Honda Ridgeline Owners Club Forums banner
61 - 80 of 207 Posts
Excellent question.

Unlike brake fluid, engine oil is not hygroscopic so it doesn't "suck up" moisture from the atmosphere. And, it's true that engine oil doesn't spoil, per se, at least not before the vehicle rusts away.
I have been told that even though the oil itself does not "spoil," that it is the additives that have a time life?

Bill
 
Also if you read his reply, you can see he states "in theory". I'd refrain from rushing to the conclusion that the theory is fact until its been proven in a 2019 RL. It would be great if this friend of yours could confirm if that is indeed fact vs theory.
See attached.

"The Maintenance Minder is an important feature of the multi-information display. Based on engine and transmission operating conditions, and accumulated engine revolutions, the Ridgeline's onboard computer (PCM) calculates the remaining engine oil and the transmission fluid life. The system also displays the remaining engine oil life along with the code(s) for other scheduled maintenance items needing service.

When the vehicle ignition in the ON mode and the remaining engine oil life is 15 % to 6 %, the remaining engine oil life and other scheduled maintenance item(s) needing service are displayed.

When the vehicle ignition in the ON mode, and the remaining engine oil life is 5 % to 1 %, the Maintenance Minder message ‘‘SERVICE DUE NOW’’ is displayed along with the same maintenance item code(s).

If you are resetting the Maintenance Minder when the engine oil life is more than 15 %, make sure any maintenance item(s) requiring service are done before resetting the display."


It also mentions how to reset individual maintenance items using the HDS.
 

Attachments

To the "break-in procedures???" question, we recently bought a 2019 Passport which I have yet to drive, and one needs to wade-thru the manual all-the-way to Page 452 before there is any discussion of actually how to start and drive the vehicle!?!?!?!!!! And nothing at all about break-in period or treatment.

I'm pretty sure it would be easier to learn to fly a Boeing 787 than to take-on a modern automobile!?
 
See attached.

"The Maintenance Minder is an important feature of the multi-information display. Based on engine and transmission operating conditions, and accumulated engine revolutions, the Ridgeline's onboard computer (PCM) calculates the remaining engine oil and the transmission fluid life. The system also displays the remaining engine oil life along with the code(s) for other scheduled maintenance items needing service.

When the vehicle ignition in the ON mode and the remaining engine oil life is 15 % to 6 %, the remaining engine oil life and other scheduled maintenance item(s) needing service are displayed.

When the vehicle ignition in the ON mode, and the remaining engine oil life is 5 % to 1 %, the Maintenance Minder message ‘‘SERVICE DUE NOW’’ is displayed along with the same maintenance item code(s).

If you are resetting the Maintenance Minder when the engine oil life is more than 15 %, make sure any maintenance item(s) requiring service are done before resetting the display."


It also mentions how to reset individual maintenance items using the HDS.
What is the source of this document please? Was this a copy and paste from something else? It appears to be missing a lot of details, but from what I can tell, its good that you are able to prove individual items can be reset using HDS

Your friend said " When you go to reset it early, it should give you the code that it would call for on upcoming alert. You would need to do the maint listed at the time of reset. I am on vacation until Monday so I can’t go test that theory on a Ridgeline but you can try" I would think if this was official documentation from Honda, then your friend who is the service manager for many years would have know this, and not have used the words "in theory" :)

I also see this in the document you attached.

If a required service is done and the Maintenance Minder is not reset, or if the Maintenance Minder is reset without doing the service, the system will not show the proper maintenance timing. This can lead to serious mechanical problems because there will be no accurate record of when the next required maintenance is needed

Either way, my point is that if you change the oil yourself based on time, you should reset the MM according to both Honda and your "service manager" friend. That's all.
 
I'm going to stir the pot here. Has anyone read about "Motoman's" recommended break-in procedure?
In some respects it makes a lot of sense. In others, it flies right in the face of reason. I am not suggesting that you try this - I am just putting it out there for conversation's sake. Rather than posting a link directly to his page, I am linking to a quote with follow-up discussion.

This is very popular for motocross bikes. I sort of do both. I mostly keep the RPMs low and variable, but I slowly start getting to the rev limiter as the break in time increases. Honestly I don’t think it really matters much, so long as there are no manufacturing errors.
 
See the lower, right-hand corners of pages 440 and 458.
That is amazing. Two tiny mentions buried in "fine print", the first related to Towing, and then:
"During the first 600 miles (1,000 km) of operation,
avoid sudden acceleration or full throttle operation so
as not to damage the engine or powertrain.

Avoid hard braking for the first 200 miles (300 km).
You should also follow this when the brake pads are
replaced."

Pardon me if I remain astonished that these are buried as deeply as they are, instead of right up-front. Heck the quoted lines are subtexts to the main body "don't roll your vehicle! Watch out for rain!"

I think the first evening I cozied-up to the Owner Manual I got thru maybe 150 pages of it (out of 667 pages total). Most people will never come near to these pages at all!

I have every respect for tech writers but one wonders how it's decided WHERE to place WHAT in the owner guides.
 
That is amazing. Two tiny mentions buried in "fine print", the first related to Towing, and then:
"During the first 600 miles (1,000 km) of operation,
avoid sudden acceleration or full throttle operation so
as not to damage the engine or powertrain.

Avoid hard braking for the first 200 miles (300 km).
You should also follow this when the brake pads are
replaced."

Pardon me if I remain astonished that these are buried as deeply as they are, instead of right up-front. Heck the quoted lines are subtexts to the main body "don't roll your vehicle! Watch out for rain!"

I think the first evening I cozied-up to the Owner Manual I got thru maybe 150 pages of it. Most people will never come near to these pages at all!

I have every respect for tech writers but one wonders how it's decided WHERE to place WHAT in the owner guides.
I reckon very few owners actually realize there is a break-in procedure. I reckon most of those won't drive any differently during the break-in period than they do for the rest of the time they own the vehicle. I reckon that regardless of how they drive it during the break-in period, they won't notice any difference during the time they'll own it. I reckon that if the break-in procedure was absolutely critical to the safety, performance, and reliability of the vehicle, it would appear much sooner and more prominently in the manual - in fact, the dealer might even tell you how to drive the vehicle during the break-in period (right after their porter just got through flooring it to redline when he gassed it up before you took delivery). :)
 
That is amazing. Two tiny mentions buried in "fine print", the first related to Towing, and then:
"During the first 600 miles (1,000 km) of operation,
avoid sudden acceleration or full throttle operation so
as not to damage the engine or powertrain.

Avoid hard braking for the first 200 miles (300 km).
You should also follow this when the brake pads are
replaced."
The break in information is pretty standard as is the brake bed in process. It's also simpleton style as they don't want to get complex. There are better ways to break in the motor than what they state but it's the "safe" thing for them to put into the manual. Your manual, for many things, is just a legal/liability disclosure. I read the break in information you posted as "Please don't beat the hell out of your new Honda vehicle as we don't want to pay for the warranty work because you thought you were Richard Petty. Is what it is.
 
I think Honda should clarify better their break-in maintenance advice for new vehicles that will be driven more sparingly—or could be sold as new after being stored for a year—.

In my case my Accord 2017 only just now turned 5,000 miles. But it was built well over two years ago, so I might still have not gotten a service warning even now, if I hadn’t already done the oil change (and reset it).

Unfortunately, I changed the oil at 3,500 miles already, since I was concerned it was almost 2 years old. Only then did I read about this issue of relying strictly on the Maintenance Minder. On the other hand, while the car was built about July 2017, it was 10 months before I bought it and started to drive it.

Once I read about this issue of not changing the oil too soon, I did quickly shove some moly additive in the engine, hoping this might help (at least I doubt this could do any harm). It’s too late to do anything now, but from some of the advice here, it sounds like this won’t be too harmful to the life of the engine.
 
I wouldn’t worry about moly. The biggest thing it’s gonna do is the first few hundred miles the motor is running.

Like you I bought my truck after it sat on the lot for almost a year. After 1100 miles it was time to toss the oil and the metallic particles in it.

This is also why the MM won’t work right for every owner. Too many assumptions.
 
We had the first oil change done at 5,000 miles per dealer recommendation, (we received a lifetime oil change plan with purchase), now, for the upcoming second oil change if we allow the oil monitor to drop down to 15%, should all of the other maintenance recommendations show as intended?

(I need to agree with others that it would be reassuring if we had an actual document of service requirements to refer to.)

Bill
 
We had the first oil change done at 5,000 miles per dealer recommendation, (we received a lifetime oil change plan with purchase), now, for the upcoming second oil change if we allow the oil monitor to drop down to 15%, will all of the other maintenance recommendations show as intended?

Bill
In this case, yes. The first set of codes that always appears is A1 (oil change only and tire rotation) which occurs around 8,000 miles on average. The second set of codes that usually appears is B16 (oil and filter change, tire rotation, and differential fluid change) at the next 8,000 miles.

If the dealer reset the Maintenance Minder using the vehicle while codes A and 1 were pending, then the system was told that the oil was changed and the tires were rotated at 5,000 miles and will base its next set of codes on that information. What the dealer should have done (and may have done) is either: 1) Reset only code A using the HDS or 2) Rotate the tires at the same time.

Getting tire rotations (code 1) out of sync is is relatively minor. Getting differential or transmission fluid changes out of sync with the actual needs of the vehicle is another. If you or anyone else keeps resetting the Maintenance Minder early at every oil change without performing the other services at the same time that are pending, they'll be lost forever which can result in a failure to perform the correct maintenance.

If it is realized or suspected that a required maintenance item was not done, each maintenance item should be performed and the HDS should be used to reset the individual maintenance codes so that the Maintenance Minder can work properly as designed.
 
Thanks, now that brings us to another question where tire rotation is a perfect example. We will not be having our dealer rotating out tires, but rather Discount Tire doing this service because they do it for free. How will this affect the Maintenance Minder?

(As I am reminding myself that there are no preventative maintenance items that require absolute time/mileage compliance.)

Bill
 
Thanks, now that brings us to another question where tire rotation is a perfect example. We will not be having our dealer rotating out tires, but rather Discount Tire doing this service because they do it for free. How will this affect the Maintenance Minder?

(As I am reminding myself that there are no preventative maintenance items that require absolute time/mileage compliance.)

Bill
There's no harm in rotating the tires more frequently than indicated by the MM, but technically an HDS should be used to reset only MM code 1 (tire rotation) so that it stays in sync with what is done. You can't reset code 1 yourself (on the Ridgeline, anyway, but you can on some other Honda models) without also resetting all the other pending codes.
 
Thanks, now that brings us to another question where tire rotation is a perfect example. We will not be having our dealer rotating out tires, but rather Discount Tire doing this service because they do it for free. How will this affect the Maintenance Minder?

(As I am reminding myself that there are no preventative maintenance items that require absolute time/mileage compliance.)

Bill

This is an very good question... One Ive thought about but have not asked.

I always rotate my tires at 5kmiles...with oil changes. I havent decided yet how i will handle the MM's, but i will not be waiting until the 8k mile time to rotate tires...or will I be letting the dealership rotate my tires.
I have had multiple set of wheels from both Honda and Ford dealerships damage and have to replace both wheels, and cross-threaded lug nuts. So for the past 10 years or so, i just do it myself. It gives me a chance to inspect brake pads, etc while the wheels are off and the trucks is lifted.
(in the past year I know of 2 people that have had factory wheels replaced by Ford and 1 by Toyota...damage from wheel balancing machines, or impact wrenches...just sloppy shop work)


So my current pan is to just document in my log book, when services were performed. An item like this i will not depend on the MM's to remind me...i guess after all these years, i have my own system. I do plan on taking the truck in for "some" maintenance, just to be in my local dealerships system, check for any updates, etc. But i will end up with a mix of some stuff i do...and some stuff I "let them do". HaHa
Just document EVERYTHING! :)
 
I'm probably opening up a hornets nest with this comment about the A service...
I have and will NEVER change oil only...This is the dumbest thing i have ever heard of...
Especially the first oil change! I dont care about what the experts say about the life of these filters and there lab test, when you change your oil.... you change your FILTER!
 
This is an very good question... One Ive thought about but have not asked.

I always rotate my tires at 5kmiles...with oil changes. I havent decided yet how i will handle the MM's, but i will not be waiting until the 8k mile time to rotate tires...or will I be letting the dealership rotate my tires.
I have had multiple set of wheels from both Honda and Ford dealerships damage and have to replace both wheels, and cross-threaded lug nuts. So for the past 10 years or so, i just do it myself. It gives me a chance to inspect brake pads, etc while the wheels are off and the trucks is lifted.
(in the past year I know of 2 people that have had factory wheels replaced by Ford and 1 by Toyota...damage from wheel balancing machines, or impact wrenches...just sloppy shop work)


So my current pan is to just document in my log book, when services were performed. An item like this i will not depend on the MM's to remind me...i guess after all these years, i have my own system. I do plan on taking the truck in for "some" maintenance, just to be in my local dealerships system, check for any updates, etc. But i will end up with a mix of some stuff i do...and some stuff I "let them do". HaHa
Just document EVERYTHING! :)
One potential issue with documenting everything is let's say you like to change your own transmission fluid every 50,000 miles either because that applied to a previous vehicle or that's what your father taught you or because you like round numbers or because you bought some fancy transmission fluid that claims it only needs changed every 100,000 and you actually think you're changing it more frequently than necessary. If you keep resetting your MM before code 3 (transmission fluid) appears or you ignore it at each reset and your transmission fails at 55,000 miles. Honda is going to want to see where you changed it when MM prompted for code 3 would have popped up at around 40,000 - 48,000 miles. Oh, you didn't do that? That'll be $5,000 for a new transmission. :)

I'm probably opening up a hornets nest with this comment about the A1 service...
I have and will NEVER change oil only...This is the dumbest thing i have ever heard of...
Especially the first oil change! I dont care about what the experts say about the life of these filters and there lab test, when you change your oil.... you change your FILTER!
Buzz, buzz, buzz, STING. OUCH!

There's no harm to the vehicle by changing the filter with every oil change, even if it's unnecessary and wasteful. Changing the filter with every other oil change is nothing new - that's been around for decades. This is from a 1976 Monte Carlo Owner's Manual:

397962
 
  • Like
Reactions: YetiXing
:) yep...i get it.
But the only thing they will ever blame me for is OVER maintaining my vehicles.
5k oil/filter-tire rotations, 30k tranny drain-n-fills, on all my Hondas...
For what we pay for these vehicles, and since I keep vehicles a long time, I'll waste a little $ to take better care of them. Im more worried about whats going on inside at 110k, than at 55k...Im sure if i didnt nothing to the tranny, it will last at least the 60k warranty. Im more worried about after the warranty runs out... ya know.

If i traded every three years..I'd take everything to the limit and follow the MM's, and let the next guy deal with it. haha
 
61 - 80 of 207 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top