Honda Owner's Manual Gripe

[Gebo]

Originally Posted by Dave Sherman
My '08 CR-V I bought new. The maintenance minder typically went 7000-8000 miles before it called for an oil change. Still ran perfectly at 120,000 miles and didn't consume any oil. I thought spark plugs and valve lash adjustment were called for at 105,000 miles. When I did the valve adjustment I just had one valve that was slightly loose, and everything under the valve cover was spotless. If I recall, the cross brace makes it difficult to get the valve cover off and I had to unbolt one end. I did the ATF every 30,000 since I towed a camper with it, but the fluid never looked ghastly or smelled burnt, and the drain plug magnet just had a slight film of "mud" on it.



Did you ever have to adjust idle speed?

I love changing the ATF. I can get out 4 qts each drain. I did 2 drain and fills yesterday so I'm around 85% new fluid. Plugs were super easy to change. PS was super easy to change. My only issue is the washer fluid reservoir is leaking and it looks like it will be a huge task. I do know this is a Japan made CR-V.

 

[bulwnkl]

To be clear: Honda absolutely DOES have a set schedule in miles for every maintenance item EXCEPT engine oil. They just quit publishing it several years ago. The maintenance minder uses something akin to a lookup table to group all those other items into the nearest-predicted-appropriate engine oil change, so that you stay on schedule but don't make a large number of service appointments (yes, they're thinking of their customers who bring the cars in to the dealers for service, which is a large portion of their new-car buyers).

The ONLY disadvantage to this kind of system is that a prospective owner cannot determine what the maintenance requirements of the car are before they buy. I may be one of only a handful of people on the whole continent who truly does check that ahead of time. Many people whine about it post-purchase, but don't make any effort to check beforehand.

Anyway, you'll be able to find the schedule for everything other than engine oil if you search around on owner forums enough.

As far as engine oil, Honda's MM _generally_ tops out about 10k, possibly 12k miles, IME. That said, my current Honda is a V6 so the 4-bangers may occasionally run further than that.

 

[NormanBuntz]

105K for spark plug change. I recommend Denso or NGK iridium plugs. I did an early change on my 2007 Ridgeline with noticeable improvement in performance and gas mileage.

 

[Hall]

I am certain you are correct about the MM in regards to transmission fluid, spark plugs, timing belt (if applicable), and so on. In 99% of Hondas with a MM, it's going to tell you to change the timing belt around 100k miles, give or take a few thousand plus or minus. Same with spark plugs. It's not monitoring them looking for minor anomalies and then deciding, "oooh, we better pop up the 'Bx' code in the MM". Going back to the timing belt, the owner's manual says change it at 60k miles if the vehicle is routinely driven in high temperature environments or low temperature environments, but wait, it knows the outside temperature. Why doesn't it track that and adjust ? Because it's just counting miles !

 

[Gebo]

Ok.

I got my OCI, spark plug, PS, brake fluid, ATF change intervals down.

What about air and cabin filters?

What about Honda OEM coolant?

What about serpentine belt?

 

[JeffKeryk]

Originally Posted by Gebo
Ok.

I got my OCI, spark plug, PS, brake fluid, ATF change intervals down.

What about air and cabin filters?

What about Honda OEM coolant?

What about serpentine belt?

Those filters, coolant and belts ain't gonna change themselves...
Get crackin' Gebo!

 

[Gebo]

Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
Originally Posted by Gebo
Ok.

I got my OCI, spark plug, PS, brake fluid, ATF change intervals down.

What about air and cabin filters?

What about Honda OEM coolant?

What about serpentine belt?

Those filters, coolant and belts ain't gonna change themselves...
Get crackin' Gebo!


I will. Give me time. What about the schedule of events? Coolant done at 112k on 3/16. Both air filters done at 150k. Car has 160k now.

Does this engine have a block drain for the coolant?

I'm dreading the serpentine belt change. But a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do. There goes my future hand modeling jobs.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by Gebo
Ok. What about air and cabin filters?

What about serpentine belt?

Change filters when they're dirty or before they get too dirty. This will vary on dozens of variables, from where the car is driven, where it's parked, etc. There's no time or mileage that is accurate.

Belt - most people wait until it breaks. Going 100k miles shouldn't be unheard of on factory belts on modern cars. I changed the factory belt on my G35 in the past year. It had 120k miles on it and I only did it to be proactive. Change it at 100k on the CR-V.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Coolant is fresh; it should be fine.
Filters are fresh as well; I would at least inspect the engine air filter. As we know, this is where dirt gets in. Use a good one.
If the belt is original or questionable, I would just replace it.
I would flush the brake fluid for sure. I bet it's black. You will get a better pedal and can have a good look at the brakes at the same time.

I dunno about a block drain. Good luck and have fun Gebo!

 

[Gebo]

Should both fans come on when I turn on the ignition when engine is cold? I was resetting clock this morning and turned the ignition, did not crank engine and both fans are running. Is this normal?

Also, as I test drove it today it seems it idles rough down around 600-700 rpms. Can really feel it in the steering wheel. I read somewhere you can adjust idle but I don't know what the idle us supposed to be.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Originally Posted by Gebo
Should both fans come on when I turn on the ignition when engine is cold? I was resetting clock this morning and turned the ignition, did not crank engine and both fans are running. Is this normal?

Also, as I test drove it today it seems it idles rough down around 600-700 rpms. Can really feel it in the steering wheel. I read somewhere you can adjust idle but I don't know what the idle us supposed to be.

I don't think the fans should come on until sufficient temp is reached...
The only time I have seen idle drop (and be a little rough) is when the plugs are worn or coil(s) are weak.
I recently replaced the coils on wifey's TSX (195K). Rock solid idle, better mileage. Just right.
I believe idle should be rock solid 750 RPM. And smooth...

 

[Gebo]

First thing this morning, I turned off the AC and turned switch on and the fans stayed off. I guess it's normal.

 

[bulwnkl]

Not exactly. The Honda MM is watching tons of input parameters, but _only for the purpose of calculating remaining engine oil life_. The rest it is simply grouping together from the look-up tables. So no, it is most definitely _not_ just a miles counter. OTOH, it _is_ a miles counter with respect to everything other than engine oil.

None of that makes it disadvantageous in any way other than the one I articulated previously, that nearly no one ever cares about unless they want to whine after the fact.

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
I am certain you are correct about the MM in regards to transmission fluid, spark plugs, timing belt (if applicable), and so on. In 99% of Hondas with a MM, it's going to tell you to change the timing belt around 100k miles, give or take a few thousand plus or minus. Same with spark plugs. It's not monitoring them looking for minor anomalies and then deciding, "oooh, we better pop up the 'Bx' code in the MM". Going back to the timing belt, the owner's manual says change it at 60k miles if the vehicle is routinely driven in high temperature environments or low temperature environments, but wait, it knows the outside temperature. Why doesn't it track that and adjust ? Because it's just counting miles !

 

[Hall]

You said the MM just looks up maintenance for everything except engine oil. I said "I am certain you are correct..." and my list of maintenance items doesn't mention oil.... I agreed with you.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Originally Posted by Gebo


Did you ever have to adjust idle speed?

I love changing the ATF. I can get out 4 qts each drain. I did 2 drain and fills yesterday so I'm around 85% new fluid. Plugs were super easy to change. PS was super easy to change. My only issue is the washer fluid reservoir is leaking and it looks like it will be a huge task. I do know this is a Japan made CR-V.


There is no way to adjust the idle speed. Pretty much true for all cars built in the last 30 years. There is an idle learn procedure, but it's not really necessary and it's only applicable if the battery was disconnected. I think my gas mileage went up slightly went I did it. It was something like holding the RPM at 2000 for 5 minutes or until the cooling fans come on, then letting it idle for 5 minutes, but you might have to Google the details of it.