Honda Elysion 3.5 V6 Prestige

[Espace X]

Hello guys, I recently bought this Honda elysion and have had it serviced + new tyres and a general clean up. The car seems to drive well and I am pretty pleased with it. one thing I've noticed is it's using up a lot of fuel... I've had plenty of big engined petrol cars but this seems to be guzzling a lot of fuel even on motorway runs. 

Here are some pics - I'll get some interior shots later

 

[Espace X]

Managed to get some pictures up

[PTR200S]

Hi and welcome to the H6nda forum!!

Looks a nice ride, looks like the second facelift version, 2008 and on,  so different body bits to the earlier version and the BIG engine 🥳🥳🥳🥳

Is that stop start motoring over the 40 miles ?? 20.6 to the gallon?? I can be down at that in town.

Should improve on a run...I have been doing averaging 27mpg this week but the stop start in town driving today dropped the mpg to around 22....mine is 3 litre version.

[PTR200S]

 

Just been thinking about you fuel consumption..has the van been standing for some time?? I would certainly be doing a brake check anyway regardless just to make sure all are free and don't tighten up as it gets hotter.   The sliding caliper pins are usually the culprit,,,as on most Honda 🙃🙃

[Josh98]

Welcome mate! That's a lovely looking Elysion, hopefully the fuel usage issue is nothing a bit of quality fuel and a blast down the motorway won't fix 🤞

[Espace X]

Thanks chaps!  yes I'll get those things checked out. It is a nice minivan for sure. Re. fuel consumption that was on the motorway so I think there may be something that isn't quite right. 

 

A quick conversion showed it around 17MPG.  I may just change the thermostat as a start and see if it runs better. Also, I've been filling it up with E5 fuel not E10. Done the usual stuff but no improvement. 

[PTR200S]

5 hours ago, Espace X said:

A quick conversion showed it around 17MPG.  I may just change the thermostat as a start and see if it runs better. Also, I've been filling it up with E5 fuel not E10. Done the usual stuff but no improvement. 

I would be definetly checking the brakes for drag if the motorway mpg is that low !! 

The conversion you have done is into US gallons, not imperial... 7.3km / litre is 20.62 imperial mpg.

As you say the thermostat is also a good place to start presuming that it takes a long time to get the motor to temperature???

Do you have the 3 cylinder eco mode on your motor? .VCM,   .not to sure if the 3.5 Elysion actually got that though, like the Oddy and Pilot did,  the3/4/6 version. ????

[Espace X]

Don't think I have the eco mode mate. I am certainly going to look into this, as I've stated I have had many big engined V8's etc and this one is ploughing through the fuel. I'll get the rear brakes checked for drag/sticking.

I'll start with the thermostat first. I've just done a motorway drive at a steady speed and no improvement in fuel consumption. Is there a coolant temp sensor that could also be replaced? 

Thanks for your help and advice....... there is very little information on these Elysions. 

 

[PTR200S]

Before you start getting into coolant sensor stuff, even thermostat replacement you need to get those brakes checked out front and rear, it makes a big difference even if just one is slightly dragging. ...ask me how I know !!!

20.6mpg is not good at motorway speeds.....what speed are you doing by the way 😜😜😜😜😜😜??         Even my V8 manages more than that if I don't squeeze the loud pedal too much !!!

On the line gauge in the dash, for the onboard fuel readout, what does it sit at on a steady speed...say 50mph ??

The coolant gauge needle should be just before halfway up...any less than this I would be after the thermostat first.

 

[Espace X]

I will get the car up on the ramp, maybe rears are dragging as you say. On the gauge I'm sure it is below halfway. I'm also sometimes seeing 6.9km/l 

The figures I have shown above were stead 70ish MPH on the motorway with just 1 person in it, not fully loaded or anything. 

I should have the thermostat today! 

 

[PTR200S]

It's not just the rears that want checking, look at the lower and upper slider pins on the front plus the fit of the brake pads in the calipers too, very often they will be tight and not allowing the pads to fully release from the disk...

You really need to satisfy yourself that nothing is binding as that fuel consumption isn't right..do the easy stuff first !!!

If the temperature climbs reasonably quickly from start up and sits steady just under halfway, it's fine......

[Espace X]

good advice thank you - I'll get those things checked as you suggest and report back👍

[PTR200S]

6 hours ago, Espace X said:

good advice thank you - I'll get those things checked as you suggest and report back👍

Great ! a little homework for the weekend !!

Just for your info my fuel consumption , admittedly on lowly 3 litre version 🙄,  is about 12 km / litre on six pots, 50mph......   when it shifts into the three pot mode the consumption goes down to about 14 km / litre.

That's the equivalent of about 34 mpg and just over 39 mpg (imperial) 

[hughezee]

On 11/7/2023 at 10:33 AM, Espace X said:

Hello guys, I recently bought this Honda elysion and have had it serviced + new tyres and a general clean up. The car seems to drive well and I am pretty pleased with it. one thing I've noticed is it's using up a lot of fuel... I've had plenty of big engined petrol cars but this seems to be guzzling a lot of fuel even on motorway runs.

Welcome to the club, looks like a beast of a motor, especially with that 3.5 under the hood...😋😍 

In regards to the fuel consumption and following on from what member @PTR200S AKA Pete  has already suggested, thumbs up on Thermostat BTW. I would try and avoid cheap fuels if possible although there's not much in it these days with ethanol killing MPG on the majority of motors new and old. Another thing is engine oil plays a big part and thin oils aren't always best, a 40 multigrade oil would be better than 0W20 for example and the transmission must be tip top too as there are so many miles lost in slushbox auto's and another point would be new lambda sensors and possibly consider a new IAT sensor too. 👍

[Espace X]

Thanks gents, bit of an update for you. I had the brakes checked and they were not dragging. Therefore we can rule that one out. A few other runs showed 6.XX KM/L so I concluded it was something else.

New Thermostat in part number: febi bilstein 33457 this is the same 78C rating and fitted fine. Only thing to note there was no notch in the rubber seal ring/gasket. Pics to follow.

I also changed the coolant temp switch: Febi 107623 (2 pin) and that also fitted perfectly. 

I did notice an improvement as a short motorway run returned around 10.3 KM/L that's at a stead 70~ MPH.

Annoyingly, the car has got a leak from the coolant hose somewhere near the bottom. I'll take a look over the weekend.

Overall it's a nice looking car that drives well but it's very noisy inside the cabin compared to my Renault Grand Espace. I'm not used to so much road noise/poor insulation. I've had a few hondas before and always found them to be behind on noise insulation.

 

 

[Espace X]

[Espace X]

new thermostat without notch.

 

[PTR200S]

Good news about the brakes, as you say ruled out now. 

Do you know if the atf in the box has been changed anytime?? Presumably you have checked for discolouration and burnt smell....levels too ?

Is the engine getting to temperature any quicker now , temp gauge at just short of halfway ??

How is the airfilter ??? Plugs ??? 

10.3 km/litre is 29mpg so looking like improved....what's the mixed consumption like now ?

[Espace X]

Thanks Pete, not checked the ATF fluid tbh. Air filter has been changed but the plugs have not and I may do those next. I think the temp gauge rests just short of half way so that seemed alright. I can't accurately provide a mixed driving figure as the car has got a leak so only managed a shortish motorway run. 

I would certainly say there is an improvement with the thermostat change + CTS change. They are relatively easy fixes so I'm working my way through cheap/simple fixes first.

I bought this car and the owner had it stood for a while but it seems very solid and honest, however it needs a full service so plugs are next. 

Thanks!

 

[Espace X]

Right, i think this non OE thermostat may be causing a problem. There is a leak from the thermostat housing and I thinking the new thermostat is not sealing correctly. Any ideas chaps?

 

I think it could be due to the slight difference in gaskets, one with the notch and one without. 

[PTR200S]

2 hours ago, Espace X said:

Right, i think this non OE thermostat may be causing a problem. There is a leak from the thermostat housing and I thinking the new thermostat is not sealing correctly. Any ideas chaps?

 

I think it could be due to the slight difference in gaskets, one with the notch and one without. 

If the rubber "notch" on the gasket sits in a corresponding cut out in the housing you have your answer....although your pic shows it outside the land area.....i can also see a depth projection off the original gasket but not apparent on the new one???

Can you take the original gasket off and fit to the new stat??

I have done that before on other engines and it solves that problem.

The other thing to check is the width of the new gasket against the old one...cutting price can mean cutting material and if the gasket is not wide enough for the thermostat housing lands it can also cause leaks,.

[Espace X]

[Espace X]

Hi Pete, thanks for the reply. I think it is the fact there is no notch on the new febi gasket that is the culprit. Can't think of anything else. I am tempted to used the old gasket pictured above and put it on the new thermostat. 

Annoyingly, the pictures for the febi thermostat show it with the notch in the gasket, however that seems a little misleading. I don't think there could be any other plausible explanation for this. 

I may just price up a new OE thermostat but that depends on availability. 

[PTR200S]

The gasket looks good, just swap it over carefully,  right way up, 😜😜😜...

I suspect its the thickness, height of the rubber that may be causing a problem rather than the notch though...still worth the try with the old gasket...don't go mad tightening the housing up...too tight causes distortion problems with the gasket and the housing.