CCTV News:Many owners who have purchased Dongfeng Honda’s new CRV have found that the car will not last long, and the oil will exceed the oil limit set by the manufacturer. The more the oil is turned on, the more so, why is the oil increasing abnormally? What’s the matter with the extra oil?
The abnormal increase in engine oil in Dongfeng Honda’s new CRV is a source of frustration for many car owners.
The engine oil increased abnormally, the oil level rose rapidly, exceeding the upper limit of the oil dipstick, and at the same time, there was a gasoline smell in the engine oil, which was a common problem encountered by some new CRV owners. In this regard, Dongfeng Honda 4S store provided only one solution, changing the oil.
It is understood that engine oil is an important circulating liquid for engine lubrication, sealing, cleaning, and heat dissipation. Its performance directly affects the performance indicators and service life of the engine.
Owners told reporters that the oil dipstick of the new CRV has a horizontal line at the upper and lower ends, with an upper limit and a lower limit respectively. The increase in oil mentioned by owners refers to the increase in the oil level, reaching or exceeding the upper limit of the oil dipstick.
According to the official website of Dongfeng Honda Motor Company, the new generation CR-V240 is a new product of Dongfeng Honda in 2017. It is equipped with Dongfeng Honda’s 1.5-liter turbocharged engine and CVT continuously variable transmission, and is commonly known as CRV1.5T in the industry.
When the reporter visited the Dongfeng Honda 4S store, the sales staff introduced that the new CRV1.5T was launched in July 2017. After the listing, sales were hot, and it was necessary to increase the price to pick up the car.
It is understood that at the beginning of this year, Dongfeng Honda has received complaints from owners in 27 provinces across the country. In response, Dongfeng Honda has made three consecutive official responses within a month. How do manufacturers respond to consumers about the increase in new CRV oils?
On January 20, Dongfeng Honda held a media communication meeting and responded, acknowledging that the CRV1.5T model does have the problem of increased oil. Dongfeng Honda also said that it is normal for gasoline to be mixed in the oil. A small amount of oil increase has no effect on the use of the vehicle, and the definition of "small increase" is: the oil level exceeds the upper limit of the oil dipstick by 30mm, which has no effect on the engine performance.
However, when the reporter consulted the user manual of Dongfeng Honda’s new CRV, he saw that Dongfeng Honda emphasized to the user: "Do not add engine oil beyond the upper limit mark. Excessive addition of engine oil will lead to leakage and engine damage…" This is inconsistent with Dongfeng Honda’s public response and conclusion. In addition, the reporter also noticed that the length between the upper and lower limits of Dongfeng Honda’s new CRV oil ruler is about seventeen or eighteen millimeters. According to Dongfeng Honda, the oil level exceeds the upper limit of 30mm, which has no effect on the engine. This means that the total length of the upper and lower limits of the existing oil ruler is extended by nearly twice.
On February 2, Dongfeng Honda issued a statement for the first time on the increase of new CRV oil, saying that it is organizing technical experts to conduct relevant tests, and promised to announce the solution on February 12, and announced that it will extend the engine warranty period to 6 years 200,000 kilometers.
On February 12, Dongfeng Honda held a media exchange meeting. It was confirmed again that there will be no engine malfunction before the oil level exceeds the upper limit of 30mm. At the meeting, Dongfeng Honda’s official statistics showed that there were complaints about CRV1.5T oil levels in 27 provinces and autonomous regions across the country at that time. In addition, at this media meeting, Dongfeng Honda also said that this year will continue to challenge the goal of annual sales of 740,000 vehicles.
On the same day, the solution announced by Dongfeng Honda on the official website also said that after testing by technical experts, there was no abnormal wear of the engine, and it was determined that it would not reduce the life of the engine. Dongfeng Honda plans to recall the CRV starting from late February. The main measures include: upgrading the ECU program, modifying the scale of the oil dipstick and revising the user manual.
However, some new CRV owners said they did not accept the solution announced by Dongfeng Honda.
In addition, Dongfeng Honda has twice announced that it will extend the engine warranty period and publicly promised to implement measures such as recalls starting in late February. So far, some owners have said that they have never received any official notice.
Article 16 of our country’s "Regulations on the Administration of Recall of Defective Automobile Products" stipulates: Producers who implement recalls shall formulate recall plans in accordance with the provisions of the product quality supervision department of the State Council and report to the product quality supervision department of the State Council for the record.
However, as of press time, the reporter checked the website of the relevant department and found that the recall promised by Dongfeng Honda not only failed to notify the owner, but also failed to file.
Dongfeng Honda manufacturers responded to the new CRV three times. Some owners said they could not accept it, while others said they had never received any recall notice from the manufacturer. At the same time, the reporter visited a number of Dongfeng Honda 4S stores to learn from the sales staff about the increase in the new CRV oil.
At the Dongfeng Honda 4S store, when reporters asked about the abnormal increase in new CRV engine oil, some salespeople did not consider it a problem.
In another Dongfeng Honda 4S store, the sales staff still promoted the CRV1.5T’s high cost performance and other advantages to reporters, with particular emphasis on its value retention rate.
Dongfeng manufacturers and 4S shops agreed that the increase in new CRV oil is not a problem, and even the manufacturer confirmed twice that the oil exceeds the upper limit of 30mm, which has no effect on the engine. However, at the beginning of this year, owners in 27 provinces complained to the manufacturer. So, will the abnormal increase in oil have a negative impact on the CRV engine?
During further investigation, the reporter found an old oil test report of CRV1.5T in Guangzhou after several setbacks. In this report, the reporter saw that the test sample was the old oil that Honda CRV1.5T traveled 2,000 kilometers, 1 liter. The testing agency believes that the oil is not recommended to continue to be used, and the system should be cleaned, replaced with new oil, and attention should be paid to the operation of the system.
The reporter noticed that the test report was issued by the "Machinery Industry Oil Inspection and Evaluation Center". It is understood that the Machinery Industry Oil Inspection and Evaluation Center is a national third-party accredited laboratory with a number of professional lubricant appraisal qualifications, which can carry out quality assessment of all types of lubricants. In order to gain a deeper understanding, the reporter then went to the center for an interview.
After testing, this oil sample not only degraded lubrication performance and failed to meet the national standard requirements. And its closed flash point index is also unqualified, lower than the national oil change standard.
Not only that, but the test results also showed that a certain proportion of gasoline was indeed detected in the old oil samples. This coincides with the claim that some CRV owners have found that the increase in oil is accompanied by gasoline smell.
The reporter then found the CRV1.5T owner who sent the old oil sample for inspection. He told reporters that at the end of January this year, he found that his CRV oil had increased abnormally, exceeding the upper limit of the oil dipstick. When changing the oil at the 4S shop, he specially took some old oil samples for inspection.
The old oil of the new CRV traveling 2,000 kilometers was tested to fail three lubrication indicators, and the testing agency determined that such oil would increase the wear and tear of the engine. Such test results are still like Dongfeng Honda and its 4S shop said "no effect on the engine", "is it not a problem at all"?
On March 1, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine interviewed Dongfeng Honda Motor Company about the increase in the number of new CRV oils, and made it clear that the current recall measures of production enterprises are not perfect, requiring production enterprises to come up with practical and effective measures as soon as possible to eliminate defects.
The next day, March 2, Dongfeng Honda issued a second statement on the official website, suspending sales of the new generation CRV 1.5-liter turbocharged model. This is also the latest statement from Dongfeng Honda so far about the release of the new CRV.
Comparing Dongfeng Honda’s two statements a month apart, the reporter found that on February 2, Dongfeng Honda explicitly admitted that due to the 1.5-liter turbocharged engine, Dongfeng Honda has four models, all of which have "elevated oil levels", including the new CRV, the 10th generation Civic, the New Jade and the URV. However, on March 2, Dongfeng Honda stopped selling only one model, the new CRV.
The sales staff of Dongfeng Honda’s Beijing Jingang 4S store said that the Civic, Jade, and URV all use this engine.
Reporter: "All four cars use the same engine?"
The salesperson said yes
Reporter: "But only one has been discontinued? Those three continue to be sold? To put it bluntly, there are problems on the CRV, and several other models will also have problems. Then why is it not allowed to be sold? The sales staff said that the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine will not allow it to be sold. It means you have to solve this problem before you can sell it. Isn’t this catching up with 315?
After Dongfeng Honda announced the suspension of sales for 20 days, the reporter went to the Dongfeng Honda Four Seasons Hetong 4S store in Beijing’s West Fourth Ring Road to learn about the sales of the new CRV: The reporter saw that the car purchase contract provided by the sales staff of Dongfeng Honda 4S store was indeed the CRV1.5T car purchase contract that had been signed. The signing date and delivery time were March 12. This means that although Dongfeng Honda announced the suspension of sales, Dongfeng Honda’s 4S store still sold normally and picked up the car on the same day.
