Hi. I have a 2005 Odyssey with 135,000 miles (original owner, bought new).
Recent problems:
1). Recently upon coming to a stop, the vehicle started vibrating and nearly stalled. The check engine light came on. Upon pulling away from traffic light, it didn’t have full power and would only travel at about 10 mph.
I pulled off and called my mechanic. I asked him if it was safe to drive or if I needed to have it towed to their shop about 4 miles away. He incorrectly diagnosed it over the phone as a spark plug coil and said it would be fine to drive it. Unfortunately I wasn’t astute enough to even think it might be the oil so I didn’t check it.
After my phone call to the mechanic, I drove off the engine returned to full power and I drove to the shop. I was lucky the engine didn’t seize up. They said the oil didn’t register on the dipstick. They diagnosed it as a bad gasket in the VVT (spool valve) assembly and replaced it. It’s never leaked/used oil before and I’ve always had recommended maintenance. I thought it was fixed and went on my merry way.
2). Soon (2-4 weeks) it displayed the same symptoms (nearly stalled, decreased power) and upon checking the oil it didn’t register again. I added oil and took it to a local Honda dealership. As I recall it took about 4 quarts to bring it to the normal full line. This time they replaced the entire spool valve assembly, the valve cover gaskets the rear and front head plugs, O-rings for camshaft thrust covers, and rear and front UCG set, according to the estimate. That repair was nearly $3000. With just about any gasket that could possibly leak oil replaced, I thought surely I was fixed and good to go this time.
Soon after that I made about a 5 Hour drive that a friend had to follow me, I was informed that on occasion going up a hill or when giving the vehicle gas a brief puff of smoke would come out of the engine exhaust, but it was not continuous.
3). Fast forward about a month from the second repair and the vehicle nearly stalled at a red light and again the oil didn’t register on the dipstick. You would’ve thought I would’ve learned my lesson and been checking it but after all of those repairs I never imagined it could still have a problem. My ignorance. Won’t happen again!
I added oil and took it to the Honda dealership again and they said they couldn’t find a leak and they recommended a 1000 mile consumption test and the mechanic said he thinks that the piston rings are bad. They gave me a ballpark figure that it would take about $4500 to repair the piston rings or they said that I could put a used engine in it and the only one they could find had 120,000 miles and would cost over $5000 to install. That’s only 15,000 fewer miles than the engine it has. Obviously I declined that offer. (Of course Honda made no mention of the VCM issue! I only just learned of that when I began research after hearing this bad news from the dealer.)
Discussion:
They didn’t comment upon how they checked for leaks or what if any diagnostics they did. They didn’t say anything about a dry or wet compression test or a leak down test so I’m not sure how they determined that it isn’t leaking and that they feel the piston rings are bad.
I was really hoping I can take this vehicle to about 200,000 miles. My sister has an 07 Odyssey and it has 200,000 miles and they’ve never had a problem with an oil leak/consumption. I have never let the vehicle run hot or had any “major” problems with it and have always done recommended maintenance. I have had some repairs that I now learned could be a result of the VCM (torque converter (around 40,000 miles), engine mounts (around 80,000 miles), and now oil leak, and consumption at 135k). The only downside is that the major utilization for the vehicle is city driving, short trips - under 2-5 miles, occasionally 10, and rarely farther for trips - hence 135k in 15 years. (Fortunately now I am driving about 120 miles round trip every weekend but that may be a day later and a dollar short!)
In doing research, I’m learning that the VCM can cause premature wear on the piston rings as well as a host of other issues I’ve experienced. I’ve also learned however that there are other things besides the rings that can cause oil consumption, including VCM itself and a bad PCV valve, so I’m hoping to check that out before scrapping a 135k vehicle that has been properly maintained by Honda standards.
Interventions/Questions:
I’ve ordered the VCMtuner2 and a PCV valve. It seems that the PCV valve might be responsible for oil leaks at multiple sites from overpressurization and that that could happen from blow-by due to VCM issues clogging PCV valve. An independent mechanic is going to try and overnight soak/clean the oil control rings this week in case blow-by might be occurring, clogging them. Hopefully these low oil episodes and/or VCM haven’t done irreparable damage to piston rings and/or cylinder walls. Keeping my fingers crossed these interventions may be enough to let her keep on going while!
Any recommendations on if it is worth rebuilding/replacing the piston rings or if that is cost prohibitive should I just keep adding oil and run the vehicle until it dies? If it’s still “consuming” oil after this would you recommend a catch can to keep PCV from getting clogged?
Any advice appreciated…
Lordy I hate car payments!
Recent problems:
1). Recently upon coming to a stop, the vehicle started vibrating and nearly stalled. The check engine light came on. Upon pulling away from traffic light, it didn’t have full power and would only travel at about 10 mph.
I pulled off and called my mechanic. I asked him if it was safe to drive or if I needed to have it towed to their shop about 4 miles away. He incorrectly diagnosed it over the phone as a spark plug coil and said it would be fine to drive it. Unfortunately I wasn’t astute enough to even think it might be the oil so I didn’t check it.
After my phone call to the mechanic, I drove off the engine returned to full power and I drove to the shop. I was lucky the engine didn’t seize up. They said the oil didn’t register on the dipstick. They diagnosed it as a bad gasket in the VVT (spool valve) assembly and replaced it. It’s never leaked/used oil before and I’ve always had recommended maintenance. I thought it was fixed and went on my merry way.
2). Soon (2-4 weeks) it displayed the same symptoms (nearly stalled, decreased power) and upon checking the oil it didn’t register again. I added oil and took it to a local Honda dealership. As I recall it took about 4 quarts to bring it to the normal full line. This time they replaced the entire spool valve assembly, the valve cover gaskets the rear and front head plugs, O-rings for camshaft thrust covers, and rear and front UCG set, according to the estimate. That repair was nearly $3000. With just about any gasket that could possibly leak oil replaced, I thought surely I was fixed and good to go this time.
Soon after that I made about a 5 Hour drive that a friend had to follow me, I was informed that on occasion going up a hill or when giving the vehicle gas a brief puff of smoke would come out of the engine exhaust, but it was not continuous.
3). Fast forward about a month from the second repair and the vehicle nearly stalled at a red light and again the oil didn’t register on the dipstick. You would’ve thought I would’ve learned my lesson and been checking it but after all of those repairs I never imagined it could still have a problem. My ignorance. Won’t happen again!
I added oil and took it to the Honda dealership again and they said they couldn’t find a leak and they recommended a 1000 mile consumption test and the mechanic said he thinks that the piston rings are bad. They gave me a ballpark figure that it would take about $4500 to repair the piston rings or they said that I could put a used engine in it and the only one they could find had 120,000 miles and would cost over $5000 to install. That’s only 15,000 fewer miles than the engine it has. Obviously I declined that offer. (Of course Honda made no mention of the VCM issue! I only just learned of that when I began research after hearing this bad news from the dealer.)
Discussion:
They didn’t comment upon how they checked for leaks or what if any diagnostics they did. They didn’t say anything about a dry or wet compression test or a leak down test so I’m not sure how they determined that it isn’t leaking and that they feel the piston rings are bad.
I was really hoping I can take this vehicle to about 200,000 miles. My sister has an 07 Odyssey and it has 200,000 miles and they’ve never had a problem with an oil leak/consumption. I have never let the vehicle run hot or had any “major” problems with it and have always done recommended maintenance. I have had some repairs that I now learned could be a result of the VCM (torque converter (around 40,000 miles), engine mounts (around 80,000 miles), and now oil leak, and consumption at 135k). The only downside is that the major utilization for the vehicle is city driving, short trips - under 2-5 miles, occasionally 10, and rarely farther for trips - hence 135k in 15 years. (Fortunately now I am driving about 120 miles round trip every weekend but that may be a day later and a dollar short!)
In doing research, I’m learning that the VCM can cause premature wear on the piston rings as well as a host of other issues I’ve experienced. I’ve also learned however that there are other things besides the rings that can cause oil consumption, including VCM itself and a bad PCV valve, so I’m hoping to check that out before scrapping a 135k vehicle that has been properly maintained by Honda standards.
Interventions/Questions:
I’ve ordered the VCMtuner2 and a PCV valve. It seems that the PCV valve might be responsible for oil leaks at multiple sites from overpressurization and that that could happen from blow-by due to VCM issues clogging PCV valve. An independent mechanic is going to try and overnight soak/clean the oil control rings this week in case blow-by might be occurring, clogging them. Hopefully these low oil episodes and/or VCM haven’t done irreparable damage to piston rings and/or cylinder walls. Keeping my fingers crossed these interventions may be enough to let her keep on going while!
Any recommendations on if it is worth rebuilding/replacing the piston rings or if that is cost prohibitive should I just keep adding oil and run the vehicle until it dies? If it’s still “consuming” oil after this would you recommend a catch can to keep PCV from getting clogged?
Any advice appreciated…
Lordy I hate car payments!