so my 1995 Honda Accord 2.7L has been burning some oil for quite some time, aside from many oil leaked which have been fixed. I was recommended to get a Valve job. I was referred locally to a guy who I just met with and feel confident he can do it. He said he was use German made parts, No Chinese crap, and quoted me $1300 cash including all new gaskets and valve adjust etc. is this a fair price and is there anything else I need to know to get this done correctly?

I actually just read somewhere that the 2.7L has hydrolic lifters and never needs adjusting. true?

he also recommended using 15/40 oil in the car. any thoughts here?

much thanks!

bt

 

Something doesn't seem Kosher with these recommendations. Has your mechanic performed a leak down test to determine if the rings and/or valves are leaking? Somehow I doubt it; quite honestly, I think that $1,300 valve job would be a complete waste of money; you can probably find complete and relatively low mileage engines, with warranties, for five to six hundred dollars.

As for 15W-40 oil, just say no. A 0W-30 or 0W-40 would be much more appropriate for your engine, however, a heavier oil will not change the rate at which the engine consumes oil one iota.

 

I realize that it will burn oil. I have no issue there, ive been adding in oil for years lol. No, the car has not been tested. I just went to this guy to hear what he had to say. you would think he would say to me, "I would want to perform a leak down test" eh. thats a red flag eh? I am not very knowledgeable on this subject matter but the car gives off some white smoke, maybe a clogged Catalitic converter? I dont know but the motor runs amazing and just had a new timing belt (full job) done and a new Denso alternator so it run very well. As I mentioned I had many oil leaks in the last decade of ownership (im the 2nd owner), and most of that its fixed minus a small leak in the Rack which has been no issue. not sure if I should even consider letting anyone open the motor at this point. your insights here are very appreciated. thank you much!

bryan

 

White smoke typically implies coolant is getting into the combustion chamber, and this is most commonly from a compromised head gasket (but can also be from a crack in one or both of the heads and/or a crack in the block). Here again, a leak-down test can help determine if this is an issue. If I were in your shoes, I'd be looking for a different mechanic.

 

appreciate the great info!

 

would you ever move to full synthetic oil in a 1995 Honda Accord with 156,000 miles? currently using Synthetic Blend.

 

I don't see any issue with doing so; that said, it can get expensive if the engine is consuming oil.

A few years ago I bought an older vehicle with ~195,000 miles on it to use for a specific limited purpose only a few times per year; the price was right and the vehicle was in great shape. The interesting wrinkle was it was out in California and I live in New England; easy solution, my son was stationed only about 150 miles from the vehicle, so I flew out, picked it up, visited with him for several days, and then drove home. During my initial drives I found the engine was using a quart of oil roughly every 500 miles, but there was no leaking; I drained the oil and put in Shell Rotella T6 5W-40, which is basically oil for diesel trucks. Why? Diesel oil, while containing an additive package which can do harm to the emissions systems of gasoline powered vehicles, also has LOTS of detergents which can clean engines up. By the time I got home the engine was only consuming a quart every 2,000-2,500 miles, so after that I switched back to a synthetic made for gasoline engines.

 

interesting. not sure, but your not suggesting to use this diesel oil for a oil change to help clean engine up? I have used Marvel Mystery Oil a bunch of times which seems to work great.