[MikeyThumbs]

Hey everyone... as the title states, my 2010 Accord LX-S with 126K recently had catastrophic engine failure. There were bent and broken valves due to contact with the piston heads resulting from the timing chain jumping teeth which was ultimately a result of the bad VTC actuator. Car died while pulling away from a stop sign and threw a P1129 code on the reader.

I had called Honda WEEKS ago and opened a claim about the issue, but was told the noise was just an annoyance and wouldn't be anything more than a sound. I knew they were wrong and called them out on it, but being that I was over my warranty mileage, they were not really interested in hearing it even though I brought up the countless number of people dealing with the same issue on these engines..

Keep in mind my oil was full when this happened and I never let my car run low. I would burn some, but added oil regularly to maintain full and changed oil religiously at 5,000 miles (always before MM was even below 25%) with Mobil 1 synthetic and K&N filters.. I didn't EVER cheap out on anything when it came to maintenance on this car, always factory parts, but when it came to the VTC actuator, I just couldn't spend the $650-700 to fix the problem at the time knowing that I was going to sell it "as is" (less the $676 for the repair work with an estimate from Honda for the repair) within a month or so..

I've driven Honda's my whole life. I'm 33 years old now and been in 2 Acura Integras, 1 Honda Prelude, 2 Honda Civics and 2 Honda Accords (this being my second and most recent Accord)... After this mess has happened, I have a sour taste in my mouth and don't feel like Hondas are the reliable cars they were once before. The fact that they can ignore a known issue and neglect loyal customers from having a quality product is unacceptable. Needless to say a loyal lifelong Honda fan and customer has had no choice but to jump ship and try another brand..

Been a week now and I couldn't be happier in my 2017 Subaru WRX STI... a car I've been dreaming of since my early 20s but it was just never in the cards. Sacrificing some gas mileage (not much at all considering I was only hovering around 20-22 MPG in my accord) but well worth it in my opinion...

I'll lurk around here from time to time and just wanted to thank all here that have helped me in the past. I've learned a ton from this website and found there are some very smart and helpful people around here!

So....Sadly it's goodbye Hondas for me.. Who knows....maybe I'll be back one day....

 

[driveaccord290]

I know that sour feeling all too well. My recent (3 weeks old) new-to-me 2011 Accord I purchased had the same VTC Actuator issue. It was a grumble on cold start ups and although people told me to not worry about it and save the money, it really sucked knowing some dude at the Honda dealer sold me this knowing that the problem was there.

I got some redemption though since I talked the dealer into covering half the cost of the fix now while the purchase was still new. Sorry to hear about your car... I guess your story is a caution for others to not ignore this issue since it could get bad. Hopefully you're liking the new STI, its a great car from what I've heard. The newer Accords are supposedly better but sadly the 8th gens fell in that bracket where their quality standard dipped a lot from my personal observations / research.

 

[j_rider]

Did someone tear apart the engine and tell you the cause of this engine failure was the VTC actuator? It's the first time ever someone state that on multiple forums that I've read. When was the last time you had your valves adjusted?

 

[MikeyThumbs]

The valves were not adjusted and were quiet as the day I had gotten the car with 28K. No need to adjust quiet valves IMO.. I believe Honda recommends to "check valve clearances" at 105K... the VTC noise began at or around that mileage but again, the valve-train was quiet and did not lead me to believe that it was necessary at this point in time.. The inside of the engine was clean as a whistle, not 1 sign of sludge or any signs of sticking valves that may have caused this.

Yes I am just speculating that the VTC was the ultimate cause of the damage and my mechanic seems to agree on the root cause.. After finding the broken valves, I told the mechanic to stop working on the car because I had no intentions on re-building or replacing the motor.

By the way.. after the first call to Honda and being told that the noise is nothing more than an annoying noise, I was informed by a local Honda service manager that in rare instances the end result would be engine failure from jumped cam timing... hmmm... funny, that's exactly what had happened to my engine :boohoo: ..

I had only seen 1 other instance where it was claimed that the VTC was the root of the engine failure and I cant find the link, but I think that was a CR-V and Honda took the engine for research so they could test and try to figure exactly what happened..

 

[boring 08 EX]

This has been discussed before. The bad VTC causes a drag on the timing chain every time it grinds at start-up. Over time that small drag stresses the timing chain TENSIONER, until it eventually fails. With the timing chain tensioner no longer keeping the chain at constant tension a skipped or broken chain is just a question of time. This is mechanical fact, whether the interwebs have beaten it to death or not. If your VTC actuator is making noise, get it repaired period. I bought my car with 88K on the clock from a dealer who went out of their way to conceal the bad actuator from me. I had the actuator replaced along with the timing chain, tensioner, all the guides and the oil pump drive as I had no idea how long the actuator had been bad. This all on my dime as I am the fourth owner of the car. I am now at 137K with zero issues and an engine I'm sure I can count on to go 300K. Sorry that yours grenaded before you could get it fixed, hope the Subaru does better by you.

 

[08EX-L]

This is precisely why I traded in my 08. Replacing it twice was enough for me... and I knew eventually it would have to be out of pocket.

 

[greg24]

Sorry to hear about your engine. I wouldn't be so sure the VTC actuator caused the failure. There are probably thousands of Accords driving around with this issue and you rarely hear of engine failures. Unfortunately mine has the same issue. The first one rattled from the time I purchased the car until I had it replaced under warranty with the updated part, but even the new part rattles on occasion. Not nearly as often as the original though. Just keep your oil changed and topped off, I think most people won't have any issues. Again, sorry the engine failure happened. Hope you enjoy the new Subie!

 

[CHEGERHART]

Vtc actuator

hI I READ YOUR POST. WE HAVE A 2010 HONDA ACCORD LX. WE ARE GOING THROUGH THE SAME PROBLEM NOW WITH OUR VTC ACTUATOR. WE HAVE AROUND 146000 MILES AND ALREADY FIXED THE SOLENOID, BUT ABOUT TO SPEND 800 TO FIX THE ACTUATOR. I AM CONCERNED AFTER READING THIS THAT IT IS NOT WORTH FIXING. I AM AFRAID IT IS ONLY GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN. i JUST WANT TO GET RID OF THE CAR. HELP!!!!

 

[pindiwalAccord]

I have a 2008 EX 4 cylinder at 132,000 miles. VTC noise at every freaking startup. I think Lucas oil will get rid of the noise for a couple of thousand miles but then I feel Lucas oil is too thick for VTEC engines. These Hondas are crap. I only buy used cars and I don’t even know what to buy in future. Just spent a lot of money on 4 rotors and new brake pads yesterday!

 

[2Accordz]

hI I READ YOUR POST. WE HAVE A 2010 HONDA ACCORD LX. WE ARE GOING THROUGH THE SAME PROBLEM NOW WITH OUR VTC ACTUATOR. WE HAVE AROUND 146000 MILES AND ALREADY FIXED THE SOLENOID, BUT ABOUT TO SPEND 800 TO FIX THE ACTUATOR. I AM CONCERNED AFTER READING THIS THAT IT IS NOT WORTH FIXING. I AM AFRAID IT IS ONLY GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN. i JUST WANT TO GET RID OF THE CAR. HELP!!!!

First of all stop posting in caps....it's considered shouting on a forum.
Secondly, you have to decide if you don't want to do it, even though it should be done.
There's not an official recall, and the OP said he didn't do it because he didn't want to spend the money, et al.
Your concern is totally different.
Are you keeping the car? if the answer's yes, then have it done.
It's that easy.

The valves were not adjusted and were quiet as the day I had gotten the car with 28K. No need to adjust quiet valves IMO..I believe Honda recommends to "check valve clearances" at 105K... the VTC noise began at or around that mileage but again, the valve-train was quiet and did not lead me to believe that it was necessary at this point in time..

Am I understanding you correctly?
You then drove almost another 100K, knowing the car had the VTC issue??

 

[Kennyxxxxx]

I just have mine replaced under warranty. Car suddenly started to have the rattle in cold start even it is over 80F here.

I Just want to let everyone know that you have 15y /150k warranty if your car is PZEV,and in the 5 states ca,NJ,NY, I forgot the other two.

 

[outersquare]

I had my VTC actuator replaced under warranty right before the regular powertrain warranty expired at 60K miles about 4.5 years ago.

Now at 100K and I am intermittently getting some cold start noises again last several months, but also sounds like possibly some chain slap or tensioner problems. My vehicle is also a PZEV and when I contacted Honda they said they might help pending dealer diagnosis.

There was another post that the issue was still being investigated by Honda but I know nothing more;
https://www.driveaccord.net/forums/51-8th-generation/500098-cold-start-rattle.html

 

[Kennyxxxxx]

I had my VTC actuator replaced under warranty right before the regular powertrain warranty expired at 60K miles about 4.5 years ago.

Now at 100K and I am intermittently getting some cold start noises again last several months, but also sounds like possibly some chain slap or tensioner problems. My vehicle is also a PZEV and when I contacted Honda they said they might help pending dealer diagnosis.

There was another post that the issue was still being investigated by Honda but I know nothing more;
https://www.driveaccord.net/forums/51-8th-generation/500098-cold-start-rattle.html

Yes, they need to diagnose the car first. And it will will cover if the vtc actuator is the problem.

 

[Bruntz]

I have the same problem and have had many problems with my 2013 Honda Accord EX-L. First started at 40k with hard starts and at 60k my transmission went out. The hard starts went away and a year later I have had my alternator go out, my condenser is leaking and my VTC actuator needs replaced. These cars seem to have a quality issue.

 

[slimm1469]

Is there no TSB?

 

[Bruntz]

Is there no TSB?

I believe it stopped at the 2012’s

 

[scar_cle]

I got rid of our 08 and it had the same exact problem, cold start grind. Even when trading in the Honda dealer said "Every one of these cars coming in on trade needs a VTC actuator....service manager knew EXACTLY what this was, he used it to try and lowball the trade in.

This must just be the i4's as my V6 does not have this issue at all.

 

[vgore]

I got rid of our 08 and it had the same exact problem, cold start grind. Even when trading in the Honda dealer said "Every one of these cars coming in on trade needs a VTC actuator....service manager knew EXACTLY what this was, he used it to try and lowball the trade in.

This must just be the i4's as my V6 does not have this issue at all.

Well, we have VCM issues instead of VTC

 

[WildBill_71]

I just have mine replaced under warranty. Car suddenly started to have the rattle in cold start even it is over 80F here.

I Just want to let everyone know that you have 15y /150k warranty if your car is PZEV,and in the 5 states ca,NJ,NY, I forgot the other two.

hmmmm, just perusing the threads and came upon this. I just bought a 2011 Accord Crosstour EX-L with 120k on it. Runs/sounds great but this is something I'll keep my eye on. All this said, so have a PZEV engine in this vehicle?

 

[Jennmelisalopez]

Hey everyone... as the title states, my 2010 Accord LX-S with 126K recently had catastrophic engine failure. There were bent and broken valves due to contact with the piston heads resulting from the timing chain jumping teeth which was ultimately a result of the bad VTC actuator. Car died while pulling away from a stop sign and threw a P1129 code on the reader.

I had called Honda WEEKS ago and opened a claim about the issue, but was told the noise was just an annoyance and wouldn't be anything more than a sound. I knew they were wrong and called them out on it, but being that I was over my warranty mileage, they were not really interested in hearing it even though I brought up the countless number of people dealing with the same issue on these engines..

Keep in mind my oil was full when this happened and I never let my car run low. I would burn some, but added oil regularly to maintain full and changed oil religiously at 5,000 miles (always before MM was even below 25%) with Mobil 1 synthetic and K&N filters.. I didn't EVER cheap out on anything when it came to maintenance on this car, always factory parts, but when it came to the VTC actuator, I just couldn't spend the $650-700 to fix the problem at the time knowing that I was going to sell it "as is" (less the $676 for the repair work with an estimate from Honda for the repair) within a month or so..

I've driven Honda's my whole life. I'm 33 years old now and been in 2 Acura Integras, 1 Honda Prelude, 2 Honda Civics and 2 Honda Accords (this being my second and most recent Accord)... After this mess has happened, I have a sour taste in my mouth and don't feel like Hondas are the reliable cars they were once before. The fact that they can ignore a known issue and neglect loyal customers from having a quality product is unacceptable. Needless to say a loyal lifelong Honda fan and customer has had no choice but to jump ship and try another brand..

Been a week now and I couldn't be happier in my 2017 Subaru WRX STI... a car I've been dreaming of since my early 20s but it was just never in the cards. Sacrificing some gas mileage (not much at all considering I was only hovering around 20-22 MPG in my accord) but well worth it in my opinion...

I'll lurk around here from time to time and just wanted to thank all here that have helped me in the past. I've learned a ton from this website and found there are some very smart and helpful people around here!

So....Sadly it's goodbye Hondas for me.. Who knows....maybe I'll be back one day....

Omgggg you sound like me and exactly what ive been thru!!!! And to top it off that is the exact car i want!!!!!!!