This could be your car...

[NSXnBRLA]

.. just drive it a year and change your oil, oh, maybe once?

This engine is on the way to the machine shop. You dont wanna see the closeup of the crank. FYI its a 1998 model with 55K miles.

 

[Viper Driver]

.. just drive it a year and change your oil, oh, maybe once?

A five-year-old car with 55,000 miles on it would be driven 11,000 miles per year, average. Saying that he had an average year, that's not a crazy amount of miles in between oil changes. WAY too many miles IMHO, but not an insane number (especially if he's running synthetic.)

I have no doubt that an owner of an NSX who abuses his/her car in this way probably did other things to the car to require this type of work to be done. However, I wouldn't think that 11,000 miles without an oil change and nothing else would do this type of thing to a Honda engine.

So, tell us the rest of the story (if you know it!)



Chuck

 

[Brian2by2]

ya but you forget, oil is good for 3,000 or 3 months!! that means that he's almost 4 times over due in BOTH categories...and 5 years of that abuse...i could see it!!

Any chance he wants to sell that 3.2 cheap once its fixed up!?

 

[NSXnBRLA]

A five-year-old car with 55,000 miles on it would be driven 11,000 miles per year, average. Saying that he had an average year, that's not a crazy amount of miles in between oil changes. WAY too many miles IMHO, but not an insane number (especially if he's running synthetic.)

I have no doubt that an owner of an NSX who abuses his/her car in this way probably did other things to the car to require this type of work to be done. However, I wouldn't think that 11,000 miles without an oil change and nothing else would do this type of thing to a Honda engine.

So, tell us the rest of the story (if you know it!)



Chuck

Most of those miles were put on in that year. Im not talking about any easy driving either. Major lack of concern for this one. What ashame. Had maybe 1qt in it when it got towed to my shop. The rest of the story is coming

 

[jadkar]

I hope they are rebuilding your engine in a cleaner environment then that. I've been in many many dealerships, and that place doesn't look very clean at all.

I would also like to hear more about this story, how did it go, what failed?

 

[Viper Driver]

That's a lot of miles in one year! I drove mine a lot in the last year (nearly a daily driver,) and I didn't even come close to that.

Ouch....that's gotta hurt. I hope this guy gets it good for treating his car like that.

 

[nsxtasy]

That's not the first NSX I've seen like that.

You can't drive 40K+ miles without changing the oil - in any car, not just the NSX - without adverse consequences...

...although, in the other case I'm aware of, the owner didn't really care. Must be nice to be able to afford spending $20K+ to replace an engine, without even caring...

 

[Eric5273]

why is it that any new Mercedes only needs an oil change once every 12k miles? Are their engines designed better?

 

[Meeyatch1]

That's not the first NSX I've seen like that.

You can't drive 40K+ miles without changing the oil - in any car, not just the NSX - without adverse consequences...

...although, in the other case I'm aware of, the owner didn't really care. Must be nice to be able to afford spending $20K+ to replace an engine, without even caring...

Ken..that sounds like an interesting story...please PM me with the details...thanks!

 

[Joel]

That place looks like NSXModified.

 

[RyRy210]

For 1997+ NSX, normal condition oil change maintenance is 7,500 miles or 12 months, whichever comes 1st, and for severe its 3,750 miles or 6 months, whichever comes 1st.

 

[nsxtasy]

For 1997+ NSX, normal condition oil change maintenance is 7,500 miles or 12 months, whichever comes 1st, and for severe its 3,750 miles or 6 months, whichever comes 1st.

"Oh, you mean it's not, like, 50,000 miles? Oh well, I guess I'll just go buy another one." - Clueless Owner

 

[NSXnBRLA]

I hope they are rebuilding your engine in a cleaner environment then that. I've been in many many dealerships, and that place doesn't look very clean at all.

I would also like to hear more about this story, how did it go, what failed?

Thats not a dealership, and its not my NSX. Its my shop, and the car belongs to a friend of mine. My head tech has 13+ years experience at one of the Acura dealerships in town. He's handling the job.

 

[zoomnsx]

why is it that any new Mercedes only needs an oil change once every 12k miles? Are their engines designed better?

Not true, the computer calculates the need for oil change based
on driving conditions.

 

[sjs]

What makes you think that oil was the cause? What failed, rod or main bearings? At 11k miles on a synthetic it would surely be more than ready for a change, but I seriously doubt that it would be the direct cause of suck failure. Far more likely it was run at high RPM while low on oil. I have personally know multiple people consistently who ran well over 10k miles between changes on the cheapest possible oil and filter, for well over 100k and never had a failure. (not NSXs)

I'm not advocating that people change their oil once a year, but it's just too easy to attribute such horror stories to long oil change intervals with out any hard evidence to support it.

 

[nsxtasy]

sjs,

It wasn't 11K miles since his previous oil change. As NSXnBRLA pointed out, the car had 55K miles, with most of the miles put on in the previous year. So the number of miles since the last oil change could easily be 30-40K or more.

"High RPM while low on oil"? Sure, absolutely. I will bet you dollars to paper clips that if the owner didn't change oil during 30-40K miles of driving, he didn't check the oil level, either. And even if the car was only consuming a quart every 10-20K miles (which is relatively low), if you don't check the level, that's enough to make it low on oil. And high RPM? Is there an NSX anywhere that is never driven with high RPM?

 

[Eric5273]

Not true, the computer calculates the need for oil change based
on driving conditions.

I had a '99 Mercedes C230 Kompressor for about 3 years. I drive very agressively and the computer told me I needed my first change at 11,800 and my 2nd change at 24,100. I then sold the car when it had 32,000 miles so I never reached the 3rd oil change. I live in New York and I don't garage my car, so it was outside in the snow and driven all winter long. I guess what I'm trying to say, is this car was taken care of, but not babied.

 

[RyRy210]

I had a '99 Mercedes C230 Kompressor for about 3 years. I drive very agressively and the computer told me I needed my first change at 11,800 and my 2nd change at 24,100. I then sold the car when it had 32,000 miles so I never reached the 3rd oil change. I live in New York and I don't garage my car, so it was outside in the snow and driven all winter long. I guess what I'm trying to say, is this car was taken care of, but not babied.

I also rarely do oil changes for my Mercedes. I would bring them in every 3,000 miles only for the dealer to send me back home. Everytime I went they were like, "we will glad to take ur money, but u don't really need this service."

I also have a BMW and its the same concept. You don't need to service it until the computer tells you do.

I wonder how that works......

 

[POWERED by HONDA]

The new Accord's have a 10,000 mile oil change schedule...

 

[Eric5273]

All I can guess is that the newer engines from certain car manufacturers are more precise in their deisgn and build so less metal shavings end up in the oil.

Remember that oil does not go bad like milk. Technically, oil should last forever. The reason you need to change oil eventually is because of the little metal shavings that come off the engine and this is due to the slight imperfections in the moving parts of the engine.

In theory, a perfect engine would never need an oil change.

 

[POWERED by HONDA]

The oil itself doesn't "run out."... but the detergents do.

 

[nsxtasy]

Remember that oil does not go bad like milk. Technically, oil should last forever. The reason you need to change oil eventually is because of the little metal shavings that come off the engine and this is due to the slight imperfections in the moving parts of the engine.

It's not just metal shavings, but also contaminants (dirt) for which the particles are too small to get caught in the oil filter. Ever wonder why oil gets darker if you don't change it? Unless you've overheated your engine, it's usually due to the contaminants.

 

[apapada]

ya but you forget, oil is good for 3,000 or 3 months!! that means that he's almost 4 times over due in BOTH categories...and 5 years of that abuse...i could see it!!

Any chance he wants to sell that 3.2 cheap once its fixed up!?

That's the kind of nonsense the oil companies brainwash people with... Oils do not "wear" out. Especially synthetic oils either get burnt, or contaminated. That's the sole purpose for requiring an oil change. Depending on your usage, the oil may need change after 500 miles, or 10K miles.

 

[apapada]

Not true, the computer calculates the need for oil change based
on driving conditions.

this is not true. The computers you are referring to only go by mileage. You can track the car for 10K miles and the computer will still tell you that you do not need an oil change yet...

 

[sjs]

All I can guess is that the newer engines from certain car manufacturers are more precise in their deisgn and build so less metal shavings end up in the oil.

Remember that oil does not go bad like milk. Technically, oil should last forever. The reason you need to change oil eventually is because of the little metal shavings that come off the engine and this is due to the slight imperfections in the moving parts of the engine.

In theory, a perfect engine would never need an oil change.

Not true. While having your oil analyzed for metal bits can tell you much about the health of your engine, they are not the primary cause of oil going "bad". As noted by nsxtasy, it is other contaminates that cause problems. Those are primarily fuel and the byproducts of combustion which slowly work past rings and seals. Learn more about it here:

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/oil-life.html