Extreme oil consumption on a ’04 Accord w/ 2.4 K24

[William]

Hi everybody! I’m posting here mainly because ETCG is essentially the god of Honda mechanics. 😛

Well, that and we all seem to be a pretty friendly community.

I own a 2004 Honda Accord EX-L Sedan with the 2.4 K24A4 4-cylinder. I purchased it in December with 221,000 miles. One owner car from Michigan that made its way to Ohio, extremely detailed CarFax, owned by a well-off chiropractor who dealer-maintained it from the day he bought it in 2004 (like seriously, we’re talking 50+ service records).

Well, I started running into an issue with the car around Christmas — oil consumption. A lot of it. To be more specific, a quart every 450-500 miles.

I tried bumping the oil grade up from 5W-20 to 5W-30. Didn’t help. So I bought “high mileage” oil (which I think is snake oil, unless I’m wrong there) because it claims to help rings seal better… that got the oil consumption decreased to about a quart every 600-700. Improved, but still a lot of oil. Driving it on I-75 or I-71 would make it burn oil quicker than say, around town.

Well, I got kinda lucky, kinda not. I bought it from my Honda local dealer, as-is (as to be expected for a 2004). I went to them and complained, because I hadn’t even owned it two weeks. The dealer kept the car for a few hours and eventually told me I had two options. Replace the piston rings and hope that’s what it was, or just rip the engine out and replace.

Either way, the dealership was willing to step up to the plate and pay for 50% of whatever the cost was, albeit at dealer labor rates.

I just got my car back yesterday from having the engine replaced. They put another K24A4 in with 123,000 miles… and it has a 3 year warranty (parts and labor, excluding gaskets and rubber components). My share of the cost was just a tick over $1,700. Ouch.

I’ve just been wondering a lot about what could’ve caused oil consumption that high. Is this a common issue on Honda K engines? I’m only 16 1/2 years old, and this is my second car (my first Honda). I’ve gotten a lot of vehicle knowledge from my grandfather (40+ years as a mechanic for Marathon Petroleum, plus time in GM/Ford dealers), the BMW car club I’m in (I’m also extremely lucky enough to have an E36 M3 as my first car), and online resources like Eric.

However, I don’t know what would’ve caused the oil consumption. I know we can’t really diagnose it now that my original engine is being sent to some breakers yard to have god knows what happen to it, but I’m just curious if there are any common issues with oil consumption on Hondas, be it the K24A4 motor I had, K-s in general, or just Honda as a brand.

Thanks,

William 🙂

Topic

[Hokiedad4]

Hi William,

This model, which I own, has lots of problems but oil consumption is not one of the big ones. Using higher viscosity oil may actually make things worse. So I certainly hope the replacement engine does better for you.

My 04 has 280k and doesn’t burn a drop between 5000-mi oil changes. But I think there’s a bit of the luck of the draw. And I’ve got a manual, so none of the transmission problems the 7th gen Accords are famous for.

[William]

Hi Hokie, thanks for the reply. Nice to see a fellow 7th gen. owner! I haven’t even put 100 miles on this “new” motor yet. I’m going to put my first 1,000 miles on the engine and then check the oil level. I’m hoping it doesn’t lose a drop. Fingers crossed!

I spent my first night home with it ripping the dang thing apart. Pulled the radio, dropped the glovebox, and pulled the pass. front door panel trying to find a rattle. Whenever I turn, it sounds like a screw/nut/bolt/etc is rolling around and dropping somewhere behind the dash — I have OCD and this drives me absolutely insane (to the point I have considered selling the car and buying another Accord) LOL. So I ripped into the dash as much as possible, but that hasn’t gotten me any results yet. 🙁

Asides from whatever is rolling around making that noise, the fact my weatherstrip lets water drip on my leg when it rains, and (obviously) the engine issue – it’s been a lovely little car for such high miles. I have no doubt this thing can make it to at least 350K, if not 400K+.

[zero]

Honda doesn’t consider oil consumption excessive until it reaches 1.5 liters per 1000 kms. So about 1.5 quarts per 600 miles.

The oil rings get fouled over time increasing blow by. On newer models, it’s a byproduct of extended service intervals. As your oil gets older, it holds more contaminants. The more contamination, the more likely it is to deposit itself on a surface, creating more blow-by which contaminates the oil etc, etc. One of the same reasons behind upper engine carbon build up.

[dan]

moved to service and repair questions answered here.

[Author]

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