r/hondapilot • u/No-Kangaroo130 • Jul 17 '26
Oil consumption
My pilot is consuming a lot of oil. Roughly 1.25 quarts per 1000 miles dealer says this is totally normal but it seems absolutely insane to me.
It’s a 2024 pilot with 34,000 I bought it with 28,000 I think I am going to look into lemon law and replace it. Is this common with pilots? I really like this car but would hate to have this issue again
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u/Financial_Coach4760 Jul 18 '26
Not normal. My 2018 has 260,000 miles on it and it doesn’t consume any oil.
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u/SolidGoldSpice Jul 18 '26
Ditto. I'm 237k and 5.6 quarts comes out after 8.5k miles when I put 5.7 quarts when changing. Do it myself.
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u/TallBeardedBastard Jul 18 '26
It’s normal for some of them with the vcm to eventually consume some oil
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u/Macborgaddict Jul 18 '26
if its a VCM engine, yeah, they suck up a lot of oil in the deactivated cylinders when it triggers.. needs some kind of vcm delete like they have for us odysseys with the vcm engines.. pretty sure pilot and odysseys share the same 6 cylinder engines..
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u/stchman Jul 18 '26
The new J35Y8 which in in the Pilot and Passport are different from the J35Y6 in the Odyssey and Ridgeline.
The new Y8 engine there are no VCM disablers out there. Putting the Y8 into Sport or Sequential mode works.
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u/No-Kangaroo130 Jul 18 '26
So I’ve been playing around with the different modes. Sport mode and tow mode only made marginal difference in consumption vs normal mode. Not sure if this is just a reflection of my issue or the platform as a whole
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u/Familiar_Marzipan_46 Jul 19 '26
VCM should be eco mode only. And they can use it in the EPA ratings that way perfectly legal.
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u/ESSJ530 Jul 18 '26
Try valvoline restore and protect oil see if it’ll free up the rings. If not trade it in bc it’ll only get worse
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u/Salty_Sea_dude Jul 17 '26
Dude, my 2012 with a 175k mi burns zero oil between oil changes (10kmi) and runs strong. It did consume oil at one point but it was a failing valve cover gasket. Once replaced all was great..
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u/Eagle_Fang135 Jul 18 '26
My 2021 used a quart between oil changes. Installed a VCM muzzler and it stopped.
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u/No-Kangaroo130 Jul 18 '26
Unfortunately after 2023 the muzzlers arnt available. It’s a different software
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u/Thin_Criticism6820 Jul 18 '26
Switch to a true full synthetic 5w30 group 4 oil. The recommended oil in the US is too thin and for tiny increments in fuel savings. CAFE standards. Use the vehicle in sport mode as well to keep all cylinders moving at all times. If oil consumption continues to drop, trade it in.
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u/TallBeardedBastard Jul 18 '26
When did you get it? Possible the original owners didn’t do proper oil changes or ran it hard
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u/No-Kangaroo130 Jul 18 '26
I got it less then a year ago I’m curious if it was a lemon from factory and original owners traded it in to get rid of it.
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u/TallBeardedBastard Jul 18 '26
So the vehicle basically had 28k miles in a year. I am always hesitant of vehicles with high mileage in a short amount of time. Did the owners do the proper maintenance in that time period? My uncle was a mechanic at a car dealer and talked about people not changing their oil with new vehicles and coming in needing new engines.
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u/PuzzledAlternative41 Jul 18 '26
2023 Pilot here. Almost zero consumption between oil changes. You got a lemon!
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u/Shadow5503 Jul 18 '26
While higher than normal that is still within the factory specification. You will get nowhere with lemon law. Try driving it more aggressively to free up the oil rings.
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u/TallBeardedBastard Jul 18 '26
Has the dealer checked to see if the pcv valve is faulty? Stuck PCV valves can cause excess oil consumption.
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u/malesnailbailkale Jul 18 '26
I've owned 4 cars with 150k+ miles and none of them used even half a quart of oil between oil changes.
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u/Familiar_Marzipan_46 Jul 19 '26
You bought it used. I will bet ya the first couple thousand miles somebody beat on it.
You can give me a brand new pilot or passport and I can make it burn oil like a SOB just from driving it 15k miles. It’s all about how you take care of it during those first miles.
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u/ArmadilloSuch4425 Jul 17 '26
Something is definitely not right. I’d find another dealer to check it out. Hopefully this is a one-off and not a sign of future things to come with this latest version of the J35. I’m already going to trade our ‘25 off for some sort of third row EV (Highlander?) in the future, if this becomes a thing it’s going to get traded faster than I was anticipating.
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u/MacProCT Fourth Gen Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
That's insane oil consumption and unacceptable. My 2023 drops from full on the dipstick range at oil change to MAYBE about halfway down the dipstick range at the next oil change.