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First question is "what is the total mileage on this car?" Second question is " when was the last time you replaced the PCV valve?" If this item is plugged up or compromised, oil consumption can increase. This is the least expensive maintenance item on a car that gets overlooked. Replace it...

GreeCguy gave excellent advice. I just want to add that should you do the pull, replace the timing chain. One problem area to look at carefully is the fragile plate between the water-pump and the timing cover. These have been known to crack and be the source of a coolant leak on these particular...

This kind of problem with a new Honda w/ 11k miles is inexcusable. If the instrument cluster has to be replaced, the dealer had darned well better find a loaner car for for this customer.

Dear SF0059, If you have a warranty claim, the local dealer is required to supply you with a loaner car. If they say all the loaners are loaned out, the service director or the finance manager can loan a customer his demo. Those persons are insured for everything on the lot and can drive a used...

Can you give us a more precise amount of more oil consumed with E10 vs. less on 100% gasoline? If it is say 8 oz difference with the same driving conditions, then this could be an interesting study. While I have never seen such a difference with oil consumption of E10 vs. pure gasoline, ethanol...

Lots of good responses received. The immediate oil change w/ inexpensive oil is step one. The PCV valve is a definite replace. The best fix is to remove the oil-pan and clean it. The job is simple and most parts store stock the gasket or you can use a high quality RTV for your gasket. I bet the...

If the local dealer was doing the service, find out from one of the techs what they are using for the bulk oil. Likely they used 5W-30 until perhaps recently. This particular '01 engine is OK with either 5W-30 or 5W-20. I would lean toward the 5W-30 at 200,000 miles. Changing brands is fine if...

Spetz, the Wynns oil and fuel additives are worthless. Spend your money on a premium synthetic motor oil and call it good. Dr. Olds

I am with the others in suspecting a malfunctioning EGR valve. You should try to get it replaced under warranty (the emissions controls warranty) on all new cars sold. I think the engine is too young to have other causes, although the knock sensor is a possibility. The knock sensor should throw...

The 2 x 8s are by far one of the safest, most stable set of ramps you can build for yourself. 25 or so years ago, when I was strictly a DIYer, I had a problem getting a car onto steel ramps. After some thought, I used two 2 x 8s and had nice ramps that when assembled three layers high, gave me...

The drain and fill on these cars is very easy. Lifetime fill sounds more like new car marketing nonsense- what repair manual specified no fluid change? The 90s & 2000s Volvos I service have done extremely well with Amsoil's synthetic universal automatic trans fluid. It specified the JWS-3309 in...

Your extraction pump should be cleaned w/ brake cleaner after you done with one type of fluid. If you are extracting and pumping in new differential oil, that pump should then be restricted to differential duty only forever. You never want any differential oil (GL-5) to get into your engine or...

I agree with the others- find a Honda shop. The valve cover gasket is to be replaced with the timing belt job as standard procedure. That fixes one oil leak. When the timing belt is off, the standard procedure is to replace both the crank and cam seal. Usually the crank seal is what leaks oil on...

I forgot your filter question. I like the OEM Mann filter and keep my customers to about 12,000 to 15,000 mi OCI as 25k miles is a bit high for a turbo engine even with a PAO based synthetic. Dr. Olds

If this car is consuming oil, the likely culprit is the flame-trap, better known as the PCV valve system. If you have not worked on these, ask a shop that knows these cars. This item "should have" been serviced or replaced at about 100,000 miles. Many oil consumption issues on these cars are...

The extreme pressure additive does NOT belong in the engine crankcase oil. The answer is NO, do not use any gear oil in any engine unless you are determined to replace the eaten bearings during a rebuild in the near future. EP additive belongs differentials and some transmissions with steel...

Diesel engines are better suited to longer trips. If the 3 mile commute is going to be the daily usage, a diesel may not be a good fit. If you had two comparable cars, one a diesel and one a gas-hybrid, the diesel would win the efficiency game on highway driving while hybrid-gas could more cost...

Use a motorcycle oil w/o friction modifiers in 10W-30. Dr. Olds

I do a somewhat regular servicing of VW TDIs for folks. The keys to VW TDI maintenance are: use only a 505.01 synthetic diesel oil( 507 oils for 2009 & up) ALWAYS use a bottle of engine flush for 10 minutes before draining old oil at every oil change. I would not run the engine for more than 30...

I second the magnetic drain-plug. If you want to flush the differential, just do a warm-up drive and drain the differential oil. Then spray into the fill plug hole w/ a can brake cleaner. It will loosen and drain out gum and varnish and then evaporate- you don't want a flushing chemical to stay...