Simple 5-minute Fix Excessive Oil Consumption, Oil Burning, Spark Plug Fouling And Disabling VCM - Simple 5-minute fix for Honda with 3.5L V6 Engine with VCM (Variable Cylinder Management).
n 2013 a class-action lawsuit was filed against Honda, 1.6 million vehicles between 2008-2013 had been identified having potential for high oil consumption and misfires due to VCM Operation on 3.5L V6 Engines. Honda extended the warranty for these vehicles but did not correct the problem. This did not include the millions of vehicles between 2005-2007 that also had the same defective issues and had owners complaining of repeated failure of costly motor mounts to VCM operation, damaged transmission torque converters, fouled spark plugs and excessive oil consumption at the rate of up to 1 qt for every 1000 miles. Honda claimed this was normal.
This 2005 Odyssey uses the same style VTEC motor that was part of the class action suit. Excessive oil burning damaging the exhaust system, including the converters, throwing DTC's P0420 and P430. Went through 2 quarts of oil in 700 miles. This engine also has a very high failure rate on motor mounts which are insanely expensive. Got an estimate from my local Honda dealer to repair P0420, P0430 and P0AB6 which is for the rear engine mount, $4100. Makes me want to run right out and buy another one.
Excessive oil consumption and Honda USA is not willing to help !! Could have been going on since I purchased the van but not aware of it since I was following the oil change schedule and the dealership never informed me of the problem. Currently using 2.5 qt in between oil changes. Currently doing an oil consumption test with local dealership with no resolve in sight!!
Honda started offering the 3.5L VTEC engine with variable cylinder management with the higher end 2005 Odyssey. I've read about the issues with the 2008 and newer models having this exact same issue even on low mileage cars, resulting in a class action lawsuit, Honda extending the warranty etc. etc.
I feel that this is the exact issue I am seeing on my 2005 with the variable cylinder management. Why is the 2005-2007 model year not included in the extended warranty? This has been acknowledged by Honda as an issue via TSB #11-033... why isn't there extended warranty coverage to address this known issue?
If the oil level drops enough limp-in mode will be triggered which causes the engine to effectively run like a lawnmower with little to no power. At that point, the car isn't safe to be on the road.
Honda's solution is to point the consumer to check their oil level at each fill-up and to state that consumption of a quart of oil per 1,000 miles is ok. On average I'm having to add oil every third fill-up.
At this point, I would find it difficult to recommend anyone buy a Honda Odyssey....
Like others in this category my 2005 burns oil constantly. No visible leaks, oil light never comes on and temp gauge is always good. Car does the shuttering thing when oil gets low.
Honda started offering the 3.5L VTEC engine in the 2005 Odyssey... I've read about the issues with the 2008 and newer models having this exact same issue even on low milage cars, resulting in a class action lawsuit, Honda extending the warranty etc. etc.
I feel that this is the exact issue I am seeing on my 2005 with the variable timing. Why is the 2005-2007 model year not included. Same engine with VTEC.
Concern 1 - if oil level drops enough, the variable timing 'feature' will cause the engine to stutter resulting in a near complete loss of power. This has happened to me on highway on ramps
Concern 2 - the OIL LOW warning light never goes on. What good is this if the ONLY WAY to find out is to manually go check the dipstick. This car is driving mostly by my (not mechanically inclined) wife transporting our kids.
We bought this vehicle to SAFELY transport our children which I do not feel is happening.
- jenroon,
Saline, MI, US
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I bought this car with around 70k miles so I'm not sure how long this problem has been going on. On my first oil change I didn't notice much of an oil consumption problem, however, we are now pushing 77k miles and the van has consumed 3.5 quarts of oil in 2,000 miles -- so 1 quart per 571 miles. This is quite excessive and if the driver of the van doesn't stay up on their oil changes there is a VERY good chance that they will seize the engine. Honda states that the VCM engines consume about 1.1 quarts every 1k miles.... but the older the engine becomes, the worse the consumption becomes.
I believe this is due to the VCM (Variable Cylinder Management) system in my van as I have two friends that also have this van (Non-VCM) and they do not have this issue. I've called the Honda Dealer to see if there are any recalls for this issue or to see if they even acknowledge it and they do not. According to Honda, there are no recalls or fixes for the oil-consumption problem with the 2005 Odyssey VCM engine; however, they do acknowledge a problem with models 2008 and newer.
My van has NO leak at all, its perfectly clean beneath, no leaks on top... this is a design flaw in the engine that I believe is causing the oil the be burned and shot out the tail-pipe every time the VCM switches on/off. There is also no way to 'disable' this feature without causing potentially greater problems and a permanent CEL in the dash.
I now have a van that has to get an oil top-off every time I fill it up for gas, and I'm lucky to have that as it very well could have had a seized engine if I wasn't big into maintaining the car every 3k miles (and checking the levels in between).
If Honda is going to do nothing about this then I hope to at least warn all future buyers to stay away from the VCM engine as it has HORRIBLE oil-consumption problems and the older the engine gets, the worse it appears to become. The van runs like a champ, its always been smooth and sound; HOWEVER.... when the oil is low there is no such warning in the dash.... no warning system at all to signal 'Low oil pressure' or 'Low oil levels' which will ultimately lead to a engine that is seized due to lack of oil for an unaware consumer. Worst yet -- Honda doesn't recognize that there is even a problem!
I have a 2005 Honda Odyssey with 118,000 miles. Since it had 60,000 miles it has consumed 2 quarts of oil every 500 miles. Recently we are at 3 quarts every 500 miles. I have complained to my dealer, Honda of America and Honda Care to no avail. I have filed a complaint with the State of California. They sent me to NHTSA who is investigating this issue at this time. They told me to also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau. These problems have caused us to need a valve job at 84,000 miles and it has destroyed 2 catalytic converters. At 118,000 miles the engine is ready to go.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
This 2005 Odyssey uses the same style VTEC motor that was part of the class action suit. Excessive oil burning damaging the exhaust system, including the converters, throwing DTC's P0420 and P430. Went through 2 quarts of oil in 700 miles. This engine also has a very high failure rate on motor mounts which are insanely expensive. Got an estimate from my local Honda dealer to repair P0420, P0430 and P0AB6 which is for the rear engine mount, $4100. Makes me want to run right out and buy another one.
- Gery S., Orland Park, US