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Excessive Oil Consumption Question

45K views 118 replies 29 participants last post by  StevenNdebbie 
#1 ·
my wife has a 2010 MDX, for the last year, it has started burning oil, I believe this a carbon build up issue on the pistons and ring issue allowing oil to burn in the combustion chamber. My question is, has anyone fixed this issue and what was the cost? I am considering trading her car in while it still has value, but would like to find out if there is a fix and how much it will cost. Thanks
 
#2 ·
How much oil are you using? I usually use about 2/3 -3/4 of a quart between 7500 mile M.I.D. changes.
 
#3 ·
the add oil light will come on before its time for a oil change so roughly 3 qrts every 7500 miles. This has been an issue for a number of Acura V6's, Honda has extended the warranties for some select Honda models, just curious if anyone has fixed the issue on their own, what is and what the cost is. I'm also aware of the Honda 1 qrt per 1K miles and its absurd, just their way of not taking responsibility of the problem until a judge rules against them.
 
#6 ·
How many miles on your motor?

Did you buy the car used?

What is your OCI and what oil and oil weight have you used?

Did you check the PCV system?

Did you check the coolant to make sure none of it is going there?

Did you notice any unusual smoking either when you start the car for the first time or when you gun it?

Have you checked for any leaks or weeps on the bottom of the car?

Where do you live and is the vehicle garaged?

Have you done any compression and leak down tests on the motor? Based on the results, it may further warrant a boroscope inspection on the cylinder walls if any of them read low.
 
#7 ·
Bought it new
106K
What is OCI? we use whats recommended, i think its 5W-20, what ever it says on the oil cap
No on the PCV - will check (where is this located)
No on the coolant - will check
No leaks, no smoke,
I live in GA and its always garaged
 
#8 ·
(Sorry, I just noticed Alpine003 had already answered..)

Make sure it is not a problem with the engine/crankcase/etc breather/ventilation/pcv valves. The latter get clogged or stop working if they use a valve. This will increase the inside pressure and will force the oil to go down the valve guides into the engine. It can be the valve guide oil seals, too. If you have been changing your oil and using synthetic oil, it will be rare that the piston rings will be the caused.

If you have blue smoke at startup and then it disappears, then the valve seals may be an issue.

You can check your spark plugs to see the condition of them and what cylinder may be causing the issue.

A compression test will show if the condition of the cylinders, pistons, and valves.

Make sure your engine is not losing oil through any gaskets..
 
#9 ·
Try using Castrol synthetic oil. It was reporter in TL forum that it burn less oil in j37 engines.... J37 are know for oil consumption... So burn, some not, some start burning at 10k miles some at 130k miles... Mine at 46k miles dont burn a drop...
 
#15 ·
There is nothing wrong with this as a last resort if you are on a budget and really like the car otherwise. BUT I would really try to identify the issue first as it could be a simple fix.

I don't recommend this bandaid unless you have already had a terminal diagnosis done on it already which would involve a engine rebuild as your only choice.

My $.02
 
#12 ·
Or like older folks do when this happens, use a 5-30 SAE synthetic oil that doesn't filter that easily through like the 5-20 but protects the engine too.
 
#13 ·
Since there are no visible leaks, I would be worried about 3 quarts of oil every 7k causing carbon build up in the cylinders and/or maybe affecting the exhaust/emission down the road. It is like pouring grease down the drain, it is going to cause a problem down the road eventually.

I would change out my spark plugs. You can see if you are getting excessive carbon buildup on 1, some or all plugs. Depending on how long you want to keep the MDX and what the fix will be; 3 quarts of oil might be a lot cheaper than fixing the engine. I had an old 97 Honda Accord with a rear main seal leak between the engine/trans. It was just cheaper to add about a quart of oil twice a year (had to put plastic on the garage floor) than to fix.
 
#17 ·
acura has been replacing engines with oil consumption! See your dealer for them to perform the oil consumption test.

Oil burning clogs the cats, coats the valves in carbon thus changing the volume of air and exhaust that is being moved with each stroke of the piston.
 
#19 ·
My wife's 2010 has the exact same problem. It does not show any signs or a problem, but will sometimes use 1/2 to 3/4 or a quart of oil in a week. The odd thing is that it is somewhat erratic. One week it will use almost no oil then the next week 3/4 of a quart.

I had the same thought that oil is cheap, so I just stock up on oil when I see a sale and check/add oil once per week. Still a pain in a but.

I have a 2007 MDX with over 200,000 miles and it doesn't use oil at all. Rarely need to add any oil between oil changes.
 
#20 ·
Based on all the effort to improve the engine/performance/driveability for the '10 engines, they seemed to have sacrificed somewhat on long term durability.

Since you are able to drive both types on a daily basis, do you think your '10 model drives significantly better engine/performance/refinement wise than your '07?
Would you describe the difference as negligible at best, marginal, noticeable, very much improved, etc?

Just thinking why Acura went through so much effort to revamp a good motor for the '10+ models for what appears on paper at least of very marginal gains. Maybe the driving feeling is different and that's what I'm trying to quantify here as it being worth it or not to have redesigned their motor.

Thanks
 
#25 ·
Thanks for the feedback.
 
#23 ·
Because there isn't a difference in power?
The 10 model should REV faster because of the CNC Pistons low rotating mass but that's all.. Engine output is the same all around the second gen.

What you should feel is the faster acceleration due to the 6 speed trans.
 
#24 ·
Peak engine power is the same. Doesn't mean the area under the curve or broadband power isn't affected. The area under the curve is what you notice more in a daily street driving situation. Don't forget that the '10+ models got dual intake/exhaust vtec, higher compression which I'm assuming has a revised ecu mapping as well.

I'm sure Acura did it to refine their motors(less nvh and better driveability) while bumping up their low-midrange power/tq somewhat. Obviously on a 4500+lb car, small increases will only have marginal/negligible effects if at all to your avg driver.
 
#28 ·
Also I was under the impression that the 10 model had dual VTEC too but under the wiki page it shows that the MDX from 10 to 13 still uses the J37A1 and the J37 engine never had the dual VTEC Upgrade until:
The J37A2 (RL) which was the first V6 engine with dual VTEC, then the J37A4 (TL) and J37A5 (ZDX)
 
#35 ·
"10+" = 2010-2013 to further clarify. As for the Wiki, it probably is a typo or mistake.

What do you mean by long term durability?
Cast iron cylinder/blocks have so far been proven to last a long time where as aluminum based engines, especially ones that have Nikasil haven't faired so well, long term durability wise.

2010 MDX's do have dual VTEC which ties the intake lobes to make them have more lift via oil pressure.

2010 MDX's got higher compression and some revisions that help it make more lower end power for better day to day driving. This boost in lower power came at a few costs such as more fuel consumption on the highway despite the 6spd trans.

2010 models use Nikasil liners in the engine that are wearing prematurely and causing oil consumption issues. The nikasil liners were designed to reduce friction and heat to increase power and MPG.
Thank you for saving me some typing.

Guys, bottom line is we don't have any conclusive evidence without putting a brand new '07 and '10 on a dyno back-to-back to see where the increases may or may not lie in the powerband.

However we need to ask and it's ok to speculate and theorize why Acura would've made a drastic change to the engine for a SUV that was a best seller and top of it's class in '07-'09 that already had a great motor. They could've easily ridden the coat tails of all the reviews/sales/awards they have received with the '07-'09 models. I speculate they felt they could make enough improvements to the older motor to justify the additional R&D/costs/tooling to keep the MDX at the top of it's class without having the competition take over and also to keep the MDX fresh during mid cycle.

If you have any other theories, please share but just shooting down theories without contributing new ones is sort of a futile debate.

Unfortunately, the well intentioned '10+ "updates" by Acura is not panning out to be so good for everyone.

There are quite a few Porsche members also suffering a much worst fate if that makes anyone feel better. These have the same style Nikasil based cylinders. Some are suffering cylinder scoring(leading to excessive oil consumption) as early as 40k miles which entails a full engine rebuild at a cost of $20k. This is quite embarassing for a $100k car to not even make it to 100k miles.
 
#37 ·
Yes, guys have used oil with higher shear capability with higher HTHS ratings. Oils like Mobil1 0w40 or Castrol European formula tends to meet these criterias. Doesn't guarantee it will reduce it but it's easy enough to try on your next oil change.
 
#40 ·
Alpine003 and csmeance you guys are wrong...
I repeat, ALL J37 ENGINES AND ALL YEARS ARE WITH ALUMINUM CYLINDERS!!!!

This is the picture of 2009 acura mdx that destructed it self. it was attached on page 2, maybe you guys missed it...

SEE NO SLEEVES.

Alpine003 i want to ask you one more time, from where you getting that 2010+ durability went down? Since there are much more info of self destructed 2007-2009 mdx engines????

THERE ARE NO SUCH A THING AS J37 ENGINE WITH CAST IRON SLEEVES
 
#44 ·
Take it easy dude. What we both said was 2010+ had the Nikasil liners.

Before that, I was quoting the official Acura press release on what they said. I never said directly that MDX durability has gone down. What I said generally is that Nikasil liner's record hasn't faired so well in the durability department, not specific to Acura but in general compared to their cast iron counter parts. One of the common traits I have noticed with Nikasil liners is oil consumption, whether it be premature wear from the rings having too tight tolerances and creating premature wear, or having it cause cylinder scoring leading to extra oil consumption.

I mean look at all new BMW's, Audi's, etc. Some of them burn a quart of oil since new and this is considered normal, even states it in owner's manual. My mom's new Audi does this. Sort of rubs me the wrong way too.

I only counted a handful of '07-09 engines that suffered some failure documented here. That's not to be confused with '10+ engines that are still running but just consuming some amount of oil. This to me doesn't constitute failure but just premature wear IMO.

No need to get into any arguments here. I'm just stating my observations and theories. Also no need to be alarmed as I said. There are many MDX's out there still running great. :cool:
 
#51 ·
Just changed the oil in the '12 last night and zero usage in 10k miles, with just under 80k miles total on engine. That was on 0W-20 as well. I'm sending a sample to Blackstone, but so far have never seen elevated levels of any contaminants that would indicated anything strange going on with the liners. I guess we'll see what happens as the miles keep piling on.
 
#53 ·
Oil analysis again came back excellent at a 10k mile interval, total of 80k miles on engine. Wear metals all good, contaminants well below concern levels, and TBN at 2.4 using Mobil 1 0W-20 with an OEM filter. MID was at 0% and negative 300 miles.
 
#57 ·
Starting to see some oil consumption on my '11 mdx. It used a quart between this last service interval and she's due again for a1 service at near 60k. The car has been maintained by my local honda dealer, has a 7yr/100k extended warranty, and it's only had mobil 1 5w20 from its first oil change. It will be interesting to see how the consumption progresses. It just started this service interval.
 
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