What is my Honda Pilot engine's REAL problem?

[tbm3fan]

I guess I will still continue to hate Hondas. I once had a 1980 Honda wagon as a new car. This is back in the days when I changed the oil every 3,000 miles. At 104,000 it was having power problems. Turns out two lobes on the camshaft were very worn. I was very ticked off and vowed never to buy another Honda.

On the other hand an Acura might be ok. A friend, at an independent auto parts place, has this car owner bring his car in when it needs work that he does on the side. Saw a Acura brought in that had 145,000 miles and was never serviced at all. All original everything and it ran to that mileage coolant, plugs, oil, filter, etc for 7 years.

 

[boosted]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
Originally Posted By: boosted
Read lots around here and don't agree with all of it, other things come into play besides how good the tbn looks in a uoa


What are these "other" things?

Metals, fuel, coolant and much much more. I can argue my point all night but to be honest Idc and our opinions will have little effect on the op I'm sure.. or at least I hope.

 

[MBS500]

My personal thoughts. Manufacturer does not want you to keep you car forever. They want you to buy a new one in couple years.
So "following by the book" is not always the best option.
Lifetime fluids--same here. There is no life time fluid, they all turn bad at certain point.
Manufacturer considers 150k miles as a lifetime on new car. After that, they expect it to die, and you to come and pay them again.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: boosted
Originally Posted By: dave1251
Originally Posted By: boosted
Read lots around here and don't agree with all of it, other things come into play besides how good the tbn looks in a uoa


What are these "other" things?

Metals, fuel, coolant and much much more. I can argue my point all night but to be honest Idc and our opinions will have little effect on the op I'm sure.. or at least I hope.


You do not believe this data you speak of can not be found in a UOA?

 

[boosted]

Originally Posted By: MBS500
My personal thoughts. Manufacturer does not want you to keep you car forever. They want you to buy a new one in couple years.
So "following by the book" is not always the best option.
Lifetime fluids--same here. There is no life time fluid, they all turn bad at certain point.
Manufacturer considers 150k miles as a lifetime on new car. After that, they expect it to die, and you to come and pay them again.
Very well said. I think you nailed it

 

[The Critic]

You guys really need to stop arguing about the validity of the 3k oil change interval. That was not the purpose of the OP's thread and adds no value to it whatsoever. Let's get back on topic.

 

[boosted]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
Originally Posted By: boosted
Originally Posted By: dave1251
Originally Posted By: boosted
Read lots around here and don't agree with all of it, other things come into play besides how good the tbn looks in a uoa


What are these "other" things?

Metals, fuel, coolant and much much more. I can argue my point all night but to be honest Idc and our opinions will have little effect on the op I'm sure.. or at least I hope.


You do not believe this data you speak of can not be found in a UOA?
I know it can be found in a uoa, my point exactly.

 

[MBS500]

Kreen!!! before you do anything mechanical. And PCV change.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: MBS500
My personal thoughts. Manufacturer does not want you to keep you car forever. They want you to buy a new one in couple years.
So "following by the book" is not always the best option.
Lifetime fluids--same here. There is no life time fluid, they all turn bad at certain point.
Manufacturer considers 150k miles as a lifetime on new car. After that, they expect it to die, and you to come and pay them again.


Keeping a car forever? Do not have too. Because most people will change cars as soon as it is economically possible. Just use the manufactures recommendation as a guide, gather some data on the model of car, and the use some critical thinking for your recommendations. There is such thing as over maintenance which can be just as bad as not enough.

 

[boosted]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
You guys really need to stop arguing about the validity of the 3k oil change interval. That was not the purpose of the OP's thread and adds no value to it whatsoever. Let's get back on topic.
sorry, and I don't believe you should always go 3k. Do a uoa and see what works for "you're" engine. But shorter oci's would of helped the op.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: boosted

What are these "other" things?

Metals, fuel, coolant and much much more. I can argue my point all night but to be honest Idc and our opinions will have little effect on the op I'm sure.. or at least I hope. [/quote]

You do not believe this data you speak of can not be found in a UOA? [/quote]I know it can be found in a uoa, my point exactly. [/quote]

You just made less sense. How does this prove my OCI of 7K on conventional is bad? Or other member's have posted data on almost the exact truck as mine that will exceed my OCI's and his engine condition is great. Also his OCI's look a lot better than mine because his driving involves a lot more highway driving.

 

[AVB]

Did the service writer say the valves could not be adjusted far enough to get back to the correct clearance?

I have seen cams fail in other engines, one was a roller cam Chevy 6.0, one lobe had a groove worn in it from the lifter. I don't know for sure if it was a soft cam, bad lifter or sticking valve. I didn't tear it down far enough to see.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Crazy, I follow the OLM on my Civic and so far the oil fill hole shows a completely spotless top end. Nothing in there but clean metal. About 61,000KM.


A totally different animal.

 

[jorton]

Label on Mobil 5000 bottles used to read oil change is guaranteed for 5000 miles OR the vehicle Oil Life Computer mileage.

 

[Boss302fan]

I owned a 2003 Acura MDX with the V6 from new and it knocked at 90K and I finally gave up and got rid of it at 135K... Always did 5K OCI's with syn and a few with conventional. This engine runs rich and there is nothing you can try that will get rid of the knock. I tried everything that everyone is recommending and it did not cure the knock. It has something to do with a defect in the block. Get rid of it and NEVER buy another Honda V6. BUT the Honda 4 bangers will run forever on 5K OCI's.

 

[MarkM66]

Sounds like the OLM is just taking it to far. It's not the only vehicle doing this.

I have a '09 Traverse, with the DI 3.6L, and got a letter in the mail stating the OLM monitor needs to be re-calibrated to a lesser mileage rating. It's allowing the vehicle to go to long before indicating an oil change is needed.

After a little research, it appears that the three timing chains really abuse the oil, and are actually failing on low mileage vehicles.

I've been changing the oil at 5k miles, and the OLM is right around 50% at that time, so I take it people are going close to 10k miles before the factory OLM is stating an oil change.

Long oil change periods must be some sort of selling point, but don't be the farm on them....

 

[uart]

Originally Posted By: Adam_in_NH
Most of the 30K miles per year were highway miles, run at about 75MPH. Only about 200 miles towing, nothing severe at all, no off-road. Some short trips but very few compared to highway miles.


I don't want to get into any long/short OCI debates, but honestly, with that duty and using good quality conventionals like MC5k and PYB, I think there's something fishy going on here. Maybe some place skipping the oil changes and just resetting the OLM? Or maybe the dealer screwed something up when they were working on it and made up some B-S story to cover themselves?

Ok 8/9k intervals mightn't be ideal, but bad enough to sludge a 3 yo engine to the point of starving the top end, just doesn't seem right to me.

I really think you should take it to another mechanic and let then give an opinion on what damage and what cause. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT HERE!

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: uart
Originally Posted By: Adam_in_NH
Most of the 30K miles per year were highway miles, run at about 75MPH. Only about 200 miles towing, nothing severe at all, no off-road. Some short trips but very few compared to highway miles.


I don't want to get into any long/short OCI debates, but honestly, with that duty and using good quality conventionals like MC5k and PYB, I think there's something fishy going on here. Maybe some place skipping the oil changes and just resetting the OLM? Or maybe the dealer screwed something up when they were working on it and made up some B-S story to cover themselves?

Ok 8/9k intervals mightn't be ideal, but bad enough to sludge a 3 yo engine to the point of starving the top end, just doesn't seem right to me.

I really think you should take it to another mechanic and let then give an opinion on what damage and what cause. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT HERE!


I think its a poor designed engine begging for a shorter OCI.

 

[ottotheclown]

Many Many years ago they sold 6 months 6k miles on oci. Just like today,a selling point. I remember opening a 6cyl Chevy valve cover it was a desert.All THIS 7.5- 10 K IS USELESS UNLESS YOU CONSIDER HOW AND WHERE YOU DRIVE.

 

[Adam_in_NH]

Originally Posted By: AVB
I don't see why the cams would be worn out unless they were starved for oil or the valves were adjusted too tight. That engine has a rocker arm oil pressure sensor, so if it was starving for oil there should have been a warning.


My Honda salesman let it slip that Honda has replaces quite a few cams. He implied that there was a manufacturing problem with some original cams.