#1 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: I am the law - Chicago (USA)
SUBMITTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
POSTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
For five years, huh? Far be it for me to take up for Walmart, but if they put the wrong oil in your car, I'm sure it would've caused problems before five years. Besides, most people change their oil four times a year. So, you're saying that twenty different mechanics at Walmart made the same mistake? Unlikely.
Ever think that the dealership person is feeding you a line of crap?
#2 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Ramjet - Somewhere (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
POSTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
OK, so what kind of 'wrong' oil was put in the car and what kind should have been put in it?
How many oil changes did they do wrong?
How did it cause the VTEC system to malfunction? Here is the definition of VTEC, it's hard to see how the wrong oil (whatever that is) caused problems.
VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) is a valvetrain system developed by Honda to improve the volumetric efficiency of a four-stroke internal combustion engine. The VTEC system uses two camshaft profiles and electronically selects between the profiles.
#3 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Ken - Greeley (USA)
SUBMITTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
POSTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
What oil did Walmart put in? What oil did the "dealership" say had to be used to prevent this "malfunction?"
Unless you're driving a diesel and they put a low viscosity oil in it, I don't see how, after 5 years, Walmart is to blame.
NO, I DON'T work for Walmart and never have.
#4 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Ken - Greeley (USA)
SUBMITTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
POSTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
It looks like, I presume, your Honda has the VTEC system, which is variable valve timing done by special cams and an onboard computer.
The oil would appear to have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with it. It looks like the dealership is lying for some reason, or is unaware of how the system works.
There's definitely something wrong here and I doubt it has anything to do with the oil Walmart used. Ask your "dealership" how the "wrong" oil would affect the VTEC system. I'd like to know myself.
#5 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Robert - Irvine (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
POSTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
Granted we don't know all of the details but here is another possibility.
The car is still under warranty and the OP took the car to the dealer because of an Engine issue. When the dealer looked at the car they agree that it would be a warranty issue..but.......
This is not like a light bulb that went out. So because the dealer does not want to replace an entire engine they are going to try and find any loophole they can to avoid this. Normally they can get the OP on "lack of maintenance" if the OP couldn't produce records.
In this case the OP did have the records so they had to go to option 2. That is to see if the maintenance that was performed matched the "recommended" maintenance. When they saw the records the dealer noticed that they did not use the "recommended" oil, thus found their "loophole". Thus giving them grounds to deny the warranty claim.
As others have said it is hard to see how the wrong oil would cause this issue, so they are going to have to explain how this is the case. If the dealer can't come up with a good reason and it is actually a warranty issue, the OP has a valid complaint..against the dealer and it may take some work to finally get them to pay for it.
#6 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Robert - Buffalo (USA)
SUBMITTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
POSTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
The oil would appear to have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with it.
The on board computer monitors several metrics to determine WHEN to switch between the cam profiles. 2 of the several metrics are OIL PRESSURE and OIL TEMPERATURE. It would appear that oil is a factor, albeit, a small factor.
I would expect a malfunction, allegedly caused by the wrong oil being put in the engine, to show up before 5 YEARS.
#7 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Seraph - (United States of America)
SUBMITTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
POSTED: Friday, November 11, 2011
Ken: You must not have done too much research or you'd know that the basic functioning of the VTEC system depends on shunting oil around. I guess you wern't even capable of entering "how does vtec work" into google and clicking on the first link that came up (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc800hkqY2M) because the video mentions oil in the process many times.
The one sentence explanation of how VTEC works: When the engine exceeds a specific RPM a solenoid valve controling the flow of oil opens. This allows oil to flow to the VTEC rockers and lock them to the intake rockers.
This means: There are a lot of parts in this setup that are dependent on engine oil and can get damaged, particulary if the oil pressure is 'off' due to using the wrong weight of oil.
#8 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Jim S - Anaheim (United States of America)
SUBMITTED: Saturday, November 12, 2011
POSTED: Saturday, November 12, 2011
Seraph, even if the shop fed the engine the wrong weight motor oil, there is no question that using the wrong motor oil would have manifested itself in the destruction of the V-TEC system in far shorter time than 5 years. Walmart was absolutely correct to send this person out of their shop for even insinuating that they were responsible. The responsibility belongs...on the Honda owner. Maybe in the future, the person will take their car to someone who actually knows how to work on their car.
#9 Update By Author
AUTHOR: ann - (United States of America)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, November 16, 2011
POSTED: Wednesday, November 16, 2011
My 2006 Honda CRV calls for 5W20 and Walmart has been putting in the 10W30. All this time, I assumed they put in the right oil. I know some of you have been helpful with your responses. I went to another mechanic. He told me the 10W30 is a heavier oil and it is the wrong oil to put in. I don't have a warranty anymore because this is a five year old car and it has 70,000 miles. If you are reading this, how would you handle this situation, knowing that the wrong oil has been put in this whole time.
#10 Update By Author
AUTHOR: ann - (United States of America)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, November 16, 2011
POSTED: Wednesday, November 16, 2011
That was how Honda explained it to me. I am glad you were able to describe the VTEC part because I certainly don't know how.
#11 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Ronny g - North hollywood (USA)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, November 17, 2011
POSTED: Thursday, November 17, 2011
The tards put generic Robitussin in the crankcase instead of motor oil?
