Obliterated Honda Accord J35 V6 Teardown. Customer States: "Vehicle Shut Off" OH I BET IT DID!

[@jeffmiley5992]

My father used to criticize car owners for ignoring warnings signs. He said that low oil pressure should be first signaled by a red light followed shortly after by a loud buzzer. If you were still driving it a minute later a big boxing glove should fly out of the steering column and sock you in the nose for ignoring the first two warnings.

[@oldskolacura9798]

😂

[@J35Y1]

That's a funny dad

[@anthonybertone2336]

Well, I think Eric has out done himself. He really enjoyed himself at the laughing on this one. By his laughing, you really can tell he really enjoys what he does. As do we

[@user-re3qq7pi7i]

I think that was the most laughter I've heard on any one of his videos.

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

When he started laughing I knew all three pistons were just gone.

[@7700jessie]

@@InsideOfMyOwnMind I wonder what that sounded like when it went.

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

@@7700jessie I know, right? I still want to watch slow motion footage from inside a crankcase when an engine s^%ts the bed like that.

[@ryanc7209]

I work at a Honda dealer and you are spot on with your assessment on VCM. For you curious out there that own a VCM equipped engine there is a product called VCMuzzler that can be installed which modified the ECT signal to the computer which causes the VCM to never activate. I myself have an Odyssey with a J35A6 so no VCM for me, I was very careful to only look at models specifically without VCM because of the widespread, well documented issues with VCM. Good teardown, keep it up!

[@saablazer]

I bought my 08 Odyssey without knowing about VCM. Scared myself when I did the first oil change and half the oil was gone with no leaks. Bought the VCM Tuner II thanks to an ETCG recommendation and immediately oil consumption went down. Now, ~15k miles later and oil consumption it’s basically nonexistent.

[@brucemoberley3355]

Having an 2007 Odyssey with the "three stopped system" I have traveled from Chicago to the Florida Keyes several times on I-65 at 78mph in traffic getting high 20 mpg in this mode dominately and now have 240k on the engine. I NEVER add oil between " 0% capacity left" changes and I am going though the third timing belt change due to the hydraulic tensioner going into connecting rod failure clatter mode. Mobil One has resulted in some varnish that cleans up at each valve adjustment and the rear head is always cleaner and has intact crosshatching, light carbon and original ignition coils . The front cylinders run hotter, have little crosshatching and eat an ignition coil every 30k miles with the front banks pass side cylinder always running hottest (more varnish and most coils ). Pennzoil and other oils never come back as clean as the Mobile One. Why miss an oil change with the car warning you so many times?Our other "direct injection" Honda vehicles are changed at 40% miles left to change because the Blackstone Oil Samples show multiple deficits at this point and used up base capacity by then mostly due to ERG activity with more particulates. Wish I could get the power steering converted to the new electric as the original has caused many pump replacements and oil leaks due to the faulty off center drilling of the blocks capscrew bolts holes at the factory originally. Fuel injectors were replaced at 80k to deal with a bad spray pattern and leaking. This is likely to cause the carbon build up in the back bank if left uncorrected. Never put old boat gas into a clean fuel system.This is as close to an aircraft engine in reliability as any honda or other engine I have owned and shows as great attention detail as any other product.

[@turbogt2911]

Ditto to the VCM woes; however, the better product is the VCM Tuner II. I installed that on my J35Y1 in our 2016 Accord back in August of 2021 and have had zero issues. The unit sends a coolant temperature a few degrees fahrenheit below actual to the computer. Apparently, VCM won't engage until the coolant temp reads 165. This unit keeps that reading below the threshold. The damage from VCM isn't just limited to engine wear/damage, the engine MOUNTS are hydraulic (read: expensive) and the extra dampening loads they need to bear because of three cylinders constantly being shut off and on reduce their lifespan.

[@tomcraftdonkey2285]

Man, this VCM problem seems much worse than Chrysler's MDS system. Was there ever a recall?

[@turbogt2911]

@Tom Craft Donkey All I've seen are TSBs 11-033 and 13-078...13-082); however, these seem to affect much earlier models that use various J35s (looks like 2008 to around 2013).

[@wheresbicki]

I always find it amazing that no matter how well built an engine is, there's always a careless owner worthy of destroying it.

[@hudsonhollow]

Reminds me of a story from a Honda engineer who said one of their race engines granaded on the track and the crew chief yelled to go out there and pick up the pieces so their secrets were kept. The engineer thought "Why would anyone want to copy that?"

[@RANDOMNATION907]

I think we can give the screen in the pickup tube an MVP award for keeping all of that kibble out of the oil pump. Impressive.

[@odnamsrazor2364]

i dunno man. i think that windage tray deserves a lot of credit as well.

[@commonsenseisdeadandgone]

@@odnamsrazor2364 I concur, windage tray held the nuggets!💩💩

[@arkhsm]

@@odnamsrazor2364 What....are you talking about that cheese-grater ?!

[@raykaufman7156]

I guess when there's no oil left, the pump has to suck up SOMETHING...

[@billhennie]

The whole engine was the rock crusher, the windage tray was the screen separating the sand.

[@mattstewart5142]

I spent 9 years at a Honda dealership, spent my fair share of time putting rings in these engines. I never saw one grenade like this, and I feel cheated.

[@lukebryan1848]

and usually Hondas are really good engines...?

[@alextheonewarrior]

@Luke Bryan They're good because they don't care if you do or don't maintain them. My fiancee had shot piston rings, valve cover gasket, 2 huge cracks in her purge solenoid hoses, all 4 engine/transmission mounts were hanging on by literally 1 mm of rubber, transmission had half of its fluid in it, all the seals were shittily replaced with RTV, PCV valve was clogged and hoses were torn, coolant reservoir was empty, oil pan was leaking, intake manifold gaskets were flatter than the manifold itself, somehow the throttle body gasket was bent? (Previous owners mechanic was a hack) 2 of the spark plugs had random washers in them and another was bent with a small gap, 4 coils were shit (400+ ohms), serpentine belt and tensioner were shit, and its timing tensioner was pretty much gone at 130k miles when she bought it. She drove that 2007 corolla to 150k, where I met her and replaced all of those, and somehow its still running atm at 170k. My BMW complains, misfires, and stalls when I have a dinky clog in an EVAP line. My engine will probably last longer than hers, bit the difference is that one thrives with maintenance, where one can thrive even without.

[@honkhonkler7732]

​@@alextheonewarriorJust imagine how long a Honda or Toyota especially would last when maintained as meticulously as a BMW requires!

[@aoescool]

yes well maintained they will outlive the body.. especially if its a manual j series.. since no vcm in the manual

[@mrsillystrings4075]

I can tell you a toyota can run to nearly a million. One old lady traded in her old toyota and they put it in their show room because of the amount of miles on the car!

[@BillWrightabc]

I finished a bottle of orange wine and two-thirds of an order of California rolls to get through this horror show. OMG...how could somebody give so little thought to maintaining a piece of capital equipment to let this happen. Although, pulling that last bit of connecting rod out of the block (which resembled a dentist getting a stubborn wisdom tooth out of my jaw) did require a chocolate chip cookie (which did go well with the sushi and wine...). Eric, you are close to becoming a national treasure. Please, keep making these videos. Your monologue and wit are truly one of the highlights of my week...

[@papa_pt]

Wow never heard of orange wine I had to look that up

[@davidmiller9485]

@@papa_pt Any fruit (sugar) can be made into a wine. Back in the day apple wine used to be the thing to drink.

[@papa_pt]

@@davidmiller9485 yes orange wine isn't made from oranges though - - it's made from white grapes

[@jfreelan1964]

Eric, don't get a big head.

[@joshuagibson2520]

What are California rolls please? Forgive me, I'm a mountain hillbilly from Tennessee.

[@steveblackbird]

This one is the absolute winner. That pickup tube held some serious metal chunks.. Impressive... This must have sounded terrifying in the last 3 to 4 seconds of it's life. Wow! Turning a six cylinder to a one cylinder was an amazing effort.

[@TJsVette]

I had a 08 odyssey with this motor and never had a issue with the motor. 250k miles ran like a champ. Now I did do regular maintenance every 5k and did everything that needed to be done when it needed it. With that said if u take care of your car it will take care of you.

[@shaggyduder]

I had an 07 Ridgeline with 200+k, that was a strong engine, I towed some massive loads with it, no problems

[@Dankcatvacs]

that's amazing

[@ev17dan]

I have this engine in my accord need to have rings and pistons done 3500 not sure if I should but I do really like the car

[@TJsVette]

@Daniel Carlson depends on the year, if it is a older year I would replace the engine with a new one

[@ev17dan]

@@TJsVette it is in a 2010 accord with almost 200k miles

[@anthonybertone2336]

I work at a major oil change place and I see hundreds of cars a week and it’s always fascinating to see what they look like on the inside when all you ever see is them from the outside,

[@rydplrs71]

You haven’t see a coworker’s mistake lead to seeing the inside? A big name oil change place will do a better job then not changing oil, I use them in winter, but how fast my oil gets black and thick I have it done every 3k where I can wait for my oil change light 5-7k when I do it myself with Walmart synthetic and a wix or oem filter. I’m not knocking the people that work at them, but from what I see the end result is barely adequate materials or a huge up charge that isn’t worth what you get.

[@billspangler2685]

In my experience, Toyotas and Hondas are among the most abused vehicles on the road. Outside they look just fine, but they are usually owned by affluent high middle class folks that don't even know what an oil change is, much less when to get one.

[@nbrowser]

Eric...man this is the BEST core teardown you've done to date! The destruction is off the charts, gotta give props to whoever this thing failed on...this is spectacular!

[@raven4k998]

honda's don't blow up better they just take longer to get around to doing it that's all🤣

[@exocat4164]

At this point you can't even call it a core

[@mazzg1966]

Wow...the amount of energy to obliterate an engine like that is incredible....what a find! Thank you for sharing the joy Eric!

[@leotaurus4265]

You are not only good at mechanics but also your speech and diction are so perfect ! Very instructive for the non english speaker I am, bravo and many thanks 👍

[@loualexander3408]

I recently bought a 2008 Honda Pilot EX-L AWD, the most recent Pilot I could find without VCM. I compression tested all cylinders and at 230k miles they all have around 165 PSI on the dry test and 165-175 on the wet test. I changed the timing belt, water pump, etc, all the fluids and the engine runs great.

[@andrecampbell691]

It's hard to believe a person could ignore the sounds coming out of this engine before it seized. Such a well designed and built engine. The person driving the car should have their license revoked.

[@endurofan9854]

it because not all who knows how to drive knows how to feel or hear what the car says

[@GoldenNada]

@@endurofan9854 this type of failure is either intentional or the person is so brain dead they shouldn't be driving. ain't no way, I'm shocked this thing didn't catch fire.

[@georgerobartes2008]

Proof of Hondas quality noise insulation from the engine bay ?

[@LawrenceMacMacster]

Meh nothing a can of seafoam can't fix 😂 When I was in college I was going out with a chick who had a 2 yrs old Civic her folks bought her, never done any maintenance or oil change the car was smoking black and eating 1+ quart per week. She was insulted when I said she should have it checked; "it's a brand new car!!! I don't need to do anything" That's what most people do.

[@reptilez13]

​@George Robartes lol my mdx is pretty quiet so maybe

[@allenbeaulieu7077]

Never seen so much mulch from an engine Eric, incredible.

[@Doug8D3]

Dude... I check my oil three times a day because of your channel. This one was incredible.

[@phillipfritz7014]

LOL😆

[@Parents_of_Twins]

Is that what they are calling it these days?

[@craigweis6576]

This vid will make me change the oil and filter on my wife's car Tuesday 1-29-2023. Thanx It's only -6 deg F with wind ~!~! in the driveway.

[@Parents_of_Twins]

@@craigweis6576 Balmy

[@nathankarras2715]

I don't understand why people don't just check the oil when they put gas in the car. They are standing around the pump anyway doing nothing but watching the numbers go up. Perfect opportunity.

[@anthonys7976]

I’ve got 450k miles on my J32 manual CL type S and it amazes me that you can’t even tell it’s running it’s so smooth. It’s never been rebuilt in any way, just basic and preventive maintenance. First clutch at 360k due to bad dual mass, not clutch disc or pressure plate. Just an amazing vehicle and the interior has held up just as well, finally a seam year in seat bottom about 20k ago. Suspension has been my biggest issue because we have horrendous roads, but the KYB struts take all the abuse. Lower ball joints, not so much.

[@Daschickenify]

What did the dual mass flywheel failure feel/sound like? Was it just shaking, or other symptoms? I've got a V6 6 speed Accord sedan which i'm pretty sure has a bad pressure plate at 201K miles, but never had to change a clutch before. It will act up when driven hard, after a few clutch presses, the clutch needs to be pumped before it actuates again.

[@joshjahada4238]

Do you ever drive it hard?

[@NCF8710]

Love your channel! I look forward to it every Saturday night. “He who is without oil shall cast out the first rod...”-Detonations 5:72.

[@martinhauser9241]

Eric you have created a site that is far funer to watch than copy cats or those who have been doing this before your channel. It's your character and content that keeps us coming back every Saturday night. I know your viewers are not just guys, the lady gear heads are out there too.

[@jnelson4765]

That's a really well designed engine for service - at least if all the parts were in their original places. As it is, that's the first time I've ever seen a windage tray act as a wrist pin catcher...

[@12345.......]

There you are. I was starting to think it wasn't Saturday.

[@edifyguy]

That wasn't a core.....that was a corpse. :O Nonetheless this was one of the most entertaining autopsies in some time. Thanks for sharing. You're a class act in every way.

[@raven4k998]

[@markmetzler9108]

Truly a thorough grenade job! What I found just too funny is that you pulled the head bolts in sequence. We wouldn't want to warp the heads or the damage the block in any way!

[@richstanton8545]

Eric has good muscle memory!

[@SoulTouchMusic93]

that's a whole moab job there dude. little boy even!

[@stevenlatham4397]

Wow, I’ve seen some disastrous failures, but pieces of connecting rod poking through the valley is a new one.

[@UltraMagaFan]

I got this same exact engine in my car. We put the VCM muzzler on it so it would not destroy itself. It has been a great engine. It has 172,000 miles on it and is running like a champ.

[@nts3208]

I work for a company that does automotive benchmarking and engineering analysis. Part of my job is doing full engine and e-motor teardowns. We got in trouble with OSHA because not everyone in the shop was wearing safety glasses at all times. We do wear them when wrenching, but not sitting at our computers, which are next to our work benches. So next time OSHA came in, I did exactly what you did. Sitting at my computer i had 5 pairs of safety glasses on. The OSHA guy was not amused. I thought it was hilarious. On a side note, I have never damaged a head with the hammer valve removal technique. Maybe i was lucky.

[@davidburns8662]

What you just did at the end of this video, was priceless. You sir are a Gentleman and a Scholar, and above all you are a Philosopher.

[@OneJuanWon]

An epic level of carnage with this one, certainly going to be a tough act to beat considering Eric's years of experience with teardowns. His laughter at the mess tells all.

[@rustymotor]

I think the Honda takes the cake, was amazed how much debris ended up in the pickup tube! Thanks for such an enjoyable teardown video!

[@allisonelkins1662]

I have been subscribed to your channel since you took apart that 3.5 Ecoboost you thought was out of 2011 F-150. I came specifically to get answers about the engine in the truck I had just purchased. I stayed for the quality content and tongue in cheek ridiculous humor. I have watched every single engine tear down you have done on this channel. I thought that Cummins that deleted half a cam shaft was bad. That V10 Triton that chucked every rod was bad. All those blown to bits 5.3s and the first J series that "shut off on the highway" was definitely engine gravel. This though? This one is definitely the worst one you've had on the channel and blows last week's Kia out of the water. As a heavy duty diesel mechanic, I've seen some shit but nothing surpasses what the general public does to their vehicles. I'm so glad I had popcorn for this one!

[@k.aeffchen]

2:50am on Sunday and a new blown up engine appears on your channel. I work at a car recycling yard myself here in Germany. Had a Ford Focus Wagon 1l ecoboost, 3 cylinder where the second rod made inspection port right were the oil returnline form the turbocharger is. Hot oil ignited on the exhaust and set the car on fire.

[@modernhalowars]

I remember when I did a teardown of a J series for tech school. I don't remember the specific model of J series, but it was different from the one in the video, the one difference was the rocker arms. The rocker arms had a unique feature where each arm was separated with springs. that meant if you didn't have the whole rocker arm assembly clamped together, the entire rocker arm would completely and rapidly disassemble itself. I and four other classmates found this out the hard way. I was also warned about this before I removed them. putting the assembly back together took me four class days. I have sense learned my lesson.

[@dudebud72]

Cylinder deactivation in a whole new meaning. This is beautiful!

[@billmcgovern6479]

No question that this engine suffered from oil starvation, probably for a long time given the copper reveal on some of the bearings. However, five of the cylinders were so completely obliterated, I'm having a hard time seeing how the one surviving (?) cylinder could be the driving force behind all that destruction. Towed in gear? As always, Eric, fine job!

[@gordtulk]

Probably the most fascinating thing about these various engine dismantlings is seeing how different they are designed from maker to maker. Not sure if our host has ever ranked them from best to worst but I’d be very interested in hearing his opinion on that. Thx for all of your work.

[@SkSKSK283]

The best engine design I’ve seen so far on here is the Toyota 5VZ 3.4l. One of the best designed v6s of the time

[@yodasbff3395]

Impressive, I don't know how the engine could run long enough to cause that much damage. 👍

[@jonathanbaxter5821]

I suspect it failed at very high rpm. Maybe all that damage was done in a very short amount of time as it blew up.

[@drswanny9000]

I believe he said it was a manual transmission. Running at >70mph and losing a rod bearing, the car keeps the engine rotating long after the internals turn to mush.

[@yodasbff3395]

He said they were able to get the bolts out of the torque converter, so it must have been an automatic transmission.

[@stevensnyder5332]

This engine was connected to a pto on a tractor and rotated until golden brown and delicious.

[@scrubnick]

@@drswanny9000 No, the manual version did not have VCM.

[@billspangler2685]

You are absolutely correct about the J35's with the VCM and how critical fresh oil is in these. My J35A9 non-vcm Pilot has nearly 300k and runs great with only on time oil changes and a timing belt now and again. My friend's J35Z3 in his Pilot with VCM blew at only 175k just following the oil change light.

[@JoaoPaulo-ph8ug]

Though my 2012 Accord V6 with VCM has only 125.000 miles, I had no problems with it. Aside from a leaky vcm valve, which I changed. Oil consumption was acceptable and the engine ran very smoothly.

[@warntheidiotmasses7114]

@@JoaoPaulo-ph8ug Disable it!

[@gs1100ed]

As much as I enjoy these tear down videos, I like watching Eric work on his own cars even more. Thank you for producing these videos!

[@johnalees99]

I remember here in Australia when Honda introduced a new model of the CR-V, and used "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better," as the music for the commercial. Good to see they have indeed embraced that philosophy fully.

[@johnfox7740]

My favorite KZbinr right now. Keep up the good work!

[@jayflores4692]

I was waiting for this video lol I have a 2008 Accord V6 with almost 200k had to replace the J35Z2 motor at 160k because of VCM issue

[@stevenwithanS]

The rev limiter must have taken the day off. That had to be spinning pretty fast to do all that damage.

[@SeanBZA]

Customer just carried on with foot flat till the last cylinder gave out.

[@rickybailey7123]

I'm thinking tow truck and left it in gear !!!

[@stevenwithanS]

@@rickybailey7123 Good call. That would explain it.

[@razor1uk610]

@@rickybailey7123 Perhaps,.. But to me, that the owner bothered with little to no regular servicing, ..they could've though minimal oil was a secret hack for more performance, cos they're dumb, ...and blew the motor after redlining it on low oil first. Parts of the engine are heavily oil glazed = thorough high-level long time duration heat soaking with oil and very high temperatures. Plus the sheer number of casing hollings and smaller debris sucked into the plenum also IS indicating high engine speed, hoovering upon the lighter weight fragments via the breather to airbox/plenum piping.

[@felixbors7546]

One of the best channels; funny and captivating. Thank you very much.

[@peterblatt1962]

Im thinking that you will never see a worse engine, Its interesting that it was a crazy catastrophic failure all at once, Unless the engine was at 8k rpm and in a manual going 154 MPH and a game good clutch, And it blew and the engine kept turning, I wish we had a audio file of the failure noise as it would make a great ring tone!

[@michaelanderson5133]

Kayotom Tom

[@EarthSurfer]

Thanks Jim for this amazing collection of debris. I am in awe of that any engine could run long enough to self destruct to this level. Thanks Eric for your snarky humor throughout.

[@lastotallyawesomebleach204]

This engine didn't even have that many miles on it, this was likely caused by factory error, lack of maintenance, lead footed driver, or all the above. I've seen engines with 400k+ miles and still running smooth and strong.

[@joshuafunk9438]

This was a wild ride. I’d say this edges out the Kia just on sheer volume of gravel parts and the type of destruction. The Kia had a worse block on the inside though

[@DoctoreE644]

The Honda takes the crown for the worst destruction. I honestly don't know how the driver didn't have time to shut it down before the grenade went off to the extent it did. Keep up the good work, I love to see the devastation. I was involved in racing for a number of years, and saw a good number of engines lunched. I love these non-racing remnants - it takes talent to do this much damage...

[@spline8518]

Love your channel man ! Really like the ppe jokes . This old j series really took a beating!!

[@gryfandjane]

Man, what a chamber of horrors. We need to have a moment of silence for that engine… Great episode!

[@Vinincenz]

Congratulations Eric!! 👏 I have never laid eyes on such a spectacle. This teardown has elevated the concept of carnage!! Thinking about your reflection at the end of this week's video, it is disheartening to peak so early in the arc of your of your life's work. Keep the faith and your desire will be fulfilled. 😉 Keep up the fabulous work.

[@philbeech4413]

The Honda has to take the King Of Carnage title. Excellent tear down, great laugh too! good to see a man enjoying his job so much thanks for another entertaining video 🙂

[@rayshutsa6690]

This engine sure went out with a bang. The engine oil could have been changed more often. You have out did yourself on this one Eric. As always great content and commentary.

[@wjeiv]

Trust me, your viewers with experience watching your stuff were right there with you when you took off that head. I literally screamed: "WHERE IS EVERYTHING?!?!" while you were laughing 🤣😂🤣😂. Awesome stuff, keep it coming!!! 💪🏻

[@silverseth7]

I was waiting for the pan pull, because I knew it'd look like someone was sifting for gold with it.

[@Jay.Kellett]

Engine: "Piston heads? Piston heads?....I don't need no stinking piston heads!" (Apologies to "Treasure of the Sierra Madrases.")

[@archisbald]

My Saturday night is complete! I’d love to get a rod end for a keychain! How much?

[@PushyPawn]

Eric - Timing belts: "It's shiny, probably should've been changed long ago.." < tossed aside > Eric - Timing chains: "What a beautiful chain! Wow. And another one!" ⛓ 🤤

[@frankkent8046]

This looks like a 200+ shot of nitrous went through this engine, when a built engine can only handle about a 100 shot, and they didn't add enough fuel to it! So much carnage! I love it!

[@tomt5039]

Thank you for this video. I know this was done a year and a half ago, but it brightened up my Friday while working a job that I don't want to do. Thank you.

[@HotSneks]

I don't know a thing about engine internals but this channel has really helped me understand. Keep up the good work!

[@brandonrohrbacker6595]

Yep, this is just what i needed to see, a blown up honda. (Also, i had NO clue that honda had cylinder deactivation)

[@mikefoehr235]

I never knew

[@kwakas4ever]

This Honda definitely gets my vote - don't you wish you could see inside as that obliteration takes place! And don't worry Eric.....someone out there will neglect their car enough to top this one too. Loved every minute of this one!!

[@stephanebolduc6501]

Wow…just wow! I had no idea that much damage could occur in an engine…I’m sure the engine was cruising along just above idle when it destructed…loved your laugh of credibility when you saw more and more damage..Honda for the win over the Kia IMO….thanks for posting Kevin!

[@marv1405]

Just found your channel, scrolling through sidebar that shows channels I might find interesting. Saw obliterated Honda Accord V6 so decided I should watch since I have 2007 Accord V6 and wondered what internals looked like. A real education for me. Glad I don't have VCM. Mine has 260k miles on it and gets maintenance per the book. Timing belt and water pump PM not cheap PM but cheaper than results of broken/slipped belt.... Tranny flush due soon. Look forward to more of your videos.

[@heatloss]

This video is a masterpiece. I've watched all this channel's videos, and I watch all new uploads religiously, as this is probably my favorite channel. BUT. This is the best one. I think the Dodge Ram V10 may be a VERY close second, and competition is VERY stiff, but after the third watch-through, I think this is the best one.

[@johnmarsh2078]

The Honda V6 has always been vaunted as a great engine .... smooth, free revving, torquey and sweet sounding especially in the NSX. In England we fitted it into Rover 825s and 827s and it was reliable and renowned as a superb power unit, so I was really intrigued to see this particular post mortem. It looked like someone drained the oil and put a brick on the throttle pedal, then stood at a safe distance. the valves look as if they floated due to high revs and clashed with the pistons. The engine would have stopped producing power due to no compression, but the conrod carnage is something else. That is seizure of the crank but I couldn't see welded bearings. Still a mystery to me why the rods broke??

[@zeroelus]

The key in this case I think it's that it has VCM and the associated technology needed to be used. From the NSX's C series engine followed the J series, which was also reliable until they added that cylinder shutoff tech, which was quite problematic in it's first 2 versions, sometimes unreliable active engine mounts and 6 (and even 9 speed) transmissions caused a lot of issues that resulted in oil consumption. An engine that likes to drink oil + an owner that's indifferent to maintenance and I can see this scenario happening. Supposedly V3 of VCM, current active motor mounts and Honda's 10 speed auto are a good combination that seems to avoid the issues from prior generations and in forums for the J35Y6 series engines I found inconclusive results in the need to go out and actively remove the VCM feature, and I hope it's the case as we bought a car that uses all of that haha. Regardless, I'll be monitoring oil levels and doing oil changes every 3000 miles, as per the "harsh conditions" recommendation in the Honda documentation for Mexico.

[@FusionBoost2.0]

Kia - I can really blow shit up Honda - Hold my beer

[@erikkarlonas180]

Dodge Ram v10- hold my Kegs.

[@jamesbingham4538]

The carnage in the windage tray looks like a contemporary artwork of abstract painting. Wow!

[@troyrosenbaugh9935]

Bet Honda engineers never thought of that crap happening, made my Monday. Great vid!!!

[@1koolblue]

Awesome commentary on this tear down, very entertaining, sadly the worse engine was the one I have, I will definitely be on top of my oil changes!

[@JohnCramer-io7dn]

G'day Eric, avid fan here from Victoria Australia, absolutley love your show and the running commentary, love the wide array of engine choices, that you de engineer,from what you have posted over the years it makes me think a lot of the European motors are over engineered for no extra gain, the Japanese and Korean motors seem to be more complex than required, i think you guys got it right from day one, a good old simple straight six or a nice simple v8 with a heap of usable snot, if you want power you need cubes, pretty simple. Looking forward to the next idling catastrophy.

[@SinfulGamer]

I thought nothing could be worse than that Kia. can't wait to see the carnage.

[@IncertusetNescio]

It was impressive. The list alone made at least 3 other engines combined look fixable.

[@larryhealy4688]

You should make an epoxy table using all the blown engine bits.

[@senorhayomayo]

My favorite video you’ve ever made. So much carnage, it’s almost like Honda’s are so reliable that they had to have worst blown engine to go alone with their reliable track record.

[@bobmeyer7009]

I'm wondering how it managed to run long enough to destroy everything - it's hard to imagine all that damage occurred at once.

[@SurelyYewJest]

My theory is it was rotating at redline RPM which, in a low oil scenario, could conceivably have the engine hot enough not just to discolor so many parts and worsen varnish conditions, but have so much metal at the right level of ductility for a bunch of parts to fail near simultaneously.

[@larry3079]

@@SurelyYewJest that is exactly what I was thinking they had to have disabled the rev limiter and fed er all the onions. I was in awe like how does one get so thoroughly grenaded. Then there is the costumer account that they were just driving and it shut off with a little smoke from engine. Like people heard that engine explode from a mile away maybe further that was incredibly loud when it let go.

[@doridore1234]

@@larry3079 Yeah I had one measly rod poke through the block on my turbo d16z6 and I thought it was the sound of a plane crashing or some shit. I was so scared. With all this carnage the noise that came from that engine bay must've sounded like the rapture. If footage exists of this engine failure occurring (probably not) it most be the most sought after in the world.

[@christopherreed4723]

I'm wondering if some...individual...decided to hot-rod their Accord for street racing or drifting? That'd account for the probable very high RPMs at RUD. And the glaring (as in 20th Century Fox intro) discrepancy between the report and what the...event...actually sounded like. Either that or someone's doing vehicle stops with a 25mm Bushmaster.

[@johncardea837]

I have seen top fuel destruction not this bad. This was not a normal engine failure. Those chunks of parts and those large portions of piston had been beaten for some time. There is one scenario I have heard of that much ground up pieces is when vehicle being towed behind camper with a manual transmission accidentally left in gear. It spun engine at very high rpm until it was totally destroyed like this. That particular engine could be from an Accord Sport with a manual transmission. Just my opinion

[@dangerousmythbuster]

I can only imagine what that engine must have sounded like. How do people let things get this bad?

[@thomasfletcher760]

Might have registered on the Richter scale ( around a 2.3 ) ?

[@saltycreole2673]

Momma doesn't change the oil, ever. Dad works 80 hrs a week and will pay for the result.

[@budlanctot3060]

Or, maybe it was stolen.

[@jfan4reva]

@@budlanctot3060 Probably driving it like it was stolen too!

[@jfan4reva]

Probably ran just fine until that last 3 seconds....

[@demonknight7965]

This is what happens when you feed your car taco bell. 🤣

[@zburnham]

This engine was obviously badly neglected and it still made it to 180,000 miles. Yeah, I'm buying another Honda.

[@godwono.d8921]

Same with me

[@robsonrissotrainer]

I hope you are talking about buying a old Honda because the new Hondas are garbage from oil dilution to total failure like my 2022 crv blew the turbo with 8k miles and blew the engine with 20k miles, never again....

[@kylethompson2431]

My J35A2 has 204,000k🫶🏻

[@annettesurfer]

That engine reminds me of the 2004 Honda Accord sedan EX-L 3.0L V-6 my son bought at an auction ($700) many years ago that only made it a couple miles before the 5 speed automatic trans (BAYA) gave out but after a transplant out of a wrecked Accord, he now has almost 350K miles on the odometer, doesn’t burn a drop of oil, and the car runs extremely smooth and quiet.. Of course an oil change every 5K miles with high-mileage full synthetic oil/filter that claims up to 20K miles may be helping the longevity but we have no idea what the previous owner used or if the timing belt was ever replaced. 350K miles makes me nervous but the engine purrs like it’s brand new.

[@Scoot7827]

Any updates sir? 🤜🤛

[@annettesurfer]

@@Scoot7827 It's still purring like new but Belle Tire must've placed the lift pads a little too forward of the drain holes on the frame rails because there are now bends at the rear. I suppose the heavy subwoofer in the trunk may have contributed but the installer knew it was there because they managed to activate it to bump while working. Those tires cost more than a grand but my son doesn't want to complain about the frame damage because the Accord is so old (2004) and the mileage is so high but it's sad to see a rust-free loaded Honda suffer a bent frame without at least letting them know they screwed up. They probably would just deny it anyway. Back to what I wrote, the oil changes are actually every 6k miles and now that I'm thinking about it, I should change the trans fluid again...if I can ever find the vehicle sitting still long enough. Same for the timing belt, he just can't be without his car for even a day.

[@mikeystravels9720]

Love this video. But pure customer neglect IMHO. To reach this level of destruction. I repaired a lot of the 09 accords Where they came from the factory with the rings incorrectly installed. Oil lights were on at 1700km’s. Crazy times

[@marirose19]

My husband has shown me two of your deconstruction vids-the Kia & this, the Honda. Yep. Imo, the Honda blows up better. Lol. “Honda does everything better.” I completely appreciate your dry wit & deadpan humor. You’re hilarious!!🤣 I am now a subscriber like he is, gave you a thumbs up & will do so for the Kia vid as well. My husband is a sub but forgets to give the thumbs up. I told him, “Hey, share that vid with me so I can subscribe, like, & comment.” Reminded him to like too. Said, “Help this man’s YT algorithm. He’s earned it.”😉 Question is: what will you deconstruct next? A Toyota?? Btw, I asked if you were wearing safety glasses, then he showed me the 1st part of the vid which I’d missed bc he started it at 27 minutes. Too funny. A hard hat & 4 sets of safety glasses. Keep us laughing & learning. That was last night & I’m still chuckling. TYSM!!

[@MrThebirddog]

This had to have been done on purpose, but it took guts to do it.

[@Afrattzz1]

Nice. Would love to see a C series teardown 😮

[@DragonRides75]

Awhat a mess it was the best tear down ever how did it not blow completely into millions of pieces. Your laugh is so engaging

[@durstroyer3924]

Late to the party but yeah, the j35s are notorious for that cam pitting. Very common and happened on mine. Also for anyone with the VCM models there are delete kits and you can convert the active mounts to the standard motor mounts to save as these go through engine mounts pretty regularly.

[@lxiflyby]

Eric, J35Z engines suffer from oil consumption on cylinders 1-3 while VCM is activated (cylinder shutdown). The piston rings are a low tension design that ultimately ended up being too low tension and had issues with the ring gaps lining up as well as not sealing very well unless there is a combustion event in that cylinder, pushing the rings out toward the cylinder wall to make a decent seal. So, a lot of these engines use oil when the VCM system is active. To remedy the situation, you can either re ring cylinders 1-3 or disable the VCM system without replacing the piston rings. Also, based on the lack of damage on the cam journals and lack of heat discoloration on the cam and crankshaft, I suspect your engine in the video suffered from an extreme overrev (money shift) considering it was out of a manual transmission Accord

[@I_Do_Cars]

VCM was not available on manual transmission cars. This is from an automatic and the charred wreckage of the one rod says lots of heat and friction.

[@ganzonomy]

@@I_Do_Cars can we buy the piston mcnuggets?😁

[@Coupegt84]

Great teardown, even with the head start that Honda cooked up for you. Until you have an engine that comes in with the block split (roughly) in half, this one has to be given the “Maximum Carnage” award. I just wish we had a soundtrack of the last few seconds of operation - bet it sounded expensive…. Thanks, Eric! Wonderful video!

[@jfan4reva]

I bet a really clever engineer and an ECM technician could have distributed the cylinder deactivation randomly over all 6 cylinders, minimizing the piston ring problems (if they were allowed to, $$$$$ allowing.)

[@dougbourdo2589]

Would be interesting to see video of the engine in its last 5 or 10 minutes of running.

[@1958Cadillac-v2g]

5 10 minutes? I'd say last 10 seconds, if that.

[@matthewfuller1129]

It took a special talent to blow that engine up in such an impressive fashion.

[@electrik_loss]

"How do you like your piston heads, sir?" Finely shredded

[@ranmas2004]

This was the most engine carnage that I have ever seen on this channel so far!!

[@forresttucker168]

That engine has the most severe case of entropy yet seen on this channel.

[@SPAZTICCYTOPLASM]

Jesus I was just expecting a good old J series timing belt failure. I don't think it could get worst even with effort. Also I think your friend was plenty peddle happy when this happened. Oh also those compressors you gotta be really strong on that lever arm, i recommend using a pipe or a vice grip or something to extend the handle, you just weren't tight enough is all.

[@Webic33]

You should bolt some tie down anchors to your shop floor so you can strap / clip your engine stand to the floor so it doesn't move around on you.

[@tomrogers9467]

Probably a cheap Harbor Freight stand.

[@bobbyv5143]

Really enjoyed this one Eric. It seemed to me that you enjoyed this teardown as well. Thanks for another great video.

[@3800S1]

I once bought a donor VN for the manual box with a Buick L27 3800 that blown up far worse looking that this from the outside. The entire sides of the block was missing on the rear 4 cylinders all the way to the water jacket. There was only a crown of No.5 up in the bore, no rod or other piston large parts. Just 1kg or so of fine gravel and sand sized metal in the bottom of the sump, wrist pin punched half way through the sump for quick oil chances, the two lower rings in the sump. Broken cam lobes from when the piston hit the valves and transmitted shock up the valve train. Pushrods were fine somehow. Nearly all the bearings were spun. One of the crank counter weights was broken off. The amazing thing was that it still started perfect and ran and could still drive, though it would have died from lack of oil eventually. Turned out it hadn't had an oil change in many 10s of K and there was so much solid carbon that the oil pick up was blocked and a kid was using it as a burnout car. At my last job, one of the race car's LS 6L blew up really bad like this. It had bits of con rod up in the intake and most of the valves were missing. It also had cylinder deactivation but it was deleted with a kit, so we suspect something with the delete caused a valve or two to drop at 8K.

[@Bullseye120]

Eric, I think that you laughed more on this video than any other. Can you imagine the racket that must have created inside the car?

[@FDNY584]

I have to say, I laughed right along with you at this ridiculously destroyed engine LMAO I've been a mechanic for over 40 years and have NEVER seen anything like this. Just WOW!!! Keep up the good work Eric.

[@jfan4reva]

Aluminum gravel is never a good sign! Gotta wonder what exactly they were doing when it went BANG. It's nice that Honda designed their engine to separate out the different size shrapnel in different parts of the crankcase. Japanese engineers are so organized! At the end of the world, there will still be cockroaches and wrist pins. My RAV4 and Civic are both still at about 75% on the dipstick.

[@davidpowell3347]

Doing at least 10,000 RPM ?

[@Driver0378]

That was awesome! I think I have to agree. This topped the Kia. How much worse can we get?? Perhaps we’ll find out. Keep ‘em coming Eric!

[@superhawk20002]

I always appreciate the teardown videos, but I absolutely love the shirt choice. TommyBoy (RIP Chris) would be proud.