[Avacado11]

I'm looking all over for a maintenance schedule and found that Honda doesn't provide one, and completely relies on the minder system. I can't sleep well at night with the possibility that the dealership just changed the oil and reset the light, leaving out the transmission fluid and much more.

Anyone know some ballpark figures on when to change tranny fluid, brake fluid, antifreeze etc.? Just incase this minder system fails and I don't see a service light for like 20,000 miles lol

 

[TMVB]

I'm looking all over for a maintenance schedule and found that Honda doesn't provide one, and completely relies on the minder system. I can't sleep well at night with the possibility that the dealership just changed the oil and reset the light, leaving out the transmission fluid and much more.

Anyone know some ballpark figures on when to change tranny fluid, brake fluid, antifreeze etc.? Just incase this minder system fails and I don't see a service light for like 20,000 miles lol

Don't overthink this. MM will tell you when to service the car. Most places you take it to will also inspect fluids and such and tell you if anything needs attending to. Just be an informed consumer about this.

Don't understand your concern over the dealer "resetting the light". When the wrench comes on, you will see the codes (A1, B1, B2, etc) which will tell you what needs done. The only way to miss these is if you change your oil too early and the MM is reset before ever telling you the codes. Morale of this story: don't change your oil before the wrench comes on at 15% oil life.

As for brake fluid, MM will not tell you to replace brake fluid - you do that every 3 years regardless.

On engine coolant, that's a "5" code. After 92,000 miles on my Honda Fit, that code never came up, so for that car the engine coolant is good for at least that many miles. I would be surprised to find anything different for the Accord.

 

[Avacado11]

Don't understand your concern over the dealer "resetting the light". When the wrench comes on, you will see the codes (A1, B1, B2, etc) which will tell you what needs done.

What I meant was that there's a possibility that the dealer(was a used car dealership) cheaped out on service and just changed the oil even though it was due for other service.

How "smart" is MM? Could it detect something wasn't changed and throw a code again, shortly after?

 

[TMVB]

What I meant was that there's a possibility that the dealer(was a used car dealership) cheaped out on service and just changed the oil even though it was due for other service.

How "smart" is MM? Could it detect something wasn't changed and throw a code again, shortly after?

Good question. I don't think the MM is that smart. It is always triggered by oil life remaining, and then gives you the other codes to go with it. So the only thing that will trigger the codes is getting to 15% oil life.

If it's a low mileage car, not much to worry about.

If it's a mid/high mileage car, that may be something to worry about. If it threw a B3 or B4 code, and the used car dealership reset it without doing the maintenance, the MM would have no way of "knowing" that. The algorithm would assume the maintenance was done and wouldn't give you that code until it was due again.

But B3 says change transmission fluid, and B4 says replace spark plugs and timing belt. Should be easy to figure out whether the transmission fluid and plugs were changed through examination.

 

[03LXV6]

The MM is based 100% on mileage for all maintenance except for oil changes. Oil life take certain driving conditions into consideration.

The service codes don't come up on their own. They coincide with the oil change interval closest to the mileage they are do. So for items that are due at 105K, the codes will come up at the next OCI. If the oil was changed at 104K, those codes won't come up until the next time the oil life indicator pops up.

 

[JenerationX]

That's why you take it somewhere you trust or do it yourself.

 

[teezythakidd]

in short: reliable but not enough to put EVERY ounce of your trust in, i'd say. +1 on @03LXV6 mentioning how the service codes show up too

 

[Avacado11]

Car has 41k on it as of now. Oil life is at 60%. ATF is a little dark. Not super dark, but it's not bright pink like when it's new. Main reason I ask is cause the thing doesn't shift smoothly. I believe that from the 2nd-3rd gear I can feel a jerk when it shifts. No grinding noise or anything, just shifts funny.

 

[Lee_Bo]

What I meant was that there's a possibility that the dealer(was a used car dealership) cheaped out on service and just changed the oil even though it was due for other service.

How "smart" is MM? Could it detect something wasn't changed and throw a code again, shortly after?

I don't think any dealer (new or used) wants to miss out on an opportunity to charge you for something.

On the other side of the fence, if all you asked for was an oil change, then maybe they figured they wouldn't look to do anything else, or they weren't equipped to work on your car.

So far, I've taken my car to the dealer for all service work and was told at 30k (my next service interval) they will flush and refill the transmission along with the normal service.

 

[drowned12]

Just resetting the oil life won't stop the countdown on the B service or whatever it is that includes tranny fluid. They're separate maintenance tasks in the ecu that are reset separately. Unless the dealership tech got lazy and hit the button to reset both in HDS...

If you're having tranny trouble, just do a drain and fill. 30k miles is the recommendation from when maintenance schedules were still a thing. Personally I drain and fill every oil change to keep the fluid constantly refreshed. By the time 30k rolls around I'll have drained+filled the tranny fluid 10 times.

 

[0REDSOX7]

Just resetting the oil life won't stop the countdown on the B service or whatever it is that includes tranny fluid. They're separate maintenance tasks in the ecu that are reset separately. Unless the dealership tech got lazy and hit the button to reset both in HDS...

I have to disagree with you on this. The dealer can say that certain things were done and reset them individually in the HDS, otherwise the MM system assumes all recommended tasks were completed when the MM was reset.

The notes in the Honda Service Manual even state as such...

"If the maintenance minder recommends replaced the ATF, reset the maintenance minder (see page 3-7), and this procedure is complete. If the maintenance minder did not require you to recommends replace the ATF, go to step 8." Step 8 being how to update the HDS at a per task level...

 

[drowned12]

I was reading OPs question as he got an A service light indicating time for an oil change and was worried that resetting the oil life after doing that service also resets the tranny fluid countdown.

Otherwise, you're right that if you reset the MM when it recommends a B service that it assumes you did a B service.

 

[slimm1469]

don't trust either the stealer OR the MM

I don't trust the MM or the dealer. I have a totally trusted tech who says, engine oil every 5k; tranny fluid 30k; plugs, water pump & timing belt 95k, serpentine belt when it's showing wear. He says don't adjust the valves, he did it once on another 8 Gen V6 at 100k and found them still in tolerance. Apparently they're a b___h to get to and it's not worth the labor cost.

 

[GoLowDrew]

I'll give you one.

- Oil & filter every 6 months.
- ATF every 25-30K miles.
- Power steering fluid every 25K miles.
- Brake fluid every 2 years (unless brakes were serviced in between)
- Coolant 90K. Same time do timing belt and water pump.
- I would do spark plugs at 90K too. BUT, J35 got the misfiring issue so mostly plugs have been changed before that.

I'm guessing you got your car used, so maybe you should do a lot of these just so you can have the piece of mind, on your log for records.

 

[tdpham04]

I'm a bit worried. I have my Accord 2011 coupe brand new from dealer. I do see oil life MM, and changed at Mister Carwash. My Accord is now 62K miles, and I have NEVER seen any service code Ax or By, except oil life %.

I am very worried that the MM doesn't work properly on my car. The ONLY things I have been changing is oil, oil filters, and air filters. And absolutely nothing else. (except 2 fron tires, when I smashed into the curb and dmanaged it. Even the back tires are still the original tires, I keep looking at it, and measure with the penny's head. It's still show some life...

So, is Accord that good? or what? where is the service A or B code? why never show up not even once??

Anyone else has same concerns?

Thanks
tdpham04

 

[TMVB]

I'm a bit worried. I have my Accord 2011 coupe brand new from dealer. I do see oil life MM, and changed at Mister Carwash. My Accord is now 62K miles, and I have NEVER seen any service code Ax or By, except oil life %.

I am very worried that the MM doesn't work properly on my car. The ONLY things I have been changing is oil, oil filters, and air filters. And absolutely nothing else. (except 2 fron tires, when I smashed into the curb and dmanaged it. Even the back tires are still the original tires, I keep looking at it, and measure with the penny's head. It's still show some life...

So, is Accord that good? or what? where is the service A or B code? why never show up not even once??

Anyone else has same concerns?

Thanks
tdpham04

My guess is that you're changing your oil before the oil life gets to 15%. Only when it gets to 15% will the wrench light illuminate and the codes show. One of the downsides of changing oil too early. There are ways of seeing what the codes would have been had the oil life got to 15%. But before we get into that, just need to confirm if the above is true. Are you changing your oil prior to getting to 15% oil life?

 

[stromer]

Fluid changes on 2008 Accord with low miles

I have a 2008 Accord - 4 cyl with 25k miles and have changed the oil every 7,500 miles or 2 years which ever comes up first. Usually at this point the Maint Minder does not read 15% yet. It has also never said to change other fluids. Previous posts have indicated the following fluids should be changed at the following intervals:
Coolant 90 K miles
ATF 30 K miles
Brake Fluid 2 or 3 years
So if the fluid looks clean should I wait until I reach the above intervals or change them now?
Do fluids deteriorate over time and from mechanical wear from driving?
Thanks,

 

[greyhonda]

Stromer, I think, on my 7th gen, that you're supposed to have an oil change every year if the MM doesn't trigger before that time. Every time your engine cools down, moisture-laden air is drawn in, so there is a time factor in addition to the miles driven factor. I'd expect the one-year limit to apply to your 8th gen as well.

Speaking of moisture, brake fluid absorbs it. So Honda specifies that it be changed every three years regardless of mileage.

You have very low mileage for a 2008. Perhaps your average trip is quite short. You should check your manual to see if you should be following the "severe conditions" maintenance schedule, which might apply to you.

 

[Metal Metalic]

I change mine at 50%, as every April 15th or so, it gets changed regardless of MM. Everything else that MM schedules is a no brainer.

 

[TMVB]

I change mine at 50%, as every April 15th or so, it gets changed regardless of MM. Everything else that MM schedules is a no brainer.

I'm curious how you're doing this as the maintenance codes will never show in your case. How do you know what maintenance to perform with no MM codes? And I'm also curious how the logic of the MM handles this situation. Does it reset the timer on stuff that was going to come up had the oil life gone to 15%? In other words, when you reset it at 50% oil life, and it was going to give you a B3 code, does it reset the B3 assuming that you did the maintenance, or because the code never appeared, does it keep the B3 timer running?