Good afternoon Everyone,
I'm a first time poster, but have read this forum for a long time. I would like to start by saying thank you to all the contributors. The information on this forum is invaluable. I hope I can make a positive contribution to the forum by sharing some information about my Honda Pilot.
My story:
I purchased a used 2009 Honda Pilot Touring exactly 3 months ago with about 72k miles. It has the 3.5, 6 cylinder VCM engine. There was no noticeable noise when I test drove it, and it has all service history done at the original dealer. It looks like it would follow the Honda MM (roughly 7-8k OCI) and had the standard conventional oil – assuming the bulk oil most Honda dealers use. After having the car for a few weeks, I noticed a slight ticking/clacking, so I took it in to my local Honda dealer to have it checked. They diagnosed the noise as a bad timing belt tensioner and out of clearance valves, which were replaced and adjusted respectively. The noise was quieted, but was not completely gone. My service advisor told me the engine had excessive sludge and varnish, and I should change over to a good synthetic oil and shorten my OCI. I did that immediately, and have done one more change 3k miles later, but the noise seemed to be getting louder.
At this point I reached out to both Trav, as he has worked on several of these Honda engines, and adam_in-NH, who has this engine with a failing camshaft (link to his thread below). Many, many thanks to both of you for your help and advice.
I took the Pilot back to the dealer this morning for what I assumed would be a front camshaft replacement. They called me a few hours later and said the engine had piston damage across the front bank of cylinders, and the car would need a new motor. My advisor did not elaborate beyond that at this point as to what may have caused the damage or the extent of the damage. I would think it had something to do with the oil starvation caused by the sludge, and I will try to verify that and post a follow up.
I wanted to post this to support Adam’s findings that 5w20 conventional oil and the Honda MM OCI, seem to be a death sentence for this Honda engine. When I have the car back, I plan to use 5w30 PP or PU, at a 4K OCI. Hopefully that will be enough to avoid future problems.
Adam’s thread: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2675186
If you have any questions or feedback, please let me know. I would be happy to share more details with anyone interested. Thanks.
Mike
I'm a first time poster, but have read this forum for a long time. I would like to start by saying thank you to all the contributors. The information on this forum is invaluable. I hope I can make a positive contribution to the forum by sharing some information about my Honda Pilot.
My story:
I purchased a used 2009 Honda Pilot Touring exactly 3 months ago with about 72k miles. It has the 3.5, 6 cylinder VCM engine. There was no noticeable noise when I test drove it, and it has all service history done at the original dealer. It looks like it would follow the Honda MM (roughly 7-8k OCI) and had the standard conventional oil – assuming the bulk oil most Honda dealers use. After having the car for a few weeks, I noticed a slight ticking/clacking, so I took it in to my local Honda dealer to have it checked. They diagnosed the noise as a bad timing belt tensioner and out of clearance valves, which were replaced and adjusted respectively. The noise was quieted, but was not completely gone. My service advisor told me the engine had excessive sludge and varnish, and I should change over to a good synthetic oil and shorten my OCI. I did that immediately, and have done one more change 3k miles later, but the noise seemed to be getting louder.
At this point I reached out to both Trav, as he has worked on several of these Honda engines, and adam_in-NH, who has this engine with a failing camshaft (link to his thread below). Many, many thanks to both of you for your help and advice.
I took the Pilot back to the dealer this morning for what I assumed would be a front camshaft replacement. They called me a few hours later and said the engine had piston damage across the front bank of cylinders, and the car would need a new motor. My advisor did not elaborate beyond that at this point as to what may have caused the damage or the extent of the damage. I would think it had something to do with the oil starvation caused by the sludge, and I will try to verify that and post a follow up.
I wanted to post this to support Adam’s findings that 5w20 conventional oil and the Honda MM OCI, seem to be a death sentence for this Honda engine. When I have the car back, I plan to use 5w30 PP or PU, at a 4K OCI. Hopefully that will be enough to avoid future problems.
Adam’s thread: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2675186
If you have any questions or feedback, please let me know. I would be happy to share more details with anyone interested. Thanks.
Mike
