When Honda first released its current two-liter four-cylinder hybrid powertrain, it felt like a huge step forward. With primarily electric drive, it was smooth, powerful, and efficient right out of the gate. On the road, it really seemed like a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too situation, plus it effectively replaced the much-maligned 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine in high-trim Civics and CR-Vs. You know, the one known for diluting its own oil with excessive fuel and occasionally suffering from head gasket failure. While the hybrid powertrain did at least solve the former problem, now that it’s been on sale for a few years, head gasket issues have started to surface. Uh-oh.
As you’d probably expect, a head gasket is important for several reasons. It’s the seal between the cylinder head and the engine block, an often multi-layer steel affair snaking around various holes to keep each cylinder contained, each coolant channel water-tight, and each oil passage funnelling vital lubricant to-and-from the top end components. It has to hold up to each ignition event, well over 100 PSI in compression per cylinder, and the composition of the coolant. This gasket plays a big role, which means some not-so-funny things can happen if it fails to seal things properly.
Depending on where a head gasket fails, you could end up with a range of different problems. If the failure’s between a water jacket and an oil passage, you could end up with oil in your coolant or worse, coolant in your oil if it blows out between a cylinder and a water jacket. While the former’s not fun, the latter’s a real problem because coolant isn’t a particularly great lubricant. On the other hand, if it goes out between two cylinders, you could be in for misfires and poor running at the minimum. A head gasket failure between an oil passage and a cylinder can cause all that and excessive blow-by, while a head gasket failure between a coolant channel and a cylinder can lead to smoking and overheating. Just about the only benign sort of head gasket leak is a small weep from an oil passage to the outer edge of the gasket. This usually isn’t catastrophic, but it’s expensive to fix as the labor required can be rather intensive.
Right, quick primer on pretty much all the ways a head gasket can fail, onto Honda’s current four-cylinder hybrid powertrain. It uses a two-liter naturally aspirated engine based on the R-series family of engines found in models like the Acura ILX and 2012 Honda Civic, which means many of its fundamentals have been around for a while. Dubbed the “LF,” this family of engines can be found in the current Accord Hybrid, CR-V Hybrid, and Civic Hybrid, all of which sell in huge volumes. Matt Hardigree even has a CR-V Hybrid. Sorry if this causes any anxiety, Matt.
One poster on the CR-V Owners Club forum detailed how their 2023 CR-V Sport Hybrid suffered from a head gasket failure approximately 6,000 miles beyond the end of the factory warranty. After experiencing limp mode and a flurry of warning lights, this forum member had their CR-V towed to the dealership, where the technicians reportedly cleared the codes, cleaned the spark plugs, and sent the hybrid crossover on its way. Unsurprisingly, that wasn’t the end of the story.
The next day the diagnoses was a blown head gasket and possible bad cylinders. They wanted me to authorize the head teardown of 19hrs. A cost of $4000. Which I declined. I told then I’m going to call Honda of America. I’m waiting for a response. My question is: Am I the only person with a 2023 CRV hybrid, 17 months old with 66k miles with a blown head gasket?
As it turns out, the answer is no. This person is not the only Honda owner to experience head gasket failure on an LF-series engine. Not by a long shot.
Another CR-V Owners Club poster recounted experiencing two head gasket failures on their hybrid 2023 CR-V in 130,000 miles. While that’s some serious mileage for a three-model-year-old car, the poster’s outrage of “Now 2 replacements in 130k miles!? This isn’t right at all” is perfectly justified. A head gasket should be a lifetime part. Having it go out well before the 100,000-mile mark is a sign something’s probably wrong.
Over on Reddit, tales of head gasket woes continue even in a different chassis. This owner of a 2022 Honda Accord Hybrid reports similar symptoms to those seen by other owners of the same powertrain. At “about 94k miles,” an error message pertaining to the engine reportedly appeared on the dashboard. Given the mileage on the vehicle, you can probably guess what came next:
I took it to the dealership, and after running a diagnostic, they confirmed it’s a head gasket issue. The repair estimate was roughly four and a half grand, which really caught me off guard.
I mentioned to the service advisor that the cost felt a bit too much, and he said he’d check Honda’s system to see if there’s “anything they can do.” I didn’t specifically mention goodwill assistance, but that might be what he meant.
Fortunately, it does seem like Honda has some sort of goodwill policy regarding head gasket issues on two-liter hybrid models. In addition to the second CR-V owner above, this 2023 Accord Hybrid owner posted in the Accord subreddit detailing head gasket failure at 61,000 miles, along with what happened next.
First, let me explain how Honda handled my situation. I received an estimate to replace the head gasket of my internal combustion engine (part of the hybrid system) for $5,500 + tax. Hard pill to swallow. The dealership did not mention anything about a potential goodwill claim and it wasn’t until I searched online that I heard about it. After me talking to Honda corporate and the dealership service department, the service department put a claim through on my behalf. The good news is that Honda corporate covered a portion of it, my local dealership covered a portion, and my portion was only $1,500. So, we split three ways. Still more than I should pay to repair a 2 year old car, but better than paying full cost.
With multiple reports of “goodwill” compensation after the factory powertrain warranty ended, it’s likely that Honda’s aware of a failure pattern. Some technicians certainly are, as a post on the driveaccord.net forum details. “Happening to 2.0 hybrids. Working on one currently.”
Well, that’s a very clear blow between cylinders one and two. You can see where the dark head gasket material is missing clear as day thanks to the bright silver aluminum block peeking out through the gap.
In addition to forum posts, it doesn’t take much searching to find formal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration complaints over premature head gasket failure. Here’s one of a couple for the 2024 CR-V Hybrid filed in July. As the complaint states:
At 112,000 miles, the engine in my 2024 Honda CR-V Sport Hybrid (2.0L Atkinson-cycle engine) suffered a catastrophic head gasket failure, causing severe coolant intrusion into the cylinders. All scheduled maintenance intervals in the owner’s manual were followed and documented. The dealer and corporate (Case #16444920) have refused assistance. This is a widely documented mechanical defect where constant thermal cycling (the gas engine repeatedly turning on and off during hybrid operation) stretches the factory head bolts and destroys the gasket seal. This defect can lead to unexpected, total engine failure while driving at highway speeds, posing a severe safety risk to the occupants.
So what’s actually going wrong here? After all, head gaskets don’t normally just fail on most cars during normal engine operation. One theory right now has to do with thermal cycling. The head gasket provides a seal between the cylinder head and the engine block, but the actual clamping force is provided by long torque-to-yield bolts with different material composition than the aluminum engine block and cylinder head. As an engine heats up and cools down, those bolts thermally expand and contract at different rates than the block and head, and series-parallel hybrid cars are famous for lots of thermal cycling, what with the engine shutting down when electric power alone proves sufficient for forward drive.
Combine that with the high cylinder pressures that result from a nominal static compression ratio of 13.9:1, and hybrid vehicles tend to put a lot of stress on their head bolts. If clamping force falls out of spec, the head can start to lift, leading to head gasket failure. This is already a leading theory as to why third-generation Toyota Priuses suffer from known head gasket failures, and with similar engine cycling, it could be a contributing factor to reports of head gasket failure on Honda’s modern hybrid models. Of course, we won’t know for sure without a formal engineering report. I’ve reached out to Honda regarding reports of head gasket failure on two-liter hybrid models, and will update this as soon as I hear back.
On the plus side, Honda does seem to be aware of this issue in at least one market. A “product update campaign” was issued by Honda Canada on July 16 covering 2025 to 2026 Civic Hybrid, 2023 to 2025 Accord Hybrid, and 2023 to 2026 CR-V Hybrid models. The code on the bulletin is Q79, and it’s titled “Head Gasket May Develop an Internal Coolant Leak.” The initial move seems to be a software update covering cooling system calibration, and while this campaign’s only in Canada right now, it wouldn’t be surprising to see something similar make its way stateside soon.
If you happen to own a late-model CR-V Hybrid, Accord Hybrid, or Civic Hybrid, don’t panic yet. There appears to be a pattern of possible partial coverage if a head gasket failure happens outside of the warranty period, and Honda does appear to be aware of this issue. It’s also worth noting that Honda sells huge quantities of hybrid cars in America, so a bunch of complaints doesn’t mean that every single example will be affected. However, it is worth noting that expanding availability of the two-liter hybrid powertrain hasn’t turned out to be a silver bullet for Honda’s 1.5T problems. This is a developing story, so expect more news as further developments surface.
Top graphic image: Honda
Time to stir the pot:
All this junk with unreliable ICE engines is another reason people will start to consider EV’s. When fewer parts exist to go wrong, less stuff goes wrong. And Honda just abandoned its North American EV plans. Not a good look.
Honestly I’ve felt the same way for a while, too. It baffles me why people choose new diesels in Europe. They are so complex nowadays and have so many failure points… Meanwhile EV batteries have proven to last much longer than expected. Not every manufacturer, to be clear. But enough of them.
Honda’s hybrid powertrain looked like a foolproof plan to me, though. I read somewhere that the 2.0 hybrid actually takes key components used for the Civic Type-R, at least in Europe, and since it’s not directly driving the wheels most of the time, it never operates outside of comfortable bounds. Therefore it should easily last 500k kms+. I was really tempted to get the Civic Hybrid, but it two key issues put me off:
1) shitty noise insulation, and I do need a quiet car.
2) it costs so much for a Civic that it’s laughable.
No wonder each Civic generation since G8 was selling worse and worse here.
I might have missed it, but is there a total number of failures or is this just a collection of anecdotes? Honda is selling 400k CRVs annually, so we’re collecting hypotheses at this point…
It’s the nature of automotive tribalism giving fuel for certain manufacturer haters, people who feel they need to justify buying the otherwise lower rated competitor because it was cheaper/they couldn’t get a loan elsewhere due to bad credit, or excuses for people who said they wanted that exact car only to not buy it when it’s available.
Engine failure rates on Tundras is 1-3%, yet from the comments and videos, you’d almost think it was 1-3% that were fine.
“The twins would be great if they didn’t blow up from RTV or have poor oil pressure (as reported from data logs of 1.5+g right hand turns at high rpm on race tracks by race prepped cars with aero, something that effects almost nobody) and Toyota and Subaru will deny warranty!” The very few that failed (Autoreliabilityindex says 14 failures reported to NHTSA. Four-f’n-teen! Even if you multiple that by 100, it’s only about 2.5%.) seemed to be largely confined to the first year or two and the ones I’ve seen reports from on forums were mostly money shifts, which is why the warranties were denied and, of course, those people made a racket about it hoping to weasel the manufacturer into covering it through bad press. While mine failed for non-money-shift reasons, it was fully covered and the newer engine now has over 80k on it. Mine came over on the first US shipment, so it was an early one. Shit happens. The car’s been Corolla-reliable since and otherwise, but certainly doesn’t drive like one.
Porsche IMS bearings were about 8%. While that isn’t nothing and is a pretty big risk considering they tended to fail later and cost a ton to remedy, you’d think it was an almost guaranteed failure by the hand-wringing and I’m saying that as a Porsche . . . not so much a hater, but someone who doesn’t find them appealing.
OTOH, Hyundai/Kia engine failure rates appear to be huge (I’m not sure I buy the 40% I’m seeing people state, though in my family, they’re running 3/3 for bad engines, so maybe), but reporting seems no more prevalent and there are still defenders and apologists. Tribalism and purchase justification go both ways sometimes.
In the automotive world an R/1000 (repairs per thousand) of 1 is bad. That’s a failure rate of 1/1000 = 0.1%
So your examples of 1% and higher is terrible relative to industry quality benchmarks.
Which is handled by warranties and recalls (though I stretched that Porsche example to try to include a widespread issue in a car I don’t like to try to seem less biased and that didn’t work how I wanted it to).
The comment is about public responses that don’t seem to reflect the respective numbers. While certainly a concern, you’d think the engine failure issue with a new engine in the Tundra was a sign Toyota as a corporation has become Yugo, yet Hyundai’s massive failure rates over multiple engines and many years seems to be almost shrugged off in comparison. These kinds of public responses do not match the respective magnitudes of the issues because it’s not based on logic, it’s based on something else. For the twins, I had to multiply the reported failures by 100 to get to 2.5%, yet I don’t think I see even newly released videos about the car that don’t mention RTV or oil pressure or legions of bot-like commenters who don’t own one mentioning it as justification for buying a CRV or whatever instead of the RWD sports coupe they promised the world they’d buy (ironically, the CRV is possibly more likely to have an engine failure). If the Tundra coverage is deserved, then companies like Hyundai, Nissan, and VW should be long dead for the negative reports (though Hyundai’s 10/100 warranty that literally saved them in the US originally might be a big contributor to their continued tolerance by customers whose credit history restricts their options). Every company has screw ups and customers should be informed, but I think the relative reactions should be weighed against the balance of the company’s products, history, and their willingness to take care of their mistakes, but since we’re talking primarily about public reactions, we get a mix of freak outs and shrugs that don’t necessarily match the situations. I don’t know if there’s a solution, but I certainly don’t have one, just observation and a complaint.
Yea.. I get it.. Don’t get wrapped up in it. Be confident in your knowledge of reality and don’t waste your time trying to change others.
Underlying it all is really my annoyance over the twins. I don’t generally care what people say or think, but if overblown concerns significantly hit the sales numbers of a car that’s a stretch to justify in a boardroom as it is, it reduces the chance of a next generation or anyone to make any fun cars at all and that effects me. If they really were junk, then OK, but that’s not the case with these cars.
I have the same question and issue. At some point a sufficient number of anecdotes becomes a meaningful statistic, but we don’t have any idea where we are for these Honda’s. Only the manufacturer knows for sure.
I have one of the ‘reliable’ CRVs (2013 NA K24 engine), let’s not forget that these engines leak oil on their vtec seals, and have the horrendous VTC rattle. None of it fixed under warranty, no recalls, no updated parts. Vote with your wallet people. Shame on Honda (and every other manufacturer with transmission issues, etc-seriously, it’s all of them) for building such shit products, while raising the prices.
I have one of the reliable K24 engines in my 2006 Accord since new. 20 years and 185k later it leaks no oil. It rattles a bit when cold but it’s valve clearances remains dead center of spec and once warmed up it’s fine. No transmission issues at all, fluid changed once at 120k, otherwise it’s been ignored. When things do go wrong they are cheap to fix and DIY with a couple of exceptions is easy. Not bad for just under $20k new.
My biggest complaint aside from a couple of annoying design choices necessitating non standard tools is the thin paint. Otherwise it’s been an amazing car.
Third-gen Prius head gaskets usually don’t blow until over 150k miles (mine started failing at 12 years, 175k miles), and the theory on Prius Chat is the EGR system clogging up is the culprit. We’ll see if the owners who have taken apart their EGR system to clean it out as maintenance do any better over time.
Seeing the head gasket is literally the only repair I had on the Prius in those 12 years and 175k miles, I actually wasn’t too bothered by it. I ended up getting a low mileage JDM motor put in to hit the reset button on the EGR system and water pump that would have needed replacement for maintenance.
If any car I owned had a failed HG under 100k, I’d be pretty livid.
It will be interesting to see if anyone can ever actually figure out the root cause on the 3rd gen. This seems the same but worse. There are some high milage ones out there. But they seem to be owned by people who just drive them. Maybe mainly highway miles? I’ve always heard clogged egr plus thermal cycling. Some have claimed the clogged egr is also related to thermal cycling. Then coolant changes every 3 years group.
Toyota apparently revised the EGR cooler (?) for 2014-15. The replacement motor I got apparently has it. Don’t think I’ll own this car for another 100k miles though to see if it matters.
There was talk of revised head gasket too? I think with or around the time of the revised EGR cooler. Lots of talk of people going to Mr gasket or fel pro for gaskets and head bolts with the earlier problems. But not sure any long term confirmation. Just maybe 20k miles and a few years.
Like both my 1980s domestics did, around 80k. :(((
Honda has absolutely lost it in terms of quality. This head gasket issue is but one of many other issues in its line up. It amazes me that people are still pushing the idea that their cars are bulletproof.
Did they hire too many MBA grads from US universities and lose the generational engineering and quality culture in favor of financials?
Okay, who’s the absolute monster who made that first comment image crooked? I thought I was having a stroke or something.
I wonder if not at least partly a thermal cycling issue like the 3rd gen Prius 1.8l. They were getting starved of oil sometimes too. People buy a Toyota or Honda hybrid not to look or think about the engine. I wouldn’t expect many with them to check the oil regularly or even pop the hood.
the prius was an issue with the gasket itself toyota updated the part and the updated gaskets did not have issues.
Yes, but that was caused by thermal cycling. The near constant thermal cycling with the materials they used cause clamp load issues.
What the hell is going on at Honda? For the last 5 years it’s been oil dilution issues, head gasket issues, crappy turbo engines, the Ridgeline is on a long hiatus because it can’t meet emissions, the Civic Si is going away for the same reason, then there’s the disaster that is the new Prelude. Just unbelievable.
Calling the Prelude a ‘disaster’ is very hyperbolic, although it has the same powertrain as this article points out. I’ve been in one and they are really nice place to be. One could say that the CTR is also a disaster as it has too many doors and too much weight (sound deadening, sun roof, etc.) as the original Type R mission statement was stripped down and structurally strengthened with the most potent powertrain available. A family car it was not, yet no one really yaps about that fact for the last two generations.
TBH I think that gets overlooked because we were just so happy to have a Type R in the states. IMHO Honda should have a stripped down type R with two door and four door options while Acura gets all the nice stuff, I also will die on the hill that the Integra type S needs a DCT option (not standard) as it would increase the buyer pool without diluting the Civic Type R counterpart’s pedigree
Honda usa techs are not union and honda doesn’t pay enough money for the people working there to care. I have a family member that worked at the engine assembly plant in ohio they would jerk him around with his hours, promise raises and never deliver there were fast food places nearby that were offering more money. The social contract is completely busted if you want people to have pride in their work then you need to pay enough money for people to care to do a good job. I’m not saying personally that is how I operate because im the kind of person who takes pride in my work no matter what but if you take an 18 year old kid right out of high school and jerk him around this is what happens.
Honda’s problems are the result of faulty design from the very start. It’s not the assembly process. The factory workers can’t be blamed if they’re just putting things together like corporate told them to.
And let’s not even talk about the shit wages at the suppliers.
So the Civic’s most trouble free engine is the one that’s turbocharged within inches of its life?
At 320hp, I can’t view the FL5 engine as being turbocharged within inches of it’s life anymore. Not when AMG have 420hp from the same capacity. Wild how far we have come.
But yes, the additional engineering and manufacturing spend on the Type R engine is worth it vs absolute cost cutting.
Also, people reliably have been getting 400whp out of those with bolt ons for a while now.
The missus had to take her 2024 CR-V Hybrid in due to all the codes being thrown. They narrowed it down to the throttle body replaced due to corrosion caused by coolant. Thought that was odd, but this would probably explain it?
Could be. As these are Atkinson cycle, the intake valves stay open during part of the compression cycle, so I think it’s possible that some coolant could make its way to the TB if it’s getting into the cylinders from a failed HG. Is there white smoke from the exhaust? Does it smell terrible even when warmed up, not like normal exhaust bad? I’m not sure how to explain it, but if you smell it, you’ll know what I mean. You should also be noticing some coolant use, but it might not be a dramatic amount as an engine can make a fair lot of smoke on surprisingly little coolant.
just get rid of it and let it be someone elses problem.
My mother-in-law’s hybrid Cr-v had the same throttle body failure. Christmas tree dash. Towed to the dealer. Lucky it happened at home.
No sign of head gasket problems yet.
I’m seeing more and more evidence that we reached peak reliability in cars 15 years or so ago.
There seems to be a consensus building among some engineers and mechanics that the use of ever-lighter viscosity oils – which require designing to ever-tighter tolerances – in the name of hitting efficiency/mpg targets is responsible for a lot of these major engine failures. Exhibit A is the GM 6.2L disaster. The recall fix? (assuming the engine has not already done its grenade impression) is – that’s right, you guessed it – a higher viscosity oil.
I wouldn’t call it a “fix” but more of a mitigation. Also I think chasing economy leads to the tighter tolerances which leads to lighter oils, not the other way around. (There used to be a lot of truth to oil being underspec’d especially about 20 years ago. The same car sold here calling for 20 weight oil in Europe and Asia called for 30 weight oil. I still use 30 weight in all my cars that ask for 20.) The higher weight oil does provide more cushioning when new, but the tight tolerances will cause it to shear and wear much faster and the added friction will negate many of the efficiency benefits of the tight tolerances. I feel like with a lot of “innovations” we’re starting to fly too close to the sun. That 450ish hp Mercedes 4 cylinder would give me nightmares of the warranty expiring.
My understanding is that it does indeed start with lower viscosity oil in order to reduce flow resistance and pumping losses. That is where the increased efficiency comes from – but thinner oil can’t maintain the necessary film thickness for older designs so tolerances have to be tighter in order to use it.
I probably should have typed “fix” in parentheses, but I thought it was obvious that what GM is doing is just a temporary bandaid. There are, in fact, plenty of engines using 0w-20 that are running long past warranty without destroying themselves, so clearly GM effed up large with this one…
Maybe we should focus on making the cars lighter to squeeze less out of the engines for the same mpg.
In my view the problem is, when designing a vehicle to hit a price point, the compromises are baked in. Performance, reliability, efficiency – those 3 goals will always be somewhat at odds with each other (its sort of the “pick any 2” conundrum). The best you can do is try to strike an acceptable balance between them. Add to that the fact that modern car buyers have come to expect a lot of tech and convenience features – which add weight (and cost).
As they say, it’s complicated…
Without a doubt. The US sadly doesn’t have many (any?) lighter, relatively stripped down options (I’m not talking about crank windows). The rest of the world does.
Reducing weight doesn’t really help much for constant speed driving, where engine efficiency and drag become the dominant energy losses, not energy lost to braking. Though in the case of hybrids, little energy is lost to braking.
Regulations requiring more and more
on cars including extreme crash worthiness makes that difficult.
US market vehicles are excessively large. Make the cars smaller!
Hand in glove, most Americans are excessively large, myself included. Make people smaller. 😀
that’s not even a “fix” that is just delaying the engine shitting itself until its outside of warranty.
I thought that was obvious in the tone of my comment, but evidently not…
you didn’t do anything wrong it’s just good for someone to clarify the .. subtex or the “would – be – obvious – if you was already up to date on the subject.
Not the first time I’ve seen lighter viscosity oil being pointed at as the culprit. But I also widen the issue to general economic and cultural trends. We are most certainly living in an era of maximizing economic gain; make things as cheaply as possible for maximum profit. We also live in a very much throwaway society, interested in the next new shiny thing. Couple those two philosophies together, and you have no reason to budget for long term reliability.
I don’t disagree. If you don’t generate margin for shareholders, you don’t survive – for better or worse, that’s capitalism.
The flip side of that is, if you build unreliable junk, consumers will eventually switch to a competitor – the so-called “big 3” learned that the hard way 2+ decades ago. Also capitalism…
You don’t need to care about shareholders if you actually make profit and revenue and don’t take out loans.
Go search the words “margin in business” and then read my comment again…
I thought the GM LT problem was outsourcing the crankshafts from Tonawanda to Mexico and not having the process produce journals with the correct finish. Sometimes all the profound knowledge is not on the CAD drawings and process routings it’s in institutional memory.
You could be right, I don’t know – what I do know is that the recall says inspect the crank and journal bearings – if damaged, replace engine – if not, refill engine with 0w-40 full synthetic (replacing 0w-20 permanently in the affected engines)
For ICE vehicles maybe. EVs will continue to improve reliability for vehicles as a whole.
Hondas have always had issues with transmissions and other stuff that people kinda look the other way on. They build good cars, but they have never been flawless.
Of course that is the point of the discussion.
My favorite modern cars to work on are from circa 1999-2010. ODB-2 for diagnostics, bugs worked out of fuel injection, variable valves, and computers, things are accessible. Enough tech to be reliable and pleasant to drive, not so much tech that it adds new fail points.
These are Atkinson cycle, so the CR is effectively a lot lower due to the late closing of the intake valve.
Also, that first person should go to a different dealer—their mechanics suck. Even if this wasn’t an apparent known issue, they don’t question adjacent cylinder fouling causing misfires on a modern 60k hybrid engine, they just clean the plugs and send the customer on their way?
I just want to say the thorough combinatorial analysis of ways head gaskets can fail gave me a grim chuckle.
<mech gets weirdly serious for a second>
And, I think it’s a nice touch for people that are less familiar but want to know, but are so new they don’t know how to ask, or are too embarrassed to do so. Not everything about a head gasket needs a primer, necessarily, but I think this is a nice touch in this case.
</srs>
No need for the disclaimer! I suspect a significant % of the readership doesn’t know, and inclusiveness is good.
First all the TrailSport editions, now this!? Trying way too hard to compete with Subaru.
1.5T owner checking in.
No such issues of oil dilution either pre/post recall work in my car.
I’ve actually, not met anyone yet with a CRV or Civic with the 1.5T that has engine issues, and looking out into the parking lot in the office – and there’re quite a few of us.
That being said, there’s a universal transmission shifting complaint by the Odyssey owners.
Maybe if their passengers hadn’t opened the bag of fair winds, presuming it to be loot unfairly hoarded – or if you want to really get to first principles, taunted the children of Poseidon with such hubris – they wouldn’t have these problems.
Just sayin’.
If they just took a page from Theseus and rebuilt it.
So THAT’s what they were doing in that Stewart’s parking lot in Oneonta!
SUNY classics majors knocking back root beer like there’s no tomorrow. Luck they can find their way out or the parking lot.
Using Grandpa’s hammer.
The oil dilution mainly hit cars used on short drives. I worked with a guy whose ’22 Civic 1.5T blew with fairly low miles. Don’t know the cause as he isn’t a car guy, but it was covered.
If someone’s carelessly not checking and or changing their oil regularly, then potentially. But if they’re not doing that already, it could be a whole host of other causes.
While lower oil level would make the problem worse, it’s not about oil level, it’s about fuel content in the oil. The frequent cold starts (even worse in cold climates) with insufficient time to burn out the fuel blow-by from people who primarily use the cars for short trips leads to a reduction in the ability for the oil to do its job. Short trips and cold climates were distinctly listed as being major contributors for those who experienced engine failures.
Agree. But it’s not low-oil, it’s noticing both that it smells of fuel and is actually higher than should be – indicating that it’s been diluted.
Alternate side of the street parking in NYC probably kills more engines than anything else. 3000 miles probably entails a few thousand cold starts, then running the engine for maybe 90 seconds.
I would legitimately spend way too much time thinking about that if I lived there and owned a car.
It’s hell on mufflers. People park their car and there’s still condensed water dripping from the tailpipe when they shut it off.
My former boss had to replace the 1.5T engine in his Civic at around 110k miles.
Isn’t there a service bulletin about putting wax in your ears it the sound becomes problematic.
Or was it something about distracting road music?
We have a 2019 crv ex-l with the 1.5T and yes is gas oil dilutes, even with regular summer driving of 20-30mi highway commutes. Winter is worse of course. Oil level will rise bout 5mm over full if you let it go past 4,000mi between oil changes so we keep it to about 3,000-3,500 between changes and its 1-2mm above. Can smell the gasoline on the dipstick if you go past 4,000mi did that once not again. Runs fine, no codes so far, but were not keeping it past Hondacare 8/120k warranty…
People we know down the street with a 2018 EX with the 1.5T, same issue even with the recall…
We are likely going with Lexus RX for the crv replacement…
Those are some pretty damn high mileage figures for two-three year old cars, wonder if the higher duty cycle is causing issues?
Normally high mileage/low age would be indicative of “good miles” (aka. highway at high speed/low load and minimal thermal cycles). With these being hybrids with possibly multiple thermal cycles per drive cycle, who knows…
With the notable issues for brands ordinarily known for reliability, it feels like their A-Teams aren’t found in internal combustion.
The starters on hybrids put a lot less stress on the engine.
I would think they’d be cycling less as the ICE would be used on longer runs for what I imagine would be a lot of highway miles. I think that these examples have high mileage is less a function of anything specific in their use so much as the cars with closer to average mileage haven’t been driven enough to see as many failures.
Yep, we gave a 22 Accord Hybrid, been really happy with it. Guess we’ll just see if anything happens one day.
The bulletproof Hondas of yore ≠ the finicky ones of today.
Wonder if they could/should retorque the head bolts every 50k? Would that help?
I’ve read that a preventative move to keep head gaskets from failing on the 1.5T is to replace the head bolts one at a time.with ARP head bolts and torque to spec.
I don’t know if it is 100 percent effective, and have no experience with it. But if I ever buy a Hpnda with a 1.5 or 2.0T, I’ll look into getting it done.
Not if they’re torque to yield as the article states. TTY bolts physically stretch beyond their elastic limit when set, so they would need to be replaced.
Darn! And just when I was considering a Honda hybrid too.
Now those scared off from the Honda hybrid system are gonna make Toyota hybrids even harder and more expensive to obtain because there’s no way those type of buyers would consider taking a long term risk with H/K’s turbo-hybrids.
A widely available (and probably less expensive) alternative: Mazda CX-50 hybrid uses the 4th generation Toyota hybrid powertrain. Only thing is, the CX-50 has a sportier / stiffer suspension – good if you prefer tight / crisp handling, bad if you want a soft cushy ride
Yes it does, complete with the planetary gear CVT
Personally I’m curious in how the incoming Rouge hybrid fares long-term. I know Nissan’s hybrid system has been available in Japan and Europe for a while but we’ll see how it does with American driving and maintenance habits.
Sounds like headgasket will be a preventative maintenance item at 60k miles.
We have a ’26 CRV Sport Hybrid. I’m using premium fuel, which some say mitigates the problem by avoiding knocking.
Maybe another fix could be forcing the ICE engine to stay on for longer periods of time leading to less cycles.
Gone are the days of “Honda reliability” I guess.
For most of my career Honda were the company we all looked up to. They just did engines so well. They were always the benchmark.
Now this is two clunkers in a row, and my shiny new CBR600RR is waiting for whatever the fix will be for the chronic oil consumption recall. I’m hoping it’s a new engine, because any dealer rebuild is going to be a disaster (hey Honda: ask Toyota about how many dealer rebuilt GT86 engines suffered catastrophic failures after the valve spring recall).
I’ve had five Hondas, three CRXs, an RVF400 and the new bike (the only vehicle I’ve ever bought new, and entirely because of the utter brilliance of every other Honda I’ve had). My wife tends to buy very carefully and keep things for ages, and she’s on three Hondas.
I can’t see either of us buying another one.
My brand new Honda shouldn’t have more serious issues than my 20 year old Lotus.
Oh no, oh no no. That extremely sucks.
And you’re 100% right. I have about zero confidence in a dealer doing something as intense as an engine rebuild. There’s one person I would trust to do that (not me), and though he’s still working he’s not interested in doing that anymore. My point being, it’s less about I Know a Guy, and being more about this is the sort of deep work where if you don’t Know a Guy, you very likely shouldn’t trust them with the work.
I would rather do a rebuild myself than trust a dealer, but if I need the vehicle, I don’t have the time to rely on me.
The Toyota dealer that did my valve spring recall put it back together with the timing wrong, and the 86 made so little power it couldn’t get to 60mph. So shit work followed by no test drive. Also instead of an engine stand they opened up my engine on a tyre on the floor, under the ramp.
When they “fixed” that they put a long bolt in a short hole, which broke off a chunk of cast aluminium. That chunk was later punched out through the cam cover by one of the cams, followed by a lot of the oil, enough to coat the entire RHS of the car at 70mph.
If you want a reliably built engine either get a very highly trained and meticulous technician, or build it in the factory.
Wow, that’s bad even for a dealer and that’s only top end work! I’ve done better work in my kitchen (I even had a stand). Some people are adamant on only bringing the twins to Subaru regardless of the badge as it’s really their car. I do buy my parts from them as they’re a lot cheaper than Toyota.
I have to drive past two Toyota dealers to get to a Subaru dealer, but I’m starting to think it’s worth it.
Hello CarShield? I’d like to take out a repair warranty on my three-year-old Honda CR-V hybrid with 60k miles. Hello…? They hung up.