I was always curious when certain things would show up on the maintenance minder - and now finally all items 1-5 have been displayed.

The maintenance minder comes on about every 14,500 km (9000 miles). The maintenance intervals may be higher than some because most driving is on the highway.

Unless I made a mistake jotting in the owner's manual, so far the maintenance minder sequence has been:
A 1
B 1
A 12
B 1
A 1
B 12
A 1
B 1
A 12
B 1 3
A 1 4
B 12 5

Perhaps the sequence will now almost repeat itself???

I change the oil filter every time even though Item B indicates changing the oil filter every other time. On the other hand, I think Europeans are told to change their filters every 20,000 km (12,000 miles).

Perhaps (???) item 5 (replace engine coolant) could be done along with item 4 (inspect valve clearance) since draining the engine coolant is part of the procedure for inspecting the valve clearance.

Wear & tear - I'm on my 3rd set of tires, 2nd set of front brakes, 2nd set of headlight bulbs, 2nd set of front park lights, and 4th set of windshield wipers.

Haven't needed any other repair parts except for these normal wear & tear parts. Gotta love Honda reliability. Which is why I decided on the Fit even before reading any reviews - just wanted Honda's smallest car for it's reliability. The handling and space were unexpected bonuses.

 

Have you gotten to the next MM? Did it repeat?

 

Yes, it's pretty well repeating itself.

 

I've got 17,000+ miles and have yet to see the maintence mider display anything.

 

Mine comes on about every 7,000 miles. What percent oil life remaining does yours display? I would think that by 17,000 miles yours would have called for an oil change

 

I've had my oil changed every 5k, and have never seen the maintence minder come up. My oil life indicator has never been below 40%. Lots of highway miles.

 

I am at almost 30000 miles and just hit my third maintenance minder (a12).

 

Maintainence minder will not display a service until 15% oil life. If you are getting your oil changed, and reset the oil life, the maintainence that should have been done at 15% will display before you reset it.

 

I would like to do my own oil changes at 7500miles. Do I reset the MM or does it reset itself? If I have to reset it, how do i do that? I just bought this Fit and so far love it!

 

Depending on how you drive it may suggest you do the oil changes before you reach 7500. On average, probably not, but you may do a lot of short drives, starts and stops, etc.

You have to reset it yourself- instructions in the owner's manual.

 

Just wanted to add...

A1 came on at just under 6k (changed oil at 6k)
B1 came on at about 12k (changed oil at 12.5k)
A1 just came on at about 18.5k (gonna change the oil next Monday). That's A1, NOT A12.

So, 2, 3, 4 and 5 must be more traditional schedules, that simply show up on oil changes that are "close enough."

 

Does B12 equal B 1 and 2?

There is no B12 in the Service Manual. There is only B 1 through 5.

Thanks!

 

yup, each letter/digit is a code.

 

Thanks mucho, Goob.

 

OKay I am going to take over doing the oil changes/filter/air filter etc maintenance for my friends Fit. I thought it was interesting myself to see a oil change interval without requesting the filter to be changed. Now my friend, she does a lot of city driving, never gets the car warmed up that much so I believe she is probably getting about 6,000 miles on the maintenance minder from what you guys are saying.... She said the dealer told her to wait till 5% to have it done, so she is holding to that, but she said it should be soon I can start doing her maintenance, I want to save her some money, and I am versed in oil changes. but I just want to ask....

My intentions was to change filter with a Honda or Wix filter (Im leaning to use a Wix in the future as I think it may be just a tad better from what I heard) and 5000 Mobil clean conventional oil. every time she got to the 5%

Would this be what you guyes recommend I do, or should I honestly just do what the manual says and allow the filter to go every 2 maintenance minders and just change the oil out. in between?

Im honestly guys so use to just going by mileage on my Toyota Yaris every 5K filter and oil , and Im approaching 200K without an issue, and going to a different method that Honda does I just wanted feel how you guys feel about honda's recommendation, its pretty much saying a filter should be good for then about 12,000 miles, and that is approaching mileage that you buy those extended mileage filters, which is not what Honda provides you.

 

Disclaimer: I am a little nutty about fluid changes.


Changing oil is easy and, I think, greatly benefits an engine. If you just want to save money, then you will change your oil at very long intervals and you will be happy. If you want to do what is best for your car, or even baby your car, you will change your oil at shorter intervals and be happy.

There is a lot to learn about oil (search Bob the Oil Guy, for example), but the facts are:

1) Any quality oil (Mobil, Castrol, Amsoil, etc.) in the weight recommended by your manufacturer for your car will work.

2) Every engine is different, so you may achieve a better result with one oil rather than another.

3) No matter how robust an oil may be, it will gather impurities with the normal functioning of the engine. So, buying an oil that the mfr. says "lasts 50,000 mi. between changes" doesn't solve all your problems.

4) There are many aftermarket filters that will save you money. I don't trust any of them. I always spend money on OEM filters, which can be had at a discount online.

5) I think it is nuts to change the oil and not change the filter. Others will disagree, mostly based on the cost savings issue.

6) With regard to oil change intervals, why not use your eyes and look at the oil on the dipstick at 3,000 mi. compared to 0 mi. You will see that 3,000 mi. oil is black(er) and thick(er) than 0 mi. oil. That should tell you something.

Summary: Use good oil. Use Honda filters. Always change filter with oil. Use short oil change intervals.


P.S. Regarding the Maintenance Minder: What is the goal of this thing? To convince us that our cars are cheap to run? That, depending on your driving habits, you can forego regular maintenance? Is the minder really a sales gimmick?

 

Every oil change - new filter and a new crush washer on the drain plug.

 

I'm trusting the MM on intervals, but it seems kind of silly not to change the filter every oil change, it amounts to less than $200 over the lifetime of the car. Plus, the filter holds oil, so leaving that oil in the filter is like changing only most of the oil instead of almost all of it. Which is leaving some oil in for twice as long (and some, a small fraction, for three times as long, etc.)

But then maybe Honda has cut open a lot of filters after 14,000 miles and they look fine.

 

I wanted to add one more thing about oil life and oil change intervals.

Every oil you buy is a formula, a mixture of base oil plus additives. It may be true that the base oil has a long life, but it is the additives that do all the work and the additives wear out. So, an old oil has acids, moisture and impurities collecting in it, and its additives are losing their effectiveness. That's why you might want to stick to short, or shorter, oil change intervals.

 

I've never replaced the crush washer but I anneal it with a propane torch when I remember to.. It must work, no leaks after 7 oil changes.