Minimizing MM Oil Changes

[Ray B]

I think I read somewhere on this forum that a Honda service manager suggested that the unexpected oil change with limited ICE usage had to do with the Maintenance Minder which foresaw required tire rotation and the routine 'check fluids, brake pads, etc.' based on mileage or time, and then it adds on the oil change so that it is taken care of at the same maintenance visit.

The idea is, the system is trying to limit the number of times it tells you to schedule service -so if your tires need to be rotated within a month, and it anticipates an oil change in 3-4 months, it will group all the imminent service items together and thus save you from having to book so many service appointments. At least that was what I recall was the rationale.

If true, and I do rotate the tires myself during the snow tire / all season swaps twice per year, could resetting the Maintenance Minder for the tire rotation (flag '1'?) and also looking after the items under the '0' flag (check fluids, brake pads, etc.), then presumably this would quiet down the Maintenance Minder and maximize the time before it requires an oil change.

Just guessing. Have people that swapped snow tires or otherwise done their own tire rotations reset the Maintenance Minder for that service? I believe the method is spelled out in the manual, but I don't have it in hand. I hope to swap snow tires on in the next couple of weeks, and will attempt to reset that service on the minder.

 

[Clarity_Newbie]

Ray B

Interesting thought. When the MM goes off in my Clarity...I'll keep any eye on the adjustment, if any, to the MM dates for oil change. Since there is an option to choose individual maintenance items perhaps if you clear the one that is "up" for maintenance...the others...such as oil...will or should display more time left.

This came off the Honda Clarity web manual and believe it can also be found on pg. 479 pf the printed copy.

Maintenance Minder™
Reminds you when indicated maintenance service is due.

When maintenance is due, the system message indicator comes on and a message appears on the driver information interface every time you turn the vehicle on.

1. Press the Display/Information button.
2. Press the
   
   /
   
   buttons to select the wrench icon and press enter.
3. Press and hold the Enter button for about 10 seconds to enter reset mode.
4. Press the
   
   /
   
   buttons to select the maintenance item to reset or select All Due Items (you may also select cancel to end the process).
5. Press the Enter button to reset the selected item and repeat step 4 to reset any other items.

Thanks

 

[Ray B]

Ray B

Interesting thought. When the MM goes off in my Clarity...I'll keep any eye on the adjustment, if any, to the MM dates for oil change. Since there is an option to choose individual maintenance items perhaps if you clear the one that is "up" for maintenance...the others...such as oil...will or should display more time left.

This came off the Honda Clarity web manual and believe it can also be found on pg. 479 pf the printed copy.

Maintenance Minder™
Reminds you when indicated maintenance service is due.

When maintenance is due, the system message indicator comes on and a message appears on the driver information interface every time you turn the vehicle on.

1. Press the Display/Information button.
2. Press the
   
   /
   
   buttons to select the wrench icon and press enter.
3. Press and hold the Enter button for about 10 seconds to enter reset mode.
4. Press the
   
   /
   
   buttons to select the maintenance item to reset or select All Due Items (you may also select cancel to end the process).
5. Press the Enter button to reset the selected item and repeat step 4 to reset any other items.

Thanks

Thanks for the MM reset instruction set!

I wonder if MM flags a maintenance required for A01, and then you do the '0' and '1' service and reset those items, and the 'A' oil change is still several months away if it will extinguish the required 'A' service, and delay it for the regular schedule, or if MM will not clear a flag (by itself) for service once it is activated...

My thinking was I would be able to clear (reset) the 0 and 1 flags prior to the MM system asking for those service items and see if it keeps pushing back the oil change date.

 

[insightman]

I think I read somewhere on this forum that a Honda service manager suggested that the unexpected oil change with limited ICE usage had to do with the Maintenance Minder which foresaw required tire rotation and the routine 'check fluids, brake pads, etc.' based on mileage or time, and then it adds on the oil change so that it is taken care of at the same maintenance visit.

Lots of posters have reported A01 alerts; has anyone else seen an A0 alert?

Our Clarity just turned 1 and today the Mileage Minder decided it was time to assert itself. However, the MM didn't think we needed to rotate our tires after just 3,730 miles so it issued an A0 (oil) alert, not an A01 (oil and tire-rotation) alert.



I doubt the MM is smart enough to know I've changed the car's tires 3 times (summer/winter/summer/winter), which would eliminate the need for the tires to be rotated.

So if the MM is, indeed, grouping alerts to reduce service center visits, it's doing so on a oil-mileage-priority basis because the alert for our year-old (spanning a whopping 4 tankfuls of gas) oil didn't trigger a tire rotation alert. Honda knows owners who recently got their oil changed would not rush back to the service center to get their tires rotated when the A1 alert popped up days later.

While I don't mind having our year-old oil changed, I feel bad for people who actually go places in their Claritys. They have to experience the MM trigger an oil-change alert based mileage, not the engine's run-time.

It's interesting that while the MM is hogging the Driver Information Interface it takes care to re-position the car's remaining range off to the side. I guess it doesn't want you to become stranded while it's telling you to visit a Honda service center.

 

[MNSteve]

I have a running feud with my dealer on the topic of things like oil changes, but the dealer holds all the cards, so it's far from a fair fight. I own a CRV that supposedly calculates the need for an oil change based on things like how much the engine was run at speed versus in traffic. It generally tells me that I have 30-40% of the interval left when my dealer pings me to get the maintenance done. The not-very-veiled threat is that they will not honor my warranty if I don't have the maintenance done when they decide it's necessary. It may be a bluff, but given the relatively low cost of an oil change versus the risk that they refuse to cover something very expensive under the warranty, I'm not going to push it.

I expect to have the same experience with the Clarity, probably more so since so many of the miles will be EV. And I expect the same outcome.

 

[Electra]

Lots of posters have reported A01 alerts; has anyone else seen an A0 alert?

Our Clarity just turned 1 and today the Mileage Minder decided it was time to assert itself. However, the MM didn't think we needed to rotate our tires after just 3,730 miles so it issued an A0 (oil) alert, not an A01 (oil and tire-rotation) alert.

I'm thinking it's doing A0 because oil change every 7500 miles or 1 year, whichever comes first.

 

[Ray B]

Lots of posters have reported A01 alerts; has anyone else seen an A0 alert?

Our Clarity just turned 1 and today the Mileage Minder decided it was time to assert itself. However, the MM didn't think we needed to rotate our tires after just 3,730 miles so it issued an A0 (oil) alert, not an A01 (oil and tire-rotation) alert.

View attachment 3063

I doubt the MM is smart enough to know I've changed the car's tires 3 times (summer/winter/summer/winter), which would eliminate the need for the tires to be rotated.

So if the MM is, indeed, grouping alerts to reduce service center visits, it's doing so on a oil-mileage-priority basis because the alert for our year-old (spanning a whopping 4 tankfuls of gas) oil didn't trigger a tire rotation alert. Honda knows owners who recently got their oil changed would not rush back to the service center to get their tires rotated when the A1 alert popped up days later.

While I don't mind having our year-old oil changed, I feel bad for people who actually go places in their Claritys. They have to experience the MM trigger an oil-change alert based mileage, not the engine's run-time.

It's interesting that while the MM is hogging the Driver Information Interface it takes care to re-position the car's remaining range off to the side. I guess it doesn't want you to become stranded while it's telling you to visit a Honda service center.

Yes, and as you and Electra said, I think the 'A0' came about only due to the 12 month anniversary, and tire rotation trigger is probably only based on miles since the last reset.

So as a (ridiculous) thought experiment, if you only drive 1000 miles in ten years it will still not ask you to rotate the tires, but it'll ask for 10 oil changes.

What I am saying is that people who drive more miles than you keep suppressing the "1" flag by rotating (or in my case swapping out the winter/summer tires) and resetting the MM tire rotation, then it will maybe wait a little longer to call for an oil change until you hit the 12 month or 7500 miles (is that mileage spelled out somewhere because I have never seen it mentioned outside of Electra's message above). And I think your observation does fit that scenario, but only because in your case you haven't run enough miles to trigger the '1'.

Congrats on your Clarity birthday!