94HybridEX

Hi Everyone -

I was under the impression that the Maintenance Minder was Gospel.... What I mean by this is that I should only change oil, rotate tires, inspect stuff, flush stuff, etc. when it tells me to and not do anything that it doesn't tell me to do.

Is this true? Is this what everybody does?

The reason I ask is because I called my local dealer to get B1 service done and he proceeded to ask my mileage and then said "Oh, you're close to 30k, you should just get the 'big' 30K service done and that will be $480..." Wowzers! I pushed back saying that none of those services were in the manual and he said that they still had to be done.

So... who's right here?

Thanks!

av911

They said that to get your money.

30K is nothing. Follow the MM.

94HybridEX

Thanks.

I called Honda Corporate Customer Service and they told me the same thing. She actually said "The dealers are in the business of selling service but we are the ones who warranty the car and we say you only have to follow the recommendations in the manual."

na+b18c_hatch

some dealers still try to do it the 'old way,' the way it was done before the maintenance minder was incorporated. With the old way, maintenances were done in big packages every 30,000 miles instead of broken up into smaller chunks of services like the maintenance minder process.

I take my civic to the dealer for service, and only go by the maintenance minder. They accomodate me in that fashion... but I'm sure if I mentioned the '30K' service, they wouldn't have a problem accomodating my with that service as well.

in a nutshell; mind your maintenance minder!

EK FLY

FOLLOW UR MAINTENANCE MINDER , THATS THERE FOR A REASON , HONDA KNOW BETTER THAN U KNOW , THATS WHY THEY PUT THAT STUFF THERE

Zebra

What is the change interval for spark plugs for a 2008 Civic LX? They call for an iridium plug, which some blogs claim will last 80K - 100K! That's seems excessive, but they are more durable than standards. I figured maybe 50K as a mileage target.

Willie Mack

If that were the case, then why is the MM easily reset by any Tom, Dick and Harry? Not to mention, using flashpro will trip the MM. Doesn't mean you have to go in for service. What if you get a car used with 29999 on it. Get it home and the next day your MM turns on. Wait, you just bought this and you have to take it for service already? The MM is like the Oil Life meter. There as a guild line, but not really nesesary. Because if you notice, the Oil life meter is operated by a sensor in the MAF. Well, I know a few guys who don't have a MAF. So, their Oil Life stays at 100%. Does that mean the oil life is good? Maybe, maybe not.

So, a rule of thumb I run by is 3000 for oil, Three oil changes for tires, New tires = complete fluid replace and tune up. And that's with daily driving.

cooleyblues

yeah, i have flashpro so my maintenance minder is no more. as far as i know, like the post above me says, the oil change minder is just based on the MAF sensor, so it seems like cooler denser air, or warmer thinner air could trip it up. i just stick to 5,000 mile oil changes and 30,000 mile tranny fluid changes (helps with the transmission notchiness big time). This has worked for 100k miles!! plus ive been supercharged for the last 30,000 miles.

I rotate tires every other oil change (so every 10k miles).

and being supercharged i swap spark plugs every 15-20,000 miles.

3,000 mile oil changes are overkill with the sythentic oil that honda offers. before i was supercharged i'd go almost 7500 miles between oil changes but started going every 5k with the blower.

Baffle

I posted this here because I don't know if the previous owner followed the MM.

Ok so I just bought an 08 Civic LX used with 126,000kms on it.

I have no maintenance history on the vehicle but looked good to my mechanic on the pre-purchase inspection.

I am going to go to the dealership and see if there are any recalls or tsb's not completed for the vin, and they should be able to call up a dealer based service history.

What would you recommend? All components were visually inspected in pre-purchase inspection.

Timing chain should be ok, I've read never change, adjust if needed.

Brake fluid should be drained/replaced at 3 years, so that is on the list.

oil change, transmission fluid and Filter as well.

Check spark plugs and change if needed.

tune up?

top up other fluids as necessary...

What do the resident experts say?

BlendedEM1

I go by the MM but I know that it is not a 100% accurate but I agree with the above post Honda knows what is good for their cars since they are the ones that made the car so why put something on the car if they don't think it works to some accuracy

Zebra

Had bad factory struts on a new 2008 Civic LX - was told it is hit or miss on these, as they originate from different manufacturing bases.

Baffle

I'll keep an eye on the struts.

Car checked out nice with Mechanic, out of warranty regardless.

Nice comfy ride compared to my 01 DX lol.

midwinter

i wouldn't worry about the MM.

Do it at your own pace.

Blk06Si

Here's a list I got by:

Every 7,500-10,000 miles: Rotate
Every 15,000-20,000 miles: Air Filter (Maybe A.C. Cabin filter depending on where you live)
Every 30,000 miles: Trans fluid, Cabin filter, Brake fluid
At 45,000 miles: Coolant replacement (Then every 30k miles after)
Spark plugs are replaced at 105,000
Alignments are due once a year or every 15,000 miles

Sleepy_Red_hatch

Good morning!
i have been working at a honda dealership for over 5 years now. here's my recommendations:
since you live in toronto, your car suffers from canadian climates. i would recommend a "B" service once per year reguardless of milage and if you drive it a lot, i would recommend it every second oil change.
the sub symbol "2" turns on at a pcm controlled interval using data from various sensors but i have found the average is roughly 40k kms and therefore you should change your engine air filter and a/c pollen filters already.
do your brake fluid and clutch fluid flushes every 3 years or if the fluid turns dark or green (this is not part of the minder system)
i would also recommend doing a transmission fluid change since it should have been done once or twice in the life off your car.
you should also be almost up for a sub symbol "4" which is an involved service (valve adjustment and spark plug change) this is done anywhere between 130k and 160k kms so keep an eye on the minder.

on a side note, we can check which minders have already been tripped with use of the HDS and at what milage it tripped and reset as needed, so its worth a visit to the dealer. speak to the service manager and they should check it for free.

anytime you want to do any of these things yourself, feel free to pm me for basic instructions since it's all relatively simple stuff.