Total Newb - What's Maintenance Minder?
 

I just bought a 2010 Fit MT Blue and I started to research maintenance intervals. I've seen a lot of people talking about just doing what 'maintenance minder" tells them to do. Is this a dash light that comes on? I looked it up on Honda's site and they have different codes and what to do (maintenance 1, 2, etc). So, do I just wait to see a code, assuming no other problems, and then look up what maintenance is to be performed with that code?

Also, is it strictly based on mileage or are there sensors for oil life and other conditions on the car?

Thanks!

It's the display in the middle of the dashboard (well, one of the displays) and accompanying computer stuff. If you press the button above the steering wheel for the trip odometer, it cycles through a few screens—the odometer, the trip odometer, the average fuel milage (which is tied to the trip odometer), and a percentage, which is the percentage oil life left. When it gets low, there is a wrench idiot light that comes on and little codes on the display indicating the recommended service.

This is all covered in the owner's manual pretty clearly.

The system is not based on mileage, but rather on engine usage—number of cold starts, operating time and at what sort of speeds/throttle settings, etc. The exact algorithm and mathematical formulas used are not published by Honda. It's much more accurate in terms of figuring when the oil is worn out than a simple milage counter. (That said, there are not any direct sensors of the oil quality or characteristics, so it's not actually measuring the oil life directly. It's necessary to reset it when the oil is changed so it knows to start counting again; the sequence of button pushes and holds to do that is also in the manual.)