2003 Accord EX - Burning Oil like crazy
04-07-2011, 07:30 PM
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2003 Accord EX - Burning Oil like crazy
2003 Accord EX
4 Door
5 Speed
2.4 DOHC
85,400 miles
Clean title, clean carfax, runs great, and gets excellent gas mileage.
recently got 550 miles to 17.09 gallons for 32.18 mpg on the highway at the beginning of March. Car does not overheat, and it idles and starts beautifully.
Bought the car with 79K miles back in January. It's been going through oil like crazy. about 2 quarts every 900 miles.
First time it did it was back in Feb. CEL came on and it was throwing a P1009 code (Air/Fuel Metering). Checked the oil, and it was 3 quarts low. Added oil, the CEL light went off.
In March on my way to Kansas City it did it again. Same CEL, same code. checked oil, down 3 quarts AGAIN. added oil, CEL went off.
gave car oil change on March 23, 2011 (4.4 qts exactly, oil line was in middle of the safe zone on the dipstick).
used Honda Brand 5W-30
Honda Oil Filter
changed PCV Valve with Honda OEM PCV Replacement
inspected engine for leaks found none, checked chassis, no noticeable oil residue on chassis.
ran it about 900 miles between the 23rd and the 29th, it was down 2 quarts after 900 miles.
No visible leaks underneath the car, or on the chassis, no oil residue on the chassis, or the back of the chassis. exhaust does not smoke on startup, rev, or when going down the highway. no oil on the air filter, or in the air filter box.
Took it to Riddell Honda in Murfreesboro, TN, and they told me nothing is wrong with the car and that they've NEVER ever heard of the 03-07 Honda Civics having oil consumption issues.
Honda does not have any TSB's or recalls pertaining to oil consumption, but I have found a TON of complaints on google about the oil consumption issues for the 03-07's, and there seems to be no idea of what the exact problem is or what the resolution to the problem is.
Pulled the plugs tonight and this is what I found...definitely oil consumption issue, but WHY?
Plug #1 (far right)
Plug #3 (middle left)
Plug #2 (middle right)
Plug #4 (far left)
wondering if anyone on here has had the same problem and knows the cause and the solution?
4 Door
5 Speed
2.4 DOHC
85,400 miles
Clean title, clean carfax, runs great, and gets excellent gas mileage.
recently got 550 miles to 17.09 gallons for 32.18 mpg on the highway at the beginning of March. Car does not overheat, and it idles and starts beautifully.
Bought the car with 79K miles back in January. It's been going through oil like crazy. about 2 quarts every 900 miles.
First time it did it was back in Feb. CEL came on and it was throwing a P1009 code (Air/Fuel Metering). Checked the oil, and it was 3 quarts low. Added oil, the CEL light went off.
In March on my way to Kansas City it did it again. Same CEL, same code. checked oil, down 3 quarts AGAIN. added oil, CEL went off.
gave car oil change on March 23, 2011 (4.4 qts exactly, oil line was in middle of the safe zone on the dipstick).
used Honda Brand 5W-30
Honda Oil Filter
changed PCV Valve with Honda OEM PCV Replacement
inspected engine for leaks found none, checked chassis, no noticeable oil residue on chassis.
ran it about 900 miles between the 23rd and the 29th, it was down 2 quarts after 900 miles.
No visible leaks underneath the car, or on the chassis, no oil residue on the chassis, or the back of the chassis. exhaust does not smoke on startup, rev, or when going down the highway. no oil on the air filter, or in the air filter box.
Took it to Riddell Honda in Murfreesboro, TN, and they told me nothing is wrong with the car and that they've NEVER ever heard of the 03-07 Honda Civics having oil consumption issues.
Honda does not have any TSB's or recalls pertaining to oil consumption, but I have found a TON of complaints on google about the oil consumption issues for the 03-07's, and there seems to be no idea of what the exact problem is or what the resolution to the problem is.
Pulled the plugs tonight and this is what I found...definitely oil consumption issue, but WHY?
Plug #1 (far right)
Plug #3 (middle left)
Plug #2 (middle right)
Plug #4 (far left)
wondering if anyone on here has had the same problem and knows the cause and the solution?
04-21-2011, 07:39 PM
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Re: 2003 Accord EX - Burning Oil like crazy
I have a 1999 Honda Civic, D16Y7, 103 000 miles and it is also burning oil like crazy - about the same as yours 2 quarts per 800 miles. Visually inspecting my plugs looked like the plugs from all the cylinders were like yours - I will take photos. However, I have other issues, Check Engine Light with codes:
P0113 (IAT sesnor), P0420 (cat converter), P0301-misfire cylinder 1, P0303-misfire cylinder 3, P0304-misfire cylinder 4, P0300-multiple misfires.
I have replaced the plug wires and air filter and there was no change. I was going to replace the PCV valve, but it looks like that did not help you. The car runs very well except for very rough idling. It gets about 21mpg city and 28mpg highway.
Have you made any progress with your issue? I am going to replace the fuel injector in cylinder 3 - my plug looks like your cylinder 3 plug which looks like no combustion is happening there? Can anyone confirm that is what the case is?
P0113 (IAT sesnor), P0420 (cat converter), P0301-misfire cylinder 1, P0303-misfire cylinder 3, P0304-misfire cylinder 4, P0300-multiple misfires.
I have replaced the plug wires and air filter and there was no change. I was going to replace the PCV valve, but it looks like that did not help you. The car runs very well except for very rough idling. It gets about 21mpg city and 28mpg highway.
Have you made any progress with your issue? I am going to replace the fuel injector in cylinder 3 - my plug looks like your cylinder 3 plug which looks like no combustion is happening there? Can anyone confirm that is what the case is?
05-04-2011, 02:10 PM
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Re: 2003 Accord EX - Burning Oil like crazy
Some 2003 accords were recalled because of a malfunction in the one of the 4 cylinders, ask a garage to keep the pressure of your cylinders and you may have to order a new piston.
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07-18-2011, 05:09 PM
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Re: 2003 Accord EX - Burning Oil like crazy
I have finally figured out what's wrong with my car. The oil control rings are causing the high oil consumption.
I replaced the PCV Valve in March, and still the problem persisted. I burned through 2-3 qts in 900 miles. I ran a compression test on it back in April and everything appeared normal, however, faulty or worn oil control rings will not be indicated by a compression test (and I didn't know this at the time).
The one common denominator with all the oil consumption issues in the 7th GEN Accords is the fact that these cars do fine for 50-80K miles before they start having oil consumption issues, then for no logical reason they start burning high amounts of oil. It's also why Honda does not issue a TSB, or a recall. the number of cars having this problem is so low Honda doesn't feel it's necessary to issue a recall on a 100 cars having an issue out of several thousand manufactured. Industry standards allow for things like this, and I'm willing to bet this number doesn't exceed that minimum tolerance of industry standard to warrant a recall, which is why Honda does nothing about the problem.
This is a picture of a piston, the top 2 sets of rings are compression rings. the bottom set of rings is the oil control rings.
Compression rings retain compression in the cylinder, but do not seal oil into the cylinder. Oil control rings seal oil in the cylinder, but do not retain compression. If the oil control rings are faulty, they will not keep the oil in the cylinder, and it will instead push past the compression rings and into the combustion chamber, where it is then burned up and the remaining pushed out the exhaust valves, further burned up in the catalytic converters (which damages the O2 sensors, and the catalytic converters) and increases the black carbon/oily residue buildup on in the inside of your tailpipe. Any smoke that does escape the cats will be minimal and unless someone's looking for it, may not be noticeable, unless it's cold out (less than 55*) and you're driving on the highway.
so if your oil control rings are bad, but your compression rings are good, a compression or leakdown test would not reveal that your oil control rings are bad. The only indicators of faulty oil control rings, are....high oil consumption.
oil control ring failure is caused by one of three things.
Went to a local mechanic shop today and talked to a couple of mechanics I know and described the problem with my Honda. They knew exactly what was wrong with it. It was explained to me by the mechanic that despite the compression test being within acceptable tolerances, that it would not indicate the oil control rings being bad, which he said is the most likely cause of my problem due to the high oil consumption.
He also said if it was the valve stems, then it would be blowing smoke on startup which my car is not doing.
He said before doing any mechanic work, buy a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil, remove all 4 plugs. park the car on a flat and level surface and pour it down each spark plug hole till it's filled and let it sit overnight so it can get down into the cylinders. In the morning, take a towel and lay it over the top of your engine and anchor it with something heavy. Crank it over several times without the plugs in it. Then put the plugs back in and start the car up. He said it will make a mess, and the engine will smoke for a few minutes, but the marvel mystery oil will get down in the cylinders, and remove the carbon from the oil control rings and compression rings. Drive your car for a few days, then do an oil change and monitor your oil levels everyday and record them on paper.
Keep track of the following.
When you drained the oil after doing the Marvel Mystery oil.
How much oil you put in (should be 4.4 quarts)
How many miles you drove daily.
How many city miles you drove daily.
How many highway miles you drove daily.
What your oil levels are daily.
He said you should see a difference within 200-300 miles if the mystery marvel oil worked. If your oil levels remain stable and don't fall like they were previously, then the problem has been fixed or the severity has lessened for the time being. If you are still consuming oil at a high rate, then your oil control rings are shot and you will need to replace all of your rings on your pistons (oil control rings and both sets of compression rings).
He said the Marvel Mystery oil trick may work, or it may not. If it doesn't, then you have to replace your compression rings and your oil control rings (they get sold as 4 sets of 3 rings, so you can't get them seperately), head gasket (since it'll be off anyways), the valve stem seals, and the water pump and timing belt all at the same time (easier to do it while you have the chance), and he said to also replace all of your PCV valve hoses from the intake to the air filter pipe (and if you haven't done it, replace the PCV Valve) then you shouldn't have any more problems. (to be honest you should probably just rebuild the engine completely and be done with it).
If that's too expensive, find a junkyard motor and hope it doesn't have the oil consumption issues.
Or your second to last option is to buy a brand new longblock from Honda, and have the valve stem seals replaced on the head from your block before you swap it over.
Your final option, sell the car, let it be someone else's problem.
here's a thread where a set of oil rings went bad, and the guy said he was having high oil consumption issues
Oil ring failure? Take a look at these pictures.... - Honda-Tech
I replaced the PCV Valve in March, and still the problem persisted. I burned through 2-3 qts in 900 miles. I ran a compression test on it back in April and everything appeared normal, however, faulty or worn oil control rings will not be indicated by a compression test (and I didn't know this at the time).
The one common denominator with all the oil consumption issues in the 7th GEN Accords is the fact that these cars do fine for 50-80K miles before they start having oil consumption issues, then for no logical reason they start burning high amounts of oil. It's also why Honda does not issue a TSB, or a recall. the number of cars having this problem is so low Honda doesn't feel it's necessary to issue a recall on a 100 cars having an issue out of several thousand manufactured. Industry standards allow for things like this, and I'm willing to bet this number doesn't exceed that minimum tolerance of industry standard to warrant a recall, which is why Honda does nothing about the problem.
This is a picture of a piston, the top 2 sets of rings are compression rings. the bottom set of rings is the oil control rings.
Compression rings retain compression in the cylinder, but do not seal oil into the cylinder. Oil control rings seal oil in the cylinder, but do not retain compression. If the oil control rings are faulty, they will not keep the oil in the cylinder, and it will instead push past the compression rings and into the combustion chamber, where it is then burned up and the remaining pushed out the exhaust valves, further burned up in the catalytic converters (which damages the O2 sensors, and the catalytic converters) and increases the black carbon/oily residue buildup on in the inside of your tailpipe. Any smoke that does escape the cats will be minimal and unless someone's looking for it, may not be noticeable, unless it's cold out (less than 55*) and you're driving on the highway.
so if your oil control rings are bad, but your compression rings are good, a compression or leakdown test would not reveal that your oil control rings are bad. The only indicators of faulty oil control rings, are....high oil consumption.
oil control ring failure is caused by one of three things.
- The oil control rings not seating properly (faulty rings, not properly filed and clearanced, or they were not properly installed.)
- use of poor quality engine oil or
- going very long distances between oil changes (THIS IS WHY IT'S RECOMMENDED TO CHANGE YOUR OIL EVERY 3000-5000 MILES PEOPLE!).
Went to a local mechanic shop today and talked to a couple of mechanics I know and described the problem with my Honda. They knew exactly what was wrong with it. It was explained to me by the mechanic that despite the compression test being within acceptable tolerances, that it would not indicate the oil control rings being bad, which he said is the most likely cause of my problem due to the high oil consumption.
He also said if it was the valve stems, then it would be blowing smoke on startup which my car is not doing.
He said before doing any mechanic work, buy a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil, remove all 4 plugs. park the car on a flat and level surface and pour it down each spark plug hole till it's filled and let it sit overnight so it can get down into the cylinders. In the morning, take a towel and lay it over the top of your engine and anchor it with something heavy. Crank it over several times without the plugs in it. Then put the plugs back in and start the car up. He said it will make a mess, and the engine will smoke for a few minutes, but the marvel mystery oil will get down in the cylinders, and remove the carbon from the oil control rings and compression rings. Drive your car for a few days, then do an oil change and monitor your oil levels everyday and record them on paper.
Keep track of the following.
When you drained the oil after doing the Marvel Mystery oil.
How much oil you put in (should be 4.4 quarts)
How many miles you drove daily.
How many city miles you drove daily.
How many highway miles you drove daily.
What your oil levels are daily.
He said you should see a difference within 200-300 miles if the mystery marvel oil worked. If your oil levels remain stable and don't fall like they were previously, then the problem has been fixed or the severity has lessened for the time being. If you are still consuming oil at a high rate, then your oil control rings are shot and you will need to replace all of your rings on your pistons (oil control rings and both sets of compression rings).
He said the Marvel Mystery oil trick may work, or it may not. If it doesn't, then you have to replace your compression rings and your oil control rings (they get sold as 4 sets of 3 rings, so you can't get them seperately), head gasket (since it'll be off anyways), the valve stem seals, and the water pump and timing belt all at the same time (easier to do it while you have the chance), and he said to also replace all of your PCV valve hoses from the intake to the air filter pipe (and if you haven't done it, replace the PCV Valve) then you shouldn't have any more problems. (to be honest you should probably just rebuild the engine completely and be done with it).
If that's too expensive, find a junkyard motor and hope it doesn't have the oil consumption issues.
Or your second to last option is to buy a brand new longblock from Honda, and have the valve stem seals replaced on the head from your block before you swap it over.
Your final option, sell the car, let it be someone else's problem.
here's a thread where a set of oil rings went bad, and the guy said he was having high oil consumption issues
Oil ring failure? Take a look at these pictures.... - Honda-Tech
12-20-2013, 06:31 AM
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Re: 2003 Accord EX - Burning Oil like crazy
Thank you WyattEarp for your relevant post!
When the mech said " Crank it over several times without the plugs in it" did he meant start the car without the plugs?
If yes, will it not break or bend the cylinders?
When the mech said " Crank it over several times without the plugs in it" did he meant start the car without the plugs?
If yes, will it not break or bend the cylinders?
12-20-2013, 09:46 AM
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Re: 2003 Accord EX - Burning Oil like crazy
If you remove all the plugs, it wont start and all it will do is blow the excess oil out of the cylinder along with the carbon.
10-18-2019, 06:50 PM
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Re: 2003 Accord EX - Burning Oil like crazy
Nice thread Jd!
.0029 = 2 and 9 tenths
That is how I have always heard it called out/used it in the OEM automotive machining industry.
Take care!
.0029 = 2 and 9 tenths
That is how I have always heard it called out/used it in the OEM automotive machining industry.
Take care!
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02-09-2020, 08:58 PM
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Re: 2003 Accord EX - Burning Oil like crazy
Most times high oil consumption is due to worn piston rings. If the spark plugs are fouling with oil then strong indication that your oil rings are worn and causing the oil to seep past and get up in the compression/combustion chamber. You can also test the compression on each cylinder.and compare it with new engine specs.
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