Maintenance Minder Tune Up....ish

[nobby]

The latest Maintenance Minder code has finally got me off my ass to do some Pilot maintenance.
My '06 Pilot recently turned 100,000kms which is 60,000miles.
On came the A136 code.
Oil change, Trani and transfer case fluid change and diff fluid change. I also decided that the cabin filter might be needing some looking into.

I'll confess that my new car ownership policy is to attend the dealer until the warranty has run it's course. Not so painful in the first 3 years. Since then it's just been regular oil changes.
Now it's time for the Nob to step up to the plate.

I own the official phone book size Maintenance Manual that I bought from Honda but I also perused all the relevant threads here on this forum. Thank you and good job everyone.

[nobby]

I bought a FRAM CF8813A cabin filter and followed the instructions that others here have used. Funny thing is that it looks like it had been done at some point (so much for paying attention to the dealer maintenance invoices!). The plastic had already been removed and one the hard to get at screws underneath the left side was stripped. Thank you very much.
Upon opening the new filter packaging lo and behold there are a complete set of instructions included. Oh well.
The filter wasn't as bad as some I've seen here but it needed changing and the compartment needed a good cleaning.

[nobby]

The diff fluid job looked fairly easy at a glance. Kind of awkward for a guy with a bum shoulder.
It gave me a chance to lower the spare, top up the pressure (it was at 40psi) and oil up the cable.
The fill and drain plug were on painfully tight. It took a breaker bar to crack 'em.
And of course I dropped the drain plug into the oil.
I bought a brand new transfer pump that worked quite well and has been put aside for the diff fluid in the future.
I guess it all went well as I used 3/4 of a gallon of VTM-4 fluid as per everyone else's experience.

I didn't replace the sealing washers...I reused the old ones. Kinda.
Please don't flame me for this but I have to confess something. After re-filling the diff with brand new $35 fluid... I dumped out the oil pan into a jug for recycling and what did I find?? The drain plug washer. It must have fallen off when I dropped the plug into the pan. The dilemma. Dump again or see what happens?
Well the machining on the diff plug face is of high quality as is the plug.
It is not leaking...not a drip. I'll keep an eye on it.

[nobby]

The transfer case access is pretty good. Again I needed a breaker bar to crack the plugs.
I knew that it didn't hold much fluid but draining it was like losing one's virginity.
It was done before I new it.
I used a different fluid transfer gizmo...one that looks like a grease gun. You have to suck the fluid out of the jug and then push it into whatever you are putting it into.
Hypoid 80W90 and of course I overfilled it. It really doesn't take much.

[nobby]

The trani drain plug, for whatever reason, wasn't as tight as the others.
The fluid wasn't clean like brand new fluid is but it wasn't bad. Some stuff...mostly gray sludge... on the magnet but that didn't surprise me.

I used the dip stick tube to refill as the actual fill plug would have been harder to get to with the truck in the air.
I used a turkey baster as a funnel starter as it fit right into the dipstick tube and put a funnel into that. It worked quite well however I over filled that as well.
That dipstick is hard to read...I ended up using the holes in the dipstick to confirm the level...after I sucked the excess oil out.

The old oil ATFZ1 has been replaced with ATFDW1....a synthetic. Apparently compatible with one another....or so says the parts guy at Honda.

[nobby]

Nothing real special about doing an oil and filter change.
I did, however, just use my last 1993 Civic filter. I had about 5 extra Civic oil filters and guess what? They fit perfectly.
Threw in some 5W20 Castrol dino oil and that was it.

Reset the maintenance minder and waiting for the next maintenance visit.

[94eg!]

Pretty much all Honda filters are the same. The only special ones are for the Insight, and the S2000.

If you plan on using OEM filters, get the S2000 ones from now on (PCX in the part number). They are extremely high quality and made by Filtech. They even help keep the oil pressure up under extreme duty. Honda has released info stating that you can use the S2000 filter on all other Honda's, but some of the newer Civics won't fit the larger old-style cans. This is not a problem on the Pilot.





The standard filters sold by Honda now (labeled A02), are made by Honeywell and is literally just a cheap Fram filter with cardboard end-caps. No joke man. These replaced the first skinny can filter with the A01 part number (Filtech) that was actually an extremely high quality piece as well. Too bad you cannot get them anymore. Personally I just get Mobil1 filters, but I'm thinking about ordering the S2k filters in bulk. I have 4 cars so I have to buy a lot of filters.

[theirishscion]

Originally Posted by 94eg!

Too bad you cannot get them anymore.

I have news that may please you;

The original A01 filters are still being made, though they seem to be produced in lower volume than the Fram ones.
I bought a dozen from this crowd recently and they certainly are the Filtech manufactured unit.

[RSQ Pilot]

Originally Posted by theirishscion

I have news that may please you;

The original A01 filters are still being made, though they seem to be produced in lower volume than the Fram ones.
I bought a dozen from this crowd recently and they certainly are the Filtech manufactured unit.

+1 on the A01. Get mine from the same vendor.

[94eg!]

Cool. I didn't know HandA was still getting them. They are definitely cheaper than the S2000 PCX filter.

If you buy the 6 pack of A01's, they come out to $6.28 shipped each.
The 6 pack of S2000 filters come out be 10.61 shipped each.

[nobby]

Originally Posted by 94eg!

Pretty much all Honda filters are the same. The only special ones are for the Insight, and the S2000.

If you plan on using OEM filters, get the S2000 ones from now on (PCX in the part number). They are extremely high quality and made by Filtech. They even help keep the oil pressure up under extreme duty. Honda has released info stating that you can use the S2000 filter on all other Honda's, but some of the newer Civics won't fit the larger old-style cans. This is not a problem on the Pilot.





The standard filters sold by Honda now (labeled A02), are made by Honeywell and is literally just a cheap Fram filter with cardboard end-caps. No joke man. These replaced the first skinny can filter with the A01 part number (Filtech) that was actually an extremely high quality piece as well. Too bad you cannot get them anymore. Personally I just get Mobil1 filters, but I'm thinking about ordering the S2k filters in bulk. I have 4 cars so I have to buy a lot of filters.

Wow. I like the visual lesson in filters...thanks.

[nobby]

Originally Posted by nobby

I didn't replace the sealing washers...I reused the old ones. Kinda.
Please don't flame me for this but I have to confess something. After re-filling the diff with brand new $35 fluid... I dumped out the oil pan into a jug for recycling and what did I find?? The drain plug washer. It must have fallen off when I dropped the plug into the pan. The dilemma. Dump again or see what happens?
Well the machining on the diff plug face is of high quality as is the plug.
It is not leaking...not a drip. I'll keep an eye on it.

10 days and about 600 miles........................no leaky.

[theirishscion]

Originally Posted by nobby

10 days and about 600 miles........................no leaky.

Makin' a liar outta me eh!? Wiseguy eh?

[belundy]

An observation from your photos....both of the Honda filters have maybe double the number of pleats as the Fram, which I'd venture is probably the salient part of the filter that makes any *functional* difference. As for cardboard caps and plastic valves, if those last 7500 to 10,000 miles and keep the pleated media in place and perform anti-drainback properly, who gives a rats patooty what they're made of?

My guess is that the OEM costs of the filters went up and Honda sent the supplier back to do his homework and make a filter that performed as well for the service mileage, but was cheaper. Might appear that supplier failed, and Honda went to someone that could meet the performance spec and price point.