2006 Honda Accord maintenance minder interval

[ron917]

Vehicle: 2006 Honda Accord 4 cyl auto, just turned 100,000 miles

We bought the Accord 2 months ago for my daughter. The maintenance minder triggered yesterday with B 14 and 15% oil life remaining. It wants oil, filter, tires rotated, spark plugs, valve lash check/adjust, and check/inspect a whole list of things. Nothing major or expensive, I can do all of that myself.

How does the maintenance minder in this vehicle calculate oil life? It seems to decrease 10% for each 500 miles (approx). Is it just mileage based, or does it take driving conditions into account?

Trying to decide what type of oil to buy for this thing. I plan to follow the maintenance minder for OCIs, but I need to understand how often I can expect it to trigger for oil changes.

If it just triggers every 5,000 miles based on mileage alone, I'll buy a good conventional oil. If it may go longer like the Montana (7K miles +/-) or Fit(10K miles), I'll buy a good synthetic oil.

Thanks for any input on this!

 

[zfasts03]

From my observations... I think it is based on operating conditions. I see 10% depletion of MM for 500 miles of city driving, and 10% depletion for 800 or so miles of highway driving.

 

[JTK]

Ron, if it's the same as my 2008 Odyssey LX, the MM takes into account the drive cycles, ambient temps, etc.. just like all the later model systems. FWIW, our Ody triggers the oil change code at 15% 'oil life remaining' and that's at around 6000-7000 for us. I usually can't stand having to toggle back to the ODO readout at every startup around the 10% mark and change the oil/reset MM.

Joel

 

[sir1900]

It is based on a variety of factors (time, driving habits, etc) and is not based on mileage alone. In my experience with the Honda MM (08 Accord and 12 Civic), expected OCIs are around 7500 miles at 15% oil life.

Due to the expected OCIs I think you will be best served with a good synthetic. 2006 Accords specs 5W20 but a 0W20 would be a good choice for year round protection also.

Toyota, Mazda and Subaru 0W20 is a good choice and very popular among BITOGers, or if you prefer something from the shelves of Walmart, M1 0W20 is a very good choice (also a popular choice among the members here).

 

[bigjl]

I would go synthetic on a car as late as a 2006.

Any synthetic easily available nearby would do.

5000 miles on dino/conventional sounds like a bad idea to me.

Some may so go dino on 3000 miles but to be honest most of the time I go anywhere from 5000 miles to 8000 miles, well within manufacturer limits and I always use German made filter when possible and have always tended to use fu synth oil.

Though currently trying 10w40 Maxlife blend in the Taxi and Clio to good effect.

-w20 oils are rare in the UK and difficult to find anyway.

Most common oil viscosity is 5w30 most likely.

You could always start with 0w20 since it is winter.

 

[SatinSilver]

06 was the first year for the MM system on the Accord. It's an algorithm based on the factors stated in other posts.

Replace pcv valve with a new oem version. The internal spring usually breaks around 60k miles.

 

[randomhero439]

Just do what the maintenance minder says. Personally, i change the filter & rotate tires every oil change. Just habit. Also the MM is based on using synthetic-blend oil. Make sure you use OE spark plugs (PN# is in the owners manual) and Honda Coolant.

Also, you dont need to adjust the valves unless they are noisy.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: randomhero439
Just do what the maintenance minder says. Personally, i change the filter & rotate tires every oil change. Just habit. Also the MM is based on using synthetic-blend oil. Make sure you use OE spark plugs (PN# is in the owners manual) and Honda Coolant.

Also, you dont need to adjust the valves unless they are noisy.

On the K24 you'll probably get away with not adjusting the valves since they do not tighten a lot, like the V6s do.

Be sure to use the OE plugs, which can either be the Denso SKJ20DR-M13 or NGK IZFR6K13, if the car had CA emissions. Otherwise it's the M11 or IZRFR6K11. 13 ft-lbs and a small amount of anti-seize per the FSM.

 

[ron917]

Thanks for the replies, all!

I'll go with synthetic oil since it seems 5,000 miles is the minimum interval with the MM. Probably Mobil 1, since that is what everything else in my household uses. M1 is good stuff, easily available, and inexpensive at WalMart.

Regarding spark plugs: I have found that whatever the factory put in usually works best, so I go for whatever brand/part number is listed in the manual. Never had a problem with NGK plugs, so that is what I will buy.

Regarding valve lash: The engine isn't noisier than any other Honda 4 cylinder engine. But checking/adjusting isn't a difficult job. I'll plan on doing it, but not as a top priority.

 

[randomhero439]

If you got the tools and know-how to adjust them, go for it! I just wouldnt recommend spending $300 at a dealership if they are not noisy.