i've never had an oil problem with my 'o2. suddenly it's burning 2 quarts of mobil 1 between changes (3000mi). every time i checked the oil level (which obviously wasn't enough) it was down at the last XX. now it's vibrating a bit while idling. it's got 29,000mi on her. Have i messed it up? how do i know? get the compression check and check cylinder 4? the engine is pre- banjo bolt improved (by about 200, if it's true the cut off # is 1025386 engine number.) Would an oil analysis prove anything? there doesn't seem to be any power loss, but i'm so freaked i can't tell the difference, and i'm afraid to hi rev it. thanks for your input!

 

Oil analysis wouldnt be a bad thing. I always say do it just to see whats in your inner engine. You may think your car is fine but your engine oil could be telling another story!

 

If you never got an oil light, you probably didn't do any major damage to your engine. But that doesn't mean that you didn't have more wear than normal on your engine. When the oil pressure drops, it trips the oil pressure sender to light the oil light.

You say it's "vibrating a bit while idling". That's not very descriptive. Get out of the car and put your hand up to the exhaust pipes. Is it doing a steady Putt-putt-putt-putt? then you have a cylinder misfiring. If it is just missing occasionally, then you're getting a random misfire. It's surprising you'd get either one of these without getting a CEL.

You can do a compression test (it's pretty easy, and you can do it yourself with an inexpensive tester bought at any auto parts store), but you might want to start by pulling the plugs and reading them. If one looks fouled, try replacing all of the plugs. If you still have the problem, I'd do the compression test.

You might want to read your owners manual. You're supposed to check the oil at each fillup

 

it's surprising how easy it is to fall into complacency, especially when you think your baby is "perfect". and i've been reading this web site for almost a year, but i guess all the oil issue threads regarding the first engine were hundreds of pages ago. but once i did a topic search for oil consumption, wow! a real eye-opener. and some sad stories. so i go from la-te-da to totally freaked in seconds. i know the manual says check oil at each fill-up, but what owners manual doesn't say that? it's a feeling, an intuition, that something isn't right, that gets my attention. different sounds, different reactions, definitely different smells!
no leaks around the bolt or the filter, it looks clean. past owner (i got it at 19,000mi from a friend, he got a Hummer) said because it was a lease, the dealer did all maintenance under warranty, so i assume all the right stuff was done. but i do occasionally smell oil. and it's not a ticking, or a putting sound, just a lack of smoothness when idling. no smoke, altho black in the exhaust pipes.
the car is ready for the 30,000mi service. what should i ask/do? i know alot about this car, but am a spaz under the hood. should i ask for a bit of oil and have an independent analysis? request a cylinder inspection with a borescope? i guess i should switch to mineral oil, what about adding valvoline synpower oil treatment? would it do anything? or not combined with mineral oil? should i update those banjo bolts? or maybe go back to the la-te-da, bambi on the interstate? thank you. i have learned so much from this web site!

 

you are right to be concerned.

to go from not burning any oil to burning 2 quarts every 3000 miles means something has changed. I'm not an expert on oil burning, but I think some of the advice given can lead you in the right direction. check the spark plugs. do they all look ok or the same? if not, replace them, and/or try getting a leakdown test done to be sure.

billman or xviper may be able to give you a more thorough guide here.

 

Thursday i went to the dealer for the 30,000mi service. i said the car was idling weird and was burning oil. the people were very nice, the head mechanic was like "late 2002 model year? Those engines are bad." i suggested a compression check and to inspect the spark plugs, he said, why bother? the engine needs to be replaced! so while i'm talking to the customer service rep, he's like, better call Honda and get that short block ordered.
two days later, they are like, the mechanic spoke too soon, we're taking our time with this. the honda district rep wants to be sure. so after the service, they marked the oil cap and plug, to perform an oil consumption test. told me not to do anything for 1000 miles. i said there might not be any oil in her after 1000 miles, but they are allowing me to check my own oil!
i kept mentioning the dreaded #4 cylinder problem that can be a problem with this MY, but they kind of dismissed me. is it true that a compression check would prove nothing, like the dealer says? should i have it done independently? with 29,000mi, and 11 months out of the 36 month warranty, they said i was SOL. i said i heard honda extended the engine warranty to 5 years/50,000mi. he said he never heard of that. i said if the engine was found to be defective, would honda repair/replace the engine out of warranty? he said it's case-by-case, couldn't predict. i said you don't want that kind of publicity if honda won't help someone with a problem with only 29,000mi. he said, all i can say is when this event happened with other customers, they never went away unhappy. i guess i should trust them. any thoughts? thank you.

 

[QUOTE=Danfotoman,Mar 4 2006, 08:23 AM] Thursday i went to the dealer for the 30,000mi service.

 

Mine ate oil more than that and mine is an 02 as well. I did the oil consumption tests and eventually got a new short block. My old engine visually had no problems, just a lot of carbon from all the oil burning.

 

thanks for your advice. i thought the mechanic was on my side, stating they would repair/replace the engine, and it would be no cost to me. but i can't figure out why they would turn down my request for a compression test.....
if i go to another dealer (I'm in Orlando, Florida), wouldn't they have the same district manager? who would say the same thing re: the oil consumption test?
BTW, they overfilled the oil for this test: it's at or above the "H" mark on the dipstick. isn't this not good either? my bmw's all said do not overfill.
after the 30,000mi service, it runs better, but still makes a ticky sound, and is loud at start-up. and i had to pay extra to change the differential fluid. not part of 30,000mi service?!?! i'm getting discouraged.....

 

they overfilled the oil? how stupid can they be. please, for God sakes, do NOT go back to that dealership ever. No, they will not have the same service manager at another dealership. Overfilling the oil could be bad. If it's too full, the crankshaft can splash into the oil, causing the oil to become foamy, which means it wont protect the engine properly.

Seriously. Don't spend another friggin minute wasting your time with that dealership. I swear they are TRYING to damage your car. And dude, they sure as hell aren't gonna just give you another engine for free. They're expecting you to pay for it.

Take it to another dealerhsip. Now. Get the leakdown test done. You're wasting time. Don't wait til something REALLY goes wrong with your car. Especially with what those assmonkeys have been doing to it.