Oil Fouling Issue in 1.5L Turbo

[Nystockboy]

I live in NYC. I’ve had Corvettes for the last 16 years, kept at indoor garage in the City on a lift, so never got banged up by garage attendant. Sold latest Vette in March, 2020, as Covid hit. Now thinking of buying 2022 Civic Si or Toyota GR86. I’ve been reading articles and forums about the 10th Gen oil fouling issues in the 1.5L Turbo motor, which apparently is very similar to the 11th Gen 1.5 L Turbo in new Si. In all the articles I’ve read, it seems as though most are unsure as to whether the new Si will have similar problems as the older model was susceptible too.
Anyone have any new information to add?
Thanks,
Ken

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[SDAlexander8]

This is only an issue for people who let the car idle cold too much and don’t drive it enough to let the drivetrain get to operating temp and allow the fuel to evaporate out.

Unless you’re driving the car for only 5-10 minutes at a time and never allowing it to get to operating temp, it’s nothing to worry about. Just change the oil on time and take the car out for an hour drive on the weekends once in awhile.

My 2017 Si has never burned a drop of oil. The oil will have a slight fuel smell which is normal and causing no harm.


It is an extremely efficient engine. It is higher maintenance than the old N/A Honda motors. Takes time and some actual driving to get it to warm up on cold winter mornings, which means you won’t be leaving your driveway with a warm cabin.

 

[JT Si]

There is no oil fouling issue in the 10th gen civics. You must be referring to the oil dilution issue.

In most cases, the oil dilution issue is vastly overblown. Civics after 2019 came with software changes to decrease the chance an issue occurs, and I have no doubt Honda made design changes to the L15 for 11th gen to nip whatever possibility of issues remains in the bud.

That being said, I have seen no empirical evidence from 11th gen one way or the other.

My civic does not have any of the software updates. I have done an oil analysis every oil change and even with one analysis indicating 5%(!) oil dilution, there have been zero signs of excess wear. In fact, quite the opposite, the engine seems to be running perfectly.

 

[Shankmeyster]

There are plenty of people with over 100k miles and no engine issues. The only difference we've seen so far between the old L15 and the 22 is the turbo being different.

 

[HardLuckFE1]

I currently have that dreaded gas smell in my oil. 5,000km ‘22 si. K tuner starter dual tune @21 psi.
We had a pretty bad cold snap, wondering if that’s the culprit.

 

[zeroptzero]

I had the oil dilution issue on my 2016 Touring Coupe, my oil level grew with every mile I drove. I guess Honda didnt consider the cars being driven in cold weather conditions, lol.

They made some changes to the injectors on this newest version , along with some tuning changes between generations. It should be far less of an issue but not uncommon for any DI engine, Honda's dilution was just a bit excessive despite them all doing it to some degree.

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