Hey everyone - just curious if anyone had a similar issue that I had and to see if there's anything I can do (warranty wise).

This morning, as I was heading to work, my engine sounded like a weed wacker for a hot second, I heard a clunk, and the noise stopped. Immediately I lost the ability to accelerate and braking was nearly impossible. I managed to safely get off the highway (I was near my exit and it was all downhill) and the car is currently at the dealership awaiting their inspection. After talking with my brother (he's a mechanic), he said it sounds like I threw a rod (antifreeze and oil were draining from the engine bay).

Miles: ~58,000

I'm nearing the 5 year mark (I think that comes up next month, I forget - I paid the car off over a year ago), so is there any chance this would be covered under warranty?

Other things to note: if this is an oil related issue (my brother suspects as such), the oil indicator did not come on at all, ever.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Edit:

I tried responding, but it looks like a mod needs to approve my response for some reason *shrug* let's hope this edit goes through without a hitch.

The dealership called and there's a hole in the block - so yeah, I threw a rod. As for when I bought the car, it was February or later in 2015. I just checked my transaction history with Honda and the first payment was March 2015, so I must've bought it Feb 2015.

I went to the place near my house where I get my oil done, but they only keep records as far back as 2017. I sent over what I was able to get and now I'm just waiting to hear back from the dealership.

 

Unless you purchased extended warranty, the standard Honda warranty is 3 yr/36,000 miles, which ever comes first.

 

That's the bumper-to-bumper warranty. Powertrain is 5 years/60k miles.

OP, there is little use speculating prior to the report from the dealership. However, it sounds like you may still be inside the powertrain warranty, so keep your fingers crossed.

If they determine you ran it dry of oil or some other negligent thing on your part, then you'll be responsible. Otherwise, I would think the warranty should cover it if it's determined to be a non-negligent failure.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

I believe power train warranty - which includes engine and transmission - is 5 years and 60K (?) miles. Go to Honda site and download warranty PDF file with all that info.

Go through your records and see exactly when you bought the car because it sounds like this might be a close one. Make sure you can prove oil changes and the like if it comes up because they'll be looking for an excuse to save some money for Honda.

 

So I got a call back from the dealership - there's a hole in the block, so yep - a threw a rod.

They asked for my oil records, so I emailed them over once I grabbed them from the place I typically go. Waiting to hear back, but it looks like there's a chance it'll be covered.

 

here to see how the story unfolds

 

Likewise. I'm curious what the cause is determined to be as well.

 

was it money shift? cruising at 100km/h then went to reverse or first gear?

 

Seems a lack of oil was the culprit. No oil light came on, though.

Nah, nothing like that. I was cruising at about 70-75 mph (6th gear). When I reached the crest of the hill is when it happen. Luckily I was able to safely get to the off ramp. Super luckily I was able to stop - the braking system shut off and I had to press with all my might to not smash into someone at a stop sign at the end of the off ramp. The braking system should be an independent system IMO - this is super unsafe.

ETA: The dealership asked for my service records. It is still under warranty, but Honda is the determining factor if my service records are proper or not (they should be, I always got my oil changes when the % indicator came on). Hopefully I'll hear back today on the judgment.

 

The fact that you have antifreeze and oil leaking from the engine (bay) - you had a major event (head gasket, counterbalancer failure, bottom end failure (rod, bearing as you mentioned), coolant loss that results in loss of valves [into the engine]).

 

Heard back, Honda will be replacing the engine per the warranty

 

Squeaked in under warranty! Glad to hear it.

 

replacing entire engine?

if yes.... yay!

 

My 2017 LX ventilated the block by throwing a rod at 80K miles. Since I was out of the powertrain warranty Honda told me to get F-ked. I'm sorry, technically they wanted further teardown to determine if it was their deject and if so then they would take care of it, and if not then I'd have to pay around $1300 for the disassembly and inspection leaving my car in pieces. Instead I bought a engine from the junk yard for $500 and gave my mechanic friend $500 to install it.


Glad Honda took care of you. I personally will never buy another Honda ever again.

 

awesome ending to this story , as for me though , nobody touches my fit , i change my own oil

 

I believe so. At the very least the short block. The guy at the dealership said "Honda is taking care of everything".

Honestly, I was 2 days away from that being the case with me, I assure you. I bought this in Feb of 2015, this happened on Thursday. Talk about luck.

No joke! I was getting ready to pick another car out this week.

I would change my own oil, but I don't have a driveway and would rather not risk changing oil on the side of the road lol (I've gone through 3 cars in 10 years because people have smashed into my car while parked). It's purely out of convenience at the moment (and, fwiw, I've been going to this place for a decade and never had any issues, so I don't really blame this on them - just the right conditions caused it to go when it did)

 

Did your engine have the "actuator rattle" on startup ? if so, how long did you have it for before it grenaded ?

 

I'm curious if the dealership will give you their best guess, from yanking the old engine, why it threw a rod.

 

I don't know why the OP car threw a rod, but mine did because the piston seized to the cylinder wall. When the piston seized the rod broke. Once the rod was clanking around then it bashed itself through the block.

As to why the piston seized who knows? All I know I had been driving 75 mph for about two hours. I clicking noise appeared. Lasted a minute or two and went away. That was probably the cylinder wall starting black death. About 1/2 hour later the clicking noise came back and got louder. Looked for the nearest exit on the highway, car went down on power, which was probably the piston seizing up. The car then had a violent shake, most likely the piston seized up and rod broke? Then it got real loud clank for another 30 second and then the engine went dead. The engine was done.The whole thing happened in less then 5 minutes. Probably like 2-3? The car had fairly new oil filled to the correct amount. Wasn't running hot, no lights appeared until it threw the rod.

Had it towed the the nearest dealership. After a couple weeks of fighting with the dealer and Honda I rented a truck and trailer and drove 200 miles to get my car.

 

I didn't hear any noise until just before it happened. I was on the highway on my way to work, near the top of a large hill (bridge), cruising at about 75 mph. I heard was sounded like a I ran over a pebble (heard a small clunk), then the engine sounded like a weed whacker, heard a loud clunk, and there it went. Probably happened within about 30 seconds to a minute.

Yeah, I'm not sure why it happened - unsure if the dealership will be able to tell, but I'll ask when I go and pick it up. Likewise with the lights - wasn't running hot, no oil light, no check engine light, nothing.