Oil Leak

[J-Roc]

So very disapointed today, took my '11 pilot ex in for it's very first oil change at 2,800 miles and they showed me that it had an oil leak!
They said they couldnt't be sure where it was coming from so they added oil dye and i have an appoint for next saturday to have it diagnosed.
i'll take it back earlier if i can find the leak.

any ideas or suggestions?

[humanoid]

It's under warranty, let the dealer have the headache on this one.

[94eg!]

Definitely. And don't forget to ask for a loaner when you take it in...

[J-Roc]

So I had the vehical back for three days and didn't notice any drips in the garage so i got down and crawled under it for a look. noticed a nice thick film all over the bottom of the oil pan, I didn't look any further as i had decided I would just let the dealer fix the problem without me getting stressed about it. I couldn't bear to wait untill saturday so I took the pilot back to the dealer last night and demanded a loaner, which they gave me without fuss. a 4 cyl accord.
anyway, they called me back today and said the leak was coming from the oil drain bolt because the threads in the pan were stripped. That thought had crossed my mind when I saw the oil on the pan but it seemed too obvious. I figured they would have noticed this when they did the oil change. I asked if he was sure and he said positive.
he told me it would take about 4 days for the new oil pan to come in. I was thinking he was gonna say they would just rethread the pan but a new one is definitely better.
anyone ever heard of this happening before on a brand new car? i can understand it may be an easy mistake but come on its also a basic concept not to force a bolt in. would an air wrench set to the torque recomended for that bolt have enough power to strip those threads?
so looks like i have the embaresment of driving the dealer accord to work for a few more days while my coworkers ask what happened to the brand new pilot.

[theirishscion]

<koff>

I'm just going to set this right here;
Successful Fumoto oil drain valve installation in 2009-2011 Pilot.

[J-Roc]

Picked up the pilot Tuesday evening came home crawled underneath and everything looked nice and clean. Got back under it last night (wed) to see more oil! I was assured they had fixed the leak and cleaned all the spilt oil off the engine. Today there's even more oil on the underside. I am so P.O. Call dealer they say they have no loaner vehicles but will try and get me one for tomorrow. FML.

[theirishscion]

Sorry to hear that. With any luck they'll take the diagnosis more seriously this time. Wouldn't hurt to talk to the shop foreman and express your displeasure at a leaking engine, a stripped drain plug and at feeling jerked around by the whole process.

I thought I had a small oil leak shortly after I bought my Pilot, a coating of the area near the rear main seal inspection plate. I carefully cleaned the oil up and washed and dried the area, and the oil never reappeared so I presume it was just assembly oil. I've seen the same thing on the ends of small engine crankshafts in the past. I wigged out for a day or two though, very anxiety inducing.

With any luck, it'll just be a bad cam cover gasket or suchlike, not a big deal.

[J-Roc]

OK, took it back Tuesday and they called yesterday to tell me the oil pan gasket didn't seal properly. I don't know what to think, that's the most obvious and maybe the easiest thing to blame and fix, and I figured that's what they would say.
I want that to be the problem and I seriously hope it's fixed. This kills me as I am a very high stress person. This is the first new car I've owned. I've owned about ten cars and probably spent enough at mechanics to buy a new car. That's a big part of why I bought a Honda.
I spoke with the shop manager and expressed my disappointment , he tried to reassure me.
My service adviser told me had four people look at it and went for two test rides after letting the gasket set over night (I was suppressed they didn't let the first gasket set over night but didn't say anything as I trusted them). He also told me they cleaned all the residual oil off the bottom.
Well first thing I did after pulling in the drive was crawl under for a look. There was dirty oil on the pan, looked to be leftover as it was a very thin dirty coat. I wiped it off and it came right off. Point being they didn't wipe it off. Not a biggie but in this case it got to me.
If there is no leak anymore I'm happy. If there is, I'll prolly have a heart attack from stress, and flip out at the dealer.
I'll keep you posted.

[jl_ss]

Is there another dealer in your area? You may have just discovered that this dealer does not have a good service dept.

[J-Roc]

Next closest dealer is 50 miles. I have purchased two used cars from and am starting to whish I got this one there as they never did me wrong. Of course I never had work done at that one either though so who knows.

Checked underneath today and theres oil. Uggggg!!! Took it in, talked to manager.
I told him I could see oil dripping from the rear of the pan, he said thats where the problem was before when the gasket didn't set right. He said he thought that perhaps it was a bad oil pan or bottom of the engine, something out of spec between those two surfaces keeping it from sealing properly. Based on the fact that origonally there was no leak from the gasket until they replaced the pan, it's probably the pan and not the bottom surface of the engine. Thats if indeed the origonal leak was from stripped drain plug threads, as they said, and not a bad seal between the pan and the engine.
They raised it up and the manager, a mechanic and I had a good look. From this vanatage It was clear that the oil was indead coming only from, as far as i could see, the oilpan gasket.

He told me they would pull the pan and check the two surfaces as well as contact Honda to see if there were any known issues. Which of course they will say no even if there had been or there would have been a recall, right?

[humanoid]

Oil leak from one car doesn't constitute a recall. Good luck and hope you get your leak solved ASAP.

[J-Roc]

Originally Posted by humanoid

Oil leak from one car doesn't constitute a recall.

never said it did. I implied that if it were a common problem, that Honda admitted to, then there would be a recall.

[theirishscion]

Eh, presumably they've just had the wrong mechanic working on the problem. They need the one who can find his arse with both hands.

You have my condolences man. Might be worth reminding the shop foreman that you're technically getting to the point that you could lemon law the vehicle (though I don't imagine you'd want to)

For what it's worth, I've never heard of a problem with the 2nd get oil pans (or the 1st, for that matter)

[94eg!]

Just so your aware of what your dealing with:

The late model pilot does NOT have an oil pan gasket. Instead honda uses "Ultra-flange" as a liquid gasket. It's a self pressurized can that goes on like eazy-cheese. It also means there is plenty of opportunity for someone to screw up during the install.

Additionally, it takes a while for it to completely harden up. It's best to let the vehicle sit for some time after the work is complete. This way the engine oil won't wash it away or push through it causing a leak.

Don't let them blame the gasket or the mating surface...

[theirishscion]

Good point. I bet that's it. They don't pull sumps off enough to be familiar with putting them back on. Probably speaks well to their oil change operation, for what that's worth.