Odyssey ring and valve job at 66,000 miles

[Dragonslayer]

Dragonslayer here asking a question for Odyssey owners. My neighbor across the street from me asked me for advice on his van. Greg has yet to join any Ody clubs, but he knows about my being a member of the ROC and this is his question. Has any ridgeline owners experienced an early engine failure and needed a ring and valve job? He bought his Ody six months before I bought my rl and he has been a honda owner since the early 80's. Last week his van started acting up on accelerating and then broke down, it needed a ring and valve job at 66,000 miles at a cost well over $600, on Greg's wallet too! His Ody has VCM and I told him that since our trucks do not, this could be something related to VCM or to his towing a boat, he only tows the boat up to the lake in the spring and back down in the fall. I joined the OOC and saw that Tmac is a member there too. I posted the question there too.

[shovelhd]

I can't imagine a ring AND valve job getting done on any modern engine for $600, even $1,000. You have to pull off the heads, drop the pan, pull the con rods, push out each piston, re-ring it, hone the cylinders, and that doesn't even include the valve job on 24 valves.

Are you sure that's what they did?

Are you sure he didn't get scammed?

[dk miller]

Something makes no sense here. What you described is impossible to do for anything near $600. :confused: Are you sure he didn't just have a timing belt failure?

[ChrisM]

I agree. I wouldn't touch a valve and ring job for under $1000 on a 4 cylinder motor let alone a transverse v6.

To do that job on a minivan would require pulling the motor. You coudn't get the right angle on the rear cylinder bank to evenly hone the cylinder walls.

Either he got a heck of a deal or someone told him a story and fixed something easier and overcharged him. I would say that the second scenario is the more likely. It wouldnt be the first time.... :(

[shovelhd]

Oh yeah, it's 18 valves, not 24, but you get the picture. Something tells me he got a Bardahl job.

[Dragonslayer]

I talked with Greg and he corrected himself. What they had to do was adjust the valves and Honda told him that the owners manual says that it is needed at over 60,000 miles. Yesterday he had told me it was a ring and valve job. Sorry. I told Greg to read his owners manual and find out when the scheduled maintenance is due.

[honridgeline]

Valves out of adjustment will not make your car stall. It will just make alot of noise. That is why no one works on my cars except me unless it is under warranty. I have worked at shops and seen what goes on. They do not give a damn about fixing your car, just taking your money.

[wrenrj1]

Did he realize that he has a boat on a trailer pushing is minivan? Maybe that's the problem.

[Order 66]

Valves out of adjustment will not make your car stall. It will just make alot of noise. That is why no one works on my cars except me unless it is under warranty. I have worked at shops and seen what goes on. They do not give a damn about fixing your car, just taking your money.

Although there are honest people who will do the right thing, there are many more who will sell you something that you do not need. I have a mechanic friend who works for a local dealership and the stories he tells me are scary at best. If your pay is partially based on what repairs you can sell, it will always be suspect.