ThatNewGuy

First time poster here. Hoping a mechanic or someone mechanically inclined can chime in.

I drive a 2009 TSX with automatic transmission. For the past two years, my low oil pressure indicator light would go on about 2/3 of the way in between synthetic oil changes (about 4,500 miles in between 7,000 mile intervals). So I’d put in 2 quarts of oil, always using Royal Purple SAE 5W-20 (for top offs and regular changes). After driving 7,000 miles, I’d take the car in to the neighborhood auto shop and explain what was going on. And they said that they couldn’t pinpoint the problem, but that, theoretically, as long as I checked my oil level every month and put in new oil when it got low, things would be okay. Every time I took it in for an oil change since I first mentioned it to them, they’d look for any sign of a leak, but never found anything.

Well, a few days ago my wife was cleaning out the desk in our home office. And she “found” the notification that Acura mailed to us back in August 2015. The one alerting us to the warranty extension for the sticking piston rings that result in high engine oil consumption. < face palm >

Since we’re past the two parameters of the extended warranty– 8 years from the date of original purchase (would’ve been 2016) and 125,000 miles (odometer currently reads 129k), pretty sure the local dealership will charge me an arm and a leg to fix the problem. Just saw an old forum thread where someone was quoted $2,500 for parts and labor.

My question is: if I stick with the original advice given to me (keep on adding engine oil when it gets low), will my car be okay? Or will the sticking piston rings eventually cause major damage to the engine?

I would prefer to keep driving my TSX for another two years as we can’t really afford a car payment at the moment.

thoiboi

Try taking it in with the notice and see if they'll honor a goodwill replacement or meet you halfway or something.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

yes, as long as you put back what the engine is losing, you wont starve the engine of oil.
that's the main key, not starving the engine of oil.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

^ That. Having dealt with a broken oil control ring on my 4G, I'd say it all depends on the level of consumption. I was burning 1qt every 300 miles, confined to only one cylinder. That was serious business. Fouled up the spark plug, pushed oil back into the intake manifold, dirtied up my front cat and caused all sorts of spark knock due to carbon buildup. However, if we're talking 2 qt's every 4500-7000 miles, chances are that it's not causing extreme stress to the cats or significant buildup of carbon and spark plug fouling. If it were me, I'd use top tier gas (premium as well in the case of the TSX) and occasionally run a bottle of something with polyetheramine (PEA) which is probably the best stuff for cleaning out carbon deposits. Shell gas and Gumout multi system cleaner have a good amount of PEA. That will mitigate any carbon buildup. You might also consider using oil one viscosity grade up from what you're using. Something like 5W-30. It won't hurt the engine one bit but will provide a bit more viscosity at operating temperatures which will likely reduce consumption. A lot of folks do that when they get past 100K anyways simply due to the intrinsic wear that occurs after a while.

BROlando

Try using a high detergent synthetic like Pennzoil or something.

See if it will alleviate some of the ring issues.

Adding oil to it will keep it going. But its annoying.

Try to see what the dealer can do for you, if anything.

FWIW, a used longblock from a 2012+ is like $500-900. Find a low mileage, factory built engine. Sell yours with the oil consumption condition. I'm sure someone would pay $300-500 for an 09 with some oil burn. Its not the most practical solution. But its better than paying $2500 (!!!!) for a rebuild.

I'd rather have a factory built engine with the factory ring improvements.

pL2009

I have the same problem. My dealer was willing to work with me, but they could "only" get it to burn around 3/4 qt per 1000 miles, and Acura requires 1. I could have cheated the test, but I decided to just live with it. I've switched from full synthetic to Valvoline max-life synthetic blend, and I just change the oil at around 50% on the OLM, which works out to around 5-6k miles. I don't reset the maintenance minder when I do this so I can see any other codes at 15%, and then I change it again when it gets close to 0%. It seems to burn much less when the oil is new and also seems to burn a little less on the max life compared to the full synthetic. I end up having to add oil 2x or so between these changes. Once at 80-85% or so, and again at 60-65% maybe. Then I change it at 50%, and then have to add oil around 30-35% and probably again around 15% or so. I had tried pennzoil platinum or whatever their full syn is called and mobil 1 and couldn't tell the difference in terms of how much it burned, but it would get really bad after 50% on the maintenance minder, so I decided to try changing it more often. With a much shorter interval, I decided why spend the money on full synthetic and like I said, it seems to burn less on the maxlife anyway.

I've got 126k on the car, and it runs great besides the oil consumption. I'm just going to drive it unless is gets significantly worse.