2012 Civic si oil consumption

J

john valetutto

Well-Known Member
39
5
Hey,

I bought a used 2012 Honda Civic from someone last year with about 80k miles on it. I've taken it to the dealer ever since to get my oil changed and serviced. Only issue I've had with it was a water pump at around 90k. Recently though I was about to schedule another oil change (it's been about 3k miles) when I noticed the check oil warning comes on in the imid screen when I make sudden stops. So I checked the oil and it was just about 2qts low. Is that normal? I've read somewhere Honda sees anything less then 1qt per 1,000 miles as acceptable. I checked my Vin and it falls in the range of that tsb warning about excessive oil consumption. Only problem is my car is at 115,000 miles. How much do you think Honda will charge for the rings and piston replacement? Is there any way I can get this done for free through them? I read it's because of faulty pistons or something they used in early 2012 si's. Shouldn't Honda be on the hook for that? Should I use heavier oil? Is 5w-30 acceptable to use in my car?
 
Take it to the dealer and tell them your vin falls in the service bulletin for oil consumption. Tell them how low you were with just 3k miles of use. They should be able to run your vin and see if the previous owner had an oil consumption test done, or if it had the warranty repair done. You may be able to work something out where they’d do the repair work if you fail their consumption test. You basically just drive the car, and they check your levels after a certain amount of miles to determine how bad it’s burning oil.
 
Ok I'll do that. Thanks for the advice. I'll take it to them Monday and update the thread. Just out of curiosity, if they won't do the work for free and I can't caught up the $1,000+ it would cost for piston and rings. Would a heavier oil help?
 
Do you have an oil leak from the head, oil pan, oil plug, on any place? My 2013 SI does not burn oil(knock on wood). But I rarely rev my car above 3,500 RPM.

Like webby said I would take it by Honda get it checked because that's a lot of oil. My Integra GS-R burns some oil when I rev it high a lot.
 
I haven't noticed any oil leaks. I'll check again tomorrow. I do hit vtech pretty often. Probably like once or twice every other day (usually when I go to pass someone).
 
I would start by looking for any oil build up on the motor around the head, oil pain, drain plug and so on. It could just be a lose plug.

If not I would have someone ride behind you and look for gray or white smoke. Also does your car feel like it has power lose?
 
john valetutto said:
Would a heavier oil help?
Click to expand...
Heavier old could potentially help somewhat, but I don't know that a 5 weight would really change that much. 0-20 is used for improved cold startup wear, along with gas mileage improvement. Going with a heavier oil is going to hurt both of those things.

john valetutto said:
I can't caught up the $1,000+
Click to expand...
The repair says it's billed at 14.2hrs of labor alone. Most honda dealers I've seen had rates of around $90-110/hr, so that's like $1400 right there. The pistons are around $117msrp a piece, and the rings are around $75 from what I'm seeing. Without the other parts even listed and tax, that's easily a 2k+ repair. It'd be better to just toss a quart of oil in every now and then if they won't cover the repair.
 
If Honda does not cover it this would be a good time to upgrade the bottom end. That is if you plan on turbocharging or doing a N/A build. There's a guy named mark on YouTube that did a DIY video for our SI.

I use a thicker oil in my Integra during the summer but it will take life out of your motor on cold starts. I also would just keep a jug of oil in the the car and top it off when you get gas because it doesn't help that much at least for me. I also feel it is like putting a BandAid on a broken leg it may temporarily help but could make things worse (Just my opinion).
 
Ok thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate it. I'm going to call them tomorrow and schedule an appointment as soon as I can. I looked all around the engine and bottom of the vehicle. I couldn't see any visible leaks. I'll update this after I take it to Honda. In the mean time I have a jug of oil in the car and Ill just check it daily.
 
john valetutto said:
Ok thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate it. I'm going to call them tomorrow and schedule an appointment as soon as I can. I looked all around the engine and bottom of the vehicle. I couldn't see any visible leaks. I'll update this after I take it to Honda. In the mean time I have a jug of oil in the car and Ill just check it daily.
Click to expand...
Keep us posted with what happens
 
So I called Honda. They took my vin number and told me that it falls under the service bulletin and they scheduled it to come in next Monday for repair. The guy said it's covered by Honda and no oil consumption test is called for in the bulletin, so I don't even need to have that done. So it looks like really good knews for me. I really appreciate you guys pointing me in the right direction.

My other question is the throwout bearing is bad in my clutch. Would this be an opportune time to have the clutch replaced too? The guy on the phone said they leave the engine in the car, but they lower it a little or something. Do they remove the subframe? Should I piggy back on this job to get my whole clutch replaced ?
 
Usually you replace the clutch and throwout bearing at the same time. There is quite a bit of labor involved in accessing the clutch, so it’d make sense to replace both at the same time.
 
I planned on doing the whole clutch because of that. My main question is would this be an opportune time to get the clutch done? Not sure if I could save some money on labor? I know you have to drop the subframe for a clutch replacement. Not sure if that's the case for the bottom end rebuild?
 
That'd be a question for them. I don't know why they'd have to lower the engine to do the piston ring work.
 
Looks like it might be a moot point now... Honda just called me and said they made a mistake. According to the service bulletin it only covers up to 65k miles for the power train warranty. So they're now telling me to come in for the oil consumption test and regardless of the outcome I'm on the hook for the cost of the repair.
 
I would consider just leaving it as is and keeping the oil topped up.
At least go another oil change and see if the problem persists.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
john valetutto said:
Looks like it might be a moot point now... Honda just called me and said they made a mistake. According to the service bulletin it only covers up to 65k miles for the power train warranty. So they're now telling me to come in for the oil consumption test and regardless of the outcome I'm on the hook for the cost of the repair.
Click to expand...
Did you explain you just got the car, and plead your case that the previous owner didn’t mention anything about the issue?
 
No. I purchased the car last year when it had about 74k on it. According to the Honda rep I talked to, he said the TSB is only covered under the standard power train warranty (65k miles). I just can't believe any of the previous owners never got this done. Shouldn't Honda give their customers a "heads up" and recommend the repair?
 
They don’t want people to do the repair. Even if your car was in the vin range, some reported having to really fight to get the work done after doing consumption tests for months. You gotta figure in how much money/time it takes for them to do the repairs when you’re not paying for the work.
 
I was under the impression this guy ran the request past his service manager and got shot down. Other than trying different dealerships I'm not sure what to do? I shceduled the oil consumption test this Thursday. After I get the results I'll try explaining how I just got the car last year and the previous owner neglected to tell me about it. Thanks for the help though. Hopefully it's normal. Maybe because the car is past 100k it's burning oil more? I'll just take it easy and try not to rev the engine as much until I can get this sorted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top