Hey yall im new here as im having a bit of trouble diaging my fathers accord

its a 2000 accord lx 4 door vtec w/ 85k miles and constant oil changes done

Problem i have is it has code p1259

So from what i googled the P1259 is a vtec solenoid code and i assume its cooled by the oil and when the oil ran dry it heated up and triggered the code

so this leads to my question since its running out of oil where could it be going? rings? valve seats?

and i went to the dealer to explain it and they told me about a "oil leakage test"? not too sure what that is been doing this 4 years in highschool and 1 in college and never heard anything of this and when i asked the dealer about it and asked if i could just do compression test and check if rings are leaking he said "you could do that but what you really need is a oil leakage test" so i assumed its just some money making bs but if im wrong please lemme know

anyone got any ideas? would love to know

P1259 VTEC System Malfunction, Rear Bank (Bank 1)

Im not sure what it sounds like for vtec to come on as ive never bothered listening for it/i drive a chevy pickup and barely drive my dads car

no visible oil leaks no smoke coming out of exhaust but you can smell it along with a different smell that im not sure of what it is

aprox 6 miles after cel light came on couldnt stop checked oil and not even reading on dipstick so walked to autozone bought 5/20 and filled it up with approx 3.6 quarts

according to my father it has run low before but im not sure how many times/how fast it is losing oil as he isnt sure

Compression test passed cyl 1 184 cyl 2 181 cyl 3 190 cyl 4 188

plugs were white at spark area (cant remeber what its called atm)

need anything else lemme know

 

Did you check the engine coolant reservoir to see if there is any sign of oil mixed cause by bad head gasket ?

 

they are talking about a leak down test most likely.
Also you won't here vtec since SOHC vtec is low end not top end like b16/b18/h22/f20 engines.
If it's popping for vtec then it's either the pressure switch or the solenoid it self...they can fail and do.

As for the burning oil…vtec runs off oil pressure. If it’s failing it can burn up oil. Since SOHC vtec in low end I can see this happening. I had a h22 when vtec failed I burnt oil like crazy. But as long as I didn’t hit vtec I didn’t burn the oil.

 

If you don't see smoke out the tail pipe then you're not burning oil. My old motor burned 1qt every 300 miles, i can see smoke came out from my tail pipe in the side view mirror when i step hard on the throttle driving down the road.

 

Same Issue: 2000 honda accord coupe 4 cyl - 5 speed - 125k

I found that the car has an oil consumption issue, but according to honda its normal for it to burn up to 1 qt per 1000 miles. I have been checking it every 1000 miles and replacing the qt of oil that it burns.

CEL came on a while back when it was very low and tripped for the same code. The thing is that the vtec and oil pressure is related.

I have had the CEL come on 2 *edit: for the same code p1259 and found that the oil was also low, only to have it go off a few days to 1 week after having the oil changed.

If you do searches for the code you find that these things go hand and hand. I had a mechanic clean my entire engine and check for leaks and there was none. Also I don't think it's burning either because it is right there where honda says it should be burning.

Another thing I ran across is someone suggested that the solenoid screen may be dirty and that could trip the code too. I would recommend a full on oil change at a shop and then give it a week or 2 and see if it goes out.

 

So you don't think it's burning oil ?

 

That's kind of a misnomer. It's not "normal" for 1 quart to dissappear every 1000 miles. My cars and most others use a lot less than that (but not zero either).

But that's the official factory story of how much is ACCEPTABLE before they will do anything about it.

 

Sorry that was kind of a confusing statement. What I meant, is the oil is obviously going somewhere but according to Honda its 'normal' I read it on the honda tech forum.

It's definitely not leaking out

Also I should note that I have had 6 hondas and I have never had the oil consumption problem until I bought this accord.

But I also think it could be due to my change in driving habits, when I lived in southern California I would not burn (or consume) as often as I do now that I live in Las Vegas.

I also drive around 50 miles a day on the freeway, according to what I read freeway driving will cause you to use more oil. I want to switch to synthetic but I don't know how much it will help for the extra cost.

Anyone have any insight into synthetic vrs conventional with this oil consuming car?

Thanks

 

My GUESS is synthetic won't make it any better. Maybe make it lose more oil.

You can try it, and then switch back to petro oil if it doesn't help.

 

Need some help in figuring what this code is and what needs to be done asap..my son took his car for inspection no lights on and this code came up he takes the car every 2,000 miles for oil changes as car has high mileage over 200,000. keeps car very well maintained...