Honda CR-V Maintenance and Repair

barryj1 · January 2012

With the new AWD in the 2012, is it still recommended to replace all four tires if one is damaged? What other maintenance is required with an AWD?

crkyolfrt · February 2012

This would depend on how many miles are on the other 3 (or 4 if you rotate the spare, which is highly recommended from the beginning) The idea is to try to keep all four tires in use, a similar outside circumference. i.e. If you had 3 tires with 40000 miles and were 3/4 or more used up, and then if you chose a brand new tire of the identical brand, model, size, then the new tire would have a larger outside circumference and in one mile, it goes around fewer revolutions than the other 3 used tires and this matters for two reasons if the difference was severe enough. First, you want the differentials in your axles, to be spinning the same RPM from left to right and on AWD cars, front to rear also. Small variations are not considered a deal breaker. The other issue though is the stability control system which uses many components including ABS etc that measures the rotations of each wheel and sometimes the parameters are quite strict and don't allow for much variance. This could be tested by letting out air of one tire (about 15 lb lower than the rest) and driving a short distance to see if the ESC light flashes on the dash.

Pretty hard to advise much more here on email without not being there and being able to discuss in person and see the car and the old and new tires under consideration.

If the spare is full sized, and since it is a 2012 car, you probably don't have that many miles on the originals I would use it. If it was my car and I had 10000 or less miles and if the spare is not full sized, I would buy one new same brand /model /size tire and call it a day.
Hope that helps.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2012

yes, outside circumference is the key word. I know with Subarus, the experts said no more than 1/4 inch variance in outside circumference. That's not a lot of wear but it might be enough slack so that you don't have to replace all tires.

kenneth813 · February 2012

My 08 CR-V has 35,000 and dealer suggest change ATF, brake field and power steering field. Should I change it?

mcdermott · February 2012

You should take a moment and read this article, written by a shop owner.

http://autos.aol.com/article/fluid-flush-fallacy/

bellavida · February 2012

I am seeking to replace my 1997 Honda Civic LX...it's been 15 yrs, 140,000 HAPPY miles and we must part. I have test-driven a RAV 4 and CRV. I like them both but it comes down to the horrible design of the RAV4 rear door...I cannot live with it opening out instead of the hatchback. If you had to do it over again...would you buy a Honda CRV? For me buying a car is a necessary evil....I don't enjoy the process but I want something reliable with good mileage.

kenneth813 · February 2012

Thanks for the reply. I know we don't need to change those fields so often or maybe we don't even need to change it. I just want to know if something that I need to change or just top it up, I don't mind. I checked the owner manual, the maintenance minder only has "3" for transmission and "5" for coolant, brake field should change every 3 years, but didn't mention about the power steering field.

oldbearcat · February 2012

I own a 2010 CRV, and, if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't buy it. I use the CRV as a business driver, and, with all the interstate driving I do, it simply doesn't deliver enough fuel economy to put up with its level of performance. If you want good mileage, and, do a fair amount of running at interstate speeds, I suggest you look at other brands - unless you'll be satisfied with average fuel economy in the low 20's.

Regards:
Oldbearcat

dadschum · February 2012

Just took my car in for A1 service this morning. I bought the car new in Sept 2007 and it currently has 44,438K miles on it .

When the car was last serviced in May 2011 they told me I would need front brake pads and rotors resurfaced next time I came in. Granted that was 9 months ago and fortunately I have only had the car serviced on average once every 9-12 months since I bought the car .

When it was last serviced the brake pads were at 4MM and I had about 40K miles on the car.

I do mainly city driving in New England. Today, after they inspected the car they have now told me that not only to I need new brake pads but I need new rotors as well. They cannot be resurfaced.

So, my question is this: Are completely replacing new front rotors normal at 44K miles on a car that is 4 1/2 years old? I had the rear brake pads done and those rotors resurfaced at 33K miles. This is the first time the front brakes have been touched on this car.

Thanks for your help.

pmac72 · February 2012

My wife was just quoted $429.95 for her 30,000 mile maintenance from a Honda dealer garage. Now she's asking me if she should go ahead with it.

With absolutely no background info beyond that, it seems quite high to me. However, I'm not sure what gets done and what's reasonable in our market (Santa Monica, CA).

Is this an unreasonable quote? We are not DIY car people so please don't reply with that.

stever · February 2012

Check out the Edmunds Car Maintenance Guide for what it should cost in your zip code.

pmac72 · February 2012

OK so that tool gave me a total of $135.68.

Guess we have to shop around. Would be nice if the estimator tool gave links to garages.

stever · February 2012

Good idea, going to pass that along.

Meanwhile we have a link for Local Repair Shops and Click and Clack have a mechanic's file over at cartalk.com.

vpal · February 2012

Can someone tell me what is the Fluid change intervals for Honda CRV. I have been doing the following:
Oil change - every 5k miles
Rear Diff fluid - 15k
Transmission fluid - 30k
Brake fluid - ?
Power steering - ?
Tire rotation - 5k
Alignment - 10k

Please let me know if above is appropriate or I need change or add anything? I live in Charlotte which has Normal driving conditions. Please let me know any more regular maintainace I need to do. Thanks!

kyfdx · February 2012

I don't have the factory numbers, but one thing I wouldn't do is pay for an alignment every 10K miles.... Unless your car is exhibiting some symptom of needing it...

I drove my 2002 model CR-V for over 100K miles.... and, never had it aligned.. If it ain't broke, don't fix it...

Most manufacturers suggest changing brake fluid every two years..

Power steering fluid? I've never changed it, unless there was a repair to the steering rack..

The rest of your intervals seem fine... I know they've had problems with the rear diff on CR-Vs in the past... but, not sure I'd change that every 15K, either... unless it exhibited symptoms of a problem.. But, as noted above, I don't know the factory specified interval.

blueiedgod · February 2012

I believe for 2007 and up, you have to follow the maintenance minder, not a pre-set schedule.

Oil change - every 5k miles
Rear Diff fluid - 15k
Transmission fluid - 30k
Brake fluid - 3 years, regardless of mileage
Power steering - depends, Honda does not specify, but I change every year along with ATF (wife's CR-V) and MTF (my CR-V), and differential fluid
Tire rotation - 5k
Alignment - 10k

fussycrvowner · February 2012

Not sure if this is overkill - on my '02 a flush would be changing the fluid (3 qts.) and driving for a short time. Do this 3 times. What has been working for me is to do a simple change about every year or sooner. The shift improvement is noticeable. Very easy to do - one drain plug on the bottom of the case. Use only Honda fluid or you will end up having to do a flush anyway.

lreeves1 · March 2012

i put the code machine on it and it came back with two codes p0420 catalyst something and code P1456 Manufacacter control Auxillery emmisions control, the past several months every now and then it would be going down the road and just die??? now it wont crank!! Could someone just tell me what it is and what i need to do to fix it???? Please

fussycrvowner · March 2012

I'm not sure if this is the correct discussion for A/C questions but worth a shot. Last weekend I took my '02 to a local Midas shop to have an exhaust noise looked at. BIG MISTAKE. While they sealed and fixed the original problem, the idiots let all of the freon out of my system. The reason I know this is that before I took it in I had working AC. It didn't work when I got the car back and I found the low pressure fitting wet with oil and leak dye. I know the system holds around 17-18 ounces and I don't want to overcharge. So far I put in 12 ounces and it blows cool but not quite. Is using the gauge on the can sufficient or do I need to take it in for a complete evacuate/recharge with a measured amount replaced? :mad:

baseline1 · April 2012

My car is 2009 Honda CR-V. The warranty is just over.

Last week, I found this car has the steeling wheel shakes sometime. Basically the shaking happens when the speed is going to around 75 miles. But it is not always shaking at that speed.

The shaking is not really hard. And it is almost stopping if I use two hands with strength.

I am just wondering whether someone has any comment. I appreciate it.

georgew1 · April 2012

Have you tires balanced and you will eliminate the shimmy.
George

tnwebers · May 2012

We bought the car new. The same dealer has done all major maintenance and most routine oil changes, and all periodic normal service work. Last week, all spark plugs/wires were replaced (we have 175,000+ miles) and oil changed by dealer. My husband (who is the primary driver) had to make a business trip to Atlanta, GA and while in stop-n-go traffic, the car overheated. He turned off A/C, turned on heater, and the gauge went back to normal range. This was a first occurance(overheating) and has not recurred since. Today (exactly one week after having spark plug service and oil changed), I took the car to the dealer expecting to hear the thermostat needed replacing. The report I got dropped my chin to the floor - the water pump was leaking, the head gasket was leaking, and the engine needed to be replaced!!! WHAT???? I asked if they were certain they were talking about our car and they confirmed. Folks, we have had no issues other than the one overheating episode last week --- no oil leaks, no water leaks, no noise, no nothing! Is it possible that the entire engine/head gasket/water pump all need replacing with no symptoms?? HELP!

Mr_Shiftright · May 2012

Sounds rather dramatic--the dealer I mean. Even if the head gasket were bad, I don't see why the entire engine would need replacing.

It would be good for you to know how they exactly diagnosed the bad head gasket. If they can't explain it, they didn't do it.

srizvi1 · May 2012

Haven't posted in here in a while. For a while I was good about posting service updates for our 2007 CR-V AWD EX-L. My last detailed post was Feb 2010 when the car was at 73,390 miles (the post I'm replying to). The car is now at 132k miles. Again, it was bought new in Spring 2007.

I'm not sure of everything that's been done with it since then. I know the oil changes were done pretty regularly whenever the maintenance minder went off. Usually at the dealer. I think the oil changes were usually accompanied by the 19th pt inspection.

Last year, I Tried to do the oil change my self once but couldn't do it. But the dealer said he will only charge $10 for the oil change if I bring the oil and filter.

We try to do the Tire Rotation and balance as often as we can. When we replaced the tires, we mounted them at Walmart and got free lifetime rotation and balance. Last time this was done was in September, need to do this soon.

In 9/2011, when the vehicle was at 116k miles, we changed the Air and Cabin Air filter on our own.

In 11/2011, my brother and I did the brake fluid change on our own. I think this is supposed to be every 3 years regardless of mileage. We were over a year late on this and the car was something between 120k-121k.

Looking through Edmunds, browsing over the the past 80k of inspections, here's what I think we should be looking at:

135k
-~~Brake Fluid Flush/Replace~~(mentioned this above)

130k (and every 10k up until here)
-~~Replace oil~~(at 30% according to the maintenance minder, don't need to worry about this now. Plus instead of doing just the oil change and not the filter change, I like to just do both in one shot.
-~~tire rotation~~ (I mentioned this above)
Lubricate Hinges, locks & latches

120k
-Change Automatic transmission fluid
-Flush/Replace Coolant

120k (and every 60k prior)
-Inspect/adjust Drive belt(s)

120k miles (and every 30k miles prior):
-~~Replace Air filter and Cabin air filter~~ I mentioned what's up with the air and cabin air filter earlier.

120k (and every 20k miles prior)
-~~Replace Engine Oil filter~~ I mentioned what's up with the engine oil and filter above
-Inspect Brakes
-Inspect Brake lines, hoses & connections
-Inspect boots & seals Drive axles
-Inspect Exhaust system
-Inspect Fluid levels
-Inspect Fuel lines & hoses
-Check operation Lights & accessories
-Inspect/adjust Parking brake
-Inspect Steering
-Inspect Suspension
-Inspect Tie rod ends, steering gearbox & boots

110k miles
-Replace Spark Plugs (Anyone know any good spark plugs?)
-Inspect Valve Clearance

90k
Rear Differential Fluid - This was actually done at 73k. I made a post on it here.

Any thoughts on everything I'll have them focus on?

I also have a few other issues which aren't related to Scheduled Maintenance:

1) The A/C still isn't working. I posted about that a while ago over here. The dealer fixed something. That wasn't the problem. Then they looked at it again and said the part needed was the "CONTROL MODULE, ENGINE (REWRITABLE)" (Part NO.: 37820-RZA-A77). I googled and the cheapest I found it was from hondapartsnow.com for $362: http://www.hondapartsnow.com/genuine/honda~control~module~engine~37820-RZA-A77.h- - - tml

But before I get the part, I want to have it confirmed.

2) A loud noise is under my car when the car is in drive but held in place by the brakes. It's like a loud rattle. I think I bothered something when I went over a dip.

3) Tire Life - we've had our Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza 225/65 R17 tires since June 2009 when the car was at 57k miles. They've been great. I'm wondering how much life they may have left though. We've tried to rotate them regularly.

4) The little yellow exclamation mark is on which I Think means that there's an issue with tire pressure. But I think the tire pressure is fine so I'm thinking there could be a problem here.

srizvi1 · May 2012

My service person at the dealer is saying if I bring my own parts, the cost breakdown would be as follows:

Transmission Fluid service: $43 (4 quarts needed, one drain washer plug)
Coolant Replacement: $56 (1 bottle needed)

Spark Plugs Replacement and Valve Clearance: 2.5 hrs x $109 = $272.50 (Spark Plugs and Valve Cover gasket needed).
Drive Belt (he's saying at this point, it should just be replaced, not just inspected and adjusted): 1hr of service @ $109 (Serpentine belt needed).

I took a print out from handa-accessories.com of all the maintenance items needed for the 2007 CR-V and their prices to the Parts department of this Honda dealer.

I got them to match handa's prices for the:
- transmission fluid @ $6.18 a quart and got 4 of them along with the drain plug washer
- Coolant @ $14.43 (got 2 of the gallon containers, keeping 1 for later, and actually already have 1).
- Air Filter @ $19.98 (don't need this now but will later.

Couldn't get them to match the price to handa for the cabin air filter but it makes sense because handa has an Aftermarket Pollen Filter not an OEM. Theirs is $12.45, The dealer went down to $25 for their OEM one. I just grabbed it.

Anyways, total was $100ish for everything.

Tomorrow I'll get just the Coolant and the Transmission fluid taken care of. And in this visit, they'll check out all the non-service items issues that I have - the A/C, tire sensor, tires, and the loud noise.

I'll research the spark plugs and see what's good. handa has the NGK Laser Iridium Spark plug at $14.49 each and 4 are required. I'm not sure if that's the one that Honda Dealer would have and if they do, if they would match this price (Assuming it's the cheapest).

Then next time get the spark plugs and valve clearance taken care of. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the valve cover gasket because I don't see that available from Handa.

But Handa does have the Serpentine Belt at $43.85. I may push that for an even later visit. split up all these major maintenance items a bit.

Also in my next visit my oil change should be do. I'd like to start using Mobil 1 Synthetic Oil from now on. I wonder then how far I can push the oil. I'm thinking it'll be at least 10k miles in between oil changes.

ndmike88 · June 2012

Just took our 2012 CR-V in for it's first oil change at the dealer. I was charged $38.18. Is this the going price for an oil change at a Honda dealer?

Mr_Shiftright · June 2012

Sounds like a great deal, actually.

stever · June 2012

Ten bucks cheaper than what the Edmunds Car Maintenance Guide says it would cost.

Let me guess - they didn't rotate your tires?

ndmike88 · June 2012

You're right. Just an oil change. Only had 4000 miles. Leaving for vacation on Friday..wanted the oil changed before we left.

stever · June 2012

4,000 miles?

Honda says the oil is good for 10,000 miles. They used to make a big deal about not changing the initial factory "break in" oil early too.

You could have saved yourself $30 and the engine would be just fine.

Of course, most dealers won't tell you that.

Enjoy the road trip!

ndmike88 · June 2012

I did it for peace of mind.....old school I guess.

stever · June 2012

I doubt that you're any older than me and I quit dumping good oil down the drain back in the 80s. Okay, 90s. :shades:

ndmike88 · June 2012

Born in 1954......your turn

stever · June 2012

1952 - big 6-0 this year. :shades:

ndmike88 · June 2012

Hope you have 60 more in good health.

stever · June 2012

Thanks (I think, lol). My knees creak like they are due for a lube job.

On another note, setting aside money to handle warranty claims is an indicator of how reliable a car is. Guess what company does especially well in that regard?

At Honda, things have never been better, as warranty costs continue to drop (Warranty Week)

Not much comfort if you have to come to this problems discussion to post, but chances are you won't have too much company.

tricia77 · June 2012

Hi. I just purchased my 07 honda CR-V slightly over a month ago. While on a trip to the doctor (65 miles away from home roughly) I lost part of my car! It was during a wind storm (I live in NM) so when I went to search for it to no avail I could not find it. So my question is what is this "part" called. it is the plastic bumper style piece on the bottom of the doors (in my case the drivers side door piece is what RIPPED right off) Yup ripped right off ... ALL of the clip pieces except like 3 are still in the door) The Honda dealer gave me a price on it and I misplaced the paper and I was going to see if I couldn't find the part cheaper here online.

Mr_Shiftright · June 2012

Left side rocker panel trim?

tricia77 · June 2012

panel/molding yep thats it THANKS!

tricia77 · June 2012

nope i take that back

http://www.bkhondaparts.com/index.php?p=catalog&mode=search&search_in=all&search- _str=75332-swa-003&make=Honda

i found the paper

Mr_Shiftright · June 2012

Sounds more like paprika than a car part :P

Anyway, I did look at a picture, and yep, it's a rocker panel trim piece with an expensive name... :P

tricia77 · June 2012

Its the part on the bottom of the door not under the door/vehicle

Mr_Shiftright · July 2012

Okay, I give up...garnish it is. I'll remember that!

jim12 · July 2012

Don't let that dealer touch your car. Go to a good local mechanic and get second opinion.

turksanderson · July 2012

This problem first began 6 weeks ago. 2005 Honda CR-V SE with 85,000 miles. Have taken the vehicle to my mechanic, who recently changed the VTEC Oil Control Solenoid Valve. My mechanic kept the vehicle all day & drove it around 5 different times the other day, whereby the malfunction indicator lamp didn't return.

However, the light appeared again the other day as soon as I started the car. Took it back to my mechanic who again read the code P0341 , which indicates a stretched timing chain. My mechanic insists that the car is running fine, & that I shouldn't worry about it unless I begin to hear noise coming from the engine. Any advice or thoughts? I should mention that my mechanic is an independent shop & not a Honda dealership. Thanks.

Mr_Shiftright · July 2012

Well it's the cam chain that might be damaged...also the solenoid could have a bad/loose connection.

so he'd best check the cam chain for looseness, check the cam timing, and, as well re-check his connections at the new solenoid.

There may be various resets he could also do with the scan tool.

turksanderson · July 2012

Thanks, Mr. Shiftright. The dealership wants $1400 for a new cam chain. However, my mechanic states that the cam chain is fine & isn't making any noise so I shouldn't worry about it. I'm on the fence on this one...

Mr_Shiftright · July 2012

well, I guess he could re-check the solenoid connections but the car's computer must be sensing some kind of engine timing variations out of spec.

theriver · July 2012

04 CRV -

I would like to change the plastic lens on the instrument panel - broken and discolored). I will not be removing any of the gauges just the plastic glass. It does not look like a tough job - the lens looks like it is just apiece of plastic. For the life of me I can't see any screws to take the plastic frame out (which has some funny name).

Anyway - anyone know is 1) this is an easy job and 2) how to do it.

It is more cosmetic, irritating than safety so if it is involved just might forget it.

thanks

blueiedgod · July 2012

You have to take the gauge cluster out of the vehicle to do that. The clear lens is held by clips on the side of the gauge cluster.

You have to remove the trim around the gauge cluster to get to the cluster screws. If you have automatic it is a little more involved since the shifter is right up there. On the manual, you just pull on the trim, straight out and it will pop.

Honda CR-V Maintenance and Repair

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