Hi everyone! I have a 2007 Civic with that maintenance minder system and 56,000 miles. I’m concerned I might have missed its signal to have the automatic transmission fluid changed. Does anyone know roughly at what mileage that would occur? Not sure if the car factors anything in except mileage, but I live in the desert southwest where high temperatures average 100+ degrees all summer. Thanks!
You should have an owners manual in the glove compartment. You might read it.
b
@BillRussell–Unfortunately, some manufacturers seem to have removed references to maintenance intervals from their manuals as a result of these electronic “maintenance minders”–and IIRC, Honda is one of those manufacturers.
Additionally, in an effort to make their vehicles appear to be almost maintenance-free, many manufacturers no longer list a trans fluid change–even though it is needed. Honda may be one of those manufacturers.
Anyway…for the OP’s benefit, this service should be done every 30k miles, whether a vehicle mfr specifies it or not. Even if you did not do it at 30k miles, you really need to do it now, making sure to use ONLY genuine Honda trans fluid, as Hondas are notoriously intolerant of any fluids other than their own. Change the trans filter at the same time.
And, then make a notation in your maintenance file (You do have one, I hope!) to repeat the procedure at ~90k miles.
Thanks for your advice, @VDCdriver.
I’m definitely going to get it done after all this time, but I do wonder why so many people (including Honda dealers) continue to recommend maintenance at certain fixed intervals when the manufacturer doesn’t. For example, the maintenance minder doesn’t necessarily tell you to change the oil filter at every oil change. Most “car guys” think that’s nuts. But why would Honda jeopardize their own reputation for reliability by not recommending enough maintenance? I can’t imagine most people who continue to recommend their own maintenance schedules actually have significant statistical data as justification.
8k miles/yr is low miles. hopefully you dont live in the rust belt states so your car doesnt rust out from under you. at least you did the timing belt.
" hopefully you dont live in the rust belt states so your car doesnt rust out from under you. at least you did the timing belt."
Have they moved “the desert southwest” to the rust belt while I wasn’t looking?
;-))
Most manufacturers recommend transmission fluid service every 30,000 miles under normal driving conditions.
However, you don’t drive under normal conditions. You drive under severe conditions because of the temperatures of 100 degrees or more. Under those conditions most manufacturers recommend that the transmission fluid be serviced every 12,000 miles.
Tester
hopefully you dont live in the rust belt states so your car doesnt rust out from under you. at least you did the timing belt.
It’s very rare to see vehicles rusted out these days…even here in the North East…and even in places around Syracuse and Buffalo.
The maintenance minder has no concept of time in Honda.
Typically it will go off soon. This transmission is easier then changing oil. It only requires drain/fill and there is no flushing or transmission filter. I provided fluid from Honda dealer at mechanics request and my indy charged me $20 labor($60/hr rate) during an oil change to do it on my 07 MDX.
Thanks, @andrewRA. The Honda dealer of course suggests a full flush using their fancy machine for $120. Local independent guy said just drain and fill, for probably half the money. That there’s a plan!
“That there’s a plan!”
It’s a good plan as long as he shows you the containers of genuine Honda trans fluid that he plans to use for that fluid change.
Some–perhaps many–shops will tell you that adding some sort of additive to a different type of trans fluid will make it usable in a Honda transmission. Unfortunately, that advice is bogus, and would likely have you at the transmission shop for an overhaul about 1k miles later.
Even if you have to go to the Honda dealer and buy the fluid yourself, make sure that ONLY genuine Honda trans fluid is used when this maintenance is done.
This Honda uses letters and numbers as codes, for what services are required
Read the owner’s manual, and you’ll be able to decipher what the car is asking for, so to speak
I guarantee it’s not asking for a flush, by the way
giskard22
I have a 2007 Civic with that maintenance minder system and 56,000 miles. I’m concerned I might have missed its signal to have the automatic transmission fluid changed.
If it looks good on the dipstick, and the trans shifts normally, I wouldn’t be concerned at all. There are cars running around with several times your mileage, on the original fluid.
Tester, usually I either agree with you or learn something when you post, however I have not seen a manufacturer recommend 30000 mile transmission fluid changes in a lot of years.
It’s been nice to get all these replies. No one has really been able to answer my question. At what mileage would my Civic actually request a transmission fluid change? Honda (via the owner’s manual) isn’t saying. What I’m really trying to determine is if the car requested it and I missed it. If I didn’t miss it, I’d rather just wait for the maintenance minder to display the relevant code.
"At what mileage would my Civic actually request a transmission fluid change?"
As I stated in an earlier post, many–perhaps most–manufacturers have now taken a stance that attempts to portray their vehicles as needing very little maintenance. As a result, it is commonplace that mfrs no longer list transmission fluid changes (or valve lash adjustments) in their maintenance schedule or in the electronic messages displayed on the instrument panel.
The result of not doing a trans fluid change or a valve lash adjustment will be very expensive repairs in the future, but that future will almost surely be after the mfr’s warranties expire. At that point, the customer is holding the bag, and the mfr doesn’t have to pay for that skipped maintenance. It’s all about doing business nowadays for car manufacturers, whether that is moral or ethical, or not.
In other words, I think you are expecting to see a message that will never be displayed.
I assume there are one or more message boards dedicated to Honda Civics on the Internet. You’ll probably get a quicker answer by asking there.
@VDCdriver: Honda included both transmission fluid replacement and valve clearance inspection on the maintenance minder schedule (along with spark plug replacement and coolant replacement). There’s no hint of when those codes will actually occur, of course.
Those codes/messages are scheduled to appear sometime after the warranty expires!
;-))
The dealer should not be using a power flush machine. They should follow the service manual. If they’re not, don’t let them do the work. But do take others’ advice and make sure that whereever it gets done, only genuine Honda ATF is used.