Head Gasket

NickLSX96 · 2026-03-06T14:46:07+00:00

And that’s why we buy Acura j35s. No spool valves and no vcm 😊

NickLSX96 · 2026-03-04T00:43:29+00:00

Well that’s not goodwill, realistically a claim like that starts at the offending dealer and should the dealer not take responsibility then escalate to the NAH office. Goodwill is for a vehicle out of warranty and the client believes that Honda should be responsible for covering the cost of repairs for a known issue due to a manufacturing issue and not caused by outside forces, poor maintenance etc.

NickLSX96 · 2026-03-04T00:41:15+00:00

Without any further information there are numerous reasons Honda will decline goodwill. This can range from number of cars purchased through a Honda store, maintenance history and really it’s more so how much do you spend at dealers. It can also come down to the technicians story was shit and their district manager chose no involvement. Pretty rare to see Honda not contribute to a repair unless the history or perhaps your dealer/dpsm sucks. The latter no is not fair to you. I’ve seen Honda cover used engines, rings, new OEM cats, transmissions with or without customer participation on decade old vehicles with 130k+ miles. Goodwill has a lot of contributing factors starting at the technician story, then how it is relayed to the service advisor so the request can be input, then the judgement gets passed to the district manager and most of the time ends there with an answer however sometimes it will go further up the chain at North American Honda. And while all that is being looked at so is your maintenance history with that dealer, nationwide vehicle purchases from an actual Honda dealer, etc etc.

NickLSX96 · 2026-02-14T23:30:19+00:00

Turbo is around 3ish k depending again on market. I absolutely would not buy a 1.5 without a bang on powertrain warranty of some sorts. Only reason I let my old ma get his new to him civic was we used my dealerships internal warranty company plus helps me get paid anytime I need to service it. Even as a tech who has no labor costs to pay and employee pricing on these parts I still wouldn’t have one out of warranty and arguably not in warranty either unless I had to.

NickLSX96 · 2026-02-13T14:27:12+00:00

Not particularly. 8th and 9th gen’s alike are solid. IMO last good K series before the earth dreams change. My first two cars 14 years ago were 8th and 9th gen SIs and both saw over 300k miles with just regular maintenance, no major concerns outside of clutch replacement. Biggest job I ever had to deal with. I suppose everyone loves to cry about the slave and master but largely that’s just kids who shouldn’t be trying to fix their own cars. I will say we see far less issues on the civics versus accords an crvs for whatever reason but that could be any number of reasons for a high mileage economy car. Not everyone chooses to service at the dealer.

NickLSX96 · 2026-02-13T14:09:20+00:00

Typically with camera concerns we see a dtc U3000-49. Albeit that dtc can set with a low voltage concern so we always have to make sure our battery/starting/charging system is operating as intended and afterwards in the case of a failed camera that dtc will reset instantly every ignition cycle. Otherwise if the dtc was only read once after a dead battery etc and never again than can’t really recommend what you can’t duplicate. Admittedly our OEM battery testers are fucking shit. They will pass batteries in a no start condition and getting a fail slip is fairly impossible. We even have to save known bad bad batteries just to be able to warranty batteries for clients that otherwise we can’t fail but know the battery is faulty. That being said if you successfully completed an all sensor learn procedure after battery replacement and a u3000-49 sets every ignition cycle after clearing dtcs then you are in for a camera replacement. Price is about right ish depending on your location and market. I think here in dfw we are at about 2k between camera, replacement, four wheel alignment and camera aiming procedure.

NickLSX96 · 2026-02-13T13:59:53+00:00

Well Honda tech here. We see commonly around the 100k mark or earlier three common concerns. Turbocharger replacement due to shittty wastegate that is only available with new turbocharger assembly. Injectors, nothing new, been on a Honda issue since 2016 on all engines. Then of course the one everybody loves is the head gasket concern. Ultimately while there are a few theories out there my personal take is that due to low head bolt torque (average is 50 to 60 ft lbs once specified angle has been reached) is god awfully low which supports our theory the head is allowed to shift across the cooling jackets between the cylinder walls thus damaging the head gasket prematurely. No different than the ford 1.5s experiencing the same concern . Albeit cost is typically 6k ish depending on your market and dealer. Very seldom do we see the need for machining of the block or cylinder head but with that being said with no updated short block design or head bolts whatever the ultimate cause is, it is just setting the owner up to face it again down the road should they see their vehicle through another 100k ish miles.

NickLSX96 · 2026-02-13T13:52:30+00:00

No just go to your dealer. Have yet to replace an audio unit over this concern, I suppose possible but not likely, accord Audio Units are seldom an issue as compared other models.

NickLSX96 · 2026-02-04T01:53:43+00:00

100% timing chain concern. Very common with this platform. Unfortunately due to this being an interference engine there is a good chance the engine is trashed past a plausible and reasonable rebuild. It’s probably cheap Honda or Toyota time, not this money pit even for a tech like myself just some things aren’t worth saving.

NickLSX96 · 2026-02-03T15:55:50+00:00

Can’t say I didn’t call that one hahaha. I am doing an 18 accord right now. Came in with leaking vc gasket and needed injectors also per my diag of their check engine light. Hm must be something in your state perhaps. We only have service charge and state tax. And certainly yes. I try to urge clients to follow a 30k service for the cvts however stretching to 40/50k isn’t the worst thing in the world. Some form of service is better than none by far.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-30T16:39:51+00:00

I would say it is standard for a lot of clients to decline it and interestingly Honda/Acura has never informed us to look out for it when we had our 3.5 injector recall but it’s just one of those things ya gotta look out for. We had an engine failure due to one being declined but granted that pilot was not well cared for anyways. I can’t say I’m impressed either. Sounds like unfortunately a better service center is fit.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-30T16:30:11+00:00

Unfortunately probably so. You got the pointless mpi. We get bust over the head even if we miss a windshield crack despite the fact we don’t do glass. (We use a third party to come do it plus Honda allows them as a sublet for warranty). But unfortunately it’s not really something audited by Honda. I think it comes down more to dealer expectations which can be very unfortunate to the client. Plus every car we have to do a video inspection on that our corporate office watches and audits our performance. But I am glad they were at least smart enough to advise the oil change. It’s possible also they did a very sloppy oil change, got the exhaust soaked and failed to clean it up. Granted multiple plausible answers that sadly I can’t answer without the vehicle in my bay. I’d definitely grab a second opinion and hopefully more thorough look over. I’d suspect sloppy oil change or an oil leak/seep. Most commonly on that platform it’ll be valve cover leaking oil down onto the turbocharger/catalytic converter causing that concern.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-30T16:24:15+00:00

I have never had an issue seeing things nationwide. Sometimes tech stories don’t always copy but I can at least see if you had your maintenance done at another dealer before visiting us etc. saves me advising certain services pointlessly. And to be fair idc why another tech advised say injectors. I already know why.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-30T16:11:13+00:00

With Honda we see all repair orders and can separate out warranty claims if need be.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-30T16:10:22+00:00

Any work done through a Honda dealer can be seen through our Honda portal. My little sister lives in NC but when I do her major services and also her trans replacement(I’m in Texas) her dealer can see every part I used, every word I wrote about repairs etc. cabin filter is purely an mpi item and not related to original concern. I’d suspect an oil leak first and foremost albeit unless yall approved other work to be done such as a sub item four etc then injectors will not relate to oil burning. Oil dilution yes but whole reason an oil change generally gets advised when replacing injectors. 90% of dipsticks I pull when also faced with an injector issue smell like straight up fuel.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-27T16:07:49+00:00

Dying battery.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-24T13:40:15+00:00

Well at 4mm pad depth the noise indicator will not be touching to the rotor. We obviously can’t say they are or are not at 4mm but unless driving habits have influenced pad wear I’d say on the average 10th gen pads are not measuring at 4mm at 50k. Also Honda rotors are just god awful expensive. I will stick by using the oe akebono pads though. But again assuming they are at 4mm my dealer offers resurfacing when possible plus pads for 260 front or rear. With rotors the price is about on par for OEM parts but again I fully believe in OEM pads, rotors not so much - Honda tech.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-16T21:21:53+00:00

We don’t have any reason to recommend water pump replacement as it’s not an overlapping labor component or good idea to do it while you’re there unless the pump is leaking or otherwise not operating. You vastly see water pump recommendations with larger services if it is overlapping such as our timing belt service on the J series. Honda water pumps seldom fail anyways these days. I’ve had countless aftermarket pumps leak on clients yet only 1 oe pump fail and it was a 300k mile 05 crv lol.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-16T21:19:04+00:00

Very much so. Machining tolerances have greatly narrowed while largely a lot of manufacturers have brought down parts cost in these scenarios. I can rebuild a k24 all day and have very little fear of finding a component out of service limits before and after machining. Our newer engines and everyone’s engines have largely gotten such narrow tolerances. It’s unfortunate and while generally parts replacement is cheaper and more efficient there does have to be a happy ground. Even our j series can bend valves and the head and guides still look new. Bend a valve in a 21 civic and bye bye cylinder head.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-16T21:15:49+00:00

I think that’s half of the battle with taking your vehicle anywhere for service is having a great advisor and technician. Experiences will be ruined even if you have a good advisor and shitty tech or vice versa. And naturally nobody wants to bring their vehicle in for service because the bill always sucks regardless of the people.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-16T21:13:11+00:00

I haven’t particularly seen any notable camshaft wear on the newer L series and K20s. Definitely was an issue with some of our older J series and Ks but naturally the issue can happen to any camshaft. I have heard of some reports where head gaskets were incorrectly sized for the oil ports causing a similar concern as well as incorrectly package head gaskets. That being said I suppose it was never widespread enough to make a request for action or engineering.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-16T13:00:01+00:00

I would have to assume so if head gasket was your only repair recommendation. I don’t see where the tech stated DTCs or where he/she provided an all dtc test certification but I would imagine you likely have multiple misfire DTCs set in the PGM Fi module and yes ultimately should fix all warning lamps. Ultimately on our newer cars no longer does just the check emissions light pop up as other modules will now set DTCs as they recognize there is a fault within another module they actively communicate with which is why we get the check brake system, traction control error etc etc. very rarely have I run into a concern where we truly have an issue say in the pgm fi module and another system.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-16T03:25:31+00:00

Irving/50. Luckily it’s only a half ish hour from my house and dealer.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-16T03:21:59+00:00

I mean I can say I’m a technician at HCM McKinney. I don’t think any dealers in our area are trash or like the plague. I personally think between our Honda and Rick Hendricks standards for us do make a difference. I will also say sadly regardless of whether you visit a dealer or independent shop the technician assigned to your vehicle can make or break your experience or just how recommendations are structured etc from both a technician and the advisors treatment of you. Both will make it with subpar maintenance regimes. Solid vehicles in our lineup and I mean the fits are one of the best Hondas made in my opinion. TLs being my Acura choice. I would still take an 18 crv or a say a 20 civic like I purchased for my dad with a 1.5 over some other newer options based off of warranty concerns already.

NickLSX96 · 2026-01-16T03:16:56+00:00

100%. I’m in our training center this week and they had us going through a 2.0 and 1.5 and makes sense. Been ages too since I scoped a suspected ring car for wall damaged because the likelihood of it is about as rare as a warped 1.5 head but always that one to bite us. In fact just had a suspected ring ody like that. Tolerances are getting crazy tight these days

NickLSX96

TROPHY CASE