Problems with 1996 Honda Accord ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

As i prepared to slow to a stop in a relatives circular driveway, the engine began to rev up with a high pitched whine. i turned the wheel to avoid hitting a parked car in hopes of stopping the car but it continued to gain speed and ended up hitting a pickup in the same circular driveway. the brakes did not seem to function as the car picked up speed.

Dt: the contact stated the balance shaft seal popped out of the engine. the vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop. they stated the engine seal failed and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was contacted. they offered no free remedy. no repairs have been made. *ak

Electrical problems, with door lock actuators and srs systems wheel alignment brake problems, transmission problems yes , parts were replaced, repaired but i still have the same problems, after spending thousands of dollars. *nm

While pulling out of the drive way, the check engine light came on. the consumer took the vehicle to the dealer who could not find the problem. the dealer suggested that the consumer replace the spark plugs. *mr

While driving vehicle died and would not start. vehicle towed to dealership and after diagnostic test it was a mechanical problem in which there had been a product recall. *la *mr

After the seal broke, oil drained from the engine and caused some damage to the vehicle. *ph there was a product update regarding the shaft oil seal, however the consumer was never notified because he was not the original owner. *jb

I bought the car on oct 22nd, and on the second day it stalled because of wrong fuse being placed in the car. during that check up i found out that the car has had extensive body damage and none of this is shown up in carfax report and also the dealer told me that the car was never involved in any accident. so i want to return the car under consumer fraud.

While dealership mechanic drove the vehicle into the shop for repairs seal balance shaft blew out, causing oil to leak from underneath the vehicle. *ak

On august 19, 2003 the oil light on my car started flashing. i checked my oil and none was touching the oil stick. i called wade's honda which is a service center in clinton, nc. mr. wade came out and checked my car at which time he found that there was a leak in my oil shaft. he told me that there was recall on this problem, but the campaign had ended. i advised him that i was never notified of any recall. mr. wade called american honda and was told that i was notified by mail, but the notice came back as undeliverable. this notice was sent to my residence address (307 carlton street). i receive my mail at the above office box address. i have been living at this address for 25 plus years and have had the same mailing address since i moved here. i called american honda myself and was told the same thing. my complaint is: i was told that it was documented that the notice was undeliverable; that is proof that i never received it. i feel that american honda should reimburse me $139.00 for that reason. i also checked the internet for other recalls and there was one in 1999 regarding vehicle speed control and another one in 1998 about the electrical system: wiring:front underhood that i never received or had knowledge of. *la

The vehicle leaked oil from the head gasket. *nlm.

An internal oil leak caused engine failure (refer to tsb 618908). *nlm

The engine made a knocking noise. *jb the engine made a knocking noise. consumer was driving on freeway at 60 mph in the middle lane when all of a sudden a loud knocking noise fromt he engine started . vehicle started to slow down. vehicle was taken to the dealer and consumer was notified that the vehicle's engine was ruined. *mr

Problems with vehicle's fans being inoperative and an oil leak. *mr the consumer was advised as a precautionary action to replace the timing belt, water pump, all the drive belts, and front end work. the consumer then complained that the fans did not work properly. the consumer than was advised that the vehicle needed a front engine mount. the consumer noticed an oil leak. in fact, there were several leaks and the vehicle needed a new fan, shroud, motor, coolant, and fuse. as a result the temperature gauge repeatedly approach a dangerous level (had to modify driving habits), and was unable to use the a/c due to possible overheating. there were two new locations of high concentration of oil; rear main oil seal leak where the transmission was removed, and the balance shaft leaked (under warranty) which required an oil pump, gaskets, and seals.*scc *jb

While driving and without warning oil is leaking from the vehicle and causing the consumer to refill more then often. dealer notified. ts

The front balancer shaft seal blew and oil gushed out of the engine in less than ten minutes. my wiife and i had just made it off the interstate when we noticed the smell of oil. upon parking, we saw oil pouring out of engine. no warning lights were on and no smoke came from the engine. i was told by mechanic that the seal is defective but honda doesn't have a full recall and will only fix the seal when it blows which could cause permanent engine damage if the engine is not stopped immediately. i've done research on this problem and others have this same problem in the us. it seems the seal is definetly deffective, but honda won't repair it until the problem happens. of course, i was not notified of the problem until the seal blew. i was informed by honda america that i just missed their reimbursement deadline (january 1, 2003) because my seal blew on january 24, 2003. i think honda should continue to pay for this faulty seal repair since it is a defect they allowed in their vehicles.

The balancer shaft seal on the car has blown. causing the oil to drain out at an alarming rate. to fix the problem the engine must be pulled out take apart then replaced. all of this for a seal that costs no more than 20 dollars. mr

I have had my car for 10 months with repeated trips to the dealer and numerous calls to the point of purchase, with no results, i have been given the run-a-round to many times to count. i have a 1996 honda accord and it has a head gasket problem and the engine is having to be rebuilt. the head gasket and engine are badly water damaged and warped, and it is costing me in excess of $2,400.00 to get it repaired. i was told that repairs were made to my car but never received a work order proving that said work was actually done. i am trying to seek protection under the lemon law so any help you can give me in that effort would be greatly appreciated!

While driving the "check oil" light illuminated. consumer pulled over to inspect vehicle. as consumer was refilling oil, it was pouring back out of the "seal". mr *jg

Defective balancer shaft seal broke loose, causing an engine replacement because of immediate oil loss w/no warning indicators. just had oil change and transmission oil flush a month ago. honda needs to reimburse costs of total repair due to defective item. never received recall notice either.*ak

At 65 mph oil light came on shortly after engine stalled. dealer determined that an oil seal blew. *ak

Consumer states that while driving 30 mph the vehicle automatically shut off, after taking the vehicle to the dealer they found out that the oil seal had blow out of its place and all the oil leaked out. contacted dealer and the dealer is not willing to do anything. nlm

Came out of church and noticed a line of fluid going to car. then discovered that it was draining oil like crazy. i had it towed and found that it was a balancer seal that went bad. when i left church i followed the line of oil all the way home where it started leaking when i was idling while waiting for my family to get into the car. there was no warnings or lights. the oil all gone when i discovered the problem. and now i am stuck with $608 bill. but most of all how do i know that my engine has not been damamged? what kind of problems will this cause me to have in the future?*ak

While driving balance shaft seal broke off, and the enigne leaked oil. oil leaked out and engine blew. please provide more information.*ak

Driving down street and oil light came on..proceeded to store and put oil in car, drove approximately 10 miles and oil light came on again. then i determined that all the oil had drained out. oil is pouring out of my car faster than i can put it in. searching on the internet i've found that other honda accord owners of the 1996 model had the same problems. i even noticed that one had a recall for the damaged part. i have no recall and have lived in the same location..just 5 minutes from the honda dealer where the car was purchased. my car is soaked in oil from the front to the back..tires included. i'm surprised it didn't catch fire. people need to be aware of these defects and shouldn't have to pay.*ak

The mechanic found oil leak at the front of the engine caused by a dislodged seal on the front balancer shaft.

Balancer shaft seal cover, lower area of motor was being scraped by timing belt, causing chirping noise at low mph, i.e. 5 mph. *ak

Seal belt retainer "popped out" resulting in timing, combo, & p.s belt being replaced along with the oil seals at a cost of $354. *ak

Complete drainage of oil from engine due to balancer shaft oil seal failure. oil blown onto engine, undercarraige and timing belt.

The vehicle experienced a severe engine oil leak and the vehicle was taken to the mechanic for repairs, the manufacturer had sent a product update campaign stating there was a design problem with the balance seal oil shaft, the consumer requests reimbursement. nlm

Oil seal failed with no warning while dirving at low speed in parking lot. oil loss estimated at 1 quart per 3 minutes at engine idle rpm. when driven (after oil refill) oil soaks l. ft. brake caliper and all engine belts. immediate response to oil pressure warning light prevented driving to engine seizure. *ak

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

Front balancer shaft seal blow ,oil gushed out of engine in less then 10 mins est.was told by dealer that happens to a lot of this model that the seal is defective but honda does'nt have a full recall,will only fix when seal blows which causes permanent engine damage if vechicle is running.after i got my car back the engine light stays on and the dealer says i have to pay to find out why,should'nt honda of america pay since the light never came on before this problem and start immediatly after they repaired the bad seals.i've done research on your site and others and this seems to be a comman problem in cold regions in the united states it seems the seal is most definetly defective but honda wont repair until the problem happens. please respond thank you, james g nascimento [email protected],159 jordan ave cranston ri 02910,401-942-3265. *ak

While driving about 50 mph oil light came on, engine started losing power. consumer pulled to side where engine check light came on. vehicle had to be towed. then, technician told consumer about a recall concerning blowen engine.*ak

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

An oil seal failed and caused the engine oil to drain out rapidly and caused the engine to seize up, a product update campaign was sent regarding the same type of failure, however consumer had to pay for repairs and is requesting reimbursement. *slc

I was just recently made aware that the problem i experienced with the oil seal failure was not unique. i purchased the vehicle used out of a lease with only 18,000 miles. all service has been done at hidy honda beavercreek, ohio since i've acquired the vehicle. *ak

The balancer shaft seal failed,causing all of the engine's oil to pump out. *ak

While parking vehicle noticed oil leaking from under vehicle. vehicle towed to dealer, and informed consumer that balancing shaft seal was cause of oil leakage. repairs done at no cost to consumer. please feel free to provide any further deatils. *ak

Engine started leaking oil at an alarming rate, took to dealer, they said it was a balancer shaft seal and would require repairs est to be $620.*ak

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

While stopped at a traffice light, the oil pressure light started flashing. i immediately pulled into the nearest business i thought would have a mechanic, which was a quick oil change type place. oil was pouring from my engine. seals and belts had to be replaced, including the timing belt so the repair was over $500. however, my car was still leaking oil (which it had never done before). soon after i received honda's balancer shaft seal recall info in the mail. the problem described seemed to be precisely what happened to me. i took my car to an authorized honda dealer to have the repair inspected and to have the oil leak checked out. i left with another $250 bill and the mechanic felt that my problem had not been the balancer shaft seal because the mechanic at the quick change place incorrectly listed a part replaced as an oil seal on the invoice. the mechanic who did the original repair told me that it was definitely the bal shaft seal that he had replaced and offered to consult with the honda tech. honda tech was unresponsive and uninterested in hearing from the mechanic. after i sent in all the documentation and request for reimbursement i recently received more info from honda, which instructed me to again have my repair inspected by a honda dealer. again i left with a $450 bill in another attempt to fix the persistent oil leak. i have submitted all the info and invoices to honda and am waiting on reimbursement.

Same exact incident happened to another car i owned, honda accord lx 97, at the same mileage range (59k-60k). only with accord 1996, i was fortunate enough to stop on time, and was able to save the engine. whereas, in the accord 97 situation, i was too late, all of the oil came out, and engine was irreparably damaged. the cost of repairs for accord 97 was $2,000, it required a whole new engine + oil pump, change of seals and belts. according to the honda accord manuals, maintenance (change of timing belts, etc.) on the car should be done at around 90k miles, excluding the regular oil changes. therefore, both incidents were not related to a delayed maintenance, but to an irregular failure of the oil pump and the oil seal. both cases are identical on similar cars and deserve to be investigated. *ak

Balncer oil shaft gave out and car leaked all oil out immediately and engine seized and we had to replce engine at the cost of $2,860 (used engine) - honda has been extremely uncooperative - received recall notice and have tried to work with them to obtain reimbursement and have been waiting since november. *ak

While traveling at approximately 40 mph, my oil light came on. thankfully i was just reaching my destination. i got out of the car and saw that oil was pouring out of it! had i driven this way, according to my mechanic, my engine would have been destroyed. i had to replace all of the oil-soaked belts, etc due to this part failure. i have seen spoken to several people who have had the same problem (one of whose car's engine did "blow up"). the local honda dealership told me that this was a commonly known defect in the seal. this particular seal is generally changed at around 90,000 miles when the timing belt is replaced. unfortunately, the dealership says, many seals break 15-20 thousand miles prematurely causing major damage to the vehicle. i have been told this particular part may be recalled in the near future; i feel this would be an appropriate action for this situation.

Engine oil seal blow-which resulted in the loss of oil.*ak

While driving, oil light indicator suddenly started flashing. pulled off highway and proceeded to nearest gas station. i told the gas station mechanic that my oil light indicator had suddenly started flashing. gas station mechanic opened up the hood and checked the oil. dipstick came up dry. all oil had been lost. gas station mechanic proceeded to put two quarts of oil in vehicle. while doing this gas station mechanic noticed that there was a major oil leak. he informed me that there had been reports of a defective oil seal in 1996 honda accords and he advised me to take the vehicle to the nearest honda dealership. at that time, i contacted my insurance company who provided towing services. vehicle was towed to ed morse honda on us1 in fort lauderdale, florida. i advised mark greene, service attendant at ed morse, of what had happened. i also told him that the gas station mechanic had mentioned a defective oil seal. i left vehicle at dealership and they promised to call with an estimate. when mr. green called back with the estimate, he informed me that the oil seal would not be covered by honda. the cost to fix the oil seal was $510. mr. greene also recommended replacing timing belt and water pump for an additional $170.

Oil leak at the front of the engine caused by a dislodged seal on the front balancer shaft

Oil indicator light came on while driving. lost all oil in engine.balance shaft seal leak. timing belt, other belts replaced. $400 repair

Balance shaft oil seal failed resulting in rapid loss of engine oil. *ak

Driving on interstate, oil seal blew out, causing rapid loss of oil. vehicle towed. *ak