Maintenance Minder & Tire Rotation

[kish-81]

I've got almost 7500 miles on my Civic now & was wondering about tire rotation & the Maintenance Mider system. At about 6K miles & 30% I had the oil changed & dealer reset the oil life counter, which I assume will tell the MM not to display the "A" or "B" code. So here's my question:

Can the MM display a subcode like "1" for rotating tires, or must it also display a main code too? If it has to display a main code, I'm screwed, as I won't see an "A" or "B" for quite awhile!

Has anyone seen just a subcode on their MM system?
__________________
2006 LX Sedan AT
Royal Blue Pearl
Ivory Interior

[CivicWithNav]

what I do is follow ONLY oil life on the car and do the rest by mileage...

general stuff
every 7500-Tire Rotation
every 30,000-tranny fluid/coolant/check brake pads/rotors/plugs

stuff like that most stuff that is in the manual, dealers don't do anyway(aka "INSPECT")

[Sli(ks]

I found this website a while ago, the New York Times compiled maintenance schedules for a bunch of different cars and helps you keep track of what to do and when to do it.

Handy little guide if you ask me.

Honda Owner's Link could also help you out.

[kenchan]

on cars that i rotate the tires on i look at the treads to determine
whether a rotation is needed or not. typically though, i start watching
the tires from about 7500miles as noted above.

[kish-81]

I called my local dealer - not very helpful with their answer. They "think" that by resetting the oil meter to zero, this prevented the car from displaying the "A" or "B" maintenance item, AND then prevented the sub-item "1" (rotate tires) to display. I called American Honda & the CSR that I spoke to confirmed this theory of mine, after I gave it to him. It didn't seem like he understood my question at first.

Bottom line, it looks like the MM system isn't that useful for tire rotation tracking, as it will only throw the remider code during oil change reminders!
__________________
2006 LX Sedan AT
Royal Blue Pearl
Ivory Interior

[NighthawkCivic]

Yeah I agre something is up because I totaly forgot about rotating and mine has 15k onit now and no reminder ever came up. I am going to call HOnda as well and see what they say

[Sli(ks]

It says in the manual that you should rotate your tires every 7,500 miles - as well as check for wear and tear and the like. It even has a little diagram showing what wheels to switch out, etc.

What surprised me, is that it also said you should check air pressure at 7,500 miles but I always try to do that more often than that - especially before a long trip, etc.

I wouldn't worry about the computer anyway. I think the oil indicator seems pretty accurate, but that's about all I'd trust it with. Does it even keep track of your tires?

[DC2006CivicEx]

Hey, i also have a question about the MM. Normally i'm going to do my own oil changes, but for this one i was gonna take it to the dealer, so i could finally have an exuse to get them to look at and fix my rear shelf (i procrastinate way to much, and will probably awhile to take in myself..) So i waited until my MM came on at 15% oil life, and it gives me a code B. I called dealer, and they said i needed an appointment for inspection, and brake and calipar stuff, ect.. Basically it's gonna be $150. Now do you guys know if thats really necessary? or can i do it for cheaper, or perhaps myself following guidlines in the honda manual for maintenance? By the way, my car has 9.3k miles on it, and has had one other oil change so far. Thanks

[NighthawkCivic]

Just got off the phone with Honda and here is what they said: The tire rotation notification "1" should come on around 7500 mil mark but that the system will push service items together so as to avoid multiple trips to the dealer. If the rotation should be coming up around 7500 and the oil life is indicating it should be changed around 6500, the MM may signal for tire rotation at that point. If the MM thinks tires are ok it will not signal it at the first oil change but push it to the second.

This sounds like what may have happened to me. I had my oil changed the second time BEFORE it was actually scheduled, as I was making a long distance trip. Therefore the tire rotation was reset then as well.

[fg_arizona]

Something i dont get is i have my car 9800 now, i havent had any codes thrown, i drive really hard too, only three oil changes, and i live in the desert i wonder if my MM is even working, I went 5000 miles on the second oil change and the MM said oil life was still 60%. Is anyone else having that problem.

My typically driving is 0-60 as fast as my arm will shift
90+ on the freeway.

[NighthawkCivic]

Originally Posted by fg_arizona

Something i dont get is i have my car 9800 now, i havent had any codes thrown, i drive really hard too, only three oil changes, and i live in the desert i wonder if my MM is even working, I went 5000 miles on the second oil change and the MM said oil life was still 60%. Is anyone else having that problem.

My typically driving is 0-60 as fast as my arm will shift
90+ on the freeway.

From what Honda told me, it sounds like if you are changing the oil before the 15% mark and resetting the oil life back to 100% your MM will not throw any codes for "1" tire rotation, but I need to look at the manual to see about the other codes, if they are grouped into the oil change intervals as well...If it won't throw any if you don't wait until 15% it makes it (the MM) pratcically useless...I think I am going to call again

[kish-81]

Was this rotation quoted in the tire manual or Civic manual? What page, as I missed this when I looked.
__________________
2006 LX Sedan AT
Royal Blue Pearl
Ivory Interior

Originally Posted by Sli(k

It says in the manual that you should rotate your tires every 7,500 miles - as well as check for wear and tear and the like. It even has a little diagram showing what wheels to switch out, etc.

What surprised me, is that it also said you should check air pressure at 7,500 miles but I always try to do that more often than that - especially before a long trip, etc.

I wouldn't worry about the computer anyway. I think the oil indicator seems pretty accurate, but that's about all I'd trust it with. Does it even keep track of your tires?

[kish-81]

I think you're right about the MM system. If a subcode (1-5, I think) is due, it won't display until a main code is due. Especially for tire rotation, they should have that on a strictly mileage trip point, and NOT tied to the main codes, but then you have the issue of more trips to the dealer. Hey, I stumbled onto something - maybe Honda will split the increased revenue with me when they recall the cars & change the MM software.
__________________
2006 LX Sedan AT
Royal Blue Pearl
Ivory Interior

Originally Posted by NighthawkCivic

From what Honda told me, it sounds like if you are changing the oil before the 15% mark and resetting the oil life back to 100% your MM will not throw any codes for "1" tire rotation, but I need to look at the manual to see about the other codes, if they are grouped into the oil change intervals as well...If it won't throw any if you don't wait until 15% it makes it (the MM) pratcically useless...I think I am going to call again

[Sli(ks]

Here's something I was wondering about in psychology class - does that computer just assume all oils last for X number of miles, and uses that variable (probably somewhere around 5,000 miles) along with data recording your driving habits to figure out the oil's integrity. Or, does it actually differentiate between the different oils available and their different life expectancies, and is it able to recognize that the oil in the car is designed to last longer than the oil Honda would give you? Like, if I bought that 15,000 mile oil I saw on TV and put it in, would it say it needs changing after the standard 5,000 miles or would it realize it was a high mileage oil and tell me at around 15,000 miles when it would actually need changed?

This computer's only really confused me. It was so much easier with my volvo, all I had to do was look at a dipstick, now I have to worry about resetting maintenance reminders and all sorts of crap. More hassle than it's worth if you ask me, heh.

kish-81, I'm not sure what page it was on but it was in the civic manual. You might have a different manual than me if you have a sedan (I have a coupe), but if not it should be in there. I'd go check, but it's in my glove box and my car is parked over a mile away from me, heh.

[odinson]

I believe all the manuals are the same. The information for all models, US and Canada, is in mine (Canadian).