jyeh74

Hi everyone, my maintenance light came on and I took it in. Turns out its just oil change. I didn't know our cars indicate that. My older Hondas never did that. I have a few questions:


1) Manual says to change oil and oil filter every 7,500 miles. For non-synthetic, I thought it was always best practice to change every 3k-5k miles. Is our car different?

2) So for those who change their own oil, how do you turn off the maintenance light? i.e. How does car know if you changed with regular oil (every 5k miles) or synthetic oil (every 15k miles) to go back on?

3) The differential oil says to change every 30k miles. I'm not too familiar with diff fluid, but what happens if you don't change it? Do you have a choice here with regular or synthetic oil for the differential fluid?



Thanks everyone.

SDgoods

Any one correct me if im wrong but, It just goes by mileage. Honda assumes customers are going to use the oil they recommend (non synth.) so the lights only going to trigger ever 7500 miles or whatever the trip mileage is. I just came from a subaru where there isnt a reminder light, so i just reset my trip B odometer when i do oil changes and use that to know when im due.

Blindeye_03

I tend to stick to 3000-4000 somewhere in between. Also I know my 08 shows a % as to what oil life is left.

SDgoods

Unless im competely mistaken, i cant imagine honda came up with an in engine oil analysis sensor. My girlfriend has that on her civic and i just assume the percentage goes down as the mileage since the last reset goes up.

oldsoldier

it depends on how you use your car, how many miles you drive etc. Our CR is for racing only, we use Eneos synth. oil and our mech changes it every 90 days and more if we're racing more often then once a month. On all my other cars It's 3000 miles top. I believe a clean engine is a happy engine. My Dad taught me that with my first car, a 50 Ford 2dr. (oil came in bottles back then!

jyeh74

What happens if you dont change the differential oil at every 30k miles?

s2cho

you will be ok. many people havent even change the factory diff oil even when they hit 100k

but typically diff fluid should be changed every 15k and if you launch or push it hard. diff fluid is a must. dont make a 8 dollar fluid change become a 800 dollar replacement

JackS

It will become an audable irritation if you don't re-set it. The reminder will come on at 15% oil life left and keep reminding you as oil life remaining approch's 0%. I change mine and do a reset before reaching 10%.

takeshi

As always: this question is best answered with a UOA. Anything else is just speculation.

Search for the instructions but it's basically: turn ignition on, bring up oil life, press and hold the trip button 10 seconds until the minder blinks, release and then press and hold the button for 5 seconds until it resets. At least, that's it for AP2's. Not sure if it differs for AP1's.

It doesn't.

In most cases you'd probably be fine. I use 15K intervals based on suggestions from others due to the size of the diff and what's expected of it. Yet again, a UOA will give you a definitive answer.

Absolutely.

Don't overlook the countless existing fluid and maintenance threads.

Reckon

Seriously? Do you have your manual? If so, I recommend you read it. Not trying to be an arse, but what you are asking is the most basic of care and maintenance that is detailed in the manual. If you don't have one, I can understand you asking.

The Maintenance Reminder light is set by mileage - it has no idea how well your oil is and the percentage (for newer models) doesn't actually analyze the oil but rates it based on mileage. It will come on near the specified Oil Change Interval (OCI) as noted in the manual - that should be 7500 miles. If you are driving in normal conditions, 7500 miles on a good non-synthetic oil is not a problem. If you put in synthetic under normal driving conditions, you should easily hit the 10k mark (but a good Used Oil Analysis, UOA, would be a better indicator). The manual also states how to reset the maintenenace reminder light.

How to change oil:
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/558...iy-oil-change/

How to change diff fluid:
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/348...-fluid-change/

How to change trans fluid:
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/index.php...2&t=565855&st=

Resetting the Maintenance Light:
Hold down the reset button on the cluster with the car off, and turn the key to on. Continue holding until the Maintenance Req'd light stops blinking. Let go of the button, turn they key to off, and that should be it (for those without an actual oil life perfentage readout).

I use a synthetic blend oil and change every 7500 miles. I do my transmission every other oil change, since I like the feeling the fresh fluid provides (manual states a different interval which you can follow, 30k miles I believe) and it is relatively cheap to do so, and I do my diff every 15k miles (sometimes longer).