Hmmm, if the chain is loose (and/or the guides are worn), and if the transmission is a manual, and if the engine is rotated in reverse for a quarter of a turn or more, then the chain can skip a tooth or even come off the crank gear entirely. Yikes!

 

Embarrassingly enough, it has been 11 months since my last oil change. THe car only gets driven most days down to the corner train station and back, so I did get lax. So my next question is, if it's true that the oil wasn't even registering on his dip stick, is that indication of something else wrong (a leak?) or just the result of not changing it in 11 months?

 

Most car's will burn oil to some degree. The oil level low if you're not regularly checking it doesn't necessarily mean there is any leak, significant or otherwise.

Infrequent oil changes can cause a damaged or stretched chain.

 

http://engine-codes.com/uploads/honda/honda-p0341.pdf

The troubleshooting flowchart (link above) lists possible causes other than a stretched timing chain.

Approximately how many miles did you drive in the 11 months between oil changes? If I remember your original post correctly you indicate short trips with low mileage. Is it possible that you did not exceed 3K miles in the 11 months between oil changes?

I was interested to learn Honda did away with timing belts and went to timing chains. It sounds as if their timing chains were not ready for prime time. I hope the flowchart offers some assistance. Does Honda of America have a recall on this issue?

We have owned five Honda autos 1988 LXi, 1989 LXi, 1990 EX, 1997 EX and 2000 Odyssey. The 90, 97 and 2000 have been the worst vehicles. I will never, ever, own another Honda or Japanese engineered vehicle. My next auto will be a General Motors, probably an Impala.

 

Honda still uses belts on the V6's. There is no recall, just a service bulletin and procedure. The interval on this engine generation for oil changes is 10k miles, although I usually go only 6k-7k miles. Sorry to hear you've had poor experiences with Honda cars.