Hey all, I am loving this website and learning about car maintenance.

I recently had a mechanic shop do a diagnosis on my 2003 honda accord 4 cylinder 2.4L engine. It took the man only 10-15 minutes to test the compression and find "no compression" and 4 bad and dirty spark plugs. He concluded very quickly that the car engine needs to be replaced or rebuilt. I was disappointed to find out that it only took 10-15 minutes for the mechanic to diagnose my car and conclude that the worst possible scenario was at play. The car would crank but not start. I had tried cranking the car so much that the battery was starting to sound like it was dying. Could a near-dead battery mess with the diagnosis or lead the mechanic to see no compression and conclude that my engine was toast?

History on the car: it has 175k miles and burns A LOT of oil, combined with a leak from somewhere i dont know for certain. I had the vtech solenoid gasket replaced recently, and the car leaked less, but still leaked. It was either the oil pan gasket or valve cover gasket from what i was told. I never replaced those gaskets. The mechanic said that oil leaked into the spark plugs and ruined them. He said the valves were leaking air out, the car had no compression, and was not worth trying to fix and should just do a used JDM engine instead.

Before towing my car to the shop, the car seemed to be driving excellent, aside from constantly needing to top the car off with oil. I was getting about 33-35 mpg on the highway. I noticed my MPG went down to about 29 on the highway. The car had no problems shifting gears and the idle seemed normal. It drove great. Never overheated. Then one day i'm on the freeway, driving about 65 to 70 mpg up a slight incline at night. I hear a rattle noise and pull over. I also felt like the car was running out of gas, but the gas tank was 3 quarters full. I turn the car off and check the oil. It was low by maybe a third of a quart. I check the coolant level and it is within normal range. The car was not overheating. I thought maybe the timing chain, but the camshaft was moving fine when trying to start the car. I thought maybe the alternator, but was told it was fine. I tow the car home and go to autozone to replace fuses, fuel pump relay, main relay PGMFI, and that didn't solve the problem. I listened to the fuel pump in the trunk and it activated when turning the key. the key immobilizer was fine, as the green key light on the dash did not continue to blink. After cranking the car so many times, the battery finally was toast and I replaced that with a brand new one, before towing it into the shop for the diagnosis. The engine codes were erased. I checked it before replacing the battery and the only engine code was a P0420 code for the catalytic converter. The car also burns a LOT of exhaust...there are black smoke stains on my car near the exhaust....Anyways there were no other codes. I wish I would have checked more things, like the spark plugs before taking the car to the shop, but i don't have all the tools at home.

I'm left with 2 options right now. Option 1 would be to replace the engine with a JDM engine. I found a shop that will swap the engine with a JDM engine for $2500 and include a 3 year unlimited mile warranty. Or they would do it for $1800 with only a 90 day warranty. This sounds nice because i've already spent over $400 trying to test the car myself with relays, etc and paying $102 for the diagnostic. With a 3 year warranty, it sounds nice to just get the car back on the road again and hopefully not have to worry about major repairs for a minimum of 3 years. With that said, I'm here hoping there's a cheaper fix and save the $2500. if the car could be fixed for much less, and still burn oil, but drive like it was before, i'd be happy with that even if it only lasted another year or 2.

Option 2 would be to continue to try to test the car or tow it to another shop for another diagnostic. I'm skeptical about the $102 diagnostic i paid for because it only lasted 15 minutes. The mechanic has a good yelp page with positive reviews and is a honda specialist...so maybe he's just so good that he can determine the engine is toast in 15 minutes, but i still have this feeling that maybe he should have tested more things since i technically paid him for 1 hour of labor.

Based on all this info, any feedback from anyone would be greatly appreciated. I'm curious if anyone has opinions or experience with JDM engines?
Also, I'm curious if based on the info above....do you think the mechanic is trying to take advantage of me? is it possible that he skipped testing other things? The car is back home now...do you recommend i change the spark plugs and anything else before submitting to the $2500 used JDM engine option? I told the mechanic i needed tow the car home, do more research, and think about what to do next and he immediatley offered to buy my car for $1000 lol. Maybe he was quick to make an offer because he sees something i don't?...like maybe a simpler fix than swapping engines lol?
When he tested the car, the battery was definitely sounding on its last legs. If i had a way to charge the battery at home, i would have done that before the diagnostic. I'm far from a car expert and am motivated to learn so that i can hopefully maintain my car myself rather than relying on mechanics who know everything compared to me knowing basically nothing compared to them. I'm sure there are trustworthy mechanics out there, i've just learned the hard way that they can be hard to find.

thank you all in advance for any thoughts, feedback, or help you offer

 

I'd say charge the battery, then do you own compression test on each cylinder to verify his tests. It is a very simple test and you may be able to get a gauge/tester as a loaner tool from a parts store.

From your description, you are burning oil, so this could be cylinder head or piston ring issues. Maybe the PCV valve is clogged?

Please do not install any more parts on your car until you do more diagnosis. The compression test will dictate the next steps to get your car on the road.

 

okay, thank you for your feedback. can i recharge the battery with jumper cables? Or should i look for a product specifically for charging batteries?
I'll have to do more research about how to look at the PCV valve? I hear that has been a common problem and simple fix for many people with burning oil.

 

I was told by a mechanic my engine is toast.
It burns so much exhaust to where there are black exhaust stains on the rear of my car above the exhaust pipe.
It burns so much oil. 1 quart every 300 miles.
It recently stopped and won't start.
Mechanic said no compression, it's done, valves are messed up.

I was hoping for a less expensive fix. But if it's 1500 to fix an already aged 175k engine burning oil, etc. and I can do a JDM engine for 2000 dollars. What do you think?

Are JDM engines worth it? I see reviews of people who love them and others who say you have a 50/50 chance of getting a bad JDM engine. I dont want to financing a new car. So it's between a JDM engine in the car i like or try to find another used car, which is hard to find for 2000 dollars. But then you don't know for sure if the used car is in good conditino, when a JDM claims to have low miles.

What are your thoughts? have you ever had any experience with JDM engines or know anyone who has? Thank you!

 

I'm not sure if the jdm engine is the bulk of the cost, or if the labor is the bulk. I'm guessing labor to install the engine, but you should ask the shop the breakdown. Also find out if the JDM would be compression tested and leak-down tested before they accept/install the engine.

You may want to look at car-part.com. It searches junkyards for parts. You may be able to source the engine locally where the yard should compression test and leak-down test the engine. It may also be less expensive vs the JDM engine. I also don't think you gain much by going to a JDM engine.

 

thank you for your feedback. they quoted $699 for the JDM engine and claim it would have low miles less than 60k miles. they offered $1800 total for engine and installation with 90 day warranty. They also offered option of $2500 for JDM engine and installation, including 3 year warranty with unlimited miles. I read a review that one person didn't get a compression test. I will be sure to ask for a compression test and leak down test. Thank you!

Another shop did a compression test on my car and said it failed the test..but the battery was not fully charged. Should the shop have charged the battery before doing a compression test, for better accuracy?

 

With your oil loss and low compression, I'd say you have problems internally with your engine regardless if the battery is fully charged for the compression test.

I'm not sure where you are located. I just did a quick search around here on car-part.com. US used engines range from 500-900 on that site, so your JDM engine isn't too outrageous.

Verify what the warranty actually covers for the 3 years before spending the additional $700. I would insist on the compression and leak down test checking good before having the engine installed regardless if you go with the 90 or 3 year warranty.

 

thank you, will do. I will definitely ask for a compression and a leak down test before having the engine installed. Can they do those 2 tests without the engine installed in a car?

Do you recommend i ask the warranty to cover anything specific? 3 years unlimited miles does seem too good to be true when all other shops said only 90 days.

Regarding car parts.com, i'm located in southern california inland empire area.

One shop had mentioned cleaning the throttle body. If i charge the battery and clean the throttle body, could that possible help get better results/more accurate results with the compression test on my car now?

Also the spark plugs are all 4 bad. All 4 need to be replaced. They said they all went bad because of the burning oil. Could i get accurate compression test results without replacing those? Or would replacing all 4 spark plugs help the compression test?

As you can tell, i'm hoping to avoid replacing engine and see if a charged battery, cleaning throttle body, and/or replacing spark plugs could help compression test. Before the car stopped starting, it seemed to be driving excellent at 175k miles! But if doing my own compression test with charged battery, clean throttle body, and replaced spark plugs doesnt help, then getting back on the road with a replaced engine is better than buying a brand new car!

Thank you for all your help