Time for my 'first' service

[Boule]

So I got the car with ~19k miles (an 07), and I've put a little more than 1k on it. I'm thinking it's time to service it... The oil life indicator shows 80% (it was 100% when I got it), but I don't know how much I can trust that.

The honda dealer nearby told me that there is a 20k and a 30k service recommanded, where they do more than just change the oil (they do more stuff at 30k, but I don't know exaclt what they check/change at these milestones)

I have no idea what kind of oil is in the car right now, if it's synthetic or not. The manual recommands honda oil (10W-30).

Any recommendations on what's the best thing to do for my car ?

PS: I know very little of what goes on under the hood of a car :o

[mlc]

I would say since you aren't sure of what has been done to the car you should have everything changed. This way you have a starting point to go from.

There are A LOT of opinions on what oil, what MTF anf what rear diff fluid. Here is what I use and I think these are pretty safe bets.

Oil: I use Valvoline Maxlife, some people use Mobile 1, some just use regular dino oil. All should work well as long as you change it regularly. As far as the filter I use the OEM filter. If you go that way please make sure the dealership or whomever is doing the service gets the currect one (15400-PCX-004) not the one that fits all Honda's

MTF: I use the Honda stuff. It was revised a good while back so I would think all of the old inventory is gone but it is a green bottle with a white top.

Rear diff: I use Mobile 1 75W/90 LS. Again whomever does the service do NOT let them use the fluid that is for the CRV it will kill the rear diff quickly.

As you can see why a lot of us do our own maintenance. Most places including dealerships don't work on many of these if at all and as I am sure you have figured out this is not like every other Honda.

All of these things are pretty easy to do on your own. Take a look at the DIY here http://forums.s2kca.com/forumdisplay.php?f=48 with some very basic tools and a little time you can save yourself some money and know that it was done currectly.

I am sure others will post up with there own choices.

Good luck.

Kevin

[repiv]

If you do not drive your car much, then you must do maintenance based on what the oil and maintenance minder says OR what the owner's manual says, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST. If you check your owner's manual, it will have a reference to TIME and this will always over-ride the oil life indicator and maintenance minder. I believe that time element is ONE year. This is to say, if you do not run the oil life indicator down to 0% in one year, you change the oil anyway. If the maintenance minder doesn't trip in one year, you do all the maintenance up to that point as indicated in the schedule.
As for what fluids you use, I'm not one to preach to you what brand to use or even if you should use synthetic or not. This is entirely up to you and the car will still perform well and satisfy the requirements that Honda dictates. HOWEVER, you must read the owner's manual to see what the stipulation of those fluids are. You say you understand that the manual recommends "Honda oil 10W30". First, there is no real Honda oil. Honda in N. America has their oil bottled for them by whatever oil company signs the contract with them. At one point, it was "Mobil Drive Clean". More importantly, you must take note of the API rating and SAE rating for that oil. It doesn't matter what brand or if it is synthetic so long as it meets these requirements. S2000s have been running flawlessly for 10 years on non-synthetic, as they have on synthetic. The choice is yours.
Also know that Honda car division has no in-house diff fluid. They get it from their motorcycle division or they simply go out and get a known brand name of gear oil that is rated GL-5. All this information is in your owner's manual. You are not required to use Honda products exclusively, only those that meets or exceeds Honda's specifications.
As mlc stated, if you are not certain if a certain maintenance has been done prior to you getting the car, then do it now. After that, go by those lights on the dash or by the time constraints as dictated in the owner's manual, whichever applies to you. However, don't neglect regular checking of fluid levels. This is and has always been an owner's responsibility.

[mlc]

Hey Dave,

Not to highjack the thread but does NOT driving the car much constitute SEVERE driving conditions and should you use that schedule instead? There are many here that only drive the car a couple thousand miles per year.

Kevin

[repiv]

Hey Dave,

Not to highjack the thread but does NOT driving the car much constitute SEVERE driving conditions and should you use that schedule instead? There are many here that only drive the car a couple thousand miles per year.

Kevin
"Not driving much" pertains more to the duration of each trip and not so much an annual accumulated mileage. Any or all of the following constitutes conditions that would deem using the "severe" maintenance schedule:

Less than 5 miles per trip or, in freezing temps less than 10 miles. (This is an indication of the engine and drivetrain not being able to reach full operating temps.)
In hot weather (over 90F).
Extensive idling or long periods of stop and go traffic.
Trailer towing or mountain driving.
On muddy, dusty or de-iced roads.

By the "old" standards, normal schedule is about 7500 miles, while the severe schedule was about 3750 miles. By today's more modern "oil minders" and maintenance schedules, this generally works out to be about 7500 miles. The computer will adjust this depending upon some the driving conditions mentioned above, although the program will never know if you tow a trailer or drive on mountain roads, muddy roads, etc. If you don't drive enough to set the oil minder to 0% in a year, then time takes precedence.

[mlc]

I guess if you don't drive very often then the time, say one year would be used. That is what I do I only drive the car 4000 miles or so a year so I just change all of the fluids once per year and then just keep an eye on the levels.

Kevin

[Boule]

I see. Thanks for the replies, it's really helpful !

Checking the manual and the maintenance to-do list post (great one, thanks Dave), I need to do the following:
- Oil
- Rear diff fluid
- Clutch and brake fluids
- Engine coolant
- MTF

Am I missing something ? Or is there something I should wait to for the maintenance indicators, not to throw them out of sync ? (for ex, if I should be doing sthg every 30k, it will remind me at 30 and 60, and I would be doing it at 20 and 50)

The manual I have (the car didn't come with one, I downloaded it) doesn't give a clear schedule for everything, it mostly says: look at the lights.

Quick question about the "maintenance minder":
It displays the % oil life, that you're supposed to reset when changing the oil.
It also displays codes for maintenance items and sub-items. Are those supposed to be reset as well ? Or are they fixed, like turn on at 20k, 40k etc ?

About the oil, I wanted to confirm that if synthetic is currently in my car, I could use dino anyway. I read somewhere that u shouldn't put dino after synthetic, and I read somewhere else that it didn't matter...

[repiv]

Oil - SAE 10W30 or 5W40
Diff fluid - GL-5, SAE 90. Many people use 75W90 Mobil 1 or LE 1605
Clutch and brake fluid - DOT 3 or DOT 4
Engine coolant - Honda Type II, HOWEVER, your coolant is good for the first 10 years, so don't worry about it. Just check it for level.
MTF - Honda MTF

Just do all the maintenance to up the mileage or time (whichever encompasses more items).
If I'm not mistaken, the oil and maintenance minders are tied together. When you reset, you reset both at the same time. At least it's that way on my Fit and on the in-laws Civic.
I'm of the opinion that it doesn't matter if you use synthetic or dino oil or if you go from one to the other. The only rule is to not go to synthetic if you've been using dino oil AND if the engine already has leaks. Synthetic tends to find its way out of leaks far better.
If you live in a cold climate, go with synthetic as the pumping resistance of synthetic is less and is better for cold cranking.

[My_yella_s2k]

Being that Im very lazy, I did not read everyones post... sorry guys :rolleyes:

also, being that I was with Honda in service for 8 years or so, I can tell you that since 06 (05 on the odyssey) Honda uses the maint. minders.. A & B 1-6
your vehicle has said maintance minders.
and since it does, there is no set milage intervals
BUT
as advised in the manual at 15k - is a 2 - engine air & cabin air
3 - trans fluid (30k)
4 is plugs (110k)
5 coolant (110k I believe)
6 - diff (due every 15k)

a "real" A service is just draining the oil and refilling... NO filter !
a "real" B svc is an oil and FILTER change...

go figure.

:twocents:

[Boule]

Great, thanks for the advice guys !