Maintenance minder

[sbaby]

Okay, I am so confused.

I have an 06 model with 24k miles and my maintenance minder has never come on. I change my oil when the oil life is usually at 15% and I always reset it.

So, when I brought my car in at 16k miles for an oil change, they told me that I was supposed to change the rear fluid at 7,500 miles, so I did it then. Now I am going in for another oil change and they told me that I never had the 15k mile service, which includes changing oil, filter, rotate tires, change air filter and an inspection, all for $150.

So, should I do this and assume that my maintenance minder is defective??

Thanks.

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by sbaby
Okay, I am so confused.

I have an 06 model with 24k miles and my maintenance minder has never come on. I change my oil when the oil life is usually at 15% and I always reset it.

So, when I brought my car in at 16k miles for an oil change, they told me that I was supposed to change the rear fluid at 7,500 miles, so I did it then. Now I am going in for another oil change and they told me that I never had the 15k mile service, which includes changing oil, filter, rotate tires, change air filter and an inspection, all for $150.

So, should I do this and assume that my maintenance minder is defective??

Thanks.

What EXACTLY does the 06 owners manual say about resetting the minder?

[GreenMachine]

If you keep resetting it before the actual reminder for service comes on, you will never know what the system is requiring for service. After the first A1 service, oil and filter only, the next would have been a B1 I believe, which is oil, filter, the inspections, tire rotation, or maybe a B16, which would also would have included the VTM-4 change. Read the manual and follow the directions and only service what the maint minder says and when it says to. This way you won’t miss anything, and you’ll save money by only servicing items when the system says to, NOT the dealer.

[sbaby]

Maybe it got screwed up because I had my first oil change before the scheduled time, because I was going on a long trip and i would need an oil change while I was away on vacation. So I had it done beforehand and they reset the minder for me. Now I just always get the oil changed before the minder goes off, when I am at almost 15%.

So, basically, I screwed everything up now?

[larryziegler]

Originally posted by sbaby
Maybe it got screwed up because I had my first oil change before the scheduled time, because I was going on a long trip and i would need an oil change while I was away on vacation. So I had it done beforehand and they reset the minder for me. Now I just always get the oil changed before the minder goes off, when I am at almost 15%.

So, basically, I screwed everything up now?

To reset, hold the trip odometer button in for about 10 seconds while turning the key to the "On" position....DO NOT START!! The light should go out. The procedure is in the owners manual. I am under the impression the VTM fluid gets changed at 15,000 mile intervals for the first 2 or 3 cycles.....then 30,000 miles thereafter.

[GreenMachine]

Originally posted by sbaby
Maybe it got screwed up because I had my first oil change before the scheduled time, because I was going on a long trip and i would need an oil change while I was away on vacation. So I had it done beforehand and they reset the minder for me. Now I just always get the oil changed before the minder goes off, when I am at almost 15%.

So, basically, I screwed everything up now?

Not totally, but the service intervals probably won't match exactly because you skipped some services. The Maint Minder won't know you didn't do particular services. It's just going to assume those services required were done.

The MM showed my first vtm-4 change at around 11K miles with the B1 service. I would definitely get that done and the air filter if you haven't already done so. It sounds like your oil and filter should be fine since it appears you change it a little more often than needed. Air filters are cheap, and dirty ones lead to lower mpg.

Don't worry too much, and just follow the MM from now. If you get some services done with little time/mileage in between, just think of as catching up on past services not done on time.

[sbaby]

Thanks.

The minder has never gone off and I have 24,000 miles though. Obviously something is messed up. Now I don't know if I should just go by the dealers schedule (which I am obviously behind on).

What should I have done by now? All I did was oil changes and the rear fluid.

[sbaby]

Thanks, we were posting at the same time.

So, should I get my tires rotated now?

Maybe I will skip the 15,000 mile service for $150 and just have the oil change, air filter changed and the tires rotated.

This stuff is so confusing. Thanks.

[GreenMachine]

Originally posted by sbaby
Thanks.

The minder has never gone off and I have 24,000 miles though. Obviously something is messed up. Now I don't know if I should just go by the dealers schedule (which I am obviously behind on).

What should I have done by now? All I did was oil changes and the rear fluid.

Have you ever let it get down to 15%? That's when ours comes on IIRC. The little wrench will light up and the display will show the 15% oil life remaining. It will also show what service it recommends. So far I've done the A1 and B16 services. I have about 16K miles on our Pilot.

[sbaby]

No, I haven't, but I will now!

Thanks.

[whizmo]

Just to be clear, you short-circuit the wrench alert and the display of what items need to be done when you prematurely reset the system prior to it reaching the threshold where the wrench comes on (at 15% of oil life if I recall correctly). The system assumes you did whatever service was coming up even though it hasn't told you what service is required. What else could it do?

Obviously, you don't want to be doing this. If you take it in for an early oil change, just change the oil and leave the MM alone. Basically, what you're doing then is putting the oil changes on your own fixed mileage schedule, and letting the MM track everything else.

Off-topic, but I continue to be surprised that the Pilot MM system is recommending 4800 mile oil changes on my 2006. By contrast, the Euro cars I've owned which use similar systems are generally recommending 15K oil changes. This shows you that you need to take these recommendations with a grain of salt - there is nothing about the Euro cars that makes them need oil changes more or less frequently than a Honda - each has just arbitrairly decided what they consider the best tradeoff between lower maintenance costs and vehicle longevity. Personally, I think 5K is about right if you're keeping a car for a long time. If you're trading every 3-years, it's probably money wasted, especially if you're using synthetic.

- Mark