Greetings,

I was at Sears today having the tires rotated on my '07 Fit (64,000 mi) and listened to the guy tell me that, at 6 years old, the car should have various new fluids (coolant, etc.) and fuel injectors (this before looking at the car). I naturally dismissed this as unnecessary because I just follow the Maintenance Minder in the Fit and do what it says. Other than the proviso about changing brake fluid every three years, it's always been my understanding that the Fit should tell me everything I need to do. So if I get A1 or B1, I change the oil and filter; at B12, I change the oil/filter and also swap out the pollen and engine air filters; if I were to ever get the "5," I'd change out the engine coolant; etc. etc.

Is this what everyone here does? Assuming everything runs perfect on the car (it does), can I just blindly follow the Maintenance Minder without regard to what mechanics and Sears people say about fluids lasting x years or fuel injectors getting dirty, etc. etc.?

For what it's worth, I've never done anything to the Fit since I bought it new but change the oil/filter and air/pollen filters and put on new tires (@45k). Original battery, brakes, everything else still working great. Mechanic friend told me brake fluid looks fine, no need to change.

I realize this is a question that is both common and, in many ways, a matter of preference, but I am nevertheless curious about what others do.

 

It doesn't tell you about brakes, I don't think, or tires. So there is non-MM stuff.

But if anybody ever told me I needed to change the fuel injectors without looking at the car I'd throw him down a flight of steps and then run over him.

And then carry the corpse back up the steps and throw it down again.

 

The problem in my eyes is that, as time passes, the MM can become "corrupt" regards services other than oil changes.

This is because either 1. the MM is reset without noting the other codes, 2. the other codes are dependent on conditions (for example, the engine air filter needs to be replaced more often under dusty conditions...who lives in the dry dusty areas of Arizona or Texas?). Some tires need to be rotated more or less often than the suggested intervals...


On our Fit, my daughter has requested that I go back to the little sticker in the corner of her windshield. (She's an Early Adopter for everything else!) She absolutely FREAKS if the MM Wrench lights up!

 

I would not trust the MM as all knowing or always correct. Your driving habits and environmental conditions might dictate you do maintenance sooner. Such as, you drive like a bat outta hell, revving to 7k all the time (or racing etc). So, you probably want to change oil at a sooner interval than 10k or MM reminding. Same for air filter. You do it on your own schedule. And keep track of it too.

Last time I blindly followed computer without checking myself, Google maps gave me the address for a hotel that was actually 100 miles away from the wedding I was going to. Didn't get a refund and had to crash at a gracious wedding attendee's house.

 

In my honest opinion, the Maintenance Minder is a good system that help's guide the vehicle's owner/operator/mechanic on what services should be done. It does keep track of coolant [#5], keeps tabs on spark plugs and valve adjustment [#4], transmission fluid (be it MTF, ATF, or CVTF) [#3], an approximate tab on cabin/engine air filters (and drive/serpentine belt inspection) [#2] as well as tire rotations [#1] but does not keep tabs on things such as brake fluid replacement (or timing belts in V6 models).

Mind you, its not dead accurate since some items vary on driving conditions and habits but its a good guide to maintaining the vehicle in my opinion. Case in point... I've NEVER seen a #3 sublet code for my MM pop up until about 72k miles on my Fit. The weird thing is, I've done 2 ATF drain and fills on my GD prior to the #3 sublet code popping up as well as replaced the coolant prior to the #5 popping up (replacement is recommended after 5 years I believe if it doesn't show).

As far as the fuel system and injector treatment/cleaners... unless the vehicle is obviously having running issues, the DIAGNOSIS (<--- The key word here) that the tech performed is leading to the fuel as the source of the issue (be it injector, fuel pump, or fuel itself), and the tech is either replacing/cleaning/diagnoising/repairing the failed part or draining the tank completely and/or hooking into the fuel system with a machine to physically clean the system.

Otherwise, they're trying to up sale some snake oil product that likely doesn't work for the sake of numbers.

You are correct regarding brake fluid.

Wise plan for "hustler" techs/mechanics by the way.

You have a valid point there. Whenever the MM is reset via the odometer trip button, it DOES NOT store any sublet codes for any services that were not performed to the vehicle. There is indeed a way to cause the MM to prompt unperformed services for the next scheduled service interval with the right technology/tools of course.

As for air filters and tire rotations... Again, the MM recommends those by taking account of various drive parameters noted by the vehicle via its drive cycles. Those I'd lean more towards the digression of the owner/operator/tech.

For example: My aunt's 2010 Ridgeline prompt its first cabin and engine air filter replacement at around 24,3xx miles... The filters were in there since Feb of 2010 and needless to say they NEEDED replacing long before that.

^^ That's respectable.

The MM adjusts itself according to driving habits, start count/frequency, and in some vehicles oil type (believe it or not). I've seen 2012 Civics come in for their first oil changes with 6k miles on the odometer with the MM reading 5%, I've also seen some pinging off 15% at 8k to 9k miles.

 

I dont care how well you might respect your mechincs advice, but please ignore him when he said 6 year old brake fluid was acceptable.

All hydraulic systems are open to the air. It might be the tiniest hole ever, but vehicle brake systems are ALL suseptible to absorbing moisture in the air and being the cause of freak accidents even after just 3 years.

Ever read about accidents, where the cars looked and appeared to be in perfect condition, yet the brakes misteriously went out that one time? The water that the brake fluid absorbed boiled for a split second and you were compressing gas instead of liquid.



Bleed your brakes entirely right now. Afterwards, you can simply get a turkey baster and suck out the fluid in the reservoir and replace with new fluid once a year.

And get onto a 2-3 year bleeding cycle

 

Can the MM codes ( like the A, B, etc,) be reset by us ? ( I know the oil one can).

 

They "disappear" or are Reset when the oil life is zeroed. They cannot be independently of the oil life, at least not by the owner.



Aside from oil, which takes into account cold starts, engine-on hours, RPMs, and other things which I cannot remember right now, the other codes come up at programmed mileages and will display when an oil change is imminent. Resetting the MM because of an oil change (or by accident, I've done that while seeing what future services are needed ) will result in those codes no longer displaying.

 

Thanks for all of your input!

I agree that the Sears guy was clearly just trying to snake-oil sell some services I didn't need.

And I also agree with the points about the MM being accurate but, ultimately, not a perfect replacement for common sense.

So, independent of the MM:

1) brake fluid (3 yrs)
2) engine coolant (? years/miles)
3) MT fluid (? years/miles)

??

 

Engine coolant (the special, Blue, Honda TypeII) has a replacement interval on older cars for 5 years/120K miles. (MM code 5)

MT fluid is about 30K miles. (MM code 3)

Here are some Topics about the MM that are worth reading:



https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...ce-so-far.html

Honda Maintenance Minder System | Honda Service at Richfield Bloomington Honda

 

your owners manual covers fluids

 

Heh, I'd like to see some of these articles you mention about brakes "mysteriously" going out and the investigators jumping to old brake fluid as the suspected cause. Brake fluid is hygroscopic (water-absorbing), but leaving old fluid in the lines isn't going to result in "freak accidents". Your pedal will start to gradually feel spongier the longer you leave old fluid in there, but that's about it. Unless you're driving an ancient vehicle, even snipping a brake line won't kill all braking force, as modern vehicles (model years starting 1967, when dual-circuit braking systems were federally mandated) have dual circuit braking systems.

 

.............

 

It isn't so much the old fluid. It's the moisture's effect on the steel brake lines.

The brake lines will rust from the inside...then, one day, the driver will stomp more forcefully than usual on the brakes, and his foot will go to the floor.


I know three instances of just that happening (two of them in vehicle inspection lanes, where the testers brake HARD and measure the balance of each wheel relative to the others).

+++++++++++

On modern cars, old/gunky brake fluid can clog up the little orifices in the ABS pumps. There are several Topics over on the Acura forums about problems caused by brake fluid neglect.

 

You'd have to leave brake fluid in there pretty long to get rust in your brake lines, but yep, I've seen some rare instances of that. At that point, though, you've gone beyond spongey brakes and should've flushed/had someone flush your brakes ages ago. It's not really something that sneaks up on you without any obvious warning signs. Thankfully you won't lose all braking force in such a brake line blowout situation unless you have lottery-winner luck and lose multiple lines at once (or drive a pre-'67 car and haven't upgraded to a dual circuit master cylinder setup yet).

I've heard some good stories of brakeline failures in old single-circuit cars. Imagine rolling downhill in a 50s/60s boat and suddenly having zero braking power. Get ready to tuck and roll and then hope you have a change of underwear with you.