My 1999 Honda Accord LX, 112,000 miles is flowing engine oil into the coolant reservoir bottle. I owned the car since new and done all the recommended preventive maintenance. I noticed oil in the reservoir bottle last week and thought someone did it on purpose. The radiator was flushed, the bottle emptied and new oil was added to the car. Yesterday I found the reservoir bottle again overflowing with engine oil and the engine was low on oil by about a quart. By the way the car has never overheated before, and the oil is engine oil not transmission fluid.

Took the car to a Honda dealer and they say something internal is bad but don't know what exactly is bad. Their reccomendation was to replace the engine.
Not what I expected from Honda.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem? Any recommendations?

 

Textbook bad head gasket. Its leaking oil into your coolant passages...

I would say you can simply change the head gasket/oil/coolant flush/check the head for warpage and deck it if needed, but I am wondering WHY such a low mileage accord (by honda standards) has a bad head gasket...

Unless you have ran the car hard, raced it, or otherwise abused it its whole life, I might look for a problem that caused your premature engine problems...

sohc

 

The techs at the dealer are puzled with the situation and indicate that the only way to find out what is exactly wrong is to deassemble the engine. Head gasket is fine.

I didn't expect to see this happen. The car has never been run hard.

JA

 

Wrong on the head gasket my friend. I hae seen this more then once. Your car has developed what is called a poris leak on the inside of the motor. It is leaking oil into the cooling system. I'm willing to bet that if you check all you heater hoses and little hoses that go to you throttle body are swollen from the oil.

The only fix is to replace the short block or put in a used engine. The 98 and some 99's had this problem. The dealership is not pulling you leg.

But trust me its not a head gasket.

 

It sounds like they want you to pay them for several hours of expensive labor on their part.

I don't believe that there IS ANOTHER PATH for oil to take to get into the coolant, aside from auto tranny oil leaking inside the radiator. And since you don't think its that, that leaves the head gasket.

How do you know its not the head gasket? It sounds like the techs are either idiots or trying to get money out of you.
Combustion chamber gasses can force oil into coolant passages internally. You cant visually inspect a head gasket by just looking under the hood, the head has to come off.

If you are planning on having the shop do it anyway, go ahead and let them dig into it. I'm sure they will find the HG at fault and charge you for replacement plus what ever extra time they spent looking under your hood. It may be cheaper to just have them do the gasket since that has a set price. I'm sure they would love to charge you for replacing the whole engine

Someone else chime in, Touring Accord??, is there ANYthing else that could cause oil in the coolant?

good luck, sohc

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbowa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wrong on the head gasket my friend. I hae seen this more then once. Your car has developed what is called a poris leak on the inside of the motor. It is leaking oil into the cooling system. I'm willing to bet that if you check all you heater hoses and little hoses that go to you throttle body are swollen from the oil.

The only fix is to replace the short block or put in a used engine. The 98 and some 99's had this problem. The dealership is not pulling you leg.

But trust me its not a head gasket. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well there you go, you might be out a whole engine...
Check the hoses, let us know what you find

sohc

 

Hoses are in good shape. I replaced them all last year. When I noticed the problem this time the main hose that connecto the radiator and the engine was sucked in and had no coolant in it. When I disconnected it from the engine it was full of engine oil.

I'm going back to the dealer to pick up the car and talk to the techs face to face.

JA

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbowa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wrong on the head gasket my friend. I hae seen this more then once. Your car has developed what is called a poris leak on the inside of the motor. It is leaking oil into the cooling system. I'm willing to bet that if you check all you heater hoses and little hoses that go to you throttle body are swollen from the oil.

The only fix is to replace the short block or put in a used engine. The 98 and some 99's had this problem. The dealership is not pulling you leg.

But trust me its not a head gasket. </TD></TR></TABLE>

i'll vouch for that. that's no BS.

i hear some of the NSX motors were real bad about that happening. pain.

expect $3000 out the door at a honda specialist shop. they'll beet the dealership in price and should give you the same workmanship.

 

if my memory serves me correctly, i believe honda actaully had a TSB for the dealers and techs to look at. basically what the TSB says is that "there was an internal casting issue with the block at the cylider walls that would allow the oil and coolant to mix together. the ONLY way to fix this problem is by replacing the short block. you might want to talk to honda directly and explain to them what is going on. honda may step up and cover the repair for free. i have seen this issue many times, and have replaced several of these blocks for this very reason.

good luck

 

Ask HOA for assistance. Since you are original owner and have the maint history, chances are they will offer some form of assistance.

 

I have a 2000 2.3 EX with the same problem with oil in resevoir! 153,000
I AM SO UPSET. I am a freak when it comes to changing fluids and do it so often.
Would Honda back this problem or just let it go? I am looking for a new motor now. Any good places to look? Thanks Brian

Has anyone talked to Honda and had feedback?

 

There is a way to settle the discussion about headgasket vs. porosity problem without disassembly. Do a leakdown test (of all cylinders). If the engine passes this test, the leak is almost certainly not in the headgasket. The dealer may or may not have the equipment to do this test (probably not).

I would get in touch with Honda right away, starting with the zone rep or whatever they call them these days. Be polite, but forceful. They frequently want you to just go away. Yes, it is "out of warranty", but it is a known (manufacturing) problem. Good luck.

 

mmmhhmm

 

Time for a Swap!

 

What he's saying is there was an air bubble or impurity in a critical spot tha caused a crack in the metal engine block. When the engine is hot, the higher pressure system leaks into the lower pressure system; oil goes at 25-65PSI, radiator is 15PSI. When the engine is cool, the crack seals so the fluid only leaks from one system into the other. This can be caused by starting up a super cold block and running hard from the get go. The air/impurity causes the metal around it to warp, weaken, and crack or break apart as it heats and cools/expands contracts.

Blown head gaskets usually result in both fluid systems leaking. When the cars turned off, once the oil drains out of the engine the radiator fluid begins leaking in; this is why cars with blown head gaskets put out a lot more water through the tailpipe. The PVC is breathing steam into the cylinders from the crankcase. Changing out the oil and sitting it in a glass jug for a day will tell you if any fluid is in the oil; they will seperate.

A blown head gasket won't necessarily result in lower cylinder pressure; a pressure test/leakdown test won't tell you a lot if the leak is localized to the area. Paying for one will give you a chance to see if it's just a head (which it can be, but it'd be super rare).

You can try putting some stop-leak into the engine oil and radiator fluid as a temporary fix for a few months and change out the radiator fluid every few weeks if it continues leaking. Problem is, every time the engine is heated and cooled, the crack gets bigger and lets more oil out and eventually, it won't seal allowing radiator fluid into the engine which WILL destroy the engine.

Honestly though, if they don't, just replace the engine. You're going to spend $800 for the techs to do a diagnostic, tell you it's screwed, then another $2-$3k to get it repaired. Get a certified remanned from the dealership and call it a day.

 

Sounds like an issue with the block.

 

I have a 2000 accord EX 115K miles with oil in the coolant. I had the radiator replaced and flushed. Came back again. I had it reflushed and it returned. I have heard there is a problem with these blocks. Is it worth getting a leak down test. The car runs fine and I don't think it's a head gasket . What do I do?

 

omg... I guess this is why 5th gens are the best Hondas Eva!

 

Well, i did get a used motor. $ 350.00 from japan. 50,000 or so less miles they say.I have 12,000 on so far and no problems. Spent $ 900.00 on genuine parts as well.

Those who said not a head gasket are right. Honda does have a problem with some of their blocks. It sucks considering i have a friend with a dodge intrepid with 220,00 and no problems but not my Honda!! I have 165,000 now. The trans got replaced at 77,000 by honda for free after 6 years. That was nice but still scares me.

 

Can anyone tell me if I should spend money on the leak down test.
Mike

 

If you want to spend the time and money I suppose. Is your car running rough? Did you overheat it? I am sure you have the same problem as myself. It sucks but let us know.

 

I also have the same problem. I am wodering if anyone can elaborate on whether there is an actual TSB related to this. Local dealer and Honda of America claim there is not.

 

I was told there was not! There should be though. 169,900 now. 16,000 on motor

 

My 2002 Honda Accord EX 4cylinder with 109k miles has oil in the radiator and overflow reservoir also. Brown coolant was found in the radiator during scheduled maintenance at my mechanics shop earlier this year. It was thought that it was most likely transmission fluid, so the radiator and main hoses were replaced after flushing the system. A few months later, I found oil in the overflow reservoir and oil seeping from the upper and lower hoses and heater hoses. The engine has never overheated, no water in the engine oil, no water from the tailpipe and the engine runs like new. The car went back to the mechanic for further diagnosis. If I hadn't seen this website with the same exact symptoms with other 4 cylinder Accords, I would have concented to having the head gasket replaced.
I called Honda America Customer Satisfaction with the problem and they said that I had to take the car to a certified Honda Technician to diagnose the problem. The car went to a Honda Dealer service and after a couple hours the Honda tech said the engine block would need to be replaced. A full 10 hour engine teardown would be needed to determine the actual cause of the oil leak into the water jacket. The Honda Service Manager reported to Honda America and I received the reply that Honda would not do anything about the claim due to the age and miles on the car. I can't believe the lack of support from Honda with this problem since it appears to be a defective engine block.
The car is in the process of getting a used engine installed.

 

Ok guys! It is obvious Honda has a problem here but will not admit it!!
We all have the same symptoms. This is B.S. and Honda needs to know.
I am a freak when it comes to oil changes.
What happens is the motor gets a pinhole leak in the block. Honda told me the motors were poris I believe, and after time they leak. They did not even sell me parts at cost. Had to pay full price.
By the way, i have 23,000 on used motor now. 175,250 on car.
And my friends Dodge intrepid,,,,,, it has over 226,000 now with no problems!! Not even the trans!