2012 Honda cr-v oil problem

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Apr 15, 2023
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I bought this car new, going by the maintenance minder I change the oil when it gets to 15%. It is always low when I do change it. Last week my wife got home and it was chattering. Shut it off and I checked the oil and put a quart in it. Never been that low. The mm was at 40%. I went ahead and changed the oil and filter yesterday. I use 0 w 20, that is what I have always used and what it calls for. I have read that some people go to 5 w 30. I do not know where the oil is going, its not leaking and burning it that I can tell. Car has around 131000 on it. Any ideas?
 
As @skyactiv noted, the PCV valve needs to be replaced, as you probably never replaced it.

You may have carbon buildup. Get four 15oz bottles of Red Line SI-1: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NQB7OM2. With the fuel tank nearly empty, put in two bottles, then fill it up. Next fill-ups do one bottle per fill-up. This stuff contains a lot of PEA, which will help break up carbon deposits inside the combustion chamber.

Switch to Mobil 1 EP High Mileage oil. It's safe to got with a 5W-30. It will be slightly thicker.

The solutions above are inexpensive to try and you stand a very good chance to help you get more out of your vehicle.
 
I think you should start checking the oil level proactively. Once a month is a good starting point. Waiting till an oil change or chattering before correcting the level and I see a new engine/vehicle in your near future.
I agree 100% my wife needs to check her oil once a month:)
 
As @skyactiv noted, the PCV valve needs to be replaced, as you probably never replaced it.

You may have carbon buildup. Get four 15oz bottles of Red Line SI-1: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NQB7OM2. With the fuel tank nearly empty, put in two bottles, then fill it up. Next fill-ups do one bottle per fill-up. This stuff contains a lot of PEA, which will help break up carbon deposits inside the combustion chamber.

Switch to Mobil 1 EP High Mileage oil. It's safe to got with a 5W-30. It will be slightly thicker.

The solutions above are inexpensive to try and you stand a very good chance to help you get more out of your vehicle.
I am going to replace the PCV valve and try the Red Line and go from there. I put Valvoline high mileage in it Saturday. Can the PCV valve be cleaned out?
 
At what mileage do you normally change your oil? Does this vehicle hold 4.2 quarts of oil?
The mileage varies a little each time. It holds 4.2 quarts. We have always gone by when the maintenance minder gets to 15%. That is what the book says to do. If the PCV valve and the red line doesn't help, I will go by a mileage schedule.
 
Probably have stuck rings running it out to the mm. These Honda's, as others, have issues with the rings. Look into a piston soak with Berryman's B12 and run Rislone in whatever oil of choosing. I run 5w30, 0w40 and 5w40 in my Element's 2.4l no problems. Also look at HPL EC30 or EC40 to also help clean the rings as well. Replace the pcv don't clean them, it is cheap enough.
After a couple runs of Rislone, a piston soak, HPL EC30 and running Motul Xclean 5w40 it has been full after 2k miles now. This has been a 2yr, 30k mile process so it takes time. I do 5k mile oci normally sometimes 3k but no more than 5k.
 
I am going to replace the PCV valve and try the Red Line and go from there. I put Valvoline high mileage in it Saturday. Can the PCV valve be cleaned out?
It can be, but it's not a good idea. Just install a new one. Valvoline High Mileage works. All these High Mileage oils do is condition your seals and clean a little bit. Regular motor oils are neutral to seals and only clean after themselves.
 
I have been running 5w30 in my wife's 2011 CR-V since the warranty expired, it is the recommended grade in other parts of the world. I have not noticed any downside to doing this and the fuel mileage did not suffer. It burns about 1/2 quart in 1 year and about 5k miles, that is when I change it. Curiously, after I switched grades, the maintenance minder says 30% at the same time/mileage interval that it said 15% before.
 
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Never been replaced.
Replace it with a Honda valve. Yeah, it will be 1.5-2x more expensive than a parts store one but it's still only $20-25 typically.

I use 0 w 20
You can use oil up to 10W-40 in Honda engines. That's straight from Honda owners manuals for that same engine but in other countries. You could certainly try 0W-30 (hard to find in many brands though) and 5W-30 (won't have any problem finding that).

I agree 100% my wife needs to check her oil once a month:)
Just check it a little more often. How long do your intervals usually run, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months ?
 
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Replace it with a Honda valve. Yeah, it will be 1.5-2x more expensive than a parts store one but it's still only $20-25 typically.


You can use oil up to 10W-40 in Honda engines. That's straight from Honda owners manuals for that same engine but in other countries. You could certainly try 0W-30 (hard to find in many brands though) and 5W-30 (won't have any problem finding that).


Just check it a little more often. How long do your intervals usually run, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months ?
Usually around 6 months average. I have two work trucks and a civic to keep up with, guess I need to do a little better on the cr-v.
 
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Don’t bother, it won’t help.
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I've heard of people having some decent success doing a piston soak with Berryman B12 so I've been thinking of trying it on my Camry. PCV valves are cheap so I would replace it even though it's most likely gunked up rings as mentioned.
 
I've heard of people having some decent success doing a piston soak with Berryman B12 [...]
Using PEA is the safest way of cleaning the rings, along with an OCI or two with the cheapest HPL motor oil available. It will loosen carbon deposits and other crud for sure.
 
Have your mechanic do a piston soak with Berryman's B12 Chemtool. 6 hours per soak, with multiple soaks
(but only about 1 total hour of the mechanic's time, as he would just let it soak while he works on other cars).

Before starting, he should remove the fuel pump fuse (to prevent fuel pump from sending fuel to the cylinders during the treatment).

He would then remove the 4 spark plugs, and in the spark plug hole fill each cylinder half full with the Berryman's B12 Chemtool, and then manually move the cylinders up and down periodically for about 5 times. This is the only thing that will help clean the piston rings efficiently. Multiple treatments may be needed.

After that, do an oil change: Add 1 quart HPL engine cleaner 30 + 3.2 quarts full synthetic 5W-30 for the next oil change, and keep that OCI short, at 4k perhaps, as your oil filter will fill up with the soft cleaned varnish/sludge.

Then I would switch to HPL PCMO 5W-30 with it's Ester's for cleaning for at least the next few oil changes.

I own 4 Hondas, and try to never follow the maintenance minder. The infrequent oil changes it recommends can cause the dirty decomposed oil to gum up the oil control rings on the pistons (especially if cheap dealer supplied bulk oil was used),
and turn the car into an oil burner.
For any car with low tension piston rings, which is probably most cases 2008 or newer, it's a good idea to do the extra maintenance
of shorter oil change intervals for this reason. Sadly, UOA's capture wear metals and TBN, but don't measure how dirty or decomposed the oil is.
 
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