OIL Change and SRS Light [Archive] - RedFlagDeals.com Forums

rayesyn

Nov 29th, 2005, 04:45 PM

I've got two questions:

1) I am getting an Oil Change done for my 2001 Accord Sedan from the dealer for $31.88+taxes which is a bit of a rip-off. They say that they use this special oil: Genuine Honda 5W20 Motor Oil. I know you can get oil change done for like $15-25 bucks in the GTA area. However I'm not going to be stingy when it comes to the longetivity of the car. Can someone tell me if $31.88 is justifiable for the "HONDA-trained" technicians using the Genuine Honda 5W20 Motor Oil at a Dealership or should I try my oil change a regular mechanic?

2) The SRS light on the Accord has been going on for sometime. Initially I thought it was because of the handbrake being jarred but it wasn't the case when I had my mechanic look at it. He suggested that I take it back to the dealer to have something 'reset'. I didn't understand that at all. Can someone explain? I've googled it and I realise its got something to do with air bags.

Thanks in advance for all your help :)

DragonZealot

Nov 29th, 2005, 05:15 PM

You can try the disconnect the battery to see if it goes away.

Otherwise you have to pull the code and diagnose.

gr8dlr

Nov 29th, 2005, 07:56 PM

Re. Oil change....just get a good mechanic (for everything), he can change your oil and check the SRS problem below. No need to spend extra at Honda especially if your car is no longer under warranty (is it? 2001). Re. good mechanic - they'll save you money and won't tell you to do unnecessary work.

Re. SRS light, I had the same thing happen in my car except it stayed on constantly. When I took it to my mechanic, he hooked it up to a diagnostic computer and it said there was nothing wrong. He reset the code (similar to rebooting I think) and I haven't seen light up again. He said it could be a loose connection in there somewhere. Can be opened up and all connections checked if needed.

Kenneth

Nov 29th, 2005, 08:02 PM

Honda reccomends 5W-20; but you could use 5W-30 which is more common and cheaper. 5W-20 is a semi-synthetic without the normally higher cost only Honda and Ford use it afaik.

$31.88 isn't a bad price you could save $5 by going to a quick-lube place; but they usually don't have 5w-20 and will use a cheaper filter. Brampton Honda charges the same price but will wash your car and rotate the tires for free.

rayesyn

Nov 29th, 2005, 09:42 PM

I think i'm going to take my car in to my regular mechanic and ask him to do the oil change, it'll cost me ~$20. I'll take ur advice on the oil change. It seems to be the general consensus here.

Re. Oil change....just get a good mechanic (for everything), he can change your oil and check the SRS problem below. No need to spend extra at Honda especially if your car is no longer under warranty (is it? 2001). Re. good mechanic - they'll save you money and won't tell you to do unnecessary work.

If my mechanic is unable to fix the SRS, then i am going to have to drag my car to the dealership to get it inspected.

Re. SRS light, I had the same thing happen in my car except it stayed on constantly. When I took it to my mechanic, he hooked it up to a diagnostic computer and it said there was nothing wrong. He reset the code (similar to rebooting I think) and I haven't seen light up again. He said it could be a loose connection in there somewhere. Can be opened up and all connections checked if needed.

Thanks for all your input guys, its greatly appreciated.

fast_typeR

Nov 29th, 2005, 10:11 PM

haha, "Honda certified technicians". That's pretty funny considering when I went to Markham Acura I saw a bunch of high school kids. For an oil change they're not going to use honda certified technicians to do it.

a cheaper alternative is to buy engine oil yourself, as well as an oil filter, and bring it to a shop for them to do it for you (or you can do it yourself if you have the tools). They'll charge you only for the labour and you can ensure your car is using high quality engine oil. I know the Superstore sells Mobil 1 large bottles for about $30 and you can get about 4-5 oil changes depending on your engine oil capacity.

sky888

Nov 29th, 2005, 10:23 PM

Re. SRS light, I had the same thing happen in my car except it stayed on constantly. When I took it to my mechanic, he hooked it up to a diagnostic computer and it said there was nothing wrong. He reset the code (similar to rebooting I think) and I haven't seen light up again. He said it could be a loose connection in there somewhere. Can be opened up and all connections checked if needed.[/QUOTE]

hey this happend to my civic too, can u give me the address for ur mechanic?
btw how much is to get it reset?

thanks

MameXP

Nov 29th, 2005, 10:56 PM

Honda reccomends 5W-20; but you could use 5W-30 which is more common and cheaper. 5W-20 is a semi-synthetic without the normally higher cost only Honda and Ford use it afaik.

Since when you learned the weight rating telling you if its synthetic or not?

THis is greatly misinformed. Dont say stuff you dont know

5W-20 or 5W-30 is simply a weight rating of the oil. If your manual said 5w-20 then stick with it. You can go with the lower weight in cold "0W instead of 5w, or 5w instead of 10w".

So its good to go 5w-30 instead of 10w-30 but NOT good to go 5w-30 instead of 5w-20, you will wear down the engine.

I believe Genuine Honda is blend synthetic not full synthetic. If your car is still under warranty then keep using. If not you can go to other mechanic for oil change, make sure you know what oil they're using. Most quick lube places use cheap dino oil. Or you can deal with the mechanic that you will provide your own oil. (Get high performance oil such as Castrol or Mobil, DO NOT need to get full syn its not as helpful now as your car is probably 100k KMs)

MameXP

Nov 29th, 2005, 10:59 PM

OH about the SRS, bring it to the dealer, they will reset it for free.

mlc2000

Nov 29th, 2005, 11:42 PM

SRS light is a problem with Accord and TL.

JohnB

Nov 29th, 2005, 11:57 PM

Same thing happened to me.

Avoid the stealership !

1 Plug in an OBD unit
2 Reset the code

3 Drive the car - important

4 If it comes back on then its something to look at,
5 Most likely after an oil change or bad gas the switch got tripped
6 If the car is fine after step 3, it was just a false alarm.

Some idiot mechanics at the stealership just look at the code, and perform some expensive repair (indexed to the code) without double checking - so be sure to drive the car for a little while first to see if the light comes back on.

I had a little screetching sound from the front brake once - mechanic wanted $700 for new bearings - wtf - so I took the sled home, removed the pad, sprayed rotor with a $6 rattle-can of cleaner fluid, and problem solved.

It was a little piece of sand or some other little debris, guy was trying to rip me off...

JohnB

Nov 29th, 2005, 11:59 PM

Re. SRS light, I had the same thing happen in my car except it stayed on constantly. When I took it to my mechanic, he hooked it up to a diagnostic computer and it said there was nothing wrong. He reset the code (similar to rebooting I think) and I haven't seen light up again. He said it could be a loose connection in there somewhere. Can be opened up and all connections checked if needed.

hey this happend to my civic too, can u give me the address for ur mechanic?
btw how much is to get it reset?

SpeedyMuffler charges $70 flat to hook you up to the reader, thats a lot for a 3 minute job.

myapple

Nov 30th, 2005, 01:07 AM

That IS expensive...considering you can probably get your own ODBII reader (and light resetter) for around $150...

jed

Nov 30th, 2005, 01:27 AM

Isn't that supposed to be SES? (Service Engine Soon)

Kenneth

Nov 30th, 2005, 01:56 AM

Since when you learned the weight rating telling you if its synthetic or not?

THis is greatly misinformed. Dont say stuff you dont know

I believe Genuine Honda is blend synthetic not full synthetic.

5W-20 is a semi-synthetic

:confused:

I'm not sure what I mis-informed you about? Ford/Motorcraft still label it as a semi-synthethic even though the base stock is less than 1%.

DragonZealot

Nov 30th, 2005, 08:41 AM

5W-20 is a semi-synthetic

It is a misinformation because you can have 5W-20 in regular dino, semi-synthetic or full synthetic. The weight characteristic has nothing to do to the composition of the oil.

May be you mean a particular brand of 5W20 is a semi but your statement is an open statment saying all 5W20 is semi.

changt

Nov 30th, 2005, 08:52 AM

I had my 2003 Honda Accord Ex V6 Coupe...

Re: SRS Light... I always had not only that light but 2 others which is the triangle with exclamation mark and hand brake on during raining or humid days. I bring it back to the dealer to get it checked out... they plugged in the computer and told me nothing was wrong...

I get charged $100.00 each time for diagnostic fees and they even BOLDED "NOT WARRANTABLE" service. Anyway... I got pissed and traded my Accord in for a Mercedes Benz E-Class... best car ever... I'm lovin it right now... screw Honda with their crappy warranty and service attitude...

bad cars... bad cars...

googoo

Nov 30th, 2005, 09:28 AM

$32 for an oil change with good quality oil and a very good filter is worth it for me.

I'm also in and out in 30 minutes.

Brent

rayesyn

Nov 30th, 2005, 09:33 AM

If they're throwing in the air filter, its a good deal. those things cost around $12~$15 bucks. I just hope its included in their very expensive oil change.

$32 for an oil change with good quality oil and a very good filter is worth it for me.

Honda better not screw around with me on that b.s. this weekend. I'm never going back if thats the case :mad:

I get charged $100.00 each time for diagnostic fees and they even BOLDED "NOT WARRANTABLE" service.

rayesyn

Nov 30th, 2005, 09:36 AM

Damn, thats rough :( I'll just have to wait and see what my mechanic does for me. I've only got like 112K on my car the reason its a little high for a 4-year old car is because I do a lot of driving back-and-forth between Waterloo-Toronto. The SRS has been 'on' since I got my interior shampooed way back in August. I figured I'd take it to Honda the next time i'm due for a service. I didn't think anything of it at first as the car's relatively new and that SRS shouldn't be a problem.

SpeedyMuffler charges $70 flat to hook you up to the reader, thats a lot for a 3 minute job.

flipside

Nov 30th, 2005, 09:43 AM

i thought srs is something to do with the air bags? check engine light is for the error codes.

waitin4BOOST

Nov 30th, 2005, 09:59 AM

Honda Genuine Oil Filters have a magnet in them to pick up any metallic foreign content that should not be in there or happen to be there due to friction....and please stick to 5w20.

Sometimes i wonder why people cheap out on oil...its practically the only thing keeping your engine from grenading...(well aside from a manufacturers defect) And tyres! cheaping out on the only thing keeping you on the ground...and wiper blades! there only 3 bucks for replacement blades from the dealer...don't throw out the wiper!! say NO to crappy tire.

Anywho, for the SRS...pull the negative terminal from the battery...wait 5 mins and put back on...make sure you have your alarm remote handy...if light does not go away, the dealer should reset that for "free" and that basically depends on which dealer you go to.

MameXP

Nov 30th, 2005, 01:08 PM

And just for the record, there is no such thing "semi-synthetic" Thats a bs marketing term. Dont fall for that.

I would recommend Genuine Honda oil because it blend synthetic, its not full sync but quite good.

And yeah Honda oil change service is already too cheap. Remmender the oil filter alone would cost $10. So i dont see why would you want to go to those quick lube places that MIGHT use cheap dino oil. ?????

Depend on what kind of car, not all Honda oil filter has the magnet. So i dont know if the one they use for your Honda would has it. I guess if your car use 5w-20 then yours is 4cyclinder model right? I'm pretty sure you wont have the magnet. The ONLY oil filter that i know has the magnet is S2000 oil filter.

Most of the service staff would say yes if you ask them but infact they either dont know or just lie. I opened an Honda oil filter, to be honest, its built cheap. Unless you got those "Made in Japan" ones, i've heard they built by Toyo Japan thus very high quality.

Kenneth

Nov 30th, 2005, 04:42 PM

And just for the record, there is no such thing "semi-synthetic" Thats a bs marketing term. Dont fall for that.

I would recommend Genuine Honda oil because it blend synthetic, its not full sync but quite good.

I use semi-synthetic and blend synthetic interchangebly. Is there a difference between the two? I know the SAE requires more than 2% of base stock before the semi/blend name can be used; but most manufacturers use less than 10% (hence the big marketing sham).

I remember reading back in 1999 when 5W-20 was becoming mainstream; that the manufacturers couldn't make a "normal" dino version and all had a tiny amount of base. The same reason why they can't make 5W-20 in full synthetic (0W-20 only); Mobil/Castrol has changed there marketing now though.

myapple

Nov 30th, 2005, 05:17 PM

If they're throwing in the air filter, its a good deal. those things cost around $12~$15 bucks. I just hope its included in their very expensive oil change.
$32+tax is just for the honda 5w20 oil, oem filter, a crushable washer for the drain bolt, and labour. The air filter is extra; dealer charges around $18-19 for the civic air filter alone.

myapple

Nov 30th, 2005, 05:38 PM

I use semi-synthetic and blend synthetic interchangebly. Is there a difference between the two? I know the SAE requires more than 2% of base stock before the semi/blend name can be used; but most manufacturers use less than 10% (hence the big marketing sham).

I remember reading back in 1999 when 5W-20 was becoming mainstream; that the manufacturers couldn't make a "normal" dino version and all had a tiny amount of base. The same reason why they can't make 5W-20 in full synthetic (0W-20 only); Mobil/Castrol has changed there marketing now though.

Yeah, I use those terms interchangable too.

I dunno about castrol's 5w20 syntec..heard it was not a real full synthetic oil. I'm not talking about their sythetic blend line...a while back, a few companies sued castrol over advertising their syntec as not being a full synthetic (north american version only, heard german version is all good), arguing their "synthetic" was just some kind of modified dino oil and not real synthetic oil.

Mobil1 has been selling full synthetic 5w20 for a while now. They've been available in the states for years, but hard to find in toronto. I picked up a couple of cases when I went cross border shopping before. They were around $5US a quart..pretty cheap even after conversion. CT/partsource currently only stock the 0w20 kind, but mobil1 will soon be phasing out their 0w20 line and will replace it with 5w20.

Mobil1 makes a good/ok synthetic oil, but if u want top of line...Royal purple, redline, amsoil, motul make the best synthetic oils money can buy...

MameXP

Nov 30th, 2005, 06:02 PM

I dunno about castrol's 5w20 syntec..heard it was not a real full synthetic oil. I'm not talking about their sythetic blend line...a while back, a few companies sued castrol over advertising their syntec as not being a full synthetic (north american version only, heard german version is all good), arguing their "synthetic" was just some kind of modified dino oil and not real synthetic oil.

This is true. Made in USA Castrol Sync is NOT full synthetic due to the oil refining process in USA. They got away with it tho. So dont waste money on them. However, PartSource carries "Made in Germance" ones which are full sync

Mobil1 makes a good/ok synthetic oil, but if u want top of line...Royal purple, redline, amsoil, motul make the best synthetic oils money can buy...

I would say thats not entire true. Based on several oil analysis Mobil1 performs just as well sometimes even better than other "racing inspsired" products like Redline, Amsoil. Mobil1 is just more popular and well distributed around the world thus cheap price. In the contrast ppl relate the price to its performance.

I find for tranny oil, Motul is way superior with their full sync products. I have heard Neo is the best but couldnt find one in Ontario.

MameXP

Nov 30th, 2005, 06:06 PM

Oh i want to add that in one of the recent oil analysis i have seen, Havoline oil shows amazing results for a regular oil. Its damn cheap !!!! $6 for 4.4liters. Great products for a beater or a regular economy sedan.

rayesyn

Dec 1st, 2005, 09:55 AM

damn, thats not too sharp. well i'm not gonna cheap out if i'm going to the dealer i'm going :P anyhow, the air filter replacement isn't so difficult, i can do that myself.
$18~$20 seems correct (with taxes). I remember paying ~$15 for the accord in August. Any idea how ofter the air filter should be replaced though?

$32+tax is just for the honda 5w20 oil, oem filter, a crushable washer for the drain bolt, and labour. The air filter is extra; dealer charges around $18-19 for the civic air filter alone.

rayesyn

Dec 1st, 2005, 09:57 AM

i've been trying to follow this thread on oil and the quality of oil. however as any thread there are a biases. can you or anyone explain to me the number that surround the oil types and what would be ideal for the Accord Sedan? they recommened "5W20 Motor Oil". Any advice on oil types?

Oh i want to add that in one of the recent oil analysis i have seen, Havoline oil shows amazing results for a regular oil. Its damn cheap !!!! $6 for 4.4liters. Great products for a beater or a regular economy sedan.

myapple

Dec 1st, 2005, 02:06 PM

damn, thats not too sharp. well i'm not gonna cheap out if i'm going to the dealer i'm going :P anyhow, the air filter replacement isn't so difficult, i can do that myself.
$18~$20 seems correct (with taxes). I remember paying ~$15 for the accord in August. Any idea how ofter the air filter should be replaced though?
You'd probably want to inspect the filter once every 3-4 months to see if it's dirty. I generally replace mine once a year.

FYI-the I think civic air filter is different from the accord one. The accord one is a square or rectangular shape...the civic one is weird shaped so it cost a bit more.

myapple

Dec 1st, 2005, 02:16 PM

i've been trying to follow this thread on oil and the quality of oil. however as any thread there are a biases. can you or anyone explain to me the number that surround the oil types and what would be ideal for the Accord Sedan? they recommened "5W20 Motor Oil". Any advice on oil types?
inserting bias:
Castrol GTX has long been regarded as one of the best conventional oils. 5w20 sells for around $3.50 a litre at walmart. This oil is adequare if u are planning to do regular 5-6k oil changes.

If you want to go a bit longer (8k-12k), perhaps you'd want to use a synthetic or synthetic blend. I use full synthetic mobil1 for performance and price.

rayesyn

Dec 10th, 2005, 01:05 PM

sorry not following up on this one quickly got tied up with other stuff. Anyhow, got my oil change and filter replaced last week by the 'certified' Honda technicians for $37.81 taxes included. here's the breakdown of the bill:

Lube Bay Oil - $11.24
Lube Filter - $8.40
Lube Drain Plug Gasket - $0.60
Environmental Disposal - $1.00
Total - $21.24
Labour - $11.64
Sub total = $32.88 + taxes = $37.81

I didn't mind paying the hefty price tag, however next time i'm going to my mechanic i figured it'd have cost me less that $30 otherwise. Anyhow, when inquiring about the SRS light, the dude behind the counter told me that i had to set an appointment sometime during the 'work-week' so that they can hook my car up to a diagnostic machine and see what the problem is so that they can diagonose it. However everything's cool till he told me that they charge $92+taxes just to 'see whats wrong' and any repair that would be necessary would be at an additional charge. I was like, "its okay mate, i'll book an appointment over the phone not sure what next week looks like for me"...lol.

Can the people who had their car's diagnosed for 'FREE' by Honda get back to me on this one? I'm in need of that 'free' service.

Thanks a lot for your input, really appreciate it :)

kevin_

Dec 11th, 2005, 02:10 AM

yeah its a ripoff...

I had the same problem and I was worried, so i brought it to them to have it checked out. All they did was reset it and charge me 95 bucks...NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH THE CAR!

just reset it yourself. if there's really a problem, the light should come back on. (i'm pretty sure about this, but i could be wrong so if someone wants to correct me please go ahead!)

rayesyn

Dec 11th, 2005, 11:00 AM

any suggestions as to how i am to go about doing this?

reset it yourself. if there's really a problem, the light should come back on. (i'm pretty sure about this, but i could be wrong so if someone wants to correct me please go ahead!)

myapple

Dec 11th, 2005, 12:19 PM

Buy an OBD2 code reader...

nunzo

Dec 11th, 2005, 06:57 PM

Buy an OBD2 code reader...

you do realize a scan tool, all the necessary cartridges and hookups cost around a thousand + dollars right?

radeonboy

Dec 11th, 2005, 07:41 PM

Have you ever tried to do this yourself? Changing the oil is not really hard.

kevin_

Dec 11th, 2005, 07:51 PM

if i remember correctly, i had to remove one of the fuses to reset the SRS light (forgot which one, sorry!). it was a 92 accord, so things might've been different. try picking up one of those car specific repair books those usually have a lot of useful info! maybe someone else knows?

myapple

Dec 11th, 2005, 11:55 PM

you do realize a scan tool, all the necessary cartridges and hookups cost around a thousand + dollars right?
I'm not talking about full scan tools. For the average do it yourselfer that just wants to simply read/lookup/clear codes off a car, a basic universal OBD2 reader will do. Anybody can get a basic one at CDN tire for around $150+tax and a very basic one off ebay for about $50CDN.

kevin_

Dec 12th, 2005, 12:45 AM

you should be able to do it manually. on my 92 accord, all i had to do was connect two leads under the glove compartment, with the power ON, and the SRS light would begin to blink in sequence. depending on the number of times it blinked, it refers to an error code (i.e. if it blinked 5 times or something...it means that there's somethign wrong with o2 sensor)

pick up a copy of the hayes repair manual for the accord it should explain the entire process and have the list...

dunno where i put my odl copy i'll post if i find it...