I can’t respond to the ongoing discussion(?) about that Honda with the trashed engine due to a leaking drain plug due to a chronic error message but it sure appears that the OP on that one just does not like to hear the cold hard truth; which is the fault lies in the mirror.
Maybe someone posting to that can let them know that the car was not out of oil. It still had 1.5 quarts but they should keep in mind that when the engine was last running that 1.5 qts was in suspension, meaning it was thrown all over and pooling.
It seems to me the fixation on the oil life monitor and percentages took their focus completely away from the little red oil pressure lamp; or lack of oil pressure lamp.
And it is possible to lose a lot of oil through a steady drip over a span of months. Odds are there’s a drip trail all over town and enough drops can add up to a quart pretty quickly.
Coworker yesterday was asking me about the life expectancy of his car. Changes oil every 10,000 miles which is more than a year apart. Thinks the 7500 miles in the manual is a conspiracy to drag him to the dealership. When I mention that the intervals are for normal driving, he states that his is less taxing than normal, because he is always on local streets and doesn’t go very fast. Asked if he checks the oil, he states no, and that is because he has not noticed any puddles on the floor. I did my best to explain how things should be done. I think it was out of the other ear in a second.
No need for an explanation, the O/P was negligent in checking their oil level so the engine quit their fault end of story.
Exactly!
The OP in that other thread can argue until the cows come home about whether or not Honda is responsible for her engine being trashed by a lack of oil, but one fact remains:
If the dipstick had been checked on a regular basis, the oil level would never have fallen to the point where only 1.5 qts was left in the engine. And, if some people mistakenly want to call those of us who do check our car’s fluids on a regular basis “OCD”, then so be it. I would rather be mislabeled as “OCD” than to be the victim of a needless and expensive automotive problem that could have been prevented.
Repeatedly, responders in that thread have asked the OP about how often she checked her dipstick, and repeatedly she failed to answer that particular question, thus leading the probable reality that she never checked it. I can virtually guarantee that her Owner’s Manual (possibly still in its original plastic wrapping) states that the dipstick should be checked regularly, and it probably even defines “regularly”.
If someone is the genuine victim of defective parts or bad workmanship, then I would want Honda or any other auto company to stand behind their product warranty. However, when negligence is involved, all bets are off, IMHO. In this case, there is clear negligence on the part of the OP if she was waiting for a warning light on her dashboard to tell her that her oil level was low. This is the classic misunderstanding of the functioning and purpose of the oil pressure warning light, and all the OP would have needed was a few minutes with her Owner’s Manual to find out exactly what that light indicates and what it does not indicate.
There may well have been negligence on the part of the “oil change place”, in addition to the OP’s obvious negligence in failing to ever check her dipstick. Whether it was one person’s negligence or the negligence of more than one person, the only party that does not appear to be negligent in this whole mess is Honda corporate.
I was wondering where you were ok…LOL
transman
VDC,
Well said as usual, but I’m afraid it will fall upon deaf ears. To quote from one of her replies.
"If Honda truly relied on car owners to check their oil manually, then why would they need to put low oil pressure indicators in cars? Why even put an oil life percentage meter in the dash? "
To give the OP credit, she has maintained a civil tone throughout the thread. From experience, this is unusual in these sort of posts. Hopefully, she or her husband will read the Owners Manual and open the hood on occasion.
I wouldn’t mind hearing Honda’s side of the story.
Ed B.
In that other thread, the OP is sadly typical of all too many people nowadays who fail to believe in the concept of personal responsibility. Whenever negative things befall them, these events always seem to be the fault of somebody else. Whatever happened to doing what one is supposed to do, before attributing the problem to others?
I truly believe that a huge percentage of society’s problems are the result of failure to exercise personal responsibility.
There’s no point to posting to that thread anymore anyway.
A 110 posts and counting and the OP still doesn’t get it apparently.
After a couple of pages I thought it would soak in based on the advice being given but later on when they questioned Honda reliability because of this I kind of figured it was never going to soak in.
I’m not a gambling man at all but I’d bet 20 bucks that if someone walked into the shop and turned the key to RUN there would be a working red oil pressure lamp glowing away.
With 1.5 quarts of oil still in the engine, the oil light was not necessarily on…It might have blinked and winked now and then…Most of the important details are unknown to you all, so you make stuff up to support your fantasies…The female poster is no different than millions of car owners when it comes to checking her oil. She is trying to get someone besides herself to pay for a new engine she may or may not need…You can’t blame her for that. She depends on others, professionals, to maintain her car and she feels someone dropped the ball. Did she check her dipstick? No. But she didn’t leave the drain plug loose either. She paid someone good money to do that…
In her defense though guys, her posts did say that the AAA driver and a mechanic stated that the oil light never came on when THEY turned on the ignition so if it wont come on with a dead engine when they turn the ignition on, it certainly wouldnt have come on as the engine was taking its last breaths. We all know that there is no way no how that engine will run for any length of time with 1.5 quarts in it. Like ok said you have that much in suspension when the engine was running so basicly the pickup screen was sucking air and the little bits of oil as it fell to the pan.
transman
Where did the the 1.5 quarts figure come from?? Is it buried in those 100 posts someplace? I haven’t been able to find it…
When you turn on the key in a 2006 Pilot, 6 or 7 gash lights come on. I doubt anyone looked to see if “OIL” was one of them, especially when, at that point they had no reason to suspect lack of oil…It’s all he said, she said guesswork…
I had a 93 civic and posted this in the other thread too. I don’t know if anyone saw it. Honda vehicles have an oil PRESSURE sensor not an oil LEVEL sensor. It only tells you if the oil pump stops working, or if you completely run out of oil. The pressure has to drop 2psi below min operating pressure and if this has happened because of low oil you have likely damaged the engine. I had this happen with my civic, I had the presence of mind to stop and walk and buy more oil. It was completely out It took 4qt to get it to full level. I’m sure I damaged it, but I was still able to get 300,000mi out of it and drove it to the junk yard. The OP is absolutely at fault on this issue if she had checked the oil level, as I now do every other fill up, then she would not have had this problem. At the very least she should have stopped and checked the level when it started making noise.
125 now, like a train wreck, can’t keep from looking now and then…and I’m not too sold on OP’s civility, after their repeated demands for folks that pointedly disagree to stop posting…
“Oh, and I forgot to mention, when the car first got to Honda, they drained a quart and a half out of the car. I know the dipstick wouldn’t register that, but I just thought I’d mention it.”
Here it is on page two…Details, details…
If you read my posts, you’ll see the car never made any noise. I’ve been asking that question over and over in the other thread.
If the car was so starved for oil for things to go that badly, why didn’t the car itself exhibit some kind of physical behavior? smoke? noises? etc. I asked the question but no one answered.
Again, as I’ve mentioned in the other thread, I’m not trying to pass the blame. For the record, I consult the manual whenever any light or what not goes on with this car. I have kids who I’d like to live to see old age! I wouldn’t want my car to seize up in rush hour traffic or whatever! I’m not that kind of car owner.
I was asking the thread to help me understand the discrepancy between the car shop and the Honda warranty office. I was asking why i didn’t get any lights on the dash. Okay-that question was answered after many, many posts. Sheesh! But thank you anyway.
Do you think if the oil pressure vs oil level indicator was common knowledge people wouldn’t be so mistaken? its not common knowledge so it was nice of everyone to pick that apart. again, sheesh!
In the last post, the oil was checked the week of xmas and on Jan. 27th.
And no, its only checked every 3k-at oil changes. the car is only 3 years old, who ever thought it would need more then that. and from what i’ve read, 3k is pretty aggressive oil changes in the first place. Cartalk recommends 5k!
We have repeatedly answered, as best we can, that if the cam seized, the engine stops, maybe without smoke, etc.
Fortunately, I heeded my gut feeling about that one and refrained from posting. My tongue is all swollen from biting it tho-
There are only 3 or 4 people who know if anything is “seized” or not, and they are not talking. They are racking up flat-rate hours…
See,
now you make me question the experience of the responders in the other thread. Here is what Caddyman wrote:
A true “No motor oil” failure is usually accompanied by lots of noise, heat and other drama, along with MAJOR damage to the crankshaft bearings, which will fail LONG before the cams…