styles234

My girlfriends 06 civic has been pouring coolant out from the front of the engine and it doesn't seem to be coming from anything obvious. A bit of research makes me think it's the infamous block cracking issue.
I did some digging and found that Honda is replacing blocks on these cars when this happens. Some say for 8 years, some say 10 years. Does anyone have any experience with recently having to get a block replaced?

TSB 10-048

What are my chances of having a new block put in this car and not being totally up s*** creek?

mikey1

find out where its coming from,

is a hose clamp leaking?

a hose cracked?

the overflow bottle cracked? overflowing?

styles234

Hoses are good, it's not the head gasket or the water pump. Rad is good, overflow is fine (albeit emptying really fast). It's coming right out of the front of the engine. I've checked every obvious coolant related thing and it all seems good.
It's either the cracked block, or a silly freeze plug problem. I'm really hoping for the latter.

ezone

If you think it's got a cracked block, take it to your dealership NOW

If it's covered, you can probably get into a rental car-- on Hondas dime.




Cracks on the front would be in the area of the red circles.

styles234

Oh its already there
Just haven't heard anything back yet and my nervous brain is just searching for anything to help ease the worry.
It's been there for 2 days and they haven't looked at it yet.

ezone

Maybe they are busy.

Not every shop has mechanics standing around waiting for the next victim to roll in.

AD62

My 2007 Honda Civic just recently started leaking Coolant fluid from one of the designated areas on the bulletin. I found out about the TSB online so I took it into the closest dealership, they tell me that I have missed the 10 yrs extension by 40 days. I called Corporate and they told me they would not extend me the warranty because I have not owned multiple Hondas and do not take it for inspections at a dealership. This was my first car. I have only ever owned a Honda. My case manager also told me that it looked like even if I took it in and got it diagnosed than they would not extend me the warranty.

barthmonster

2006 Civic w/ cracked block. I have never and will never buy a new Honda and this is why. Does anyone have a fix. Can I JB Weld a cracked aluminum block? Ebay bare blocks to be trused? It seems there is a TSB that I've missed an 'extention' on plus I'm only a used Honda owner and not a new Honda buyer?

ezone

Feel free to try all you want, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

You could find a good used 2010-2011 engine and drop it in. (I'm not sure if 12 and newer R18s are compatible)

barthmonster

thank you for your response & time by the way. Just frustrating to find out if this happened last year or my car was an '07 right now I'd be fine but instead I have a 178,000 mile turd in the drive...

pomona

They replaced my engine block for free before any issues arised because of a recall. I have an 06 civic. I only brought it in for an oil change.

barthmonster

I spoke with Honda USA customer service and yes I'm beyond my 10-years and probably out of luck. They said I can apply for an exception but it's based on customer-loyalty of buying new Hondas (no thank you) and getting my service done at Honda.

Not happy and I will speak ill of Honda evermore. Might even take out an ad on Craigslist about my experience to warn others.

ezone

How long have you owned this particular car? Just curious.


You clearly avow you will never purchase a new Honda and I'm guessing you've never been a recurring dealership customer. IMO they probably figure based on that info you aren't worth their investment of time and expense to fix your engine.

You aren't a loyal Honda customer, you're a(nother upset) consumer with a broken used car.

barthmonster

Yes I am. Owned about 4 years. The car and also my 2001 Civic have been a pain since I've owned them. I have a driveway full of Toyotas which of course aren't perfect either. Just an upset non-customer with a 10-year old engine that's crap that's all.

mac25

If you're not the original owner then they probably don't care. But you could say the previous owner was your grandpa or something and make a huge fuss and get someone to replace it.

If the parts desk won't book you in for free ask for the manager, if he won't ask for the dealership owner's info. If that does not work talk to Honda America and complain about the dealership.

-Honda F'ed up and made a **** engine (usually their products are great).

-people are lazy they don't want to work for free so they'll give you the run around unless they feel personally reliable for the issue, that's why you ask for their higherups info.


-be polite
-do not yell or smile, just be calm
Bring a pen and paper with you, ask the service tech/manager

what is your name? if they say "Brian."

Say "are you the only Brian that works here?" if not ask for last name.

-Then ask for their higherups contact info.

-Then say something like

"Now I know it's not your fault that this block cracked, and I don't want to have to talk with your manager, but now I am out a very expensive vehicle I can not afford to be without. Honda stands behind their work and needs to address this problem they created; let's get this sorted out real quick."

Then do nothing, do not speak just stair at them until they answer yes or no.

This question format initiates

-an empathy pull to align the target to your position
-a threat to secure their attention
-facts to forward your position
-and an open ended statement to close your request (do not end with a question!)

Sales 101

ezone

The above poster already talked to Hondas customer assistance department and apparently was turned down.

It's out of the dealerships hands, unless they wish to try to sell him another car.

Do you like to work for free?

barthmonster

Thank you for the help, I'll give this a try and see what happens. In their defense the car looks very rough if they saw a picture they would say it's worth $600 but I AM still making used-car payments on the thing until October and I can paint it myself it's a hobby...

jmrochelle

Has anyone tried "BlueDevil Radiator & Block Sealer" to fix the leak?

Colin42

Don't do that unless you want to ruin your engine and cooling system

ezone

I don't think it will work on that problem, and it can cause even more problems.

Learn what makes it work (goggle search 'sodium silicate' and 'liquid glass' and read about how it works), you may understand why I think it won't work on this sort of problem.

skkaccthonda

Can someone point me to the official technical service bulletin 10-048? I have the same problem and planning to to the Small claims court as I am out of warranty. I would like to read thru the offical document but cannot find it...can someone please point me in the right direction?

Thanks.

BrotatoChip

A quick Google search resulted in this:

https://honda.oemdtc.com/340/warrant...09-honda-civic