I own a 2018 a Touring with 3,600 miles. Wanted to share the stats of our trip. Just completed a 850 mile road trip over Thanksgiving. Checked the oil level just before leaving and it was a nats hair over the orange plastic on the dipstick. It did not smell of gas. Checked after the trip and oil level was down just under the top of the orange plastic.
Was bucking a 20 to 30mph plus head wind or side wind a majority of the trip both ways on the North Dakota plains. Temps of 26 degrees to 33 degrees F. :bluduh:MPG took a hit averaging between 24.6 to 26.5 MPG. Speeds of 70 to 78 mph. Not pleased, but it was the same as my previous Subaru Outback got in similar drives.
Inside heat was OK, but not the quicker and hotter output my new 2018 Chev Colorado Z71 can be. Seat heaters (bottoms only) were poorer than the bottom and back burners that my Z71 can be. Just thought I'd post to see if this matches others experiences.
Boattail,
I would say your low mpg is primarily due to the headwind, and if the roads were wet or snowy, it may have been compounded by higher rolling friction with the tires.
I've been reluctant to add my 2¢ to the oil dilution issue but maybe it's appropriate here. I've been a line mechanic at a dealership a long time ago and am also a docent at an auto museum and currently own or have owned and worked on everything from a 1934 Auburn with a large in-line straight-8 Lycoming engine to Alfa Romeo Sports cars. Every new advance in engine technology brings with it some quirk or operating condition that usually alarms those whose limited knowledge of how cars SHOULD work is grounded in yesterday's technology that they are familiar with.
I try to keep current on the issues with my new Honda CRV to see how the manufacturer deals with things like oil dilution complaints although I am certainly NOT an alarmist about this particular issue. Although Honda has not handled this issue very well from a PR standpoint (I heard a big sigh from my service manager when I asked what the story was about oil dilution as he led me over to a screen and ran the latest Honda video), I think that the whole issue is overblown on forums like this one.
Direct injection is the current state of the art in combustion efficiency. It's been around for almost 10 years now and virtually all manufacturers of such engines including Audi, Toyota, and Ford have recognized fuel blow-by into the crankcase as a side-effect of this technology (as well as some manufacturers reporting a tendency toward irregular carbon build-up on the valves). I would be concerned if it was causing scoring of the cylinder walls or premature ring wear, but at least in Honda's case, that doesn't seem to be the case. Otherwise, some minor amount of volatile fuel getting into the oil is something to watch but not nearly the issue that coolant getting into the oil (or vice-versa) through a head gasket might be.
I've noticed in my 1.5l some increase in oil level after I have made a number of short trips where the the engine didn't have a chance to heat up fully. Whereas coolant will heat up to its operating temperature of 180° rather quickly, it takes considerably longer in any car for the oil and block to reach that temperature– 30 or 40 miles possibly. Which is why whatever volatile compounds that may have gotten into the oil don't "burn-off" until the car runs hotter for a longer period.
The oil issue with direct injection engines seems to be made more apparent because of the very low viscosity oils used in these engines, particularly those where the oil is designed to also lubricate a turbo unit. Honda may be more apparent than other similar engines because I suspect that its coolant system was designed to also work with larger displacement engines which have a higher thermal mass than 1.5l. This may also contribute to the weak heater complaints from owners who live in colder climates. If there is a quick "fix" that Honda may look into, it might involve modifying the operating temperature or how the radiator shutters operate. I don't really know what Honda will do, but I'm sure that it will come up with something to respond to the bad PR that has arisen because of this issue.
In the mean time, I'll read the more knowledgeable comments that I run across and will certainly follow through with any "fix" that Honda may implement in the future but I am not about to trade in the car for another model that probably also has direct injection but hasn't had as much bad press about oil. I remain very happy with my CRV and marvel at the efficiency of the engine and drive train technology every time I drive it and fill the tank. I love my 1934 Auburn despite its 14mpg, 12 zerk fittings, periodically pulling the head to de-carbon the engine and oil changes every 500 miles, but there is no question which car I would take across country. To me, Honda has come up with the very best in state of the art internal combustion technology and temporary oil dilution is not something I loose sleep over.
BTW, Boattail, I love your nickname even though my Auburn is not a boattail.
Yes it is. First boattail in1928 I think and the last one in 1936 when ACD folded. But they missed making one in 1934 like mine. Mine is a phaeton, a four door convertible.
Auburn 850y - - I agree whole heartedly with your statements. I love the CR-V, and will keep it, hoping for an improvement with the fixes to come.
Also my new Colorado is great in it's own ways.
:temptation:They all have pros and cons, right?
My 72 Riviera has it's own set of 42 year old issues, but it's a family heirloom and love it!
:banana:That 455 blows some kind of tremendous heat tho.:banana:
Auburn 850y , Nice post.
I also went on a 1000 mile each way trip to the north out of Florida and found the 2018 CRV Touring to be a pleasure to drive. Having read all the alarming posts and have no issues in Florida I was armed with a remote temperature gun. On a cold morning (16 f) I did a remote start and monitored the block temp the heater hoses and upper radiator hose. I can confirm the lack of heat from the vents. Its odd though that the block heats rather quickly to about 110 f then slowly over the 10 min got to 118 f. the temp gauge in the car showed nothing. the heater hoses showed about 80F and the radiator upper hose about 50 f. However when I drove off the temp gauge in the car almost "snapped" the the middle and I started to get heat.
I think the whole system is designed to keep the engine warm and working efficiently and the interior occupants can wait The temp gauge is synthesized and the heater regulator is inhibited.... my O2.
I wouldn't worry too much above the low mpg. Last June we drove out west (from KY). Going through the western part of Iowa and all the way east to west through N. Dakota we hit about a 30 to 40 mph head wind. Combine that with the 80 mph speed limit and a loaded down car (3 people, large cooler and luggage) and we were getting somewhere around 25 mpg. Overall for the whole trip we averaged 32 mpg. That probably would have been a mile or two higher mpg by not including the Iowa / N. Dakota mpg part of the trip.
Just to add, that was also the part of the trip where the gas in the oil first raised its ugly head... a hair under 1/4" above the full mark. Changed the oil in Cody and that never happened for the rest of the trip. BUT it has now happened twice here at home within about 900 miles of two oil changes... each free from the dealer per Honda's authorization.
Auburn 850y, thanks for that well detailed, technical and very credible explanation. The part about radiator shutter as the potential "fix" made a lot of sense given the list of symptoms and your offered theory for them. Just thinking that if Honda had let's say, their head of engineering, put out a post, video or some other social media statement with this kind of calm, detailed analysis, it might help make owners and prospective buyers more comfortable, whether they are experiencing the dilution issue, or not.
scorpion, I appreciate your kind words but I'm no automotive engineer. And I don't know if Honda's actual chief engineer even speaks English. But I do have some experience in mechanics and knowledge of the 100+ year history of the automobile that was behind my earlier rambling.
I read in the Honda literature that the automatic radiator shutters are there for aerodynamic reasons. Maybe they actually play some minor role in that but seeing nothing on what it does for engine cooling and temperature regulation surprised me. You see, I know that radiator shutters aren't anything new. They were quite common on luxury makes like Packard in the '20s and into the '30s. And they weren't there for aerodynamic reasons on those huge, boxy beasts. They were mechanically operated temperature controls and they worked very well to both regulate water cooling temperature as well as manage some degree of air-cooling and heating. The passage of air over the block does a lot to cool an engine depending upon design. Air cooling worked so well that a few companies like Franklin did away with the radiator and water cooling entirely and went to air cooled engines. [The US Army preferred Franklins for use in desert environments compared to boil-overs from the unpressurized water cooled cars of its day. Early Franklins with streamlined noses did't sell well however. People thought they "looked funny". So later Franklins had a huge, fake radiator shell on the front. The nay-sayers and alarmists of the day were pleased and those cars sold better, although Franklin eventually went out of business in the depression while a remnant of the company went on to make air-cooled helicopter engines.]
Hmmm… I see that I just went off on one of my car museum docent tangents. Sorry.
Anyway, I hadn't seen radiator shutters on a passenger car other than the antiques in the museum and when I saw that my new, state of the art CR-V had them I was surprised. I was even more surprised when I later read the car was apparently having issues related to engine warm-up, and it just got me wondering if part of the solution isn't already there.
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