2015 Honda CRV After 105K Miles - Valve Cover Off

Joined
Jun 12, 2008
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87
Location
Arizona
The valves had to be adjusted so I got this shot with the cover off.

IMHO, this is not bad considering that it is the first year with GDI on the CRV, and had suffered from fuel dilution all its life. In the Oregon winter with lots of short trips it was so bad that the oil level would rise.

I never used a specific oil, and just got any 0w-20 brand name synthetic (Mobil, Valvoline, Castrol, Pennzoil) on sale at WM.

Then somewhere around 65K it started consuming oil over the 7K change interval from 1qt to 2qts eventually, even with High Mileage oils.

At 88K it had a BG EPR flush and another one at 89K. That reduced oil consumption to about 1/2 quart with 0w-20 oils.

Since the flushes I don’t go over 5K with the change interval and the oil consumption is minimal.

Around 100K we moved to Arizona and filled it with Valvoline R&P 5w-30. We need to get another 5 years out of this baby until my kid finishes college!

IMG_4908.webp
 
Fuel is a good solvent
I am not sure how many Honda 4-cylinder valve cover photos you have seen, but they are almost always like that, at least the ones I worked on and kept the oil change history on.

we had a 2006 Civic that I did the valve cover on around 150k, it looked brand new inside, with no varnish or discoloration on the cheap Dino Honda 5w20 and Walmart dino oil changes, The same thing on the 2008 Civic that I did a valve cover on around 280k, looked new inside.

I don't think it is just the fuel acting as a solvent in this case; it is the Honda 4-cylinder engine designs.
 
don't think it is just the fuel acting as a solvent in this case; it is the Honda 4-cylinder engine design

Consuming oil at 65k miles is a good design?
Excessive oil consumption is one of the indicators of excessive wear.
The engine is shiny, what about other things that do matter?
 
Consuming oil at 65k miles is a good design?
Excessive oil consumption is one of the indicators of excessive wear.
The engine is shiny, what about other things that do matter?
I was clearly referring to the valvetrain looking clean, as in no varnish or discoloration, when did I mention that the bottom end was good or great even? and "Good" wasn't mentioned anywhere either.
 
I was clearly referring to the valvetrain looking clean, as in no varnish or discoloration, when did I mention that the bottom end was good or great even? and "Good" wasn't mentioned anywhere either.


So Honda has neither good or bad design that makes engine looks clean, that is your statement?
I would be more impressed by engine that does not burn any oil rather than looking shiny. If oil rings got stuck indeed, it obviously did not help there.
 
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Looks good. Don't know if the BG treatment variable made a difference in appearance, but good, nonetheless. Your anecdotal oil usage improvement, pretty impressive imo. Thanks for the pic.
 
Thanks for all the comments. Overall this has been a very reliable vehicle and it never left us stranded.

The engine GDI vibration recall was the most bothersome aspect of ownership and it took Honda way too long to acknowledge and address. Eventually they installed improved engine mounts and heavyweight head rests.

Standard maintenance items are easy to access and service. I have done all maintenance myself accept for this valve adjustment and a rear brake replacement when I was too sick to deal with it.

Next up is a coolant replacement…
 
Also have a 2015 CRV. Fair amount of cold weather and short-tripping. No noticeable oil consumption at 95k, but never more than a 5k/60% oil life remaining OCI per Honda’s Maintenance Minder. A few years ago we had an Acura tech on this board who thought Honda’s MM didn’t penalize oil life enough for short trips. I suspect he was correct.
 
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