I wonder if you have oil consumption after a certain amount - say 6,000 miles? Maybe it would be more prudent in the long term to change your oil at 6k if you're noticing consumption after that threshold.
Yes, I agree about the Highlander. For example, while they have the D4S fuel injector setup with port and direct injection, the labor costs to do any repairs with that system are considerably higher. I don't know about the internals of the newer model, aside from the fact that they are now a 4-cylinder Atkinson cycle with a planetary CVT... the previous model had a V6 which has now been discontinued.
And yes, 600 miles over a tank of fuel compared to ~250ish would make short work of the cost premium for the Hybrid. 35 mpg instead of teens is considerable. There's also less wear and tear on the vehicle as lower speeds and takeoff are controlled in a way with the eAWD system. Every company has its pros and cons. Look at Honda with the VCM thing. I just find to like Toyota's list a little more right now. And hey, no timing belt to change out, that saves me $1k every couple years!
I'd still change the oil on my hybrid Highlander at the "severe" 5000 mile interval, though. In my opinion, a once-a-year or 10k interval is too long for typical drivers. If you developed a leak shortly after your service, it could be another 11 months before it's corrected.
I think you are correct, because I do keep a close eye on the oil level and it really only drops in the last month or so before it's due. But with busy family life, I try to line the Pilot and Traverse up so I do them at the same time. I've been debating sending a sample out to Blackstone to get a read on the condition of both engines, Pilot at ~70k and Traverse at ~120k.
Yea, you live in a pretty congested area so your city mileage difference will be a huge benefit. My only concern is I hope the Hybrid is peppy enough to deal with the traffic through there, I'm not far away and I know the traffic all up and down Mid-Atlantic/North-East is very cut throat.
Having been on a couple forums with DI vehicles and done the research, that's not bad considering you have no idea what oil the previous owner used and how they cared for the Pilot. If I saw that on a boroscope I'd be leaning in the "monitor more closely" camp and not the "act immediately" camp. Maybe if I was retired or had a lot more time to work on my cars I'd be more on top of it but at this stage I can't spend a lot of time fixing what I don't think needs to be fixed.
Having been on a couple forums with DI vehicles and done the research, that's not bad considering you have no idea what oil the previous owner used and how they cared for the Pilot. If I saw that on a boroscope I'd be leaning in the "monitor more closely" camp and not the "act immediately" camp. Maybe if I was retired or had a lot more time to work on my cars I'd be more on top of it but at this stage I can't spend a lot of time fixing what I don't think needs to be fixed.
Honda didn't do anything magical to keep the valves from building up carbon deposits. The photo is after 34k miles. I would say the previous owner did a poor job caring for this vehicle. Jiffy lube synthetic blend oil change and it was overdue by the window sticker.
The only one I recall seeing with a lower/better score was Pennzoil conventional 5W-20 from a couple of years ago with a 6.5.
Quaker State conventional measured 7.8 and everything else was much higher.
The GM/Dexos spec only requires a value of 13.
The only one I recall seeing with a lower/better score was Pennzoil conventional 5W-20 from a couple of years ago with a 6.5.
Quaker State conventional measured 7.8 and everything else was much higher.
The GM/Dexos spec only requires a value of 13.
Honda didn't do anything magical to keep the valves from building up carbon deposits. The photo is after 34k miles. I would say the previous owner did a poor job caring for this vehicle. Jiffy lube synthetic blend oil change and it was overdue by the window sticker.
IMO nothing special needs to be done as long as the PCV system actually operates properly. Conventional oils and extended oil change intervals cause the PCV system to sludge/carbon up and causes more problems with burning.
As I said before, these vehicles and this engine (J35 DI versions used in many Hondas and Acuras) are not known to have carbon deposit issues. This doesn't mean it won't ever happen on any models but it is not a high incidence rate like the Germans or some other engines.
You are correct, but they are not without their challenges. Depending on your driving conditions/habits, catch cans in colder climates have quite a bit of water in them and can freeze, rendering the can potentially useless at that time.
Additionally, my opinion and argument the whole time in this thread is that this is not a problem. I cannot justify spending money and time to fix something that is not a problem. As with anything, there will be a percentage that experience the issue but I wouldn't recommend a lot of preventative measures to people when I don't think the issue is present in most vehicles to be prevented. For instance, VCM in 1st and 2nd gens is known to cause a high percentage of problems, so I recommend deactivating it. Not the case with carbon buildup on intake valves on the 3rd gen.
You are correct, but they are not without their challenges. Depending on your driving conditions/habits, catch cans in colder climates have quite a bit of water in them and can freeze, rendering the can potentially useless at that time.
Additionally, my opinion and argument the whole time in this thread is that this is not a problem. I cannot justify spending money and time to fix something that is not a problem. As with anything, there will be a percentage that experience the issue but I wouldn't recommend a lot of preventative measures to people when I don't think the issue is present in most vehicles to be prevented. For instance, VCM in 1st and 2nd gens is known to cause a high percentage of problems, so I recommend deactivating it. Not the case with carbon buildup on intake valves on the 3rd gen.
I guess will have to disagree. Every 3rd gen owner needs to be aware and take steps to negate the causes of. Its not going to go away on it's own and if your experiencing hesitation problems, I would suggest a valve cleaning before the over suggested valve adjustment.
You are correct, but they are not without their challenges. Depending on your driving conditions/habits, catch cans in colder climates have quite a bit of water in them and can freeze, rendering the can potentially useless at that time.
Additionally, my opinion and argument the whole time in this thread is that this is not a problem. I cannot justify spending money and time to fix something that is not a problem. As with anything, there will be a percentage that experience the issue but I wouldn't recommend a lot of preventative measures to people when I don't think the issue is present in most vehicles to be prevented. For instance, VCM in 1st and 2nd gens is known to cause a high percentage of problems, so I recommend deactivating it. Not the case with carbon buildup on intake valves on the 3rd gen.
I'm not going to say it's impossible but I've never heard of a report of a catch can freezing and blocking flow, and I'm coming from the high performance world where installing a catch can is as common as changing oil.
Nobody is suggesting that you install one, I simply threw it out there as cheap preventative maintenance in case anyone was unaware of their existence and might be interested. In the BMW and Lexus world, walnut media blasting the DI valves is commonplace PM for this carbon buildup, and as our 3rd gen Pilots age, it might well be the solution for it as well. In the meantime, I can spend $100 on a catch can installation and start monitoring how much oil vapor it's actually collecting, and if it's significant I will report the results on here for others to see.
Yep. I am contemplating adding a catch can to the Pilot and my other vehicle which also has a GDI engine. Since I am in FL the concerns about freezing don't apply.
I guess will have to disagree. Every 3rd gen owner needs to be aware and take steps to negate the causes of. Its not going to go away on it's own and if your experiencing hesitation problems, I would suggest a valve cleaning before the over suggested valve adjustment.
I'm not going to say it's impossible but I've never heard of a report of a catch can freezing and blocking flow, and I'm coming from the high performance world where installing a catch can is as common as changing oil.
Nobody is suggesting that you install one, I simply threw it out there as cheap preventative maintenance in case anyone was unaware of their existence and might be interested. In the BMW and Lexus world, walnut media blasting the DI valves is commonplace PM for this carbon buildup, and as our 3rd gen Pilots age, it might well be the solution for it as well. In the meantime, I can spend $100 on a catch can installation and start monitoring how much oil vapor it's actually collecting, and if it's significant I will report the results on here for others to see.
We can go back and forth all day on this topic. IMO one person's experience with a used vehicle with suspected poor maintenance does not represent the bulk of these vehicles. This has been a very rare subject and plenty of high mile 3rd gens are on the road.
Does a catch can help prevent oil vapors from circulating into the intake? Yes!
Does it hurt to clean the intake valves? No!
Do I personally think it's necessary or something to recommend to Pilot owners given the occurrence of carbon buildup on DI J35s? No!
We can go back and forth all day on this topic. IMO one person's experience with a used vehicle with suspected poor maintenance does not represent the bulk of these vehicles. This has been a very rare subject and plenty of high mile 3rd gens are on the road.
Does a catch can help prevent oil vapors from circulating into the intake? Yes!
Does it hurt to clean the intake valves? No!
Do I personally think it's necessary or something to recommend to Pilot owners given the occurrence of carbon buildup on DI J35s? No!
I just want to point out that your repeated references to poor maintenance make no sense whatsoever. GDI engines do not accumulate deposits on valves as a result of poor maintenance. They accumulate deposits on valves due to oil vapor inhalation via the PCV system, and oil seepage from the valve seals.
If Honda engineers designed effective PCV baffling and exceptional valve stem seals, then that's great news for all of us, and hopefully we never have to worry about it, I'd like 200k+ miles trouble-free out of my Pilot!