need quick education - 2007 accord timing chain/ oil consumption
 

I am 46 years old and need a quick education.

I've been a faithful Honda accord driver my whole life since 1987 and have owned 10-15 accords and have owned an accord from every generation except for the last two. I have always had pride on the majority of my cars never having oil issues. I had a '87 DX Hatchback with 300,000 miles that barely lost oil. Fast forward to today and I have a paid off 2007 Honda Accord (EXL, 4cyl) that I bought with 40,000 miles in 2010, now at 91,000. Every single oil change done at the dealer when my indicator told me to come in. Being just a city driver, this was about 2 times a year.

A year ago, I had experienced the horror of a flashing oil light and found the engine dip stick couldn't even measure any oil. Had it towed, filled with oil, and did 2 oil consumption tests at 1000 miles and found less than 1/10th of a quart consumed with each test at Honda. I just cant accurately describe this as I have had times where I found I needed a whole quart at a gas station. Last week, my check engine light came on and felt that the engine was running a bit rough and brought it in to Honda and they found that the timing chain had stretched and jumped 3 teeth and it would be about a 1600.00 fix. The cause? Low oil pressure. I am being told that its normal for a Honda to consume a quart of oil every 1000 miles. I am just shocked from this notion. After doing some reading, is the lighter viscosity and the engines are just different today? I don't understand if my car indicators tell me to bring get my oil changed every 5-6,000 miles, and I am following Honda's instructions, that my engine would be out of oil? This is where I need to be educated.

I furiously blasted the dealer this morning as this logic is insane. They will take my repair to management to see what can be done. Maybe I have been lucky my whole life and never had oil issues with my accords, maybe a need a re-education that the newest models are different now and I need to check the oil every 3rd gas fill up no matter how new the car is. My lifetime faith in Honda has been shaken and I have to get used to a 20 something year old Honda tech tell me this is normal.

Thanks for letting me rant and would appreciate any input.

Chuck
Minneapolis