Acura MDX Piston Ring Replacement | Failed Oil Consumption Test 

Thank you for watching! And they were the last ones to open the motor so now its their responsibility to fi it. Good luck!

@@curlyhairadventure2780 amigo, ayúdame por favor, cual es el torque de los tornillos de biela?

So what happened?

@@JamesValentineBaja1000is ur car pinging

Not really. In the event of anything serious you'd know and in that case bring it back to the dealer.

It sure is!

The whole job pays 13.1 hours (not horrible, but not great either). And the new gen MDX is pretty sturdy. There are some recalls for the ATF warmer, Tail Light Gaskets, Spongy Brake Pedal, and Fuel Pump Software. Nothing horrible. You can check the VIN on the recall page on the Acura website (If you Google Acura Recall if should pop up). Other than that the only other thing i can think of is the front lower compliance bushings on the lower arms tend to rip around 60k miles and the change in feel of the 9 Speed transmission. Drive a couple of newer MDX's and you'll see what I mean. At this point I think they're great cars and a great upgrade. Good luck! :)

@@curlyhairadventure2780 That's still not fair IMO. We all know a good tech like you will do it right but it makes some techs to try to rush it and we both know that's not a job to rush! I just left a McLaren/lamb dealer. I had enough of the dealer politics and warranty bs. Thanks for the info on the new MDX. The 9spd is a dual clutch and I've been around those style of gearboxes for a while now. I actually prefer that over any other transmission really. I'm looking to get one with around 40k miles. My 2011 currently has 150k and runs great but I know the oil pump and rear main leaks are coming soon. I didn't know about the oil pump leak being an issue back when I did the TB or I would of replaced it at the same time. Hopefully your videos get plenty of views and you can keep doing them! These kind of videos are priceless especially coming from inside the dealer.

@@curlyhairadventure2780 So I bought a 2015 MDX with 46k miles for pretty cheap. Hopefully that year was pretty stout.

Thank you so much for the kind words! And hopefully this goes somewhere lol

As long as the ATF warmer recall has been done its sturdy and reliable! I hope it gives you 1million miles :)

This repair will easily be in the thousands wether at the dealer or a private shop. Most the engine has to come apart to replace the internals. Here at the dealer a rough estimate on the labor would be $3500 and there would be the cost of the parts. Pretty expensive! Good luck out there!

Wow... Thanks@@curlyhairadventure2780 Question.. the only way to know that the engine needs a change of piston head and rings is to know if it consumes oil? Do we have a way to test it besides the oil consumption? Thanks!!!

Since replacing the piston rings/piston heads involves so much labor, replacing them would cost upwards of a few thousand dollars. If thats a route you're looking into i'd start by asking multiple shops for quotes on this repair. And what causes this issue is carbon build up on the rings/piston heads. Carbon build up happens on prolonged oil change intervals (not changing your oil roughly every 5000 miles). There is an oil life indicator in the dash and changing your oil when it reads between 15% - 30% is a safe spot for these engines. Many older V6 Acura's have these issues and simply staying proactive with your oil changes goes a long way. Hope any of this helps :)

@@curlyhairadventure2780 Do you know if oil type matters? Does using Acura's synth blend oil or full synthetic make a difference in keeping rings clean? After driving about 4300 miles and the maintenance minder shows me 15% oil life.

According to the bulletin excessive oil consumption is "corrected", but in all honesty it doesn't address the factors that causes the issue in the first place. Not changing your oil on time, ignoring the maintenance reminder, using not the highest quality of oil are only some factors involved with this. Some of the techs feel that maybe within another 150K the issue may pop up again if the engine continues to get ok oil, driver neglects maintenace, etc. By then the car is out of warranty and out of the manufacturers hands. To qualify for this bulletin the vehicle needs to burn above 1quart per 1000 miles and still be within a certain age. I think anything older then 8 yrs is out of warranty but i honestly forget. Anything under 1qt/1000mi is considered "normal" by the manufacturer. Most of our cars burn a little oil , but as long as you stay on top of the maintenance it's not the end of the world. Most of the J-series engines are bullet proof and i've seen a few TL's above 300K miles! And the 4th gen manual TL is a favorite among the techs. We all love them! Hope any of this was helpful :)

oh and this oil consumption issue affects almost all of the v6's within this time frame (roughly 09-13). So TL, MDX, RL, and ZDX are affected. I believe this time period most of the vehicles had the 3.7L but im not entirely sure.

@@curlyhairadventure2780 How long can an mdx last burning oil without doing this job if you just keep adding oil? Say burning 1qt every 1500 miles.

Put a quart of marvel mystery oil in your crank case and run it for1,000 Miles the whole time putting some in gas tank every fill up. Change oil and repeat

The issue is the carbon build up on the piston heads and rings. The oil ring gets clogged up and will not properly scrape the oil off of the cylinder wall and leave excess in the combustion chamber to be burned. We replace the rings and piston heads to correct this issue. To prevent carbon build up in the first place we rec to replace the oil every 4000-5000 miles. The maintenance minder in the car is not always accurate and may cause the vehicle to go longer in between oil changes. Good choice on the car! Every Acura tech i known loves those cars.

@@curlyhairadventure2780 so no changes to the new pistons?

I just had this repair done and 1,000 miles later a piston scored through the cylinder wall. They are placing it under a “goodwill repair” so the service was done without a warranty. Good luck. I would have rather just added oil..

@@curlyhairadventure2780 I think Honda is regressing with this J-37 engine. They should have stuck with the 3.5 liter engine they put in the Odyssey. Mine is an '03 with 130k miles and does not burn a drop of oil. Talked to a guy who had the same with 280k miles and he said oil consumption was nil. The problem as I understand it with the Acura piston rings is ring tension on the compression rings and the oil scraper holes on the scraper ring land. In their zeal to reduce friction, Honda reduced ring tension on the compression rings and did not drill drain holes large enough in the lands for the oil scraper ring. When the piston comes down, the oil scraper is supposed to remove excessive oil from the cylinder wall and return it to the crankcase via holes drilled into the scraper ring land. If the holes are too small, the ring cannot do its job which allows oil to build up on compression rings and burn which causes stuck rings and loss of compression. Eventually allowing oil in combustion space and it burns. Another thing to consider down the road, is replacement of catalytic converter due to clogging from burning oil products.

It's the Braun flashlight 390 lumens. I wait for harbor freight to have coupons and get them for around $25. It really is worth it!

Amigo, podrías regalarme el torque de las bielas del j37?

Sorry for the late reply but its the same part number. In reality it will probably happen again in another 100,000 miles. The reason carbon build up happens its due to poor maintenance intervals on the onboard system. After this repair id recommend replacing the oil between every 4-6 thousand miles

@@curlyhairadventure2780 thanks man! Have you found any flushes or soaks to work?

@@Gsrsourkrause ive seen people use sea form products on the valves up top (carefully read the instructions) but nothing for the pistons inside of the engine. That requires a rebuild at that point. And if youre inside to replace them then it takes less time to just replace them than clean them

Call your local shops to get a closer estimate on price. But a starting guess would be a couple grand

Theoretically i don't see why not. It's the carbon build up on the oil scrapper ring that causes the excessive oil consumption. If you can clean the pistons without damaging you might be ok. Good luck!

@@curlyhairadventure2780 thank you

Thats nice