(A) Didn't know that, in this day and age, you could still buy from a dealer "As-is" without some safeguards.

(B) I am coming to the conclusion that, in hard economic times, dealing fairly with the customer is jettisoned. When manufacturers and dealers were making good profits, they probably could have "made it right" regardless of fault, and not ruin the month's balance sheet. Today...

 

I think he referred to the white smoke when he started it up on a chilly morning in which every car does this until it gets warmed up.

Was the smoke you saw upon startup a thick white smoke or just kind of a steam that disapaited quickly? If the "white smoke lingered for a long time and drifted away from the car, then your head gasket is toast. if it is the latter, then it is normal.

As for the engine seizing, it sounds as if you spun a crank bearing(the crank bearings over heated and locked up the crank)because of the lack of oil in the enigine.

If you have a written statement that the car indeed had a 150 point inspection, then the dealer is screwed. Checking the oil is the very first thing listed on their Certification Standards list under "minimum replacement items": http://automobiles.honda.com/certified-use...-standards.aspx

 

California lemon law only applies if a warranty is given, but I think there are other used car laws that protect you from being cheated or defrauded even if there is no warranty. You should contact a lawyer who specializes in consumer law.

Too late now but here's some CA laws concerning used cars that could protect consumers.

http://www.consumer-action.org/english/art...ights/#Topic_02

 

^
true, even though it is sold "as-is", they also falsified the inspection...

so you do have a case.

 

Everyone keeps saying blown head gasket.

The car was smoking white smoke on COLD startup. Anyone else's car do this? I would hope so.

The OP didn't say that there was an enormous amount of smoke either.

He also said that the coolant was all there. Blown head gaskets usually make coolant disappear.

He also said the car wasn't running funny prior to seizing up. Blown head gaskets usually result in loss of compression.

I dunno about this blown head gasket theory.

Here's my theory:

I think that the car had pre-existing bearing issues. Maybe the previous owner just dumped the car at the dealer with some too-thick oil in it to silence it.

After which, the OP bought the car without knowing to listen for rod knock. Slight rod knock can be kinda quiet.

Maybe after 3 days of driving, the bearing decided to take a dump. The OP was listening to loud music with the top down at the time. The engine knock may have been hard to hear.

Eventually, journal with the bad bearing seized up.

OP: As as last resort, try removing the spark plugs and see if it will crank then. Maybe there's an obstruction on fluid in the cylinders or something.

If not, then one of the crank bearings being seized is probably the issue.

 

okay, but who's gonna cover it?

he bought the car "as-is"

 

The reason why folks are saying he has a blown headgasket is due to the milky/yellowish oil color he described. That's a DEAD giveaway, and the ONLY way oil changes color to a lighter color is due to mixing with coolant. The only way that happens is with a blown headgasket.

Also, blown headgaskets vary greatly. I've seen cars that have blown headgaskets that largely are unnoticeable, and some that are completely undriveable. This can be due to any number of reasons.. Perhaps the coolant is mixing w/ the oil, but it's not leaking into the combustion chamber. I've seen many different scenarios.

Another possibility is that the car was abused by the prior owner, it ran low on oil, scored some bearings, and was merely a matter of time till it spun a bearing. Again, it's VERY hard to tell without firsthand experience/being there to see/hear the car. The milky oil though is a dead giveaway for a blown headgasket.

 

x2 ...gl

 

Update: they claim to have done an ecu readout yesterday when i was there when i was never notified. They keep insisting i over revved the car. At 945am-ish the general manager said i would be able to get a copy of the ecu readout indicating i over-revved the car. It has been almost 3 hours and no contact. The front receptionsit i'm calling all decline to page the gm and i have called 3 times and left messages already.

So from many differnt pieces of input i am going to pursue the case if they do not fix my car. I was told multiple times that the car was inspected through the 150 pt inspection when clearly if it actually were., i would not have a blown motor. I'm going to have the engine taken apart to find exactly what is wrong with it. Can anyone give me a jist of what would break had i over_revved it or if the oil was bad? Thanks for the input everyone. Like i said, i was cruising at 30mph put it in 3rd so i was definately not over revving my car at all.

 

Just throwing this in there for what it's worth.

If the dealership thought it took 7qt, maybe they put that in there. Buddy of mine had motor destroyed by this. Quick fill place over filled. Car drove fine, part way home it bogged and wouldn't turn over. Motor was toast. Over fill of the oil was at fault. Quick fill place paid out for the car via insurance.