Need a 2nd opinion about this engine oil (?) issue

but so what, if the light tells the operator when it is 1 quart low? That will do a lot more than most owners do.

In fact, my dipstick is very difficult to read, best I can do is ± 1 quart. And I don’t check it often enough. In justification, I’v never had a car that burned more than 1/2 quart between oil changes.

I agree, but it would drive me nuts. I need my dipstick like Radar needs his teddybear.

  1. Yes. I doubt any mechanic will absolutely guarantee a diagnosis like this, especially when the engine was driven 3 quarts low. Driving with that low of oil level can cause all sorts of problems, and until the fix the obvious problems, they won’t know what other damage – if any-- occurred.
  2. There’s probably 30-40 problems that can turn on the CEL. Sensor problems, actuator problems, ignition problems, fuel system problems, electrical system problems, air/fuel mixture problems, exhaust system problems, etc.
  3. Usually engine oil life is determined by the color and transparency of the oil. Leaks won’t affect that, unless the leak is so severe there’s no oil to detect the color of.
  4. I’d probably do a compression test first, before fixing the VTC solenoid and timing chain tensioner leaks. $550 seems pretty reasonable to fix those two problem btw. But I’d want to know if the low oil caused serious damage to the engine internals first, b/c if it did I might prefer to just install a new engine. Or junk the car. I expect others above have already mentioned that’s its a good idea to check the engine oil level on the dipstick periodically. I check it once every week or two on my cars. Many people do it w/every re-fueling. If there’s oil leak spots under the car, more frequently than that.

Not having a dipstick would strongly steer me away from purchasing a vehicle. I’d rather not loose the easy and cheap insurance that comes with being able to quickly check my oil on a Saturday morning.

+1
Electronic devices are nice, but when failure of one of those devices could lead to the destruction of one’s engine, I think that it is a case of technology that is not appropriate.
My Outback has a dipstick, and it also has a low oil level sensor, in addition to the low oil pressure sensor, but–thankfully–neither of those warning lights has ever showed its ominous face on my dashboard.
I think that the combination of an old-fashioned dipstick and electronic warning devices is a good thing, however.

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Thank you very much, George and all of you.

Sorry for the delay. Had been really busy last week. I haven’t taken the car back to the mechanic yet. Was thinking I should test the engine leak since I have added some engine oil.

I added more than a quart of oil about a week ago, and I could see then about 1 inch of oil above the tip of the lipstick. Just checked it again last night. There was only a tiny bit on the tip this time. Apparently, the oil has burned or leaked too quickly.

I have added another two quarts of oil, and this time the lipstick shows it is full. I will check again later, but definitely I will take it to a mechanic this week.

Auto-correct run amok?

;-]

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Hahaha, sorry it should be dip stick :joy::joy::joy::rofl::rofl::rofl:

You are indeed insightful :wink:

friends old fiat was leaking oil badlly. i found out all the valve cover bolts were loose. sometimes it is simple. new valve cover gasket

One should be careful when considering this as a possible cause. Many valve cover bolts are shoulder bolts, designed to bottom out on their shoulders when the gasket below is at the proper compression. Trying to tweak these can result in separating the bolt’s shank from its thread… leaving the thread filling the hole it threaded into.

Most that I’ve seen use “standoffs” with nuts, a better arrangement, and yet I still see standoffs broken away from their threads. These nuts have low torque specs, typically around 10 lb-ft, and hamhanded mechanics or novice DIYers often break these things. But a buddy’s Justy had shoulder bolts, so I thought it worth mentioning. He wanted to “sock 'em down”. Had I not been there, he’d probably have busted 'em off.

Finally took the car back to the Honda dealership today.

I told them to check the piston rings, because I learned from you folks here that it is a common cause for 2008 Honda Accord’s excessive oil consumption issue.

The advisor didn’t listen to me at the beginning. He said they needed to have the leaks fixed first, before they could check the piston rings.

I had to tell him that I have learned from friends (you all are my friends now :smile:) that 2008 Accord has this very common issue, and I said this should be covered by Honda warranty.

He told me that he understood what I said, but he insisted that Honda warranty for this issue only covers either 8 years or 125k miles, whichever comes first. But my car is already 10 years old.

Since he wouldn’t consider my request, I had to ask to talk to their manager. He told me to wait and said he would be back with more details soon.

Finally, after over half an hour of waiting, the advisor came back. He agreed to submit a request to Honda, asking if they would approve an engine repair to be covered by Honda warranty. He said I would need to wait up to two weeks before hearing back and it could be rejected. He said if the request was approved, I would need to pay for parts, not the labor cost.

I ended up having only the oil change done for today.

For sure I will definitely remember to check the engine oil level frequently this time, maybe every day, before I take it back to the dealership again. I have learned a lesson :smile:

Fingers crossed now, I remain hopeful and am hoping for the best.

Thank you very much, again, for sharing your insights and expertise!

I am now thinking about these questions:

(1) Was the timing chain cover leaking issue caused by piston rings getting stuck, an engine design defect of Honda?
(2) If that is the case, should I ask Honda to cover all the cost, including all parts for repairing the timing chain cover leaks?

Of course, at time moment I feel I have no control at all over what is going to happen. I hope Honda will mercifully approve the request the dealership submitted for me today.

The pistons had nothing to do with timing chain cover leak .

Thank you for pointing this out. That was just my wild imagination :blush:

No doubt that they are familiar with the problem. In February they told you to return after 1,000 miles for inspection, this suggests that the oil consumption test has begun as it is usually completed after 1,000 miles but it seems that you aborted the test.

The timing chain cover will be resealed during the engine repair, you should have returned to complete the oil consumption test, now they may require that to be corrected before the oil consumption test begins.

Nevada_545, I believe you are right (partly at least) :wink:

I should have taken it back to them earlier, 1k miles following my previous visit.

But the problem, baffling to me, is that they repeatedly said that I needed to have the repairs for engine leaks done first, while they were conscious of the existence of this common issue with 2008 Honda Accord engine.

I don’t know why?

you are not a car tech and that shows when you tell the service manager to check the rings. he cannot “check” them. they are inside the motor. the point we are making is the worn rings or stuck rings can LEAD to oil burning which causes your motor to USE oil. so, worn rings are an internal motor issue and a leaky timing cover is an EXTERNAL leak issue and the 2 are not related.
the dealer says lets fix the external leaks and than see if your motor still uses oil. sure, they can charge $500 to fix a leak since it is something they can see and you can see and it can be fixed.

You beat me to it!
For the OP’s benefit, asking the shop people to “check the rings” is the automotive equivalent of a patient asking a doctor to “check my heart valves”. In both cases, it involves an invasive and expensive procedure.

Yes, I am a novice. Fortunately, I didn’t mention “Car Talk” when there :blush:

Actually I didn’t get a chance to talk to the service manager; it was only the advisor. I guess he did talk to the manager and come back the final solution.

This advisor did ask me, “Do know where the piston is?” I had to say, “Yes, it is part of the engine.”

I will keep learning :slight_smile: