Honda diesel car owners in India facing holes in engines: 3 incidents already 

Honda is known for its reliability. However, it seems like their diesel engines are developing some issues. There have been multiple cases now where Honda’s diesel engines have started developing holes. He posted the issue on Team-Bhp. He owns a 2014 Amaze Diesel that has covered 93,000 km in 7 years. Before this, a Honda City was reported with the same issue.

The diesel engine is a 1.5-litre unit is shared with a lot of Honda cars. The fourth-gen City and the pre-facelift Jazz used to get the same engine. The fifth-gen City, Amaze, WR-V and the current Jazz are currently using the same 1.5-litre engine. Honda developed this diesel engine specifically for the Indian market and they called it iDtec. Honda developed the engine at Tapukara and it took quite a while for the manufacturer to develop the engine. While the diesel engine might be facing this issue, their petrol engines have been trouble-free.

The owner of the Honda Amaze has also shared in detail what happened with the vehicle. The Amaze has been driven mostly on the Delhi-Karnal highway. His dad noticed a sudden power loss and the air conditioning started tripping. So, his dad decided to get the car checked at a nearby garage. The mechanic found out that there was almost no engine oil in the engine. So, the oil might have leaked or mixed with the engine. This happened during the night time so his father decided to top up the engine oil and reach home.

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The next day, the owner visited the Honda’s service centre. This is the same service centre where his sedan gets regularly serviced between the intervals of 8,000-9,000 km. The service centre mentioned that the issue will probably be with the head gasket and the engine would require an overhaul. The owner argued with the service centre about how they could point out the issue if they had not even opened anything. The cost of the inspection was quoted to be Rs. 8,000 and Rs. 2 lakhs for the engine overhaul.

The owner was disappointed with the service centre so he decided to visit another garage that is supposed to be an expert in diesel engine overhauls. The mechanic dismantled the engine and found a hole near the coolant-water jacket. According to the mechanic, Honda’s diesel engines are facing this issue because there is no dedicated oil cooler assembly. Because of this, the engines have started to develop cracks even with the slightest unusual load or temperature. The owner did his research and found that other garages have also noticed the same issue with Honda’s diesel engines.

Solution

Needless to say, that a manual overhaul would not be 100 percent successful and the factory finish would not be possible. The mechanic suggested that the entire sealed engine block and head unit along with pistons can be changed. So, the mechanic sourced an almost new engine with a turbocharger from the Mayapuri market. The transmission and injectors were used from the damaged engine probably because they were okay. The owner paid Rs. 60,000 including labour which is significantly lower than Rs. 2 lakhs that the service centre quoted. The long-term reliability of the engine is still a concern.

Via Team-Bhp

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