New '07 RTL Maintenance Priority

It would be helpful if you could state what's been changed and when. Just because it's been maintained at the dealer doesn't necessarily tell us anything. The MM (maintenance minder) is the designated maintenance scheduler for your RL.

As a baseline, in normal service, I find the MM calls for the oil and filter around 6000-7000 miles. This will vary by style and driving environment.
The rear diff should have the first service done by 15k miles, then every 30k thereafter.
The tranny calls for a fluid change at 45k miles, then every 30k thereafter (iirc). Personally, I prefer to change the tranny fluid every other OCI. I do the transfer assembly (hypoid gear oil) every 30k.
I like to change the power steering fluid every 50k-ish miles. Coolant at 60k intervals (and again when I do the TB/WP at 120k miles).
It's a good idea to replace the radiator when you first do the TB/WP service because of the Bellevile washer corrosion issue.
Brake fluid should be changed every 3 years.
And of course engine air and cabin filters should be changed by 30k miles or as needed (especially the cabin air filter).
I also like to adjust the valves during the TB/WP service and replace the PCV valve.
I rotate tires at each OCI and like to check the brake pads and slider pins.

My personal thought is that if your RL has been in the normal service category, and you anticipate normal usage (~12k miles or more/year), I'd probably hold off on the TB/WP service until at least 105k miles or maybe wait for 120k miles.

Use OEM fluids for everything (see if your local shop will price match online prices at places like Majestic Honda, College Hills Honda, H&A Honda, etc.). Mine will (of course including shipping). The only non-OEM fluid I use is engine oil and hypoid gear oil.

If you are DIY inclined, you can save a lot of money by investing your time in your vehicle. There are a ton of guides and help available here.

Good luck!

62caster, since you know the former owner and where it resided, I agree with the others, in that you can easily wait a year on the TB/WP, and depending on your plans and annual mileage even wait to 105k, if it hasn't towed a lot or at all and you have no plans for that either. Being I live in the desert southwest and am the original owner 10yr (123mo) was my threshold for TB/WP and I was only at 75k miles, but I also have towed some and idled a lot in the summer months.

IMO, the Radiator is not a difficult job, maybe 4 hrs if you haven't done it, I ended up doing it twice in 18 months, so the second was maybe 2.5hrs, and I changed all the hoses primary hoses (the ones I had to touch) to remove and replace the radiator. Radiator replacement is well documented in the radiator threads below, although that list is not complete. I've saved alot of other threads (on maintenance) and I can PM them to you if your not finding what your looking for. AND LOOKING AT THE FITTINGS FOR EXTERNAL CORROSION IS NOT USEFUL, although some believe climate/external forces, (such as road salt make it worse, that is unconfirmed) one member recently bought from a dealership and lost the transmission within a few weeks of purchase. You've been warned

Since you have an idea on the brakes, and where your RL has lived, inspect the slider pins while changing the fluid, many reports on them seizing from rust and lack of brake lube, also the stainless hardware where the pads ride seem to "build up" brake pad residue. So just allow enough time to check them out. Some members clean and lube the brakes every tire rotation, YMMV

Here are most of the related Radiator and Transmission threads if you haven't found them all.

Happy Reading & Good luck

Radiator Failure @ Cooler Lines

Best Radiator Replacement

Pictures of Corroded/Rusted Radiator Fittings

Radiator Fail on 2006

UOA on ATF

Anatomy of OEM Denso Radiator

Poll(Never Posted) on Radiator/Trans Cooler Solution

Recent Radiator/Transmission SMOD!!!

Radiator comparison: Denso/Spectra/OSC

YouTube Video of Leaking Spectra...

Interesting Thread. I have an O6 that has had all the service at the dealer and only 48K miles on it. I am trading it on a 17 as soon as it comes in (supposedly next week).
Called my local dealer service dept. today and asked about the TB/WP mainly to see if the dealer I am buying from can legitimately ding me for the TB/WP on my 06.
I am not buying from the local dealer due to price and availability. The local service told me I am overdue on TB/WP as of 7 years. That seemed a bit aggressive to me and this thread
seems to confirm that.

If I am reading the thread right, you feel that mine would not need the timing belt service in order to protect the engine until quite a few more miles even if it is 10 years old?
It has had only light/moderate usage with no high or low temp driving and regular service otherwise and runs great.

I do suspect that they will try to ding me for that service anyway on the trade and given the difficulty of getting a 17 at this point, I may have to go along with that anyway.
I understand it runs from 800-1000 depending on what is required (tensioner or not and such).

Thanks!

62caster, the other guys have provided some great information. There is absolutely no need to do the timing belt soon. You can easily go another couple of years and 30~k miles without worry. The spark plugs are going to be fine as well, but should be replaced along with the timing belt. You may just want to ensure that they are all torqued properly to 13-14lb/ft.

Even though the truck was "dealer maintained", it's always good to set a maintenance baseline. Do the tranny fluid, rear diff VTM-4 fluid, front transfer case gear oil and most certainly the brake fluid. DIY will save you a ton of money and this truck is extremely easy to work on. A few notes:

Engine oil: Many will tell you that conventional oil is fine to use and they are mostly correct. Synthetic oil does have many good properties about it, but the most important for a colder climate is its superior flow characteristics in sub-freezing temperatures. I have used Pennzoil Platinum/Ultra exclusively in my truck and it's fantastic. For a few extra bucks per 5qt. jug, synthetic is just a good idea.

Tranny fluid: the 07 came with the older Z-1 tranny fluid. The new synthetic DW-1 fluid is superior - especially in colder climates. If your father had this changed any time after 2011-12, the dealership would have used DW-1. Also, NEVER use a power flushing machine on a Honda transmission EVER. It's a simple drain and fill to change 3-3.5 quarts of the full 8.5 quart system. You may want to think about doing 3-4 drains and fills with driving at least 10 miles in between each change to get as much DW-1 in there as possible.

VTM-4 fluid: the rear diff uses clutches instead of a planetary gear set, so the fluid is more prone to breaking down - hence the accelerated maintenance schedule. If you're going to do this yourself, open the fill bolt FIRST to ensure you can remove it. If you open the drain bolt first, drain the fluid and then for whatever reason can't get the fill bolt open, you're screwed. For the change, buy a gallon of fluid from the dealership and also get a hand pump that fits on a gallon jug from an auto parts store. It will make your life much easier. VTM-4 fluid does not like contamination, so ensure you use ONLY this hand pump for this fluid.

Transfer case gear oil: The book calls for 80w90, but many use Mobil1 75w90 synthetic (including me). It is a closed system and the fluid doesn't get contaminated very easily. However, it's very inexpensive and worth it to just change every time you do a tranny fluid change. Get another hand pump that fits on a quart bottle and follow the same method as the rear diff.

Brake fluid: this needs to be completely flushed every 3 years. Brake fluid attracts moisture over time and can affect braking performance. As speed said, you should open up your brakes every now and then to clean things and lube up the slider pins. When you do this, you can bleed the brakes easily with a little plastic tube, a 10mm box wrench and the help of a friend or family member to push the pedal. If you've never done this before, it's very simple. I'm not a fan of pressurized brake bleeding systems and prefer the two-person method.

Other items: 1. Suck out your power steering reservoir with a turkey baster or something similar and fill with fresh fluid every now and then. I had an issue with old fluid that caused my pump to whine. A swap of the fluid fixed it entirely. 2. Being that you're in Chicago and have an 07, I would change out the radiator asap. The OEM Denso has the issue with the fittings that can be catastrophic. Look up "SMOD" on this forum to learn more. Many here go aftermarket and buy Spectra, Koyorad or Silla branded radiators for around $150. A shop will charge you about $200-250 to install it. 3. Check the support legs of the rear seats. When the rear seats are up, if the support legs stick straight out rather than retracting, you have broken pulleys. Honda made these out of plastic for the first several years of production before finally changing them to metal around 2010 or so. You can buy the metal replacements from Honda and, although a little finicky, are relatively easy to swap out.