But is it reasonable for the MM to dictate an oil change after ~6,000 miles if the engine hasn't started even once in that distance?The one year change interval, even with very low miles, is not unreasonable at all.
But is it reasonable for the MM to dictate an oil change after ~6,000 miles if the engine hasn't started even once in that distance?The one year change interval, even with very low miles, is not unreasonable at all.
*snip*
But, the particular situation of 6000 miles with little or no ICE running and much less than a one year interval since the last oil change is very untypical (an outlier) and I think it is reasonable to forgive the programmers for not considering this particular situation.
Leop
I believe the Clarity has enough computing power, memory, and data available to inform the MM how much time the engine has been running since the last oil change. Adjusting the oil-change interval to reflect the actual running engine running time (as well as accounting for the annual maximum) would handle the outliers and make owners more confident in the MM's dictates.But, the particular situation of 6000 miles with little or no ICE running and much less than a one year interval since the last oil change is very untypical (an outlier) and I think it is reasonable to forgive the programmers for not considering this particular situation.
And it is dangerous to extrapolate from what we see here to the whole population of Clarity owners.These forums are always very informative and keep us all on our collective toes...lol
And it is dangerous to extrapolate from what we see here to the whole population of Clarity owners.
The extrapolation I was warning about was things like using the ICE only rarely, and the discussion related to resetting the MM based on owner-done maintenance. I do not think that the people who inhabit this extraordinarily useful forum are a valid sample of the population of Clarity drivers, so I am cautious about basing conclusions and assumptions on what people report here. And maybe I am wrong even about that . . . the population of Clarity drivers is small, and maybe it is accurately reflected in the sample here in this forum.MNSteve
When it comes to a computer program in a vehicle...which is what we are discussing...it is a safe bet it is identical in all Clarity's at least to this point since we all share the same model year. So no real extrapolation necessary.
This is an ongoing discussion about the usefulness of the MM for oil changes in the Clarity...that is all it is. I believe the ultimate goal for some of us is to understand the algorithm which, as leop stated, no one really understands what drives it (pun intended). That is my goal at least. And its okay if two people have slightly different views and discuss appropriately.
Will do.
I just put the new snow tires + wheels on and reset the maintenance minder for "1" (tire rotation). The 'Service Due' changed from '5 months' to '7 months'. That would put the next service at ~11 months of age for the car. However, I think that once again it is estimating 7 months based upon ~1000 miles per month and the next tire rotation would then be due at that time (roughly 7500 miles per rotation). But I plan to swap back to the OEM tires in April (and rotate their locations) and again reset the "1" on the maintenance minder and I think that ought to push the next service to the 12 month anniversary and trigger an 'A0'. I think I will also reset the "0" since I have done almost all of the items it listed and even took notes and pictures. So I think my only service at the 1 year date should be an oil + filter change.
I bought my Clarity in mid-Aug and now has 4800km/3000miles on it. The MM indicates 5 months to maintenance. I swapped to snow tires 2nd week of Dec but I just find out I can reset the MM for code '1' rotate tires so I did it this morning. After I reset '1', the MM now indicates 7 months to next maintenance. I will be changing my tires back in end of April and will reset '1' again, wonder if this will extend the MM yet again
Just a question on MM. When I go into the display on my head unit as well as in my dash, it shows 2 months to next service yet I don't see any A code or any codes that everyone is mentioning. Does it only show up closer to the date or am I missing something?
How do you do the rest for code 1? I did the snow tire swap too but wasn't aware of this reset.
With respect to the oil change interval and the maintenance minder, two things should be remembered. First, the oil and filter change time interval of one year is a general automotive standard. Even Mobil One Extended Performance and Annual Protection motor oils have a one year change interval. Second, the Clarity's internal combustion engine works much harder than the ICE's in most other automobiles. When the ICE is running, the required output (throttle position) is near the maximum at a given rpm (unless in warm up or idle mode) so as to give a high charge rate to the battery and/or adequate power to the wheels (direct drive mode). The ICE also works at a relatively high rpm most of the time (about 1700 rpm at 45 mph and 2600 rpm at 70 mph in direct drive mode and usually well over 3000 rpm when in battery charge mode). In other words, the Clarity ICE works at a high load nearly all of the time. The 3.5 quarts of oil get quite a workout (as does the ICE). Yes, the oil change maintenance minder often comes up before a year and we do not know its algorithm. However, the algorithm seems to take into account the running time, work load history, and temperature history of the ICE as well as trying to minimize dealer service instances. The one year change interval, even with very low miles, is not unreasonable at all.
LeoP