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How much oil does your 2010-2013 MDX consume?

2010-2013 Does your MDX consume oil?

47K views 44 replies 31 participants last post by  ayu1nll 
#1 ·
Mine consumes about 1/2 qt every 1,500 miles. Vehicle only has 11,500 miles. Acura considers up to 1 quart every 1,000 "normal", which I think is complete BS.

My dealer said they would performance leakdown test if I want to document the results. Is the 3.7 a flawed motor? The same motor is used in the SHawd TL and there are reports in those forums of oil consumption as well.

All previous Honda's and Acura's I have owned never consumed any oil, very disappointed in the MDX's oil consumption:28:
 
#2 ·
My 07 with 78K miles doesn't burn any. Most manufacturers will tell you that a quart every 1K miles is normal or within tolerance. I wish I knew why some cars do it and others don't. Is it improper engine break in, driving the car too hard before the engine is warm, too long of oil change intervals or something else?
 
#3 ·
My brother once had a Ford Taurus that would need about 2 quarts between oil changes (about 1 quart per 1500 miles). It did that since day one when he bought it brand new. After 150K miles he gave it to my son, and I decided to tear down the engine. I was shocked to find that in one of the cylinders the beveled side of one of the rings was installed backward, so it wouldn't scrape the oil back down during the down stroke. The dealer, of course, insisted that it was within spec, so they wouldn't do anything about it.

On the other hand, the engine did last 150K miles, and could have taken even more if I hadn't gotten sick of adding oil and tore it down prematurely.

My advice is to just check the oil often and top it off as needed. I don't think there is a way for us lowly consumers to make the dealer get off their butt unless the oil consumption exceeds their specs, which is really ridiculous.

For whatever it's worth, the accepted engineering practice I was taught in school is to take the mean and standard deviation of a parameter. Anything lying outside of the mean plus 3 standard deviations is considered unacceptable. My guess is that 1 quart per 1K miles is way beyond that limit.
 
#4 ·
My 07 does not burn a single drop of oil. The following is what I learned from one of my knowledgeable friends. The J37 we have is derived from J35. J35 use cast iron engine sleeves. When Honda made J37 by enlarging J35, it got rid of the cast iron engine sleeve and started using high silicon aluminum as engine sleeves because it has to thinner. So J37 is both more powerful and lighter than J35. I was told J37 is the only Honda engine or even the only Japanese engine with this sleeve. (I am sure about Honda, not super sure about all Japan engines. In this sense, the 2014 is a step back.)

One consequence of using high silicon sleeve is that its break-in process is different. For J35 and other engines with cast iron sleeves, you want to break in smoothly, i.e., 4000 rpm or less in the first 1-2k miles. But for high silicon engine sleeves, you want to break in more violently, so that the piston ring can smooth out the silicon particles. Otherwise, the silicon particles are going to deform the ring. A lot of high end German cars use this kind of sleeves so you sometime hear that you want to drive hard to break in them. Same applies to J37.

So if it is not broken in right, it will burn some oil. The plus is that high silicon aluminum is much harder so even though it burns some oil, it will last a lot longer than cast iron. Our car was broken in by my wife, who drove it pretty hard. So sometimes a more careful driver like u and me is actually not rewarded. Strange, isn't it?
 
#6 ·
I am in the same boat as you. I just top it up as needed. It has done it since new.
 
#10 ·
That's a lemon engine. Any well built vehicle engine will never consumed that amount of oil. Even more, engines with very small built tolerances like Honda/Acura and other modern engines.

Funny, that is the same BS consumption that Mercedes stated when they had tens of thousands of damaged engines, if not more than 100,000 damaged engines, ruined by sludge in the engine. The Mercedes engine was designed/supposed to use a long term FSS mainatence cycle (~10K miles) and use synthetic oil and the dealers were putting dino oil and the engines sludged up and began to fail like flies, well before the 50,000 miles. Then Mercedes began to use synthetic but most the engines where damage already.

Mercedes was telling the tens of thousands of owners the same BS.. that they will not change the engine, or consider it a problem, until it burnt more than 1 quart per 1000 miles. Lots of people dump the SUVs, and when the lawsuits came, it was too late for many of the owners who sold their cars for around 1/5 of the value, or less, after only 4 years..

Try to get rid of the vehicle, get a second opinion from an expert, go to the TV station and tell them the story, and/or place a lawsuit. If it burns that amount of oil now, then just imagine how it will be later.

For the Mercedes with damaged engines, they began to use synthetic oil 0W-40 to 0W-50, which helped with the consumption on very damaged engines. I personally used the synthetic 0W-40 on my ML since my consumption became pretty bad, too. I remember when I flushed my engine twice in a row(the first time) and all the thick sludge came out out. Even the oil cap was full of heavy sludge. At the long run the sludge caused a lot of other problems too..

You may want to try changing to synthetic oil and you need to make sure your crank case breather pipe valve is not obstructed or it will cause large oil consumption, too. With a sludged Mercedes engines, it causes the crank case breather pipe/valve to completely sludge which compounds the issue.

AC
 
#12 ·
Funny, that is the same BS consumption that Mercedes stated when they had tens of thousands of damaged engines, if not more than 100,000 damaged engines, ruined by sludge in the engine. The Mercedes engine was designed/supposed to use a long term FSS mainatence cycle (~10K miles) and use synthetic oil and the dealers were putting dino oil and the engines sludged up and began to fail like flies, well before the 50,000 miles. Then Mercedes began to use synthetic but most the engines where damage already.

Mercedes was telling the tens of thousands of owners the same BS.. that they will not change the engine, or consider it a problem, until it burnt more than 1 quart per 1000 miles. Lots of people dump the SUVs, and when the lawsuits came, it was too late for many of the owners who sold their cars for around 1/5 of the value, or less, after only 4 years..

Try to get rid of the vehicle, get a second opinion from an expert, go to the TV station and tell them the story, and/or place a lawsuit. If it burns that amount of oil now, then just imagine how it will be later.

For the Mercedes with damaged engines, they began to use synthetic oil 0W-40 to 0W-50, which helped with the consumption on very damaged engines. I personally used the synthetic 0W-40 on my ML since my consumption became pretty bad, too. I remember when I flushed my engine twice in a row(the first time) and all the thick sludge came out out. Even the oil cap was full of heavy sludge. At the long run the sludge caused a lot of other problems too..

You may want to try changing to synthetic oil and you need to make sure your crank case breather pipe valve is not obstructed or it will cause large oil consumption, too. With a sludged Mercedes engines, it causes the crank case breather pipe/valve to completely sludge which compounds the issue.

AC
Regarding my 1998 E320 I ignored Mercedes FSS and "filled for life" trans fluid. I change my oil (Mobil 1 0W40) twice a year (6K miles) and trans fluid every 60K miles. I now have 235K miles with no transmission or oil consumption issues. My previous vehicles have also made it past 200K miles with no engine or transmission issues with the exception of my 2001 Acura TL with known transmission design problems.

Back in 1998 Mercedes marketing people were promoting the "low maintenance" benefits of their cars by extending the oil change intervals and "filled for life" transmissions. I am from the old school that fluids wear out even synthetic and the proper way to maintain equipment is with regular oil and filter changes.

My 2007 MDX which I purchased used with 107K miles was dealer maintained using Valvoline Dyno oil. Attached are photos taken with the oil fill cap removed of my 2007 MDX and 2001 TL. The 2001 TL has 210K miles running Mobil 1 5W30. I have started using Mobil 1 synthetic oil in the MDX. It is slowly starting to clean up. The first photo is the TL and the second photo is the MDX.
 

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#17 ·
AC_MDX - They (Mercedes) had to take responsibility, they manufactured the cars. The finger blaming ended there.

It seemed like conventional oil is the culprit. Conventional oil would breakdown well before 10,000 miles. The question is who authorized the use of conventional oil over synthetic oil, the owner, the dealer(s), or the manufacturer? Mercedes (and every car manufacturers) tested their car durability 24 hours a day over period of several months in real world conditions and on a static dynamometer. If anything, engine sludge would have been found. I think it's more of maintenance issue.

Disclaimer: I don't know the whole issue. It's just what I thought from the 3000-foot view.
 
#18 ·
Will share my 2 cents with this group re oil consumption. Currently driving 4 vehicles with the following oil consumption characteristics (I do all PM):
1) '01 ML430 (213K) - 1 qt. every 6K miles (more in summer than winter) - reasonable
2) '05 MDX (166K) - No oil consumption
3) '09 MDX (103K) - No oil consumption
4) '10 MDX (105K) - 1 qt every 1,500 miles - very disappointed in the 2010 MDX - there is no low level oil sensor, just an oil pressure indicator - this apparently only comes on when > 2 quarts have been consumed! I have had 2 instances of this - the first time I drained and measured oil immediately - only 1.5 qts left - had burned 3 qts. in about 4,500 miles (that occurred at 97 K). 2nd instance happened over Christmas on the road and I needed to add 2.5 qts. to get back to full!
 
#19 ·
there is no low level oil sensor, just an oil pressure indicator - this apparently only comes on when > 2 quarts have been consumed! I have had 2 instances of this - the first time I drained and measured oil immediately - only 1.5 qts left - had burned 3 qts. in about 4,500 miles (that occurred at 97 K). 2nd instance happened over Christmas on the road and I needed to add 2.5 qts. to get back to full!
:eek:

You should be checking the oil level regularly (every 1K miles or so) on ANY car (not just the MDX), instead of relying on the warning lights to tell you when the oil is low. Driving over 4K miles without checking the oil is just asking for trouble - BIG trouble, since insufficient oil is a leading cause of having to replace the engine.
 
#21 ·
I have both a '13 MDX with the 3.7L and about 18K miles, and my wife has a '12 TL SH-AWD with about 21K miles. My MDX doesn't use a drop between changes - and I typically have the oil changed at the 5k mile mark every 6 months or so. The wife's TL didn't use any oil between changes during the first few changes. I just did an oil change last week at the 5k mile mark, with the previous change in May 2014 (wife had knee replacement last summer so the mileage was lower). The TL had used about 1/4 quart in that 5k miles, and I felt that usage was due to the shorter trips and the longer duration between changes than normal.

Overall, I don't see any usage (or minimal usage), which has been typical for the Hondas I've owned over the years.

andy

PS - my normal oil change interval is 5-6k miles, 30% remaining on the indicator, and I use semi-synthetic 5W20.
 
#24 ·
Oil consumption on 2010 MDX after 60K miles

I noticed this problem after 60K miles just when warranty had expired. Either it was there all along or I just happen to notice that late :) Now I have been watching it like a hawk and discussing with many mechanics.

Most of them are giving same BS propaganda by Acura that 1Qt replacement for every 1k miles is norm. Not to mention the frigging oil inlet is so badly designed that one can not reach it that easily and it requires using the funnel to add the oil. I am really disappointed with Honda and seriously considering never to buys Honda/Acura again.

Discussed this problem with many Mechanical engineers and they all confirmed that at the most it should loose 1 Qt for every oil change period ( 3-4k Miles range) depending upon driving conditions. I confirmed that oil is not leaking from the block as spark plugs don't show any sign of oil burns. Sounds like 1 or few O rings are misbehaving due to bad design/Manufacturing.
For now financial solution. Replacing Engine would cost at about $10,000. Spending extra $60-100 every year for adding 12 Qts. oil ( 1 qt every month) is much cheaper and will cost about $1000 for the next 10 years. $9000 saved would be nice down payment for the next car whenever I decide to buy in future.
 
#25 ·
Just searched and found this forum thread because I thought I was "seeing things". I switched my 11' MDX over to Mobil 1 synthetic and so I let it go past the service indicator a bit. In doing so my oil light is coming on in between changes. I too am seeing about a 1qt drop over 1500mi. I've had to put in a total of 4qts of $10 syn oil since my last service.. that's $40 in my own oil!!!! This is complete crap. I also own a Merc 07 CLK350 that goes 13000 miles between oil changes and it doesn't lose any oil.

As for someone saying I should check my oil every 1500mi that's bulls&^%.

Does anyone know if Acura will "top off" our cars for free between services?
 
#27 ·
I just purchased an 06 RSX Type S with 170k on it and have nearly finished restoring it to factory condition. The engine runs absolutely fabulous. It does however consume a quart of oil every 750-1000 miles. I have completely rebuilt another K20 and have it on deck for whenever this one lets go, but it may be a while.

My 2011 MDX Advance doesn't burn any oil nor do the Struts have any issues. It has 87k on it now.

My S2000 was purchased new in 2007. I kept it out of VTEC and below 5k rpm for the first 1500 miles of driving (something most can't seem to find the discipline to do) and chose a model with 2 miles on the odo to avoid it being thrashed from test drives. It's now 8 years old and doesn't consume any noticeable amount of oil between change intervals, and when I drive it, I BEAT the hell out of it.
 
#28 ·
i have 2010 Acura MDX and after 60000 miles, I noticed the problem. It is consuming lot more than a quart per 1000 mile. Within 3000 miles, after adding 1 quart per 1000 miles the remaining level in the tank is less than a half on dip-stick. How can they expect owners to live with this kind of nonsense. This points to a defect in their engines and they should help consumers to get this problem fixed. I guess, without class action law suit nothing will happen. I will never ever buy Acura again-- I swear.
 
#29 ·
I'll admit that I did not check the oil level before draining the oil, but I recall it being around the top of the hatched mark on the dip stick when I changed it last as I had accidentally over filled it that time and had to remove some). If I'm not mistaken, that'd be 5 quarts in there. Not including anything stuck in the filter (which I did pour out), I only got 2.33 quarts out! I had synthetic oil in the motor and this is only my second oil change since owning the vehicle.

I don't have the exact mileage between the changes, but assuming a 7500 mile interval, I'm burning a quart every 3200 miles. Not as bad as some folks, I guess.

This last change, I took a picture of the oil level on the dip stick. I'll check it regularly from here on out.
 
#30 ·
Looks like a problem with the 2010 model. Our family has two MDXs. My 2007 has 220,000 miles and uses no oil between oil changes every 7,000 miles. My wife's 2010 uses at least a quart if not two between oil changes every 7,000 miles. The 2010 is burning the oil versus a leak (no drips on driveway)
 
#33 ·
Oil burning is nothing new and has been on cars for ages. However you don't generally expect it on newer cars due to tighter manufacturing tolerances from manufacturing advancements.

Besides clogged cats, cylinder scoring could lead to greater amounts of deposits on the top of the pistons which could eventually lead to knocking and pinging potentially.

But I know guys that just kept topping up the oil and have driven their cars for 30k or more miles until they sold it,

If you live in an inspection state though, you may not pass it if it gets really bad.
 
#34 ·
My 2007 TSX has 175k on it and burns little if no oil between changes and I beat it like a red headed step child.

My 2010 MDX with 86k burns about 1qt every 1000 miles. I was surprised by this since my TSX is so clean. The dealer switched my TSX from 5w20 to 5w30 so I am considering doing the same for the MDX. One thing I noticed while shopping for oil is that mobile 1 5w20 does not meet the by honda spec for engines, but the 5w30 does... In fact I couldn't find a 5w20 in the shop that did have that spec on the bottle. Weird that Honda would spec an engine for an oil type and then not certify any oils for that engine. I will be switching it to 5w30 syntec (same as I run my TSX) at the next oil change.

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#35 ·
My 2007 (3.7L) with 170K burns less oil than any car I've ever owned before it, most with less mileage, it is right near the "full" dipstick mark after 5k miles.

My 2013 TL (3.5L) burns more oil than the MDX and it is only at 24k, though not much, ~1/2 quart over 5k miles. It has done this since the first oil change and the dealer says its normal.
 
#36 ·
Hey guys, my 2010 MDX at 137,000km burns oil a lot. On june 2nd I got a oil change done from dealership at 135k. It is now August 5fth and my oil on the dip stick is completely gone. That's 2 thousands km only within 2 months . What should I do?

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#38 ·
Yep. I have a 2010 with 94K miles and it's burning about 2-2.5 quarts per 5K mile oil change interval. Like this design the most of all generations but this is a major bummer - I planned on driving this into the ground but the oil issue has me reconsidering it.
 
#41 ·
^ I agree.
Its not like we are bashing the facelift 2G MDX like some people might think.. But the oil burning issues are well known and a TSB is enough to tell its a known issue even to Acura/Honda. I really don´t think its a "Miss or Hit" if it were that random Acura would not have released a TSB for it...
The repair bill for Acura must be easily in the 4 digits per MDX affected.

For example: My 220,000miles J32A2 in my TL-S does not consume a single DROP of oil between 12-15K Intervals.
My MDX needs about half a quart of oil to reach 12K which is still "reasonable" considering how much I push my Intervals and how stressed the J37 is.

Using 1/2th 3/4th of a quart per 7500k is not ideal but I still think is not something to worry.
But faulty J37s in the facelift model are using 2-3quarts before hitting 7500K which is hugely abnormal, That is engine oil leak levels.
 
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