dhess

Hi All!

I have been very quiet on the board lately because I have been having a very rough time for the past three weeks.

Three weeks ago my engine blew up. The story goes like this:

One day my engine developed a ticking noise that sounded like a valve train issue. I called my local honda dealer and described it to the tech. He told me to bring it in the following morning. On the way there, all of a sudden the engine made a loud whirring sound and went pop. I had the car towed to the dealer. Enroute to the dealer some kid pulling out of a car park space failed to check over his shoulder and crashed into the tow truck. Luckily my car was not damaged. An inspection revealed that number 2 con-rod broke and went through the side of the block. The piston bashed into the head. After waiting 2.5 weeks for a reply Honda are refusing to warranty it blaming it on an overrev. I know for a fact that I have never overreved. The car has been serviced according to requirements and oil levels have always been up to scratch. When i inspected the head all the valves were perfectly straight none, were broken or bent. When my engine developed the ticking noise the check engine light didn't even come on.
Shouldn't the Honda techs be able to check out OBDII for signs of an overrev?
Inspection of the #2 piston revealed severe scoring. The two bolts holding the connecting rod together were stretched and broken. Honda Australia is arguing that the stretched bolts are a sign of abuse.

I am meeting with the district service manager to argue my case and I would appreciate any supporting evidence.

My regular mechanic, an experienced honda technician has suggested that a failed main engine bearing is the possible cause of the failure. He said that if the main engine bearing fails it can cause the piston not to move perfectly straight through the cylinder and can catch or seize against the cylinder walls.

My case also seems to have many common symptoms with #4 cylinder failures.

Thanks,

Dominik

blacks2k

wow, what a f@ck up. they better fix it. do u track the car?
pricks will do anything to get out of paying for their problems

dhess

The car has never been on a track apart from the HSCC-QLD track day a year and a half ago.

AusS2000

That sux.

Does that mean your warranty is only valid if there's nothing wrong with your car? As soon as something goes wrong, "That's abuse! He revved it to 9000rpm!!!!"

Surely the straight valves (not really related to bottom end failure?) and lack of damage to other rods, bearings, and crank go against their suggestion of abuse. It's not like you can abuse cylinder #2 only.

Good luck dhess. I'm pretty sure Honda will back down. After all, the onus is on them to prove the abuse, not you to disprove it.

dhess

Thanks for the words of support Wayne.

The thing that has me worried is that the local Honda Australia tech, a guy by the name of Bill Finnegan worked on the Honda F1 team, so if this matter goes to court I will have little chance arguing against any of his opinions.

I know for a fact that I have never overreved or abused the engine. Sure I have spent a fair amount of time in VTEC maybe, 5-10% of time at the most, but isnt the engine designed to do that?

The Unabageler

i'd fight this tooth and nail to the bittersweet end where you come out with a brand new engine and get to rub it in their despotic faces with the glee of a 16 year old who just got to third base for the first time with the highschool slut in his oppressive father's oldsmobile.

twohoos

YES, IT BLOODY WELL IS!!!

Every one of these warranty refusal stories just makes my skin crawl. I thought this B.S. was limited to American Honda but I see others have learned the fine art of screwing their customers.

Anyway...Sounds like the best technical route to pursue is the argument you already have -- that all the valves are straight. We know for a fact that a severe overrev (one that could throw a rod through the block) would have bent valves all over the place. Since that's not the case, you clearly didn't overrev the engine. And if you didn't overrev it, how in hell do they expect that you "abused it"? By calling it bad names? Operating an engine at or below its redline is NOT ABUSE. It doesn't matter if the redline is 5000 rpm or 15000 rpm.

Good luck -- we're all behind you!

Rowland

You have PM.

Barry in Wyoming

I predict that you will convince Honda Australia to replace your engine under warranty.

The engine failed during the warranty period without any abuse. They can "assert" abuse, but they cannot dodge their responsibility unless they can prove abuse.

The ticking sound you heard is exactly the sound I heard when my #4 cylinder was scored. This was the sound of piston scoring cylinder, not the sound of valve problems. My valves were fine. My engine was never overrevved and I believe you that yours wasn't either.

This thread of mine is six months old but documented 24 failed engines. It leads back to the short block replacement thread.
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...?threadid=53724

Ring me or email me if I can be of further help.

dhess

Thanks everyone.

Keep it coming .

I appreciate all input.