williec80

My dad has a 2002 Honda Civic and it's leaking oil like a SOB... bout 2 quarts a week. He drives about 2 hours round trip 5 days a week to work. Car runs smooth, no recognizable problems except the oil missing. I just noticed that the engine is acting like it wants to sputter a tiny bit, like it wants to start stall but it's still cycling at the same speed.

There's no oil stain where my dad parks and it's not smoking so I'm at a loss as to explain the oil issue. I let it run a while in my yard with a white tarp under it to see if it is actually leaking and nothing yet. I ran it up to Advanced Auto & their diagnostic gave a P1457 code which google says is a leak in the EVAP, because the yellow engine light was on, but now it's flashing... never seen one flash before.

The car was losing oil so my dad took it to the dealership & they ended up pulling & rebuilding the engine & a bunch of other stuff to the tune of about $3200. My dad got his car back and it's still losing oil, 2 quarts a week. He took it back and they thought they found a faulty seal around the timing plate & the oil pan, replaced them & still losing 2 quarts a week. Frankly I think the dealership did a half hearted job because some of the stuff he paid to have done the first time wasn't done at all, like replacing hoses and what not.

Anyone got any good ideas? We really don't want to scrap the car over an oil leak but at the same time we don't want to have to go to another mechanic and shell out another $3200 either.

thanks in advance!

williec80

Update:
got my car back from my regular mechanic and he ran a compression test on it.

Results:
Cylinder 1 80% leakage
Cylinder 2 45% leakage
Cylinder 3 30% leakage
Cylinder 4 25% leakage
Keep in mind this engine was pulled & rebuilt two weeks ago.

He also stated that maximum tolerable leakage in a good condition engine should be 40% range at maximum and in a newly rebuilt engine 20% range.

Took it back to the dealership since my regular mechanic does not want to touch it because it will void the warranty on the work that was just done and currently awaiting to hear something besides the song and dance they tried to give me the other day.

Anyone with any ideas or comments? They would be welcomed

MindBomber

p1457 indicates the evap canister and related vacuum lines aren't air tight, it's not the cause of the leakage.

There could be many different causes for oil to mysteriously disappear inside an engine, but all of them point towards a poor job or cuting corners during the rebuild. It's possible that the pistons rings are lined up causing the oil to slip past them or that there is damage to the sleeves..

MarkM01

I don't under stand the % leakage results.

% off of what standard?

What did each cylinder compress to?

Just wondering.

Oil is getting by the rings, and being burned in the engine. If it was leaking that much, you'd notice it on the ground, or spewed all over the bottom of the car. I'm surprised the catalytic converter has plugged up yet.

Needs an engine, or keep adding oil to it.

I would of took it to be diagnosed by the dealer that raped you on the so called "engine rebuild."

EM2abe

Get a new motor. They are pretty cheap... and see if you can get a refund on the motor that they DIDN'T fix. Or have them give you back the difference.

B16aEk4drbeater

Bring it back to the Stealership... tell them you paid $3200,,, and thats more than enough to even replace the entire engine at a local independent shop.... If they mis-diagnosed it the first time,, guess what,,, take care of their mistake... You paid Top dollars at the Stealership for a reason,, not to have them morons throw darts with your money,, it should have been fixed properly the first time,, no ands, ifs, or buts....

B16aEk4drbeater

Oh,, also,, if they give your dad any bs,, just call Honda Corporate and tell them the entire situation and complain and complain and complain,,, horrible service,, non-professional staff,, mis-diagnosed,, throwing darts with your money,, not replacing parts as stated in work order,,etc..... Once Corporate steps in place,, that Stealership has to do something about it,,, better yet,,,, request for a full refund... Just pisses me off when these stealership takes advantage of the normal Joe....ripping ppl off like theres no tomorrow.... $3200 to rebuild an engine on a car that I betcha that they will only give you $3500 for a trade-in value... FAIL... lol

99blackcivicSi

never rebuild a d17 at a dealer such a problomatic motor. sorry to hear about your issues definatly call American Honda and get a case started best course of action.

lazlong

There is no way they rebuilt that engine with that amount of leakage. And really 10% leakage should be max, 20% is extreme in a rebuild or new engine.

$3K is about right for a rebuild or a used engine at any mechanic ($1K for the engine, $2K for labor). Get your money back (if you can) and take it to an independent (usually there's a independent Honda shop in your area) or find an H-T member near you who will do a swap in their driveway with a used engine. FYI: Any reputable dealer will give you at least a 1 year warranty on a used engine.

williec80

OK well after picking the car up from the dealership for the 3rd or 4th time, it seems they didn't even rebuild the engine. The rebuilt the heads & that's it, they didn't do any work on the lower parts of the engine.

Apparently they were definitely throwing darts at the situation b/c some guy on the floor gave my dad the "we can do this for X amount of money." Then they'd call him up every other day with "it didn't work, but we can do this for so much more.", until the bill was $3200 which included a bunch of work that somehow involved new tires & a bunch of stuff I don't think my dad asked for and I doubt was even related to the problem it was taken in for.

Later when he got pissed while at the dealership and he got handed to a guy in the service dept. (previous guy was apparently some random chump on the floor or something, not completely sure) who told him all this was a 50/50 shot to begin with my dad got REALLY pissed because he feels he was led into this and if he'd have known up front it was a crap shoot with a 50/50 shot to begin with he'd have just put that money into a new car from the start.

The dealership has offered to put a used engine with 89k miles in it for $1800, but frankly I'm concerned about the quality of the engine, or a factory rebuilt engine in it for $3100, but isn't budging on this price because "the previous bill was justified by the work and they were trying to save him money by not just replacing the engine because they thought the existing engine was fixable and the total bill just happened to total $3200."

I'm trying to talk my dad into contacting the head office, and the Better Business Bureau and maybe a lawyer but it seems like he is just fed up and tired of dealing with them and went out and bought a new car.

B16aEk4drbeater

Ummm,,, why would you rebuild the head for oil consumption??? How can a Honda dealership not know what they are doing,,, there is no excuse that they didnt fixed it the first time... Its like me bringing back my civic to the dealership because the car wouldnt start.. and they tell me its the main relay, then the starter, then the fuel pump, then the distributor and after changing all those parts the car still wont start,, then I need a timing belt, or even better,, a cabin filter, and new rotors.. but the car still wont start,, and suddenly after $4000 in repairs,, it just needs a jump start... hmmmmm

B16aEk4drbeater

I would definitely call Corporate Honda on this stealership, even better,, get the media into this,, report this dealership to a local news or newspaper... then they will definitely put some attention into reimbursing your pop... I guess you can tell by now that I HATE STEALERSHIPS..... They are like the most crooked place out there,,, like its not bad enough when they charge $100+ an hour for labor,, now they gotta throw darts with the customers money...

lazlong

I would be concerned too. Why are they wanting you to pay more for something they should have fixed in the first place?

You could try talking to the fraud reporter but, an auto dealership robbing customers is so common it's not even news anymore- if it ever was.

Only think I've ever seen work, without having to go to court, was my uncle parked his lemon on the shoulder right in front of the dealership with a huge sign stating "I bought this lemon 3 days ago from here". The dealership tried to have it towed but, the cop told 'em it had to be there 72 hours before it could be towed. They finally relented and told him they would give him a new one as long as he moved the one on the street.

Man, I must be the only one with a good dealership near me. Those people fall all over themselves to help, even the owners.

Good luck. Give us updates.

B16aEk4drbeater

wow,, good one,, im amazed that the dealership couldnt get the car off the street cause I think that you are not allowed to "soliticize" on their property,, but I guess since it was on a public street out in front of the dealership,, they couldnt do crap about it.. lol