The Honda “Earth Dreams” Engine gets a lot of flack, especially from people who aren’t particularly well-versed in cars. They may have a few questions and concerns, like whether or not gas gets into the oil and lowers that oil’s viscosity. Moreover, there are plenty of complaints about the way it smells, as if it’s burnt fuel. So let’s figure out what these problems are and whether they are as terrible as they say.
First Reason: Engine Oil Becomes Thinner
In order to increase power and improve fuel economy, the 1.5L honda earth dreams engine uses GDI gasoline direct injection. As with any other GDI engine, the injectors are supplied with gas via a high-pressure fuel pump. What does it mean? Due to this high pressure, part of the fuel is blown past the piston rings and enters the crankcase, where it mixes with engine oil.
To burn off this fuel leak, some GDI engines rely on engine heat to help burn off the fuel leak, but Honda’s design does not generate enough heat to do so. Thus, the gas enters the oil and reduces its viscosity, simultaneously reducing its lubricating properties. In conclusion, the engine components suffered considerable damage.
What was Honda’s response to this? The company tried to reduce the problem to the fact that it appears only in colder climates. Later, when it became clear that this problem also appears in more moderate and warm weather conditions, Honda shifted all the blame to the drivers. Allegedly, the whole problem is too long short trips. After that, they released a series of software updates, which eventually led to the end of sales in China.
To somehow get out of this situation, they extended the warranty on the transmission to help cover engine failures.
Second Reason: Your Car Smells Like Burnt Fuel
Honda earth dreams engine problems are also that unburned fuel just sits in the engine and stinks. Further, these smells of gasoline and oil odors enter the car interior and can cause headaches, dizziness, and problems with the upper respiratory tract in passengers.
What did Honda propose to solve this problem? The company decided to adjust the timing of ignition and fuel injection to burn excess fuel, but unfortunately, this was not enough to avoid this problem.
So to help with that, Honda suggests avoiding short trips and using a block heater before you’re going to drive the car. It is surprising that a company with incredible experience in machine building could not solve a seemingly insignificant problem for them.
Third Reason: The Heater and Defroster Stop Working While Idling
Another problem is that the heater and defroster are practically absent until you are on the move.
Warming up the car at idle speed is not an effective method, especially for modern engines. But here the problem is different, the heater and defroster visually do not work when idling while driving, whether in traffic or at traffic lights.
Also, the owners complain that the heater falls into a cold place during descent.
Is this all due to problems with this engine? No, let’s move on!
Fourth Reason: Terrible Vibration
If you are a CR-V owner and the previous problems are not enough for you, and you will continue to be a supporter of this vehicle, then a strong vibration will help you make up your mind.
For the Earth Dreams engines, Honda had big plans to squeeze every possible fraction of a mile out of a gallon of gasoline. Everything, especially the engine and transmission, has been optimized to achieve maximum power at lower engine revolutions per minute. However, a side effect of this change was an increase in noise and vibration, which became an obstacle to comfortable driving.
What was Honda’s response to this? The company notes that this only happens to a “small percentage” of owners, and the vibrations themselves do not pose a risk of component failure.
What is Honda’s Response?
When Honda became aware of a potential problem with the CR-V, it developed a response to ensure the safety of its customers. As mentioned above, the automaker believes that the problem is limited to temperatures of 40 degrees. But after numerous complaints that this problem occurs not only in the range of the specified temperature, the company stated that the problem lies in long and short-term trips in order to somehow justify itself.
Such statements were followed by a class action lawsuit, which will be discussed further.
Did Honda Violate Consumer Rights?
Had Honda warned potential customers at the time of purchase or lease of the engine defect or the repair costs associated with the defect, sales would have suffered or customers would have paid significantly less.
Thus, by failing to inform customers of the defect, Honda violated a number of state consumer protection laws. The company knew about this defect, but refused to cover the repair costs, therefore, they also violated their warranty.
A lawsuit must compel Honda to repair, recall or replace the class vehicles and extend existing warranties for a reasonable period of time. Also, the company must recognize and inform customers about the cause of the manufacturing defect.
Dennis Watkinson is a founder of the Honda Car Review platform. He devoted his whole life to repairing Honda cars. Now Denis shares his experience and knowledge, thanks to which maintenance and use of Honda automobiles can be a pleasure.