So I have a question on how the maintenance minder works on my HCHII.

As per the recommendation of my Salesman & someone from the Service department at the dealership when I purchased my car I have been bringing my car in for oil changes more regularly than the "maintenance minder" says I should.

I'm not griping about the idea, or the fact that I'm paying them the $50 for the oil & filter w/ the inspection more often that I would if I waited for the % to get to a certain level.

What I'm questioning here is if someone should be telling me about other maintenance that should be done? Not until I took my car in for the rear control arm replacement as per the TSB was I told that I should be doing tire rotations & other maintenance more often.

I'm not the type that would pay the dealer to replace air filters or rotate tires. But never at the end of any oil change or on my invoice was any other service suggested. The only "suggested service" on any of the invoices from my oil changes was the full nose mask I asked about when it as in for it's first oil change. I find it to be odd at best that the dealer wouldn't want to get the maximum amount of money out of me to do these things.

Since the manual gives no real mileage thresholds for servicing the car, should the dealer be telling me what the maintenance minder wants done instead of just clearing it off & not saying anything at all?

I'm pretty much done with the dealer I bought the car from after the control arm repairs & issues I had with them after my last oil change. Now I'm just curious how the maintenance minder works for future reference. I'm assuming the 1, 2, & 3 service items won't "appear" until it also needs an A or B?

Thanks!

 

Maintenance on the HCHII is pretty simple. It is this:

Every 10K miles, change the oil (and filter if you wish), and rotate the tires, check air pressures, and bake and WSW fluids. You can change the oil filter every 20K if you wish, but they are so cheap, it is good practice to replace with the oil change. Be sure to use Mobil1 synthetic 0-20W

Every 30K do the 10K plus change the air, pollen filters, and CVT fluid

Every 100K change the spark plugs.

That is it!

I have my oil analyzed at every change (the results are in this forum in other posts), and the results are exceptional with no problems what so ever.

Don't add to the pollution of the environment by changing your oil too frequently. You are wasting money and harming the environment.

 

How often did they "recommend" that you change your oil?

Most sources I can find say that tires on a passenger vehicle should be rotated every 6,000-8,000 miles. The rotation pattern depends on whether the tires have a specified rotational direction. If not, the traditional front wheel drive pattern is : therear tires get moved to the opposite side front, the fronts go straight back to the rear.

 

[quote=Orient Express;182506]Maintenance on the HCHII is pretty simple. It is this:

Every 10K miles, change the oil (and filter if you wish), and rotate the tires, check air pressures, and bake and WSW fluids.

Change oil every 10k miles? I'm now confused. I thought that you are to follow the Maintenance Minder (MM). I have read posts where drivers have stated that their MM reads 5% and the have only driven 7-8k miles since their last oil change. As I understand, the MM starts to record the miles driven past the 0% reading. If litigation was to arise over some warranty coverage that involved proper ICE maintenance, I don't think it would look very good if the dealer has readings from the on-board computer that an oil change went beyond a recommended interval. Also, what about the other end? I have 9800 miles on my HCHII and the MM reads 10%. Should I go past 10k miles even though the MM will not be at 0%?

 

Honda Civic Hybrid Quick Reference Sheet

A

• Replace engine oil

B

• Replace engine oil and oil filter
• Inspect front and rear brakes
• Check parking brake adjustment
• Inspect these items:

·Tie rod ends, steering gear box, and boots
·Suspension components
·Driveshaft boots
·Brake hoses and lines (including ABS)
·All fluid levels and condition of fluids
·Exhaust system
·Fuel lines and connections
1

• Rotate tires

2

• Replace air cleaner element

If you drive in dusty conditions, replace every 15,000 miles.

• Replace dust and pollen filter

If you drive primarily in urban areas that have high
concentrations of soot in the air from industry and
from diesel-powered vehicles, replace every 15,000 miles.

• Inspect drive belt

3

• Replace transmission fluid

4

• Replace spark plugs

• Inspect valve clearance

Spark plugs:

• SK20HPR-L11 (NGK)
• ILFR6J-11K (DENSO)

5

• Replace engine coolant

Independent of the maintenance minder display:

• Replace the brake fluid every 3 years.

Adjust the valves during services A, B, 1, 2, or 3 only if they are noisy.

 

The maintenance minder is Honda's conservative way of showing when you need an oil change. It certianly factors in miles, and is considered to also factor in engine revolutions and time since the last reset. It is conservative if you're running the semi-synthetic Honda blend 0-20, but even more conservative if you're running full syn like Mobil 1 (as drivers like Orient Express have shown through oil analysis).

That being said, I still follow the maintenance minder. Firstly, because it is annoying as all get out to have to flip through the trip modes EACH TIME you start your car when you are below 15%, and secondly because we have an extended warranty and don't want to take any chances in dealing with Honda if there is a claim. I recycle my waste oil and do not feel I am harming the enviornment unnecessarily by driving ~1/3 less than I possibly could.

Edit: to the original poster, your dealership is trying to screw you--I would stop using them if I were you.

 

I go by what the minder tells me. I normally do the service at 5% left on the meter. I also use Honda oil and change filters every other time. I am not a fan for giving money too the oil industry, they have enough!!!H

 

Well so that goes back to my original question. Should they be giving me additional maintenance items when I'm in for an oil change?

The dealer said that I should bring the car in more often, closer to 5000-7500mi between oil changes.

I am looking at other dealership options in my area since I have multiple issues right now with the place I purchased the car. This maintenance minder question being one of them.

 

They should be doing all of the things that mdarmistead listed for each type of service (indicated by the number/letter combo your maintenance minder suggests). For a $50 oil change, they should also be doing the common sense things like checking your tire pressure, your wiper fluid and your coolant levels. They should also be checking your car to see if you have any recalls or engine managment updates--which they probably wouldn't mention unless they find something.

If they are just changing the oil and resetting things without doing things like tire rotation every ~15,000 miles, and changing your tranny fluid every ~25,000 miles, then they are doing you a disservice.

 

I agree with Kristain! I have 26000 kilometer's on my 2006 HCH and all checks are OK. The car is like the day I picked it up.These cars are very well put together and should give many years of trouble free service. Some dealers[all] are in the business of making a profit first , and that is their biggest concern. Go by the M.M. and tell them that is all that you want performed when 5% rools around. If anything wears out have it replaced. You will find this car requires less service because of design. Regen braking takes a load off your brakes and we tend to drive at slower speeds for better FE. Unless you are hard on your car, I would not be concerned about it. H