ronricks

I am at 58,000 miles on my 2014 and no oil consumption issues yet. I do get my oil changed every 3,000 to 3,500 miles and also drive on the highway for 90% of my commute not sure that has anything to do with it. Regardless I am thinking about getting rid of it in November when my warranty is up (CPO car)

mrphilipanderson

would you get rid of it?! What color? Trim?

ronricks

mrphilipanderson

you dont love the car?

felixangelov

The dealer convinced Acura to authorize a repair. So far they have ordered pistons and rings, if they find some cylinder damage when they open the engine, will hope that Acura will replace the block. Will update next week when they start working on it.

JM2010 SH-AWD

^^Glad the dealer/Acura came through for you. Keep us posted once the repair has been made.

mrphilipanderson

the EXACT situation with me. I decided to stop using Lucas Oil products and get it fixed instead. Also side note: Did you guys know there are Service Bulletins for rattles in the roof and pillars in the front passenger? I had assumed it was normal wear and tear. Not so. Hopefully the dealer convinces Acura to do my repairs. Im averaging 2qts per 1000 miles. I have a pretty good relationship with my dealer so i am hoping they support my situation. Acura has been good to me so far. I took in the TSB for the oil consumption fingers are crossed. Please let us know when you know something.

deanoatkinson

Checking back in at 2000 miles on the oil. I am 1/2 quart low. Oil consumption increases under WOT for sure, the first 1000-1500 were mostly highway. The last 500 miles were a little more aggressive driving.
Overall it is still way less than it was before. I will continue to check in every 500-1000 miles with an update for future readers.

felixangelov

Got the car back. Acura did a good will repair (thanks to my dealer who did all the leg work!). They did replace all the pistons and piston rings. They said that there was not cylinder wall damage. They did find that the piston rings were stuck due to carbon build up. Had them do the spark plugs, timing belt, water pump, tensioner, adjuster and idler since they were working in that area as well.Will see how things go.

If it is back to normal, I will have to re-think the oil change strategy. Up to this point the car has been serviced according to the Maintenance Minder with whatever oil the dealer uses (5w20). Might be worth trying shorter change intervals with a different oil. Many forums recommend using 5w30 full synthetic instead. Will need to research this more. Any input is appreciated.

Teddybear

I used 5w30 Motul since the 2nd oil change (First one was free from dealer). I started burning oil (1L every 5k km) at 150k km or so (I just hit 190k). Up until then, I only burned around 200ml every 5k km. I recently did Seafoam, like another forum member had suggested in this thread way earlier. So far, I no longer SMELL oil burning (driving, or revving) but i have to give it some more km's to really be sure. I can tell you that the Seafoam calmed my idle when the AC kicks in.

mrphilipanderson

hat year is yours again?
They have mine AS WE SPEAK...Im so stressed in hoping the cover it. How does it drive? Any different?

hyh

I have looked up the internet and found this is a common issue for the J37A engine (Also used on the previous generation RL, MDX, ZDX etc.) . I started to notice this on my 2010 TL around 8k km (5k miles) where at 30% oil life the low oil indicator comes on. I suspect this is a problem right off the beginning just getting worse and finally noticeable when the engine gets to a certain age. Right now at a little over 13k km (8k miles) I am consuming a little over a quart every 2000 miles, requiring 3 quarts between oil changes. There seem to be people with the same engine having even worse oil consumption than me. Since the owner's manual doesn't say exactly what is "normal" oil consumption I am wondering about the oil consumption level of other people with the same engine?

By the way, I have been using mobile 1 5w-20 fully synthetic oil (although recommend by the manufacturer this is quite thin which may worsen the oil consumption). I am wondering has anybody tried a heavier viscosity oil or conventional oil and does it help reduce oil burning?

I am suspecting there is a design flaw with the J37 engine, as the block is made of aluminum (instead of cast iron for the J35) and since aluminum is softer the internal parts (cylinder walls, piston rings etc.) wear prematurely and oil start goes into the combustion chamber..
It is interesting that they dropped the J37 all together starting from the TLX, which makes me wonder there is really a defect (apart from the reason that they need to make the engines more efficient)

dopeboy1

Not all consume excess oil. It seems to be hit or miss. Not sure why some do and some don't. FYI acura has put out a service bulletin saying 1 quart for every 1000 miles is "normal". Which means they wont do anything for you unless its consuming that much or more.

Mine does eat oil, not sure how much exactly. I just check it regularly and top up if needed.

hyh

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have heard about that 1 quart/1000 mile which to me is way too high than "normal"...

Unfortunately nowadays they also recommend longer oil change intervals and thinner oil which just magnifies the issue...

As for why some cars consume oil and some don't, as I mentioned, it may be the aluminum engine. There are always manufacturing variations and some engines are better built than others. If you are lucky you will get an engine that wears down slower than others. However, on average aluminum engines wear down faster than cast iron engines so the percentage of cars having oil consumption issues is way higher. But this is just my guess.

dopeboy1

I thought it had to do with the silicon lined cylinders as well.

dopeboy1

The 3.5 in the FWD cars dont seem to consume excess oil at all the the 3.7's do. The biggest difference between the two engines seems to be;

3.5 has: Aluminum alloy block with cast-iron cylinder liners
3.7 has: Aluminum alloy block with high-silicon aluminum cylinder liners

danman2991

Acura actually has a TSB open for this issue, It may be listed in the thread dopeboy linked but if you take a look at the bulletin here Acura states it is caused by carbon deposits on the oil control rings causing them to stick and allowing oil through. They have changed the procedure to fix it from a whole short block replacement to just swapping out the pistons and rings. I don't believe the different liners have much to do with excessive oil consumption.

csmeance

Also the addition of A-VTEC which controls both sets of valves. It's on the 3.7 but not the 3.5L for these years

frankjnjr

"service bulletin saying 1 quart for every 1000 miles is "normal"". From what I understand, most manufacturers, consider 1 Quart per Thousand miles, to be acceptable oil consumption! While 1K miles per quart, may be THEIR standard, It's still difficult to ACCEPT, when compared to my 15 year old, 241K mile 3.2 03 TLS, with a consumption rate of less than 1/2 quart, at 4-5K mile change interval! IMO, any QUALITY car, under normal operating conditions, SHOULD NOT, consume engine oil, at a rate of 1K per quart!

mrphilipanderson

Problem Solved. They pulled apart my engine and Saw no significant damage. They allowed me to see engine when torn down,
Based on Photo comparison from Acura Tech guide and What I saw in real life they looked almost perfect. The culprit for my Excessive oil consumption...The oil.

Techline instructed to switch oil to 5w30. I had already instructed on my last oil change to do so, SOMEHOW, they failed to do it a few oil changes back. It was only whe nacura Requested the Service Records (they wanted proof I was using the Reccommended oil) did I realize they were using 5w20 Even after telling them i wanted 530.
Anyway, Im at 1400 miles into the 5w30 FULL SYNTHETIC and not a single drop of oil seems to be gone since the day the oil change was completed. Even though the manufacturer suggesst 5w20 for our cars in the onwers manual, the manufacturers suggested in my case 5w30 and..well, it worked!!!!!! They urged me to ONLY use Acura 5w30 as its carries some seal of approval? Anyway, I now feel free to enjoy my car.

mrphilipanderson

AMEN. Seafoam is POWERFUL stuff.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Yup, it is certainly powerful enough to kill cockroaches, but for cars it is pretty much worthless.

dopeboy1

Interesting, my mechanic also strongly recommended I switch to 5w30 to help with the oil consumption. I was reluctant to do so but maybe ill give it a try next time. It doesn't seem to consume much oil when the oil is fresh, it really starts when the maintenance minder is at say 60-50%.

hadokenuh

So the 5w20 helps with gas mileage but makes the oil consumption worse?

Thank you everyone for posing updates.

mrphilipanderson

it totally worked for my car. I even went in to Acura Dealer Weekly to ensure correct levels. The revs come on much smoother as well.

mrphilipanderson

Pretty much. But I watch my Gas milage like a hawk, I notice no degradation in MPG. None. perhaps under certain conditions? But Daily "Spirited" Commuter driving on freeway and streets the MPGs stayed the same.

6SpeedTL

Ive been using synthetic 0-40w for the last 50K miles and it reduced consumption significantly although gas mileage did get worse but not a concern of mine.

ATLS_666

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Do you guys notice any difference in VTEC response? 40W at operating temp is quite a bit thicker than 20W.

elspectro29

I've put 600 miles on mine so far, doesn't look like it's consumed much of any at all. It's still at the full mark, maybe even a little above. Even my TSX consumed more than that.

mrphilipanderson

Just an update...after switching to 5w30, not a single drop of oil used. Car runs smoother, revs come on like velvet.
I made the switch - Im a believer. For me here in California, this oil worked better than 5w20. I did notice a slight downgrade in mpg's.Just by like a couple miles.

Mina_Bekhit

How long have you been using 5w30?

wreckon06

I'm looking to get a 2013 TL SH-AWD. Still a good car to buy after all these owners with oil consumption problem? or the problem is pretty much fixed with oil change to 5w30? thanks.

meowmeows

Definitely does not fix the problem, but I also wouldn't let it turn you away from the car completely. A quart of oil every 3-4 weeks is no big deal in my opinion. Of course I'd love for the problem to go away!

wreckon06

It's def a nice car. I think the handling is better than the Lexus GS 350 AWD I'm looking at. Both are 2013. My previous 04 TL did not give me any problem for 10 years (got it used in 08). Ah I wish I still have it. Getting a new car is such headache lol.

VanyDotK

iTrader: (6)

I'm at about 66k miles in my 13 TL AWD 6MT and I've been keeping track of how much oil my engine is burning. I'm at about 6k on my current oil change and I had to add about 3.5 quarts so far.

LostProphet

On my 12 SHAWD ADV with almost 96K miles I recently replace spark plugs, head covers gaskets and pcv valve. Car used to burn almost 2 quarts every 7K and after replacing this parts the comsuption has reduced to 1 quart, I think the PCV valve helped a lot, replacing it took me almost 15 minutes. Also noticed the exhaust pipes stay clean for a longer time.

mossman77

Why did you replace your head covers? And I think you may be experiencing a "placebo effect". The oil consumption is caused by a design flaw in the oil control rings. If you are in fact experiencing less burn, then I'm afraid it's likely short lived.

mrphilipanderson

i love my car in spite of...and using 5w30 fixed my problem of:
• having buy oil more often ( I was having to add a quart every 500 milles or so. This is after checking and there were no leaks found by acura)
• oil changes sooner. My % of oil quality started to slow down. I went about 5000 miles before my car reach 0%. The thinner oil seemed to shear faster.

it also quieted my engine, smooth out starts ups and it idles consistently smooth. Now that to me sounds like a fix. But again it all depends on what the problem was.
In every stage of issues i loved my car and still get excited to drive it EVERY time I approach. Yeah Its THAT fun to drive. The feel of the controls...

and until you've driven through some dangerous weather and see just how quickly the car regains crontrol after losing it to a hydroplane or a spin out...
I wouldn't pick anything else at this time. I love my car. How it looks. How it drives.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

I have no idea what you're trying to say with that statement; can you elaborate?