Took my car into the shop for a routine oil change and inspection. There was a rattle under the car that I needed looked at.

What they are reporting is that the car was THREE QUARTS LOW on oil and there was internal bearing damage. In short, they said I would need a new motor...

I just don't believe that the car can lose 3 quarts of oil between oil changes, and this is a sign that something else was wrong to begin with.

Oh and get this - the oil light never once came on to tell me the car was low.

The car is under 29K and only 2 years old.

I have a feeling the car was abused prior to me purchasing it and they patched it up to sell it.

This SUCKS because if Honda doesn't cover it under 100% warranty, I'm going to have to surrender the car to the financing company and take a repo/uncollectible on my credit record becase I simply do not have the means to repair it.

 

Based on the mileage it should be under warranty. If you bought an extended warranty, you're definitely covered.

 

Well, I do not have an extended warranty. I've never bought one on any car and never needed it. They (at your dealer) are going to make an argument that it was my fault, and should not be covered.

 

internal bearing damage, as in, spun bearing??



i would bet this would be harder than say, floated valves, to diagnose as engine abuse.
good luck.

 

I think the S2000's have a very bad oil warning system. Turbolane had a cheap brass fitting in his turbo kit fail and break off at autocross. The car lost all the oil in the motor and he cut it off immediately. We turned the motor back on to see where the oil was spurting out and no warning light of any kind came on even though the dipstick didn't show a single drop of oil.

 

FYI, S2000's do tend to burn a little oil... mine will go through a 1/2 quart in 3000 miles or so (that's a VERY rough estimate - haven't really had a chance to figure out its consumption yet - I just know to keep a very sharp eye on it)

3 quarts sounds like an awful lot, though...

Who changed your oil last?

 

Did you see any heating indicated by the inacurrate yet attractive temperature guage? If you truly lost 60% of your oil 3 quarts out of 5.1 if properly filled, there had to be some serious heat exchange going on.

 

Sorry to hear this about your new car dude.

Honda might ask for proof that maintenance has been done in line with the schedule. I am sure rioyellow could confirm if that is the case though.

 

Yea, I was very surprised my oil light didn't come on after dropping 3 1/2 quarts of oil (which leaves no oil showing on the dipstick btw). However, after fixing that damn fitting my car's back to burning no oil. I'm still at the F line after almost 5K miles and two autocrosses since then.

If the dealer did the previous oil changes and they were within spec (I think 7500 miles according to the manual) you should be in good shape with a warranty repair based on miles and age.

 

That sucks lane, did your car burn oil before the incident? My M3 burns about 1/2 quart every oil change (3000 miles) and it's pretty normal.

EDIT: n/m i thought you said your car was burning oil. Did you burn oil before the autocross thing and after you fixed it the car stopped burning oil? Maybe that fitting was loose and you were dripping some oil until it completely busted loose.