Automotive

Honda Accord Maintenance Question

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  • Aug 26th, 2011 8:04 am
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Member
Jun 5, 2010
311 posts
27 upvotes

Honda Accord Maintenance Question

I bought a used 2008 Honda Accord with about 60K in KM's back in May of this year. Right now I have about 67K in KM's as I do a lot of highway driving. My question is, how often should I be changing my oil and checking other fluids in the car? The Honda dealer said all I have to do is just wait for the Oil refill indidcator to come on (reach close to Zero I guess??). But it's been 4 months and I'm getting nervous as I use to change my oil every month on my old 2000 civic. The Oil indicator is on at 60% right now.

And what other fluids should I be checking or refilling by now?? I'm bad at all this car stuff, so Just thought I'd ask.
4 replies
Jr. Member
Jul 12, 2011
122 posts
30 upvotes
TORONTO
Hi Gulmoh

The Maintenance Minder monitors a number of variables to determine when you need an Oil Change. When the indicator reaches 15%, you will be alerted on your dashboard by a “service due soon” message.

Depending on the mileage, additional required maintenance items indicated by a numeric sub-symbol (1-6) will also appear. These sub symbols are accumulated between oil change intervals. According to Honda, under most driving conditions, you can expect the “service due soon” message to appear every 8,000 - 12,000kms, which occurs about every 4-8 months for many drivers.

See your manual for reference on the service reminder symbols.

If you are unsure whether the previous owner has followed the recommended service intervals, then have your mechanic look over the fluids (brake, power steering, transmission, and coolant). He/she will know from looking at it in most cases. You should check to see if they need topping up regularly. If all else looks good then follow the Maintenance Minder codes as it appears.

Hope that helps.

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Deal Expert
User avatar
May 10, 2005
36997 posts
11419 upvotes
Ottawa
Thing is, you just bought this car and you should start a maintenance program. If you have a good relationship with your dealer or mechanic (or wish to start one), now is the time.
Take it in, ask them to do a good thorough inspection, get them to list all problems. Ask them to put you on a maintenance program...what needs doing now, what can wait etc. You can then feel good and secure about your car and it's condition. It may cost you a couple hundred but you will start with a clean slate.
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Oct 25, 2010
348 posts
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Northern Onterio
Yeah once the monitor hits 15% oil life you should have it changed...is your accord 4 or 6cyl? I believe all 6cyl have timming belt which will need to be replace @ around 100,000kms, definitly something to check up on in the near future. Heres a list of things to check for at least once a month, 5 mins could save you $500

(markings should be somewhere between the min and max level) and only use honda OEM fluids
- engine oil
- transmission fluid
- anti freeze fluid
- brake fluid
- air intake filter
- cabin air filter
- washer fluid (top up)
- drive belt/ sepertine belt ( check for cracks or broken lines)
- tire pressure
Deal Expert
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May 8, 2005
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gulmoh wrote: I bought a used 2008 Honda Accord with about 60K in KM's back in May of this year. Right now I have about 67K in KM's as I do a lot of highway driving. My question is, how often should I be changing my oil and checking other fluids in the car? The Honda dealer said all I have to do is just wait for the Oil refill indidcator to come on (reach close to Zero I guess??). But it's been 4 months and I'm getting nervous as I use to change my oil every month on my old 2000 civic. The Oil indicator is on at 60% right now.

And what other fluids should I be checking or refilling by now?? I'm bad at all this car stuff, so Just thought I'd ask.
Assuming your car was always serviced at a Honda dealer, what you can do is, simply get a benchmark of where you are now in terms of service - and to do that, just have the dealer run a service history printout ( based on your VIN# ) of what type of service was done in the past at what km and or date intervals.

The service advisor can then go over the printout with you and highlight exactly what was done over the course of those 60K before you bought it. The service advisor will probably also be able to tell you when other fluids like transmission fluid, brake fluid, coolant & power steering fluid will likely next require service. The service advisor will also be able to tell you when you should be thinking about doing things like changing filters, rotating / balancing tires, getting wheel alignments, servicing brakes, doing timing belt service, getting a ' tune-up ' etc. etc.

And to the extent you can, all the suggestions / recommendations you get from the dealer should be reconciled to the suggestions / recommendations Honda has noted in your owner's manual.

And I agree with what was said earlier, if you can establish a good working relationship with a service provider you can trust, allow them to guide you in terms of how to stay on top of your maintenance.
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