Open a case with Honda to see if they will pay to fix it. You’ve done all the recommended maintenance, so it’s not like you neglected it.

 

Excessive fuel dilution will lower the viscosity of oil and 0W-20 is already low enough so yes, that will change the properties of oil and the wear/anti-wear characteristics of said oil. The more fuel, the less protection by the oil, which could result in more wear.

With that said, IF fuel dilution were the issue, we’d be seeing a LOT more CRVs with this issue and it would be a systemic issue, not a one off or a few off type situation given how many tens of thousands of CRVs there are as well as how many Civics there are with this engine as well.

 

Have the repair estimate?

 

Nowhere in your manual does is say or infer that you do not add oil between scheduled oil changes. If fact just the opposite, it say to check the oil level every time you refuel. If the oil level is getting low than top it back up to the full mark. Adding oil will not effect the calculations made by the maintenance minder in any way. The maintenance minder has no idea if oil is added. It bases it scheduled oil changes primarily on mileage and time.

As for the metal found in the oil, while not desirable I doubt it's from the timing chain. The metal wear from the timing chain are very small particles, too small to see. The only way to determine chain wear is direct visual inspection and checking how much the chain has stretched. The chain doesn't actually stretch but the wear at the pivot pins causes the chain to elongate and at some point it requires replacement.

Metal fragments/shavings are usually from the soft bearing metal that the crank shaft journals rotate in. The other area which can leave visible metal fragments is the cam shafts. Again visual inspection is required.

 

Ok. I was going by feedback on a different forum but thought that it would be better to post my situation here. The dealer said they think the metal shavings are coming from the timing chain - the code was for timing chain failure. I asked if they had seen any other codes and they said no. I asked if they checked the camshaft/valves and they said those parts looked undamaged. I asked if they could check the fuel injectors to see if oil dilution was an issue, and they said they won't know until they replace the chain, run the car and see if any other codes pop up.

 

Sorry to hear of this issue your having, good luck in your quest with having Honda fix it on their dime . Could you be more specific with the oil change miles that were performed on your CR V, 7,000, or ? I have been doing the oil changes at 4,500 -5000 miles on my wife's 2022 Touring .
Thank you,
Rich

 

The dealer records say I changed the oil about every 10k miles, so if you're doing it at 5k I'd say you're good. Also I don't think the 2022 models are experiencing this issue.

 

My understanding is that the oil dilution issue actually causes the oil level to increase, so checking the oil level after refueling would probably not have helped if dilution was occurring. I might have noticed a gasoline smell but at a gas station I don't know that I could've been able to tell the difference. Unfortunately I'll never know.

 

To avoid this issue with my new 2025 EXL, I plan to change the oil at 50% on the MM, not reset MM or change the oil filter at that time, then do another oil change w/filter when the MM trips off at 0-5%. With a couple of ramps, this should be a quick Mx item.

 

5k is a nice round number and splits the “too early and waste of oil” but also the “way too long and oil is thinned out” issue.

 

Metal and timing chain? Is the metal magnetic? Metal related to timing chain could be from sprockets, could be from loose chain wearing on aluminum case.
No matter if it is a lot of metal that is not a good thing. It will be nice to know what they find that is losing the metal and why.
I'd not do 10K oci, do it at 5K. I'm betting the crv we got had the 10k or so changes and why the timing set was replaced 1 month before we got it.
If your in a hot climate, 0W-20 is too light, especially with GDI.

 

10K mile oil change increments is an engine killer for direct injected motors and I expect to see a class action lawsuit against the major manufacturers one day on the matter.

An engine with direct injection suffers to some degree from oil dilution. All makes, all models, all manufacturers, doesn't matter who or what, if it has direct injection, it has some degree of oil dilution. Gasoline in the oil destroys the protective qualities of the oil as a lubricant. The longer it runs through the motor like this, the more wear (less protection) your engine gets. The rule should doing oil changes more frequently with DI engines. The industry is stuck on the idea of less frequent oil changes using synthetic and that is true with other styles of fuel injection but the direct injection design eliminates that theory.

People, change your oil more often. 5K mile MAXIMUM. Ignore your minder where oil life is concerned.

DI motors are also dirty motors compared to other injection designs. The grim also wears on parts. I get the feeling that the industry is going to eventually abandon the design. But sadly, you can't really get a motor these days that doesn't use DI.

 

10K mile oil change increments is an engine killer for direct injected motors and I expect to see a class action lawsuit against the major manufacturers one day on the matter.

An engine with direct injection suffers to some degree from oil dilution. All makes, all models, all manufacturers, doesn't matter who or what, if it has direct injection, it has some degree of oil dilution. Gasoline in the oil destroys the protective qualities of the oil as a lubricant. The longer it runs through the motor like this, the more wear (less protection) your engine gets. The rule should doing oil changes more frequently with DI engines. The industry is stuck on the idea of less frequent oil changes using synthetic and that is true with other styles of fuel injection but the direct injection design eliminates that theory.

People, change your oil more often. 5K mile MAXIMUM. Ignore your minder where oil life is concerned.

DI motors are also dirty motors compared to other injection designs. The grim also wears on parts. I get the feeling that the industry is going to eventually abandon the design. But sadly, you can't really get a motor these days that doesn't use DI.

DI is “dirtier” in that it has a little bit of soot vs PI engines. That soot is extremely fine though lest it be caught in the oil filter. It’s not causing any issues with semi-regular OCIs.

 

Yes, I have been changing my wife's '22 Touring at around 4,000-4,500 miles. And her 2022 does have oil dilution issues. It only has 10,600 on it now.
Rich

 

Hi All. Could really use some advice. I have a 2017 Honda CRV. Dealer says timing chain failed - metal shavings found in the oil. Only 67k miles.
Repair estimate is 3000 ($1937 for labor) and dealer says car is not safe to drive. An independent mechanic says they could likely repair for about 1k less than the dealer but I'm waiting to hear back on their written estimate. I opened a case with Honda corporate to see if they might provide some good will coverage of the repair since the warranty expired.

I did all recommended oil change/service with the same dealer so I didn’t expect this problem. I brought the car to the dealer in March 2024 when all of the warning lights came on. Of course it didn't happen when the dealer had it so they said they couldn't pull any codes. They said it could be the battery, so I replaced it. After that I'd occasionally get the warning lights, turn the car off and on and it would go away. The warning lights would only come on if I hadn't driven the car in a couple days, so I figured it was just parasitic draw on the battery.

Last week after a long road trip (14hrs driving) all of the warning lights came on and wouldn't go away after turning the car on/off. The dealer records show that I changed the oil at about every 10k miles - I was relying on the service minder to tell me when the car needed service, which in retrospect maybe was not the best approach. The manual says not to add oil between changes since it will affect the minder algorithm.

I also just came across numerous articles about oil dilution problems with this specific engine. Could this have led to excessive wear on the timing chain? Is this repair estimate typical for a dealer? Should I do the repair or trade it in and get a new car, or do the repair and trade it in after to get a better deal? I'm worried that if the oil dilution continues to occur it will cause more damage, and although the dealer said there's no evidence of damage to the valves or cam shaft I'm still wondering if the metal shavings could be coming from those areas as well.

Any feedback/advice would be greatly appreciated...Al.

I have a 2016 and just had tor replace the timing chain… cost almost $4000 by the time it was all said and done. I learned you need to change the oil at 5000 miles (or less) and listening to the recommended oil change from the car sensors is going too long. I had 129,000 miles on my car at the time

 

2017 CRV EX-L Turbo with Nav. Metal Timing CHAINS are used rather than belts because they are supposed to be more durable & long lived. There should be no normal reason for a Timing Chain to fail that early. My 2017 has more than 130,000 miles on it and I have not had issues with oil dilution or with the Timing Chain. **At some point I have run across a couple of 2017 CRV users online who claimed their Turbo & CVT were operating normally after 300,000 miles. One of the 2 did have a Timing Chain issue at about the 300,000 mile point. He was having some odd, unexplained issues which were eventually traced to a Stretched Timing Chain. Regardless of the mechanics of how the Timing Chain Stretched, he actually had posted a picture of the old Timing Chain laid out alongside a new Timing Chain to show that the old Timing Chain was longer than the new Timing Chain.