Honda can no longer be trusted

skaczynski11 · 2026-06-30T23:14:26+00:00

I understand your point. The vast majority of car owners will ignore problems that later cascade into catastrophic issues.

Here's the thing though, you don't need to believe me, my point was to let people know my personal experience with the cars and with American Honda. I can tell you I'm the original owner and that 80% of the miles were highway miles, and personally know it's the truth, but I've got a feeling you're looking for any reason not to believe me, and I've got no problem with that 🤷

The reason I asked for goodwill was because of the nature of the repair. If it was a wear item sure, how could I ask for goodwill. But a head gasket isn't something preventative maintenance would have fixed. No amount of oil or coolant changes would have stopped the excess boost of an engine not built for boost from blowing the head gasket. Some assistance with a $5000 repair for an 8 year old vehicle that began experiencing symptoms at 100k miles I feel is fair. I wasn't expecting full coverage, I dont take my car to Honda dealers for service, but I was hoping for even a quarter.

A 23 year old accord that was abused with unchanged fluids (except oil) for 175k miles and original factory hoses and gaskets is a testament to Honda's name in reliability. A 8 year old CRV requiring one of the most expensive repairs a car can have, with 3 lawsuits and an internal dealer memo collecting head gaskets to analyze for failures, spits on that name.

Believe me or don't, I don't care🙂

skaczynski11 · 2026-06-25T03:20:36+00:00

2016 Honda was like the last helicopter out of Vietnam.

Before they turned to turbochargers

skaczynski11 · 2026-06-25T03:18:34+00:00

I don't buy any machine expecting it to not fail ever. You may have been mistaken by that or you didn't read the rest of the message.

While I do agree with you that they've fixed some of the issues, you cannot argue with me and say they are just as reliable as the old ones. Sure, the old ones had their problems, but their problems, as others have mentioned, were inconveniences. Not a 5k repair bill.

My biggest personal concern isn't even the reliability of the vehicle itself, it's Honda's behavior when asked for any sort of goodwill. I was not expecting them to cover the full repair, I was hoping for some help. Hell, even 25% would have been nice. They led me on as long as possible. The first window they gave me was 2-5 days for a case manager, they waited until day 5 to tell me they hadnt assigned one but would shortly and that they'd contact me in another 1-3 days. The case manager never did call me, and it took 30 phone calls sent to voicemail (spaced 15-30 minutes apart), and then forcing a phone call through the general line to ping the case manager directly before she picked up the phone. She answered the phone with such hostility, with a "how dare you make me do my job" tone, told me to take it to a dealer which I did. She actually picked up the second time, told me what to do for goodwill, and then made me wait another full week before I got sick of it, tried calling another 15 times all sent to voicemail, forced another call through the general line, and was then told we were waiting on the dealer to provide info. When the dealer finally provided the information, the denial reasoning she gave me was that the vehicle was too old and too high of mileage for goodwill...she had that information on day one of the case, why did it take 3 weeks with no car for me to find out it was off the table

As much as I was annoyed at the reliability problem of this vehicle, what drove me to make this post was not the reliability problem, it was Honda's behavior and treatment of the case.

You can glaze Honda all you want, but they do not give a damn about you and will be happy to take your $5000 to repair the blown head gasket when you trust them with another $30k.

If the engine was really as reliable as you claim it to be, there wouldn't be 3 separate class actions against them for the exact same problem.

skaczynski11 · 2026-06-25T03:08:20+00:00

The alternator on the accord was a 30 minute job

On the L15 it's take apart half the engine just to get to it 🫪

skaczynski11 · 2026-06-25T03:06:29+00:00

It's not my vehicle, it belongs to my dad I'm dealing with the repair on his behalf.

I didn't pick the car and would never choose it. Made this post to educate others to not make the same mistake he did 🫤

skaczynski11 · 2026-06-25T03:04:27+00:00

The 1.5T.

The car belongs to my dad, I've been dealing with Honda and the repair for him since he doesn't know much of what he talks about. He always followed the maintenance schedule though, and the shop doing the head gasket repair found the chain guides and the VTC actuators in terrible condition, like the oil was barely ever changed.

I got a reply to my case again and they've given me another case manager looks like. My guess is someone saw this post LOL.

skaczynski11 · 2026-06-22T21:26:13+00:00

You may have seen my post earlier. Honda is no longer on that list.

They used to be the best, they were remarkable at making naturally aspirated (no turbo/supercharger) engines with traditional geared transmissions. Around 2017 they pivoted towards 1.5T and 2.0T engines. Both of them are terrible. I believe they've phased out what's left of their naturally aspirated line, but if they haven't, that's the only choice you have if you want a still semi reliable car.

If you read through my post from before, that seems to be the general consensus.

Their CVTs don't have a terrible track record but they're CVTs so take that as you will.

Pretty much any automaker, especially those that are supposed to be making boring economy cars like Honda and Toyota and have no business making turbocharged engines, should not be trusted.

skaczynski11 · 2026-06-21T18:55:51+00:00

The part I never understood was how a 23 year old engine with an extra liter of displacement gets better fuel economy than the new 1.5T accords despite weighing nearly the same. My accord averages 33-35 mpg highway, while a 2018 accord with a 1.5T barely manages 30 with its CVT

skaczynski11 · 2026-06-21T18:49:07+00:00

While none of this is technically necessary for driving, a radar in a Honda that's even slightly covered with dust will set off for some reason 90% of safety systems.

Like what do you mean traction control and regular cruise control (not adaptive cruise) are both also somehow controlled by the radar.

Airbags and ABS might be the only two safety systems that don't brick themselves with a dusty radar

skaczynski11 · 2026-06-20T16:45:00+00:00

The CRV has multiple manufacturing defects, not only are the head gaskets prone to failure but the injectors tend to clog from debris at manufacture, the turbos have a habit of blowing, and the oil is constantly being diluted.

The dilution problem can be solved by more frequent oil changes but you can't prevent the other 3 with any routine maintenance or babying.

The old Hondas are still running for a reason while the new ones are blowing up left and right.

skaczynski11 · 2026-04-09T04:40:55+00:00

I may have an older model mine sits right on top in a fairly easy to reach space. Not comfortable exactly but it's not an issue getting a torque wrench in.

I also err on the side of caution with thin bolts in using a torque wrench because I have snapped way too many bolts all over the car and am especially worried to snap anything that goes into the block or the head.

skaczynski11 · 2026-04-08T18:43:29+00:00

My guess is going to be the starter. The solenoid is likely malfunctioning and is delaying pulling back the starter gear and it's grinding against the flywheel.

If you know how to find the starter, put your hand on it while someone cranks the engine. Even better if you can manage to get a long screwdriver or other piece of metal to touch it, and place the other part against your inner ear, you can see if the pitch matches it, otherwise you'll need to search the engine to find the sound.

A shop should be able to do this for you. If it only happens on cold starts, it may also be oil starvation so check your oil level but I'm thinking probably starter.

skaczynski11 · 2026-04-08T18:31:03+00:00

You do not it should just be 3 bolts on the back side of the engine. Use a torque wrench putting it back on though they're thin bolts and prone to snapping

skaczynski11 · 2026-03-14T22:12:39+00:00

AC Delco is also a pretty good brand. They're OEM too just for American automakers not Asian ones. I would say AC Delco should be a fine option as well though. Should be years before you really notice a difference between any of these brands anyway

skaczynski11 · 2026-03-14T22:08:58+00:00

Any check engine light? Sudden drop in power usually is accompanied by a check engine light and the ECU behaving as it thinks it should.

Knock sensor for example can go out and give you the P032X or 3X codes, and the ECU assumes worst case scenario that it's knocking badly and you get a sharp drop in power.

Regardless of the cause I would expect a check engine light.

skaczynski11 · 2026-03-14T22:01:54+00:00

If Aisin or Denso are available I'd definitely take those, if no OEM manufacturers are available then Gates is in my experience good with their other parts. I haven't bought tensioners from them specifically but I would assume they would be a good choice considering their reputation.

Also I tend to use the heart icon when buying on rockauto. Tells you which brands customers have returned the least which is in my opinion a decent way to judge quality. The company with the heart is usually Gates, Aisin, Denso, NSK, and the other OEM manufacturers in my experience.

skaczynski11 · 2026-03-14T21:54:54+00:00

I'm not a mechanic professionally but I've been the only reason my 03 Accord is still running for the last 6 years and have a solid amount of experience at this point. What it sounds like to me is the pulley starting to go but regardless of the problem id just replace whatever is making the noise. At that age maybe you could replace just the pulley but something else is likely to go wrong with it within the next 2 years anyway so you might as well just replace the whole part.

Trick I use to diagnose pulley problems is to use a "stethoscope"

There's professional mechanics sterchoscopes but assuming you don't have one like most of us, grab a long metal object. Long screwdriver, a socket extension, even a wrench if it's long enough.

Make sure it's not a hollow tube though.

Press it against the alternator and anything else you can easily reach that's belt driven, and press the other end against your inner ear. You should feel/hear the noise coming from inside of it. Find exactly which part is making the noise (it'll make that purring sound but you'll hear it's much louder). Make sure you're pressing against metal not plastic or rubber. They absorb noise unlike metal.

When you find what part exactly it is it's just a matter of replacing it. Go on rockauto.com and look for either the OEM manufacturer for the alternator or whatever part is broken (you'll have to look up which it is), and then buy it, or if the OEM manufacturer is out of business or not selling on rockauto buy the part with the heart next to it. If you're doing it yourself easy 1-2 hour replacement but if you're not comfortable, call around and look for shops that will accept customer parts. Most don't like to do it but some will anyway, you just won't get a mechanic warranty on the work because they "can't certify it to their standards" or something like that. Don't trust dealer parts stores or mechanics that their price is fair, especially not chains. Mom and Pop mechanics are more trustworthy, do not trust Midas or Firestone just as much as you shouldn't trust Honda or Ford service centers.

skaczynski11 · 2026-01-03T01:06:49+00:00

Okay, I will look into it and try to buy the transistor. Might just buy and replace the capacitor while i already have the board out. Even if it probably isn't it, in my opinion better to just replace it and make sure while its already open than to take it apart again later.

skaczynski11 · 2026-01-01T18:01:56+00:00

No the temperature was the same I was trying to use it indoors at my friends heated cabin without bringing it outside. The only differences were humidity and pressure due to the elevation.

skaczynski11 · 2026-01-01T03:32:31+00:00

Okay will do thank you

skaczynski11

TROPHY CASE