2010 Honda Accord Sdn - Burns about a quart per 1K miles

I looked up recalls for the Accord for MY 2008 through 2012 at safercar.gov. There are no recalls for excessive oil usage. The only drivetrain recall is for the automatic transmission. If Honda offers you anything, they are just being nice guys. Where did you get the idea that there is a recall for oil consumption? IMO, you are on your own on this issue and Honda doesn’t owe you anything.

This is a clear case of a customer not using the correct terminology

There was NOT a recall, in regards to engine oil consumption

However . . . there was a warranty extension for 2008 - 2011 model year 4-cylinder accords, in regards to excessive engine oil consumption, up to 125K miles or 8 years from the initial purchase date, whichever comes first

There seems to be a common misperception out there . . . a lot of people seem to think that ANY technical service bulletin, warranty extension, etc. is actually a manufacturer recall. Not so

I’m not saying op is doing it . . . but I’ve seen this happen a lot

And there are interesting . . . that’s not really the word I’d like to use . . . lawyers who refer to technical service bulletins, warranty extensions and such things as “hidden recalls” when they’re communicating with their clients and potential clients

By the way, the factory fix for this warranty extension . . . should a vehicle qualify . . . was indeed replacing pistons and rings. I just mentioned that, in case somebody didn’t know what the factory repair actually was

The document is “service bulletin 12-087” dated March 31, 2017

I know I come from a different time period, but I am not certain I would have the pistons and rings replaced, even for free, if the car is using no more than a quart of oil every 1000 miles. I would be concerned about the seating of the new piston rings. On a vehicle that has over 100,000 miles, there is bound to be some cylinder wall wear.
In the bygone days, it was common to grind the valves, replace the piston rings, possibly with expansion rings, and hone the glaze off the cylinder walls. This might buy 30,000 to 40,000 more miles from the engine. This was a lot different from buying a remanufactured engine from the Sears catalogue and replacing the engine. I always thought just replacing the rings and grinding the valves as a sloppy patch to coax another year from a vehicle. I have seen too many times the car is again burning oil after 10,000 miles after a sloppy patch. I would recommend that the OP add the 1 quart per 1000 miles and drive on.

thanks for the info

db4690 is correct of course. I strongly suspect the issue with this Honda is that the oil control rings have seized in the pistons and that could be due the oil not being changed enough for the type of driving, an incident of overheating, etc.

The oil rings need to fit loose so they can “breathe” so to speak. I’ve been into more engines than I can remember and with a non-scientific estimate I’d guess 2/3 of them had several or all oil control rings seized up. Once seized they do not wipe the cylinder free of oil on the downstroke and ergo, oil consumption problems.

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they contacted me. I didn’t know about it before I bought it. you need to go on the government recall site.

who is “they” . . . ?

I did. It’s called safercar.gov. Why do you think I didn’t?

best explination! is changing the oil every 5000 miles like the dealership recommends sufficient?

This is something Marvel Mystery Oil is claimed to overcome. I’d try it in the oil and in the fuel and see what happens.

I’ve seen my step-brother to “unseize” the oil rings in the old VW Beetle engine by removing spark plugs and filling cylinders with a mixture of acetone, oil and some other solvents. He dumped something like 1-2 oz of that “cocktail” into cylinders, waited for 15 minutes or so, then rotated crankshaft manually, added more, repeated few times. Eventually he drained the old oil from the engine, filled it with new oil and started it back up. it worked :slight_smile:

I use a diy’er combo of acetone, automatic transmission fluid, and wd 40 as my thread penetrant for unsticking rusty fasteners, works pretty good. So that seems like it might loosen stuck piston rings too. Worth a try anyway. I’d worry a little about its affect on the cat though.

In many cases a 5000 miles reginmen is not often enough. If the driving involves frequent short trips (2 to 20 miles, etc) or if your area is prone to dust and/or humidity the oil may need to be changed more frequently.

An additive of some sort will certainly not hurt anything but I’m of the opinion that the odds are against it freeing up seized oil rings. They’re usually coked (meaning burnt) into place and quite often when an engine is disassembled the oil rings may have to be chiseled out of the piston. The compression rings often remain free.

Quite often the dealer recommendation is not good enough. They’re simply reciting the corporate spiel and many of those reciting it have little if any mechanical knowledge; meaning the service writers and service manager.

At this point, your car is past any dealer warranties. So stay away from the car dealer. Their cost for repairs will usually run 3 to 4 times than an outside mechanic. Find a really good and honest mechanic. It might be something very simple like an oil filter seal plug; these are replaced with most oil changes/but most shops do not bother. It can also be a valve cover gasket or even spark plugs/wires that desperately are due for changing. Valves may need adjusting also. Anyway, cut the dealer loose. And just find or inquire about a good honest mechanic.

Yes, you barely missed the 8 year / 125K warranty extension. It’s an interesting test. They seal the drain and fill plugs then have you drive the car until the warning light comes on. I’d check the cost of the test. It may not be more than the cost of an oil change at the dealer. If not fixed, it will get worse and may damage the cat-conv.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/05/honda-accord-cr-v-warranties-extended-for-excess-oil-consumption/index.htm

The OP has an oil known consumption problem that is caused by seized oil control rings. To recommend to reseal parts of the engine when no oil leak exists would be considered to be “fleecing the customer”, if that is the case why would anyone trust your independent repair shop?

In terms of who fleeces who: You will find that most dealer repair shops fleece customers more than an inexpensive repair shop that you can find on your own. Once your car is no longer under warranty by the dealer, go elsewhere that is cheaper. There are rare exceptions, but so rare that I will neglect to mention them. Bottom line: After dealer warranty is up…stop going to them. Also, little maintenance stuff life engine oil, trans oil change or radiator service can be done by your preferred repair shop (with kept receipts) during any warranty period under dealer and still keep warranty valid.