Problems with 1996 Honda Accord ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Was traveling 70mph when suddenly engine seized up, vehicle had stopped, lost all power, and oil was shooting out every where. had vehicle towed to garage. mechanic indicated that engine had blewn up, and that was reason for oil leaking. would replace blown engine with a used engine. received a product recall letter in mail regarding engine recall. do not have old engine.*ak

Vehicle will not hold oil. when starting car and putting oil in, it will leak right out. *ak

Vehicle was leaking oil due to the balance shaft seal and the camshaft seal coming out. dealer has repaired vehicle. *ak while driving oil indicator light came on indicating loss of oil from engine. all allegedly had to be replaced including placing bracket at seal location to prevent reocurrance. coolant also replaced. *yh

While driving-oil indicator light flashing. indication of loss of all oil. able to make it to dealership where they had no knowledge of why this would happen. discovered that balance shaft seal & cam shaft had popped out. resulting in loss of all oil in engine> this is front balance shaft. all belts and fluids needed to be replaced at a cost of $483.22. which has not been paid. questioned the service manager regarding this as a factory problem. told no. even though service bulletins have been issued regarding this problem for the past 5 years. a clip in needed to be placed on these shaft seals to prevent the problem from continuing to occurr again. unfortunately when reviewing the work order there is no indication that the clip was applied. contacted manufacturer said they knew a problem exists but would not accept responsibility for cost and possible permanent damage to engine vehicle. they refused to supply me with the complete bulletin regarding the problem.one service mgr at anotherdealership said this problem is been going on for years and honda will not acknowledge factory defect. *ak

While driving, oil indicatior light started to falshing. lost all oil in engine. balance shaft seal burst. timing belt and other belts replaced. cost $700. also, passenger's side door (front & back) power locks are inop.

While driving oil indicator light came on -lost all oil in engine. balance shaft seal popped out along with cam shaft seal resulted in loss of all oil no prior warning. cost 483.22 repaired at dealership. all belts required to be changed. manufacturer refuses to accept resp for cost. dealership did not inform of service bulliten notification dtd 10/96. clip needed to be installed to avoid re-ocurrance.nhtsa should be made aware that these clips are being installed on cars when belts are changed for masintenance at 90,000. but what of the owners where their engines are destroyed because honda refuses to make the necessary repair before problem occurrs. they refuse to supply me with complete copy of service bulletin. i have not paid the bill and will not because this is a defective part and manufacturer has been aware of this even on 1995 models. i hope that you consider posting this entire message for other owners.

Re-submit//state reported incorrectly. while driving oil light indicator came on/lost all oil in engine. no prior warning. able to make it to dealer told that balance shaft seal popped out and also cam shaft seal popped out at same time. required to replace both seals and all fluids/all belts replaced -cost - $483.22. dealer claimed no knowledge of prior notification from manufacturer of problem or offer to contact manufacturer for payment and cost responsibility. able to obtain information from this site that service bulletins issued on both 1995/1996 honda accords with this problem. dislodged seal on the front balancer shaft. dated 10/96. bill not paid. contacted manufacturer at first acknowledged defect and remedy but refuses to confirm in writing. clip is needed to be installed on vehicle which will enable problem from occurring again. clips are being installed now as part of maintenance when belts are changed at 90,000 and above but manufactuer will not install clips on cars without customer taking financial responsibility. one dealer whom i contacted indicated that i should have been aware of the problem and brought car in before warranty expired. this problem exists on both 1995 and 1996 accords but the manufacturer refuses to supply me with complete service bulletin and has told me that they are unaware of such a bulletin in existence. i hope that this information in able to be posted in it's entirety so that others who have been or will experience this problem know of the condition and the manfacturer's position.i*ak

Balancer shaft seal leak in the engine; full timing belt, water pump, other belt, belt compressor to be replaced at cost of $750. *ak

Didn't know that oil was leaking out from engine until oil light came on. checked oil. was completely empty. put in a quart to get to service station and it to leaked out. lucky, that there was no major damage to engine. very expensive repair. was told by mechanic that, this was the 4th one they fixed so far this year and that there is a fix to prevent this from happening and that only dealers and service stations were notified. why not the owners? from reading the complaints, it should be recalled for this safety issue. *ak

I had to have the balancer shaft seals replaced on my 96 accord after their complete failure at a cost of $700. in october i received word that the car was being recalled for he problem and that i could submit for reimbursement. was told to expect payment in 8 weeks. that was 8 months ago. honda is not processing these reimbursements in even a remotely timely manner. they clai they underestimated the time involed, but even if they process 5 a day they should be mailing out checks. they are stonewalling, and refuse to communicate with the consumer over the mater.*ak

Balance shaft seal went bad.engine lost oil,causing major damage to the engine.honda dealer recommends replacing the engine. *ak

While driving engine check light started flashing. consumer exited freeway, and stopped at a mechanic, and vehicle was completely out of oil, mechanic put in 4 quarts of oil. consumer drove a block and parked vehicle. another mechanic checked it, and oil shot out everywhere. took to mechanic and they said it was the balancer shaft seal, which is prone to shrinkage in these vehicles and will shoot out oil. *ak

While driving, the oil light started flashing. i checked the oil level and found that it took almost 4 quarts of oil to fill it back up. i then started the car to see why and where the oil was coming from and it was gushing out of the timing belt cover. i had the car towed to my dealer and they told me it was a blown balancer shaft seal. after everything was added up, it cost $653.80 to repair. we complained about it to the dealer when the car was being repaired, but were told it was a wearable part that we were unlucky enough to have go. my father recently told me he read in a local newspaper automotive column that a woman had the same problem. i looked up the nhtsa website to see if there were any others who may have had the same complaint, and was very surprised to find out there were quite a few. had my wife been driving the car on the highway with my 15 month old son, and the engine failed due to loss of oil, it could have been a very dangerous situation. if enough people complain of this problem hopefully honda will issue a recall; however, we are still out $653.80.*ak

This is ridiculous that a car with only 39,500 miles idles, acts like it is always going to stall!! i bought honda for it's quality and what i got was a lemon with only 39,500 miles on it! checked to see if it had been slavaged but no records found? *ak

When accelerating, the exhaust system makes a loud vibrating noise, which honda service attributes to a problem with "torque". service rep. claims it happens over time, and honda makes a "buzz kit" for the problem. if it is already a known problem by the manufacturer, then replacement or repair should be at no cost to the owner.

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

A few minutes after leaving a retail business, the businessman called me on my cell phone to advise me there was a large amount of fresh oil where i had parked. i immediately pulled over on the freeway only to find oil gushing out of my engine. i immediately exited the freeway and went to the 7-11 at the top of the exit ramp. i added 4 quarts of oil and drove straight to the honda dealership approximately 5 miles away. by the time i arrived at the dealership all the oil had gushed out again. the dealership said the seal on the front balancer shaft had become dislodged. they said it would cost $750 to repair. the timing belt was full of oil so it too had to be replaced. if it wasn't for the alert businessman and the fluke that i had given him my phone number, i never would have been aware of the problem until either the engine seized up and/or caught on fire. the dealership and the manufacturer seemed unfazed by the potential disaster that i narrowly averted simply by a fluke of chance. this problem should result in a recall to prevent others from getting killed if the car catches on fire and seizes up while driving at highway speeds!!

Lost engine oil. blance shaft seal popped out. required replacement of seal, timing belt and balance shaft belt.

Oil pump seal blew while the car was in motion causing all the oil to immediately drain from the car causing damage to the car's timing belts and and requiring replacement of the time belt. if the car hadn't been immediately stopped the engine would've seized. honda is aware of the problem as they have issued an upgrade kit to fix the problem. but they have not notified car owners. this is a major problem and owners should be notified so they can get it fixed before it blows and causes additional damage.

The car suddenly lost all of oil as result of rupture of engine seal. this in turn caused damage to timing belt and crankshaft belt. spoke with wrecker operator (former contractor for honda) and mechanic and both indicated this to be a recurring problem in honda's of this particular model.

My mother passed away and gave the car to her grandson. he was driving to work when the engine light began to blink. he proceeded to pull off the road when the engine stopped. the speed at engine stop was approximately 35 mph. he had to push the car off the road. there is a service bulletin 961001b, nhtsa id #sb049981, issued 1096, listed in the nhtsa database on the balance shaft seal which appears to have failed. the car is now at jack ellena honda in lawrence, ks (785) 843-0550 with a blown engine. american honda doest not believe that they should cover the burden of a new replacement engine, though they have agreed to a 50% replacement cost of a remanufactured engine. the car is just 2000 miles over the warranty period.

Balance shaft seal popped out of engine and oil soaked entire engine incld. timing belt,aux.belt,spark plug rings. informed by both honda dealearship and an independant shop that this has been a problem and is a manufacture defect. honda refused to assist with payment. took car to an independant a

Engine seal went bad and leaked out oil. srs airbag light came on and mechanic told srs control unit went bad with a repair of $600. contacted honda and there was no recall for either part.

There is a rattle from the exhaust system at 2000 rpm's, which appears to cause a delay in acceleration. the service tech informed me honda is aware of the problems but feels that it doesn't warrant repair at their cost.*ak

Oil light came on after the oil had been changed three days prior to driving. when checking oil, there was no oil. dealer stated the cam seal was blown and replaced timing belt/balancing belt/oil and seals, with various others. *ak

While driving the crankshaft broke at 64,000 miles which caused oil to leak, may cause a fire. cause unknown. *ak *ml

Engine block - had previous old leaks from oil pan gasket, tooken to dealer 4 times for repairs and on the fourth time they discovered a cracked block. they advised me it was my responsibility and i should be lucky i have a extended warranty to pay for the repair. also i was told my honda world where the car was repaired somewhat and my american honda that they have known about this problem and it is caused by a manufacturing defect (porous engine block). dealer and manufacturer takes no responsiblity both has stated i bought the car and know it is my problem. on the window regulators they have a bulletin and know they go out prematurely but they state it can be fixed at my expense. again the manufacture knows they have problems but still believe the consumer should pay for their short doings. please help them understand the consumer should not have to pay for there errors in manufacturing. *ak

The car has leaked oil since 20,000 miles and at 45,000 dealer found a cracked engine

The oil seal failed causing damage to other components, the consumer no longer owns the car, however read where there was a a manufacturer's recall regarding a defective oil seal and would like to be reimbursed. *slc

Vehicle overheated, causing the ignitor to burn out and the vehicle was smoking. also, when driving the engine check light will come on. *ak

Vehicle after sitting for a while hesitates to start or turn over. dealer contacted,and states the engine is flooded for the fourth time of incident happening, ran a psmif test and no problem. cannot duplicate the problem. *ak

Check engine light comes on then gear indicator begins flashing and vehicle will not go above 25 mph. vehicle will eventually attain higher speeds but with sluggish performance.

Check engine light continues to stay on, in for repair ,after driving about 80 miles light come on again. *ak

Engine overheats and has made noise since ownership, overheats even when gauge does not indicate. (attorney for consumer).

Engine valve cover gasket failed.

Engine lugs at 2000 rpm, causing engine to resonate. *dh