Honda extends warranty due to engine conerns

May 28, 2019
Honda will extend warranties on late-model CR-Vs and Civics amid concerns about engine oil dilution.

Honda will extend warranties on late-model CR-Vs and Civics amid concerns about engine oil dilution.

Consumer Reports found a Honda corporate memo to dealers that noted rare cases of gasoline mixing in with the engine oil, diluting the latter. The issues are with the 1.5-L turbocharged engine, which have direct injection fuel delivery.

The new warranty term gains a year for more than 1 million of the 2017 to 2018 CR-Vs and 2016 to 2018 Civics. That makes a total warranty of six years with no mileage limits, Consumer Reports wrote.

Service bulletins for similar problems were issued last fall for cold-weather areas. Wards Auto reported that the problems happens when the engine doesn’t warm up enough to evaporate unburned fuel that slips past piston rings and infiltrates engine oil. Direct-injection engines are especially vulnerable to this.

Honda’s memo to dealers said that software or hardware failures could be causing the oil dilution. Vehicles could experience misfires, engine noise or lack of power. Issues are apparently worse in cold-weather regions, where it takes longer for the engines to warm.