I bought my 2006 ridge new.,. always had dealer service engine.,. ALWAYS Mobile-one oil except first 2500 mi. anyway last Nov. (2009) engine blew..Honda Corp. made me pay 20% for a short block because i had 69900mi. on it total was 2300.00 Now this new short block blew and dealer does not know why....has anyone had anything like this happen...any HELP or insight would be greatly apprecieted.

 

What exactly happened? Seized up, punched a hole in the block, spun a bearing?

 

Operator Error

 

Truck is at the dealer now, they say their looking into it...i don't run this truck hard. no offroading...no towing never redlined...i think it is a bearing and/or rings but don't know for sure...(Operator Error) yea ,the operator should have bought American and it would be fully covered-5/100000...I fought for this great country,for most of my adult life should have known better...MERRY CHRISTMAS! 1grex, are you one of those internet tough guys?

 

I've personally seen 3.5's replaced because of timing belt tensioners letting go. The belt would hit the plastic cover making a rod bearing knock sound. Just something to consider.

 

First, you need to give more details. Saying an engine 'blew' doesn't tell us anything.

I've never heard of anyone with a Ridgeline having issues with the motor. The J35 is pretty bullet-proof, regardless of how you treat it. Some guy on another forum had almost 300K on his 2006.

Perhaps you just got a lemon initially, then the dealer did not install the next motor correctly. Who knows. We can't help you as this is such a rare occurance.

 

Sounds like operator fault maybe you didnt keep up with oil changes and filter changes you should split open the oilfilter too see if u got particles in the filter then u can inpoint what happened also do a compression test too narrow the problem leak down as well those oil pumps dont just go like that ....sounds like you dont take care of your maintenace on time like u should the rerason I say that is because im a mechanic and when I do maitenace on friends cars and customers they say I was going too and they never did so sounds like opereator neglect.Enough saiD.

 

First off , Thanks for the replies and the insight...I know how busy this time of year can be. John, last year when the short block went in they recomended that at that time i replace the timing belt and i gave the go ahead for a new one don't really know if they put a new one in but they said it was new to the tune of like 330.00(not under warranty) as far as oil goes ALWAYS CHANGED @ 3000 I have records to prove this always mobile -1 , Money , im not trying to **** anyone off hear...i bought honda because of the reliability . may be i did get a lemon!... i used the search button on this subject diddn't find much...im just trying to learn about this engine as much as i can...not a mechanic . but i take pretty good care of my ****.

 

I never heard of a J35 going bad, like poster above said "they are bullet proof". I personally am running a Odyssey with 178xxx miles on all original parts, and it never ever gave me problems. I tow a 5000 lbs trailer almoast daily, red line the **** ot of the engine, beat on it, and it still runs like the day it left the factory. You probably just got 2 bad engines in the row, its possibility. What exactly happened? Blew up in my world is completly demolished like my turbo GSR engine (the head was clearly ripped off the block and all internals went straight through my Morosso oil pan).

 

Yeah I don't get why people here say "oh its the operator". Lol at the internet. Nobody know anyone personally.

Back to the topic. I think your best bet would be to get a second opinion. Find a good independent shop that deals with imports. Check with the BBB and locate one in your area. I'm sure they will find it. Independent shops love to prove the dealer wrong. I know, . I used to work for a couple H dealers and was schooled through Honda's NW training facility in Portland. Independent shops usually look at thing a little more in depth and with an open mind. Nothing against anyone that works at a Honda dealer, just that they are always going to be "under the gun" with what they are getting paid by the warranty clerk to get your truck diagnosed.

Its easy and most shops will be super helpful, and you might discover that the dealer is not the ONLY place you can take your car. If you were local I would take look no problem.

 

how did you get all that from the op post?

 

The dealer i brought it to has screwed more people than i can count! anyway...I'm getting a lawyer involved . This Firm loves to deal with corporations (pitbulls) they love this stuff. My state has a great lemon law...even covers legal fees...But, even if it didn't i would go in my pocket for this one. The Truck is junk...total junk...i wouldn't feel good about selling this to someone else or even trading it in. Have you people seen how they did the hood latch IT DESIGNED TO BREAK OFF...(i guess they don' t want you to look under the hood lol)...JOHN, God bless you my friend,and to those who offered some insight THANKS SO MUCH...from an old soldier MERRY CHRISTMAS!...I WILL KEEP YA POSTED...

 

only time i've seen a lower mileage j motor go bad is when someone forgets to put oil in it, i have one sitting on an engine stand right now i tore down ran two miles without oil in it, ran for two miles then locked up and blew the timing belt off of it...oddly enough the the only thing i can find i was 1 cam that locked up everything else is good 1 bad head thats all.

best of luck to you and hopefully the dealer isn't just trying to screw you i hate how a few bad dealers give all of us the bad name.

 

good luck.

 

Once I had a turn signal lever break in the middle that a dealer had replaced months before. I'm an engineer with some background in materials. After looking at it with a microscope, it was a stress fracture likely caused by a tiny defect that propagated across the lever arm with repeated use. Point being, even something as simple as a metal rod can be defective, and that shift lever looked perfect right up to the point it broke in two. Not all Honda motors are going to be perfect, there will be an occasional factory built failure.

I agree that a properly maintained Honda motor should last for hundreds of thousands of miles, but sometimes there are latent defects that don't show up for a long time. Seems really odd that the OP lost a second motor and I'd be really curious as to what a root-cause analysis might show. It's hard to believe that lightning just hit the same place twice - there has to be an external cause for the failure unless the OP is amazingly unlucky. Or the dealer somehow screwed up the replacement.

Jim

 

you probably did buy american...most new hondas are assemble here...why u think toyota had all the recalls last year..all where cars assemble here or canada..

 

Ridgelines are made in Alabama. J35's are made in Ohio.

 

iirc Honda of America employees over 40,000 people..sounds pretty American to me.

 

A friend of mine just supposedly lost an engine in her 2005 Odyssey EX-L with 117,000 miles. Bought new and all service completed at dealer of purchase when the maintenance minder indicated. Engine started some odd vibration and making some noise that sounded like something was loose in the engine but no smoke no overheating no leaks and no warning lights. Her husband checked oil prior to taking in and found virtually no oil in engine. Dealer filled and within 3 days and 300 miles same situation. Looked online and found others with similar situations. Anyone ever heard of this? Anyone heard of problems with the VCM engines or with oil consumption?

 

Hey JohnJW,

PM'd you.

 

Ody owners have not heard of any problems with the VCM from 60K-100K. Most of them are not that old yet.

As for oil consumption? Many J35 does drink oil when new. It sort of goes away after the 3rd oil change (at least in my case).