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A CR-V Drives Through It

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montana
19K views 115 replies 16 participants last post by  kloker 
#1 ·
(The title of this thread is based on Norman Maclean’s novel “A River Runs Through It”, which is set in western Montana in the 1920’s.)

Last year, my dad realized he could no longer drive (he’s 83), so he asked if I wanted his 2010 EX-L. I thought about it for a few months then decided to take it. I was driving a 2007 Honda Accord SE with the same 4-cylinder engine; it had about 190,000 miles on it at the time. It was in great shape (still is), and I had no payments on it except for the insurance. And, I liked it, so there was no real reason to find another car.

But it was Dad’s, and I got the impression he wanted me to be driving it, not someone else he didn’t know. So, in late 2019 I said I’d take it.

I was supposed to fly back to the Buffalo NY area (where I grew up & where mom and dad still live) and drive the car back on April 5th. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I could have gone even though both MT & NY were under shelter-in-place orders at the time, and really wanted to, but when I saw in the last few days of March that Rhode Island was stopping all cars with NY plates and forcing them into self-quarantine for two weeks, I decided to hold off. Of course, I don’t drive through RI but what if Pennsylvania, Ohio or Illinois got that idea? At the time, I had started the process to get a Montana title and registration but didn’t have them in hand yet.

Then I bought a ticket to fly back in early May, and the airline cancelled the flight!

During this time I got the car registered in MT and got plates for it, then later on got insurance for it.

I waited until one week before my new planned date to buy a ticket, this time on a different airline. Friday 5/29 came and went with me ending up in Buffalo, finally! Today I put my Montana plates on the car, and all was well with the world.

I’ll be starting the two-day drive from western New York to Montana on Monday. Yes, two days. About 1,100 miles/15 hours per day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all behind the wheel. Stay tuned...

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#5 ·
15 hours a day is brutal. We'd done as much as 12 hours and I was totally wiped out from the drive. If you feel at all tired, by all means take advantage of the rest areas or bite the bullet and split up your trip into three days. Better to be safe than tired. Caffeine doesn't help me stay awake anymore, but I found that eating carbs will make me drowsy behind the wheel!

Which route are you taking? When we went to Montana from here (southeast Michigan), we took the route around Chicago and picked up I-90, taking that all the way across. (We spent a day at Badlands in SD, before heading up to Glacier.)

The CR-V should prove to be comfortable on a road trip. I've been on five long road trips so far, with the only issue being an AC that quit somewhere in South Dakota in 2017. (Got it fixed in Salt Lake.) It's nice being up higher on the highways.
 
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#8 ·
I've done this trip numerous times, maybe 25 times.

The route hasn't been decided yet. For many years I'd take I-90 all the way, but the past 4 or 5 times I've taken a detour starting in Minnesota, south through Iowa and joining I-80 there, staying on it until it joins with I-90 in the Chicago area. Taking the Iowa route avoids most of the Chicago tolls, traffic and road construction, plus it avoids Wisconsin & it's silly 65-mph speed limit entirely.

This time though, with all that's going on in Minneapolis, the MN National Guard being activated, etc., I may just avoid MN altogether and continue west across Iowa until I get to South Dakota (and freedom).
 
#9 ·
Since I'm close enough to Chicago and the Ohio Turnpike, I got an I-Pass in Chicago a few years ago so I can go through the tolls without stopping. I-Pass also works on any EZ-Pass system, so I can travel the Ohio Turnpike with no issues.

On our last trip through Chicago, for some reason we were routed onto I-90 and got stuck in a long traffic jam in downtown Chicago on a Saturday afternoon. Normally it takes us up I-294. In 2017, I-94 into Indiana (just a few miles past Michigan City) was under construction and it took us eight hours to get past Chicago where it normally took about five.

I-80 for me is the fastest route to Denver, yet I dislike Nebraska so much that I only go that way if I really need to. I've gotten sick on Nebraska food three times now (not in Omaha, but once you get past Lincoln and into the smaller towns along the way...especially Ogallala). I can take I-70 which cuts through Missouri and Kansas, but that works better if I'm going to Colorado Springs vs. Denver (and it's about 45 minutes longer).

At least I-90 stays far enough south of Minneapolis to avoid it. We stayed in Rochester last year, in fact, and made it to Rapid City the following day.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Finally made it back to MT tonight @ 0015 (that's 12:15 am) Wednesday. Nothing unusual about the trip except that the cops in Cleveland had a few interstate exits closed on Monday. I was just driving through (I'm sure the city of Cleveland wished others did too) so that didn't affect me. Later, I heard on the local Chicago AM radio stations that either some parts of various interstates in the downtown area were shut down due to protests, or the exits to various parts of downtown were. But that was off my radar since I don't venture in to Chi-town anymore.

About 2,050 miles total.

Ultimately, I decided to take my "new normal" route home by getting off I-90 and on to I-80 near Gary, IN and staying on it until the middle of Iowa, where I turned north on to I-380 and stayed on it until it ran out and turned in to whatever road that took me to little towns in central Iowa and ultimately to southern Minnesota where I re-joined 90. I then went west to my hotel in Blue Earth, MN. I stay on 90 for all but about 250 miles of the rest of the way home.

I met up with Mike728 south of Chicago and picked up his Honda rubber floor mats he had for sale. Thanks Mike!

This is what I saw when I woke up Tuesday AM in Blue Earth (home of "ho-ho-ho Green Giant"):

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(Who just sung that TV jingle? :) )
 
#14 ·
Sounds like a nice trip! Quite a haul in two days.

(Who just sung that TV jingle? :) )
I thought the "Ho Ho Ho" may have been Thurl Ravenscroft (aka the voice of Tony the Tiger for decades, and the singer of "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch") or someone like Gene Morford (of the Ron Hicklin Singers), but it was a Chicago-based singer named Len Dresslar. That's our useless trivia for the day. 😁

Heading south on I-69 towards Indianapolis, I've passed the Nestle Quik Rabbit (not my photo):

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This has turned into an episode of Roadside America... 😉
 
#12 ·
Hah! There's also one of these jolly statues in Denton, Texas, across the street from the Green Giant plant where I used to load when I drove for HEB. Very cool!

So, tell us your driving impressions of the V on the trip. I like the color - almost bought a brown '09 EX AWD like this, before I found my clean green '07 EXL. I have liked it on short trips of a hunnert miles or so, haven't been further. I suspect I'd need a gel seat cushion for that, as my leather seat gets kind of hard after a couple of hours. Otherwise, it seems to drive effortlessly, and runs a steady-state 75-80 easily. Just needs more punch in the audio department, which is in the works. Been getting about 27-28 hwy with the oversize tires (255/55/R18's). You?
 
#13 ·
26k miles? Wow it's brand new!!

What are you getting for gas mileage on this trip?

The CR-V is such a great road tripping car!
 
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#16 ·
Well, some observation about the car:
  • What's not to like about a 7-speaker, 270 watt stereo? Maybe one thing - the speakers themselves, but that's easily solved. With decent aftermarket units it would be a real nice sounding unit.
    • I have never had a car with a subwoofer. With the sub set to +1 or +2, it adds just the right amount of... coloration I guess, to the music.
    • Speed-sensitive volume - I love it. The Accord does not have it and I'm constantly fiddling with the volume.
  • Auto headlights - nice feature. Don't have it on the Accord either.
  • Easy entry/exit. I'm 6' 1" 320#
  • Major oil consumption. Over the 2,000 mile trip, I had to add 2.5 quarts.
    • Dad did get the letter about the warranty extension but never took it in. At the time he said it doesn't use any so no need to test for it. True, it won't use any oil if you put only 30 miles on it per week.
    • Needless to say, this is a big-time problem.
  • Not-so-good (to me) fuel economy. The Accord, with the same k24 engine and a similar transmission, on the same route, gets 32-34 mpg (as calculated by me; it doesn't have a computer that can do that). The CR-V's computer calculated an average of 24 mpg. Maybe that's ok for a CR-V but I was hoping for more.
  • Somewhat hard ride. This afternoon I checked tire pressure: 3 at about 37, one rear tire at 45! No wonder it was hard.
I do have a clunking noise from the front right wheel area. Almost every time I go over a bump, clunk. It doesn't matter if I'm going straight or turning.
 
#17 ·
Sounds like lots of good!

Just speaking from my experience with a 2009 in no specific order

I believe the tire pressure, as you noted, has a substantial role in the rough ride. I run right around 32-33 front and 30-31 rear and it honestly doesnt ride bad for a 10 year old vehicle.

As it was not driven much I think the mileage will improve, a couple tanks of premium with some PEA based cleaner will probably help. I can easily get 24-26 mpg around town and pull 27-29 mpg on the open road staying 72 or under. Over 80 aerodynamics take over and I get somewhere around 24-25mpg

RE: oil consumption - I have seen where people have had luck getting Honda to cover a good portion of the repair for oil consumption, others not so much. I wonder if a quality synthetic oil and some MMO over time would help to open back up these oil passages. Thats is a substantial amount of oil and will need to be addressed in some form or fashion. You do not want that much oil going through your combustion chamber and cat long term.

Sway bar links tend to be a common issue on these vehicles and a inexpensive part - may start there and see of that could be the issue. Also seen a couple when I was shopping and pulling CarFax reports had swaybar bushings replaced so maybe that as a second option
 
#18 ·
The transformation has begun...from a CR-V to my CR-V. :cool:

I had about 1/2 bottle of MMO laying around, so I put it in the engine today. Let some air out of the tires and gave it a bath at the car wash.

Back at home, I vacuumed out as much of the pine needles that I could. Mom & dad live in a place infested with pine trees, maple trees and more trees. The car was garaged all the time, but occasionally it was parked on the driveway under said trees. There were pine needles and tree leaves packed in by the hood hinges even.

I looked at the engine air filter tonight, it looked like.....an air filter that's 28,000 miles used. A bit of dirt on it but not bad. I could see the Sun through it, somewhat. It says Honda on the frame, so it's likely original. I don't know if I'll replace it yet.

The MM says 80%, A1. It was at 100% before I left.

Since the car hasn't been driven much in the past year or so, it had a dead battery back in April and needed to be towed to a shop. New battery installed.
 
#19 ·
And tonight I was rewarded with my first CEL. Also, the VSA light was on solid.

The CEL was for p0013, intake air temperature sensor 1 circuit high bank 1, and p0102, MAF sensor A circuit low.

When I removed the cover for the air cleaner, I unplugged the MAF sensor. I'm not sure, but the key may have been in the ON position when I did that. If so, the computer apparently did not like that.

I had to look in the service manual to find the OBD2 port. On the Accord it's on the left side of the car, above the fuse block. On this CR-V, it's to the right of the steering wheel and hard to see if you don't know where it is.

That lesson learned, I plugged in my wi-fi OBD2 reader and was able to reset the codes. But the VSA light was still on.

I went to get gas, and after I started the engine I noticed the VSA light was now off. Yay me.

This VSA stuff is new to me; the Accord doesn't have it.
 
#20 ·
Sounds like you might have a dry shock with that clunking. I quickly learned to ignore that average mileage calculator, as mine is not remotely accurate. I would wonder if, at 28k, it would help you out to go with full synthetic oil. I have the "tree" issue here too, and have noticed that the CR-V's bodywork has nooks and crannies all over the place that accumulate leaves and other tree detritus. Even the lip around the rear hatch when it's open gets clogged with them. Also, not just around the hood hinges but below the wipers too, and inside the door hinge areas. It adds a whole 'nother step to the car wash process. Also, I am annoyed by how much the dash is a dust magnet. It gets dirty faster than the top of the engine. I would hope you could get a lot more miles out of it before oil consumption becomes an issue. Dang. Just my little nitpickancies.
 
#27 ·
Also, I am annoyed by how much the dash is a dust magnet.
You meant the whole interior, right? Almost every surface had a thin film of dust. I squirted some 303 Multi-Surface cleaner all over everything plastic, and wiped it up with a large microfiber towel.

The car was the Christmas tree toting vehicle for 10 years. (the 'trunk' in this odd angle picture is at the top.)

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#22 ·
On highway trips, tall SUVs really suffer from high wind resistance compared to sedans. Our old V6 Acura TL always got better MPG on the highway than our V. Slowing down REALLY increases the fuel mileage.
 
#25 ·
The clunk up front could be either a bad stabilizer bar link but, given the low mileage, the original probably isn't beaten up too much at this point. The other could be the strut. Both of our '09s got noisy, and the struts were the problem. A set of KYBs would do nicely if you decide to go that route.

In Hondas with the VSA system, certain OBD-II codes will cause the VSA system to disable itself. We've had a few different errors disable the VSA in various Hondas and Acuras we've owned. There is nothing wrong with it--it is some kind of safety feature with the system, keeping it disabled until other errors are fixed.

I don't know about 2010-2011, but my 2009 is very fussy on the gasoline it uses. Some of my best gas mileage was out west where I could buy ethanol-free gas. The CR-V will actually run on E-85 but (aside from other issues where I don't recommend using it) you would find mileage dips by maybe 25% or more with E-85, the reason being that ethanol stores less energy than gasoline. Out west, ethanol-free gas is easy to find. Where I live, it is sold only as "recreational" fuel (we are on the Great Lakes system). There is a station maybe eight or nine miles from the house--I will drive up there to buy pure gasoline for all of my yard equipment, and I will also get gas for the cars there since you can buy the mid-grade and get a higher mix of pure gasoline at the pump.

On a road trip, I can get 26-27 MPG running ethanol-free gas. In other states where I fueled up, traveling at nearly the same speeds, my worst tankfuls worked out to around 22 MPG. (And the speeds were probably lower on the freeway since we don't get to 80 MPH interstates until we're further out west.) Running winter fuel locally when I do only shorter trips, I'm lucky to get near 20 MPG.

The MPG shown in the gauge cluster is only an estimate but in my calculations over many tankfuls, it is usually within about 0.5 MPG of what I calculate when I go to fill the tank.
 
#32 ·
having those crystal-clear lenses up front makes it look brand new! What kind of tires do you have?
I'm pretty happy with the high-beam headlights on this car. My Accord's aren't as good, but that's likely because the plastic housings were moderately sunburned when I bought it 5 years ago. Sanding has helped, but I think it's time for new housings. The CR-V's housings look like they were made yesterday, they are that clear.

The tires do look large, don't they? But they're stock 225/65r17 Toyo Open Country HT's.
 
#31 ·
I got some paperwork with the car, most of it was receipts for maintenance work done to it. Pretty standard stuff, but a few did stick out.

In 2011 it went in for a recall for a software upgrade related to fuel injector and VTC timing.

In 2012, two years after purchase, it went in for a rattle coming from under the car. Turns out the catalytic converter was the cause, something inside the catcon was rattling. So the dealer replaced the catcon, heat shields and related parts under warranty. That would have been an expensive bill.

All 4 tires were replaced in 2015. Wow! I just looked at that receipt. It was done by an indy shop that Dad’s used for years. The mileage on the car at the time was 15,179. OE tires may not be the best, but to replace them in 15,000 miles / 5 years? That’s crazy.

The rear brake disks and pads were replaced in 2016. I have a problem with this too – Dad didn’t drive crazy; rear brake disks/pads should last much longer than 17,343 miles. Monroe ceramic pads and Auto Extra disks were used.

The right rear mud flap needed to be reinstalled in 2017, and trim work related to that may have been done. I can’t read their writing but the bill was $337. More molding work was done in that area last year too. Hmm. Everything looks fine there now.

Airbag recalls, of course...

It looks like oil changes were done every other year, or those receipts were lost/forgotten. Anyhow they did them with Mobil 1 0w-20, but the sticker I removed from the windshield said 5w-20. Ah, the little number doesn’t really matter. It’s the big one that does.
 
#34 ·
...
All 4 tires were replaced in 2015. Wow! I just looked at that receipt. It was done by an indy shop that Dad’s used for years. The mileage on the car at the time was 15,179. OE tires may not be the best, but to replace them in 15,000 miles / 5 years? That’s crazy.
...
Our 2010 made it about 3 1/2 years and 25k miles. They were pretty worn and scary in the rain/snow. The shop that replaced them said they hadn't seen very many OEM's on a CR-V make it that far. :) The next set. Mich Defenders, went for almost 40k and were only replaced, due to a road hazard.
 
#33 · (Edited)
This weekend's to-do list, in order (if work doesn't interfere; I'm on standby):
  1. Flush brake fluid, check all brake hardware, remove any rust. The receipt for the rear brake work doesn't say a thing about bleeding them, so I'm guessing this fluid is 10-year-old stuff. The pedal does feel kind of funny. It's not squishy, but something isn't right. It's not real linear in application.
    1. While I have the tires off, I'll try to remove/reinstall the brake disk screws (if they're still there) and remove the disks too. Mostly this is to remove the rust, a step that is not necessary on cars that have spent their entire life here in Montana.
  2. Drain & fill the ATF once. The manual says to use only Z-1, so I'm guessing Z-1 was factory-fill back then. That's probably what's in the transmission now. I have 3 bottles of DW-1 waiting. (First of 3 such changes.)
  3. Change the rear diff fluid.
 
#35 ·
Thank you for your reply. Your journey sounds quite successful. With this pandemic still raging we are seeing new spikes here in Dallas county. I worry for the many protestors getting the virus.

It sounds like hotels and the roads are not packed from your reply. I always bring my own food in coolers when on the road. So I won't worry over stopping at restaurants. Your experience has given me hope for a road trip.

When I went to the town of Alpine and the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains a couple of years ago I was easily traveling close to 90 mph on the highway out in the desert. With the incredible nose like design in the front, my CRV felt like it was traveling about 35 mph. I marvel at the design of my 2007. Those engineers really figured out how to streamline the front for the speed and delivery.

Thank you again for your informative reply. It was most helpful. 😊
 
#37 ·
When I went to the town of Alpine and the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains a couple of years ago I was easily traveling close to 90 mph on the highway out in the desert. With the incredible nose like design in the front, my CRV felt like it was traveling about 35 mph. I marvel at the design of my 2007. Those engineers really figured out how to streamline the front for the speed and delivery.
I agree--I like how stable mine feels at higher speeds. I've taken the detour through Mexico and had it up to 100 a few times and other than the engine RPMs being higher, you wouldn't really expect it to go this fast and remain stable.
 
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#36 ·
Those maintenance items all do seem to be a bit premature. But at least you know it was cared for. Tires are often replaced due to age, not wear, but I don't know if five years is considered to be that old.

I have a folder of receipts for the TSX I just bought for my daughter. It's had new tires, alternator, exhaust, and a few other things taht really could have added up. The steering rack is leaking (very common issue), and I just added some stop-leak to it to see if I can slow it down until I can get a chance to fix it myself or find someone who will do it for a reasonable amount. (This stop leak helps the rubber seals and o-rings swell to reseal them. Can't hurt since the rack is going to be replaced anyways.) I don't have a full history on the car, but there were a great many things the previous owners replaced so a lot of the major expenses are behind me. Since it uses nearly the same engine as in the CR-V, I'm thinking of replacing the timing chain, tensioner and guides later this summer, just as a preventive measure.
 
#38 ·
Little-used Vs often suffer from sticky rear slider pins. If that happens, the pads wear out quick! Clean, inspect, and pack them well.

Good on ya, doing that maintenance. (y)
 
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