Started up great after sitting for three months. Had it idle for a min or two and then shut it off and went to check out fluids and the belt. Tranny was good and full. Break res. was topped off no leaks on the master cylinder. But then I checked the engine oil and the dipstick was bone dry… I checked the engine and it doesn’t even have slight leaks from anywhere dry and pretty clean to be honest. I went to my late grandfathers garage hopping he’d still have oil around and I found a unopened 5 qt jug. I added a quart thinking that would be enough and it was still dry. After 3.5 quarts it showed up on the dip stick and i started the motor let it get to temp and rechecked it and it’s within reason now. Is is normal for these 3.5 Hondas to burn so much oil? The sticker was recent and was about 7000 miles over due for a change. Got a 2 hour drive home with it wish me luck!
Only time will tell but if your gram constantly went 7,000mi overdue, and ran it 3.5qt low on oil, its very possible that it consumes a lot of oil! I would certainly be driving around with a jug of oil and checking fluid level daily.
Once you know if the oil is junk, I’d start replacing transmission fluid, brake fluid, and coolant
Replace the pcv valve and use 5w-30 oil. The vcm system is usually what causes issues on this car. Also be sure to service the transmission and make sure you keep up on the timing belt service as well, otherwise it’s a good car.
Update: things a beast needs struts but other than that should be a sweet beater. Little rust but plenty of power. Thing was kept up with for the most part so it won’t be too much trouble. also I meant 7000 past it’s last change so kinda in the sweet spot Not 7000 past! 250k miles and probably few more in her
7k is pretty steep into an oil change I’d prob do it soon and see if it burns any oil best way to find out! Also if not already I’d be using a synthetic blend high mileage oil instead of the normal stuff
3.5 quarts in 7k miles isn’t that much. Most manufacturers won’t even look at an oil consumption complaint unless it’s over 1qt per thousand miles.
The VCM 3.5 does have an oil consumption problem though, keep an eye on it until you know how much it’s using. Make sure the timing belt has been serviced.
What trim? If you have the LX or EX, I wouldn’t expect too much oil burning, since you don’t have Variable Cylinder Management (VCM).
If you have the EX-L or Touring on an 08-10 Odyssey, you have the dreaded VCM-II system. This is the most problematic VCM implementation, and burning oil is not uncommon. If you intend to keep this van a long time, the folks on odyclub.com can help you disable VCM among other things.