Acura TL - 3.7 need oil type change to slow consumption

[Stanley Milgram]

3.7-liter, SOHC V-6 from the spec sheet

This is a slightly larger version of the 3.5L J35 found in older TLs. I know of owners with these older TLs that had the same consumption issues, and went through the same dealer consumption tests.

Oddly enough the same engine was used in Honda's marine engines where Honda recommended 10w30.

As others have said consumption later into the OCI indicates the oil is losing viscosity and no longer suitable. You know for the future to take the owner's manual recommendation with a grain of salt, under warranty or not. Manufacturers have very stringent environmental targets to meet.

Use a High HTHS oil, usually found in "Euro" formulas. I also wouldn't hesitate to try Mobil 1 0w40 as others have suggested.
Also check the PCV as others have suggested.

 

[addyguy]

I didn’t check to see if it was SOHC or DOHC, sorry. I just meant it is a higher-performance overhead-cam, 6-cylinder engine that would benefit from a thicker 0W-40 Euro-spec oil.

 

[FZ1]

.0Viscosity in the Acura 5w-20

Kinematic Viscosity cSt 40°C	47.0
Kinematic Viscosity cSt 100°C	8.5

Viscosity in the M1EP 0w-20 at same respective temps
55
8.6

Viscosity in the M1EP 5w-20 at same respective temps
50
9

Viscosity in the M1EP 5w-30 at same respective temps
60
10.6

I'm thinking to try the M1EP 5w20 to start as it's pretty close and see what happens...

Good plan. The 9.0 M1 5-20 EP ran , noticeably, "thicker" than the 8.8 M1 0w-20 AFE it replaced in a cold Texas winter. Hope it helps.

 

[scotty.honda.dog]

Disable VCM - VCM Tuner II from vcmtuner.com. VCM leads to piston ring problems, oil fouling of spark plugs, oil consumption, misfires. See every Hinda discussion board.

Replace the PCV as a precaution.

Mobil 1 High Mileage or HIgh Mileage Extended Performance in factory specified weight has worked for me well in the 3 Honda J35 enginee that I maintain.

 

[Gasbuggy]

Recommend a remote start ..

 

[FTTSHO]

My buddy’s got a beater Acura TL with that engine. Engine has about 295k miles. He use to run 5w20 in it and it burned about half a quart per 2k miles. The engine really needs to be replaced but he’s just gonna run it till it stops running and then junk it.

So lately he’s been using whatever 5w40 he could find and now it only burns half a quart per 4-5k miles.

Thicker oil seemed to help my buddy out. You might want to try it and see how it is.

 

[RateNate]

Its an acura with the VQ 3.7 I assume, most vqs tend to burn oil from what I've gathered all around the web and owners. My lexus with the 3.5L yota engine had consumption issues after the 3k mark as well and I watched it like a hawk. Check my thread I created on my profile about it, I believe my issues were deferred maintenance/stuck piston rings. Also I religously ran PP/PUP 5w30 in it with a wix filter, just recently started playing with Mobil 5w30 syn and it seems to burn more by being lower on the dipstick once at 5k than the PP during a 5k interval (all engines may react differently AND I also noticed when the oil burned at WOT it had a unique smell that entered the cabin and I never had that before using mobil so the natural gas stuff maybe burns cleaner if anything) so just run it harder once at operating temp to see if something may change (it definitely did for me). When starting the car let it idle up to 1 Min no longer than that and drive it conservatively before it warms up and before shutting it down let the thing idle for a few seconds to cool off as well. I also would recommend using more cruise control since that would reduce engine stress and it may also have an affect

 

[nicholas]

I've got a 2014 TL the 3.7. some have consumption issues from the factory. It happens mostly when you hit the gas like my wife does before it's fully warm. You can drive it warn on a road trip for 3k miles and it won't burn a drop, is the cold starts that cause it, and with the wife driving it on commute it happens often. I've been running the factory semi syn 5w-20. I am out of warranty and going to switch oils.

Any recommendations for oils/weights that will slow consumption in this motor? I'm not sure if i can use a heavier weight without risk to motor. Was thinking to use M1 high mileage if available, the car has 90k on it.

5w-20 mobil 1 HM.
3 Short oil changes.

 

[Bullwinkle007]

I run 5/40 in mine. Castrol, M1, Valvoline, or Motul

 

[High Performance Lubricants]

What is your climate? That is an important starting point

 

[Sedin26]

Supertech 5w40 has vastly slowed down consumption for me in a couple of
engines that went through it fairly quickly with 5w30

 

[WylieCoyote]

I switched my 2015 Canyon over to Castrol 5W-40 and consumption slowed compared to the Mobil1 5W-30 every 5,000 it has lived on since 2015. I switched it to Mobil 1 5W-40 2 changes ago change and it seems to have almost stopped. The GM 3.6 likes it thick. Your Honda 3.7 might as well.

 

[ragtophardtop]

I had to travel for work and forgot to check back in. I used M1 5w20 EP and it burned more than than the factory oil since the last oil change. I am really not a fan of M1, except maybe the high mileage. I've used M1 in a couple of vehicles and all showed either consumptions where there wasn't any, or higher consumption.

I got some 5w30 Castrol Syntec high mileage today on sale. I'm going to run it and watch it closely for 3k miles and see where I'm at with consumption. Depending on where this goes I'll probably go with either some High Performance Lubricants Engine Cleaner, run a couple of short changes with M1 high mileage, or go to a 0w-40 euro formula. TBD. Since the wife drives this more than I do, I'm tempted to go to the 0-40 right away but wanted to make an intermediate try with 5w30 to see what happens.

I suspect the usage is due to weak piston rings in these engines, which then get gummed up with the factory oil when the standard oil change recommendation of 7500 miles is observed. Not sure that any oil can really clean the rings out at this point, but a slightly thicker oil at startup may help loss through the rings until the car is warm.

 

[ragtophardtop]

Disable VCM - VCM Tuner II from vcmtuner.com. VCM leads to piston ring problems, oil fouling of spark plugs, oil consumption, misfires. See every Hinda discussion board.

Replace the PCV as a precaution.

Mobil 1 High Mileage or HIgh Mileage Extended Performance in factory specified weight has worked for me well in the 3 Honda J35 enginee that I maintain.

No eco light in this car. That website says this eco light stuff ended in 2013, mine is a 2014. Thanks for the link though, I'm going to share it, I HATE eco crap. Whoever invented the start stop systems in cars, the one that kills your engine at every stoplight, deserves to stand in front of a firing squad.

 

[doublebase]

I had to travel for work and forgot to check back in. I used M1 5w20 EP and it burned more than than the factory oil since the last oil change. I am really not a fan of M1, except maybe the high mileage. I've used M1 in a couple of vehicles and all showed either consumptions where there wasn't any, or higher consumption.

I got some 5w30 Castrol Syntec high mileage today on sale. I'm going to run it and watch it closely for 3k miles and see where I'm at with consumption. Depending on where this goes I'll probably go with either some High Performance Lubricants Engine Cleaner, run a couple of short changes with M1 high mileage, or go to a 0w-40 euro formula. TBD. Since the wife drives this more than I do, I'm tempted to go to the 0-40 right away but wanted to make an intermediate try with 5w30 to see what happens.

I suspect the usage is due to weak piston rings in these engines, which then get gummed up with the factory oil when the standard oil change recommendation of 7500 miles is observed. Not sure that any oil can really clean the rings out at this point, but a slightly thicker oil at startup may help loss through the rings until the car is warm.

Yeah, I want to say that engine had a piston replacement campaign for stuck rings, you can try various cleaning methods, but I think you know where this is going. Good news is you probably can stretch this thing out for years before it really becomes enough of a nuisance to get an engine or get rid of the vehicle.

 

[Cujet]

I've got a 2014 TL the 3.7. I'm not sure if i can use a heavier weight without risk to motor.

Thats the thing, in the vast majority of cases, there is absolutely no downside to a higher viscosity. Especially when your choice is a quality synthetic.

in fact you’ll preserve the lifespan of low tension piston rings and (I know you have a timing belt) and internal chains by doing so.

The idea that a 10W-30 is somehow “thick” at normal operating temps is utterly incorrect.

my suggestion is standard M1, 10W-30.

 

[cheesepuffs2]

Disable VCM - VCM Tuner II from vcmtuner.com. VCM leads to piston ring problems, oil fouling of spark plugs, oil consumption, misfires. See every Hinda discussion board.

Replace the PCV as a precaution.

Mobil 1 High Mileage or HIgh Mileage Extended Performance in factory specified weight has worked for me well in the 3 Honda J35 enginee that I maintain.

Yes to all of this except I also started running 5W-30 in mine instead of 0W/5W-20 and that helped slow consumption too. Mine has been doing best on Platinum HM for whatever reason.

 

[wlk]

Run some 5-15w40 with a qt of Rislone for a couple 3k oci to help clean rings. Or use HPL EC30/40 instead of Rislone. Then try HPL oil, Amsoil SS, Motul Xclean or Redline for a oci or two to continue your cleaning. Then run whatever Xw30/40 of choosing, if you want a heavy 5w30 easily sourced run PP Euro L 5w30 or QSFS Euro 5w40 or Mobil 1 Euro 0w40 all found at wallyworld and keep your oci to no more than 5k miles from here on out.

 

[vtec260]

I had same issue with my '12 TL. Nothing fixed it other than getting the dealer to warranty the engine work. I used various grade of synthetic and semi synthetic blends along PCV replacement. Rear bumper by the exhaust had nice soot coating that took lots of elbow grease to remove each year.
Had to go through the red tape to get the job approved, but mine used enough to qualify. Dealer wanted proof of all the oil changes since I had bought it in 2014 (thankfully, I took pictures of oil and filter used, mileage, and oil life % at the time of change). Along with the warranty work, the dealer changed out the spark plugs, timing belt, and coolant change at no charge which was nice. No oil consumption in last 40 000km. However, when I did the oil change after the repair, I can take the drain plug off with my finger. Nice job.