Due for 7,500-Mile Service - 2016 Honda Pilot Long-Term Road Test

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Due for 7,500-Mile Service - 2016 Honda Pilot Long-Term Road Test

Service is due for our 2016 Honda Pilot. We'll take it in for an oil change and have the broken heated steering wheel looked at.

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nate001

I have never seen a manufacturer recommend oil only no filter, that seems odd since that would leave dirty used oil in the filter and once the oil is drained out changing the filter takes almost no time at all. I would have them change it, those filters are not that expensive even at a dealership.

I would say the oil change should be simple to do yourself, but since you need to have the heated steering wheel checked, you might as well let them change the oil also.

stever

Seems like the oil left in the filter would get pumped through the filter before returning to the oil passages in the engine. And there's no reason why the filter media couldn't be spec'd to handle the additional filtering.

And yeah, while I've heard about no filter oil changes before, my (few) rides always required a new filter.

longtimelurker

False economy. With a vehicle that large, fairly highly-stressed engine pushing all that weight through AWD, that will be used for hauling and some towing...I'm gonna say that I don't want the same oil filter in it for 14,000 miles.

thecardoc3

By the book. Service "A" only calls for changing the oil. Service "B" calls for the oil and the filter to be serviced.
If the proper oil is used and serviced on time, it should not be getting dark and gelled and the only thing the filter would need to trap would be metallic wear debris, which should be negligible. If someone services this with a conventional product that falls short of protecting the engine correctly, it will in all likelihood still make it out of warranty but long term ownership will see the engine suffer. Do not take oil specification requirements lightly, there are no good, better, best choices here.

schen72

Note that the Honda/Acura system uses an oil life monitor, and is not mileage based, like the title of the blog suggests. On my Acuras, for each "A" service, the dealer automatically changes the oil filter anyway. As for the heated steering wheel, I predict the dealer will confirm it doesn't work, will order a new wheel for installation and ask you to either come back or provide a loaner for 1-2 days.

sda

I doubt the Honda dealer would change the oil without replacing the filter, even though a filter isn't technically required.

kirkhilles1

For our Pilot, I always replace the oil filter everytime and use the quality A01 filters instead of the cheaper Fram A02 filters they use now. The reality is that despite our obsession with oil and engines, its the least of our concerns. I'd be more worried about a transmission failure rather than a oil related engine failure.

allthingshonda

Honda has had recommended changing the filter every other oil change for as long as I can remember. No dealer has ever changed the oil without changing the filter.