. I should work for Acura!

In all seriousness, I hope they come out with a fix soon because my 2011 burned through 1/2 quart in 1,000 miles. I just bought the damn thing three months ago and do not want to sell it.

WNY PAT

I wonder how many will be impacted. And if it is a "when" problem rather than an "if" problem given I have two of these sitting in the stable. As I said, I have had no issues yet and am hoping that continues.

ABDomega

There is no oil level indicator on the car so the only indicator that will display is the oil pressure light which displays when pressure is too low - possibly due to low oil volume. The problem with that light for that reason is that damage could have or is already occurring since the volume has to get dangerously low before the pressure will get that low to prompt the light.

ABDomega

Good question.

It appears we have many members with oil consumption but no secondary issues (myself included for the time being). I think we should have a poll exclusive of 3.7 (SH-AWD) owners with the following possible responses:

• Have oil consumption AT or GREATER THAN 1 quart per 1,000 miles AND Acura HAS repaired/replaced engine (i.e. shortblock, longblock, etc.)
• Have oil consumption AT or GREATER THAN 1 quart per 1,000 miles AND Acura HAS NOT repaired/replaced engine (i.e. shortblock, longblock, etc.)
• Have oil consumption LESS THAN 1 quart per 1,000 miles AND Acura HAS repaired/replaced engine (i.e. shortblock, longblock, etc.)
• Have oil consumption LESS THAN 1 quart per 1,000 miles AND Acura HAS NOT repaired/replaced engine (i.e. shortblock, longblock, etc.)
• Have no noteworthy oil consumption

Now this poll doesn't shed light on people who have oil consumption but have done nothing about it. I suppose those people wouldn't be interested in the matter in the first place but it's a possible issue. I think people who have had work done relative to oil consumption should ultimately post proof so we have an idea of what work Acura is doing to remedy issues posed by those with the worst problem and who are being a "squeaky wheel" so to speak.This poll also ignores people who have decided to move on to a different vehicle because they didn't want to take the risk anymore.

I also want to note how this poll doesn't take into account how variable the oil consumption is but I think the response should be based on a "worse case basis". By that I mean, for example, my car has almost no consumption the first 2,000 miles of an OCI, but will gradually get worse and will post worse consumption in different driving scenarios (stop-and-go, high RPM, etc.). I would report the worst consumption during any 1,000 mile period during a given OCI.

If anyone has any other responses, please post up and we can tweak these before finalizing. Let me know your thoughts.

Derekw_FL

My 2012 3.7L has just shy of 50k on the clock. The 4year factory warranty for bumper to bumper just expired. I have been monitoring the oil consumption since new, has not increased but am averaging 1 qt per MIL indication OCI running down to about 5-10% life. I do agree that in general the consumption is accelerated as the oil deteriorates? Since I do all my own oil changes, I don't have evidence of the oil consumption tests. I probably should get my next oil change at the dealer just to get this monitoring formally documented.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

If your MIL is anything like mine that means you're pushing 8-10k miles per oil change... 1qt for 10k miles is not a lot at all IMO.

Mine is sitting at 60% @ 4300 miles and I change every 5k. Loses about .5qt if that.

6SpeedTL

I'll be heading in for an oil change this Wednesday and will start a consumption test. Even with running 5w-40 Im starting to lose 0.5-0.75 qt per 1000-1500 miles, and thats during the first 3-4000 miles on fresh oil. After that it just gets worse as we all know.

Will let you know the outcome.

Hogan9166

iTrader: (1)

Mine consumes oil. I manage it. The car has 185K miles on it. No worries.