Honda Maintenance Minder
What is the Honda Maintenance Minder?
Honda is moving away from the traditional system of recommended scheduled maintenance on the basis of strictly mileage and time into something more advanced. Now, the Honda Maintenance Minder technology serves as an alert system that appears in the information display when it’s time for an oil change and other services. Ultimately, the Maintenance Minder system will save you time and money by catering to your vehicle’s exact needs rather than servicing it at set intervals just to be on the safe side (a practice that also wastes resources, such as oil and filters). Hondas have a well-established reputation for longevity, and when yours gets its proper maintenance you can expect the longest possible vehicle life from it.
How Does the Maintenance Minder System Work?
The onboard computer system continuously monitors the vehicle’s operating conditions (things such as speed, the amount of braking, engine temperature, etc.). Intricate algorithms use the collected data to determine when it’s time for an oil change. The display shows the remainder of engine oil life left; when it drops to 15% it will activate the Maintenance Minder light, telling you it’s time to schedule service. Once the oil life dips to 5%, you should immediately take your vehicle to a local Honda dealer; at 0% oil life, your Honda is past due for service. The maintenance minder will start showing negative mileage, indicating how many miles your vehicle has been driven over the point where the oil first needed attention.
How to Operate the Maintenance Minder System
Your Honda will automatically display the remaining oil life percentage when it is turned on, but you can also view the oil life manually. Operating the Maintenance Minder System is straightforward: Press the Select/Reset knob on the Honda information display to view your current oil life. To go back to the odometer screen, just press the Select/Reset knob again.
Maintenance Minder Codes
Once the Maintenance Minder is activated, it will always display a main-code, and sometimes it will display a sub-code. The main-code is always a letter (A or B), while the sub-code is a number (1–6). The main-code A indicates that you only require an engine oil change at your next service appointment. However, it may need other maintenance services if the A is accompanied by a number. Here’s what the following Maintenance Minder main-codes and sub-codes mean:
Main-code
- Replace the engine oil
- Replace the engine oil and oil filter, inspect the front and rear brakes, check the parking brake adjustment, and inspect other items specific to the vehicle.
Sub-code
- Rotate tires
- Replace the air cleaner element, check the drive belt, and replace the pollen and dust filter
- Replace the transmission fluid and transfer fluid (if applicable)
- Replace the spark plugs, replace the timing belt (if applicable), inspect the water pump, and inspect the valve clearance
- Replace the engine coolant
- Replace the rear differential fluid (if applicable)
