# Oil went cold? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** honda, engines\ **Created:** [August 12, 2021, 9:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688 "2021-08-12T21:20:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![asant2\_174225](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@asant2\_174225](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asant2_174225)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 9:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/1 "2021-08-12T21:20:22Z")
Mechanic said “I bet the oil went cold” when I dropped off my ancient CRV that’s suffered inconsistent misfires for a couple weeks. Any idea what that means? ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 9:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/2 "2021-08-12T21:21:51Z")
No such phrase in mechanics speak. Tester ---
**Author:** ![weekend-warrior](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/weekend-warrior/32/26122_2.png) [@weekend-warrior](https://community.cartalk.com/u/weekend-warrior)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 9:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/3 "2021-08-12T21:22:30Z")
it mean’s he hasn’t a clue how to fix it. ---
**Author:** ![asant2\_174225](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@asant2\_174225](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asant2_174225)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/4 "2021-08-12T21:26:13Z")
Hah, I was afraid of that…just waiting on the proposed repair and estimate now… ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/5 "2021-08-12T21:28:05Z")
> [@weekend-warrior](#): > > it mean’s he hasn’t a clue how to fix it. +1 That type of clueless mechanic is likely to offer other bogus diagnoses, such as… _You got a batch of bad gas_ _You need to replace the ECU_ If the engine has been misfiring, there should be stored DTCs (diagnostic trouble codes). Find a shop that will–at the very least–determine what DTCs have been stored, and then begin to narrow-down the possible causes of those codes. The OP’s current mechanic seems to be clueless. ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/6 "2021-08-12T21:32:45Z")
Get your hearing tested. ---
**Author:** ![asant2\_174225](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@asant2\_174225](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asant2_174225)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 9:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/7 "2021-08-12T21:46:36Z")
I have an OBD reader and it’s showed misfires on 3 out of 4 cylinders at different times, at least once on 2 at the same time, but on two occasions the codes have disappeared on their own. Sometimes the misfires are obvious with a rough idle - with no codes being triggered - and sometimes it’s running fine. Hence my current clueless ‘just give it to the (presumably less clueless than me) mechanic’ predicament, instead of trying the easy stuff (swapping coils etc) ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/8 "2021-08-12T21:58:30Z")
The oil control valve is sticking. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 10:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/9 "2021-08-12T22:20:50Z")
> [@asant2\_174225](#): > > Mechanic said “I bet the oil went cold OK , why did you not ask him what that meant ? ---
**Author:** ![asant2\_174225](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@asant2\_174225](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asant2_174225)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/10 "2021-08-12T22:38:09Z")
> [@VOLVO-V70](#): > > OK , why did you not ask him what that meant ? Kind of muttered it under her (yup, go ahead) breath as she was tagging the key and I was on my way out. Even though I thought “huh?”, I figured nothing matters until she (her tech, really) looks at the car and calls with an actual diagnosis. If I hear “the oil went cold, will cost you $$”, then I start asking. ---
**Author:** ![asant2\_174225](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@asant2\_174225](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asant2_174225)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/11 "2021-08-12T22:40:36Z")
> [@Nevada\_545](#): > > Get your hearing tested. Maybe you’re both right on both accounts, and she said something about “oil valve” instead of oil “cold” like I heard. ---
**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/12 "2021-08-13T00:01:59Z")
Get the valve lash adjusted. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 12:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/13 "2021-08-13T00:20:06Z")
He may have actually said “oil is old” or something like that. If your engine sports variable valve timing, where the camshaft phase w/respect to the crankshaft changes depending on engine rpm and load, the parts that make that work are very sensitive to oil quality. The end result of too-old oil (sludge etc) can indeed be the parts stick and the valve timing becomes incorrect, and misfires. ---
**Author:** ![asant2\_174225](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@asant2\_174225](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asant2_174225)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 12:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/14 "2021-08-13T00:41:35Z")
> [@George\_San\_Jose1](#): > > He may have actually said “oil is old” or something like that. Coulda been, George. Didn’t occur to me in the moment because the oil is fresh as a daisy after all the times it’s been drained and filled recently due to other problems, but she had no way to know that. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 1:22am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/15 "2021-08-13T01:22:46Z")
This is just my own personal opinion but I always verify that compression is good. There is no sense spending money and time on a horse if euthanization may be in the future. Since this appears to have a bit of come and go with no codes being set checking the valve lash is a good idea on what you refer to as an “ancient” CR-V. If lash is checked, pay special attention to whether any of the exhaust valves are tight at zero or near zero lash. As the engine warms up metal expands and what might be a zero lash closed valve when cold can turn into a slightly open valve when it’s hot. Meaning a burnt valve. ---
**Author:** ![davepsinbox\_157004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@davepsinbox\_157004](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davepsinbox_157004)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2021, 12:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-went-cold/178688/16 "2021-08-14T00:54:16Z")
Just a thought but I wonder if the young lady might have said “coil”? That would actually make some sense in a misfire situation.