Asking for Maintenance - 2016 Honda Pilot Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited June 2016 in Honda
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Asking for Maintenance - 2016 Honda Pilot Long-Term Road Test

According to the computer in our 2016 Honda Pilot, it's time for another oil change.

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  • kirkhilles1kirkhilles1 Member Posts: 863
    You need to adjust the link. You get to this post too when clicking on the Civic update.
  • ebeaudoinebeaudoin Member Posts: 509
    Over a month with no update? I had honestly forgotten the Pilot was still in fleet!
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,792
    edited June 2016
    Having an oil life monitor is a real plus. Instead of merely having the oil changed at various predetermined intervals, it's actually checking the condition of the oil to determine when it needs to be changed. In this case, we went around 5,000 miles before getting the maintenance light.

    Most oil life monitor systems do NOT test the oil, they are essentially count down clocks that monitor the conditions that have an impact on the life of the oil. When the car experiences cold starts, short trips, excessive idling, heavy engine loads the clock counts down quicker. Warm/hot starts, long trips, high way miles with low load result in the count down running slower. There are some systems that use capacitive sensor's such as Mercedes, however their effectiveness is questionable at best.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Those sensors can detect soot and other stuff, so they are getting lots better.
  • schen72schen72 Member Posts: 433
    thecardoc3 said:

    Having an oil life monitor is a real plus. Instead of merely having the oil changed at various predetermined intervals, it's actually checking the condition of the oil to determine when it needs to be changed. In this case, we went around 5,000 miles before getting the maintenance light.

    Most oil life monitor systems do NOT test the oil, they are essentially count down clocks that monitor the conditions that have an impact on the life of the oil. When the car experiences cold starts, short trips, excessive idling, heavy engine loads the clock counts down quicker. Warm/hot starts, long trips, high way miles with low load result in the count down running slower. There are some systems that use capacitive sensor's such as Mercedes, however their effectiveness is questionable at best.

    +1
    The reliability of these oil life monitors seem to be good in that we haven't heard of engine failures due to lack of fluid changes recently. I wonder why some carmakers still hold out against them, like Toyota/Lexus. I'm sure shady garages aren't happy that they can't scam people into changing their oil every 3000 miles like the bad old days.
  • yellowbalyellowbal Member Posts: 234
    Toyota likes to have 5,000 intervals to cover the tire rotations. Oil changes happen at 10,000 mile intervals.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,883
    " If we had been adhering to the old "every 3,000 miles" rule, we would be nearing our fourth oil change instead of our second. "

    And you would be #1 on the "Friends of Quickylube" list. 3,000 mile changes are not recommended by just about anybody, except some oil change places.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,792
    schen72 said:

    The reliability of these oil life monitors seem to be good in that we haven't heard of engine failures due to lack of fluid changes recently.

    That's not correct, the forums are full of examples of poor maintenance. At first glance they may appear to be something else and many of those owners want to blame the manufacturers products but the main cause is failing to use oils and filters that are approved for the specifications.
    schen72 said:


    I wonder why some carmakers still hold out against them, like Toyota/Lexus.

    Toyota has been trying to allow the API and ILSAC standards to be acceptable for most of their vehicle fleet, however in the last few years they have joined other manufacturers in having specifications that exceed API SN and ILSAC GF5. Do some research about GM's dexos requirement and all of the consumerist pressure that tried to confuse the issue by trying to call it a brand instead of a specification. The Toyota's etc. that today require a product that exceeds the minimal API standard are very well served by the owner choosing a product that is approved for GM's dexos specification.
    schen72 said:


    I'm sure shady garages aren't happy that they can't scam people into changing their oil every 3000 miles like the bad old days.

    Lets get something straight, oil changes are the least profitable service that a shop provides. In fact most shops are lucky if they manage to cover their costs. Reducing the frequency of jobs that don't make money is a blessing not a curse.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited June 2016
    Maybe you see more of them than the general population @thecardoc3, but the forums have been around since forever and I only see 17 discussions with the title "engine failure" in them. That's going back about 14 years, to 2002.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,792
    edited June 2016
    Why are you only looking for "engine failure" when the details have been explained more than a dozen times over the last five years here in the forums?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    So you found 12?

    Doesn't seem to be a mass epidemic.
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,792
    How many engines is Toyota putting a special extended warranty on? How many Chrysler 2,7l had sludging problems and required the newer timing chain and gears? How many GM engines have been reported as having oil consumption issues? Don't count the threads, count the owners that posted about their engine issues and now realize that the people posting here is probably less than 1% of vehicle owners that have had issues.

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    How many Toyota engines actually gelled?

    How many cars did you drive past on your way to work this morning that were broken down on the side of the road because their engine "failed"? This week? This month? This year? The last five years?
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,792
    stever said:

    How many Toyota engines actually gelled?

    How many cars did you drive past on your way to work this morning that were broken down on the side of the road because their engine "failed"? This week? This month? This year? The last five years?

    Again, why are you trying to confuse the readers instead of making sure that they know how to service their cars correctly and why they need to? Why are you using one type of failure as an authoritative representation for the entire range of issues that occur? Besides, why are the exact numbers of failures important when each consumer only cares if their car does?

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited June 2016
    Well, sure, it's a big deal if your engine fails or if your airbag sends shrapnel into your thorax. But in spite of the recalls and extended warranties, the actual number of these kinds of occurrences is low and doesn't indicate that we all need to run to the dealer every three months to change our oil. All one needs to do if follow the manual or maintenance indicator light.
  • masterncmasternc Member Posts: 14
    I was told differential fluid changes in my CR-V happen about every 15k miles, which I imagine applies to all Honda AWD vehicles (this one was probably accelerated since you're close). The cost was about $100 to do the service the last time.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,883
    15K? Wow, that's frequent. What does your owners manual say?
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,792
    stever said:

    doesn't indicate that we all need to run to the dealer every three months to change our oil.

    So who is advocating that here?
    stever said:


    All one needs to do if follow the manual or maintenance indicator light.

    Emphasis on follow the manual which includes the specifications for the products as well as the intervals. The maintenance reminder system doesn't work correctly if the fluid specifications are not adhered to.



  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited June 2016
    thecardoc3 said:

    stever said:

    doesn't indicate that we all need to run to the dealer every three months to change our oil.

    So who is advocating that here?
    Someone said oil life indicators "effectiveness is questionable at best". And since we poor consumers can't trust that our techs even know the specs for our engines, much less trust that they won't dump generic 10w30 in, what are we supposed to do? Play it safe and change the oil every 3,000 miles whether it needs it or not? Or follow the manual and oil life indicator?


  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,792
    stever said:


    Someone said oil life indicators "effectiveness is questionable at best".

    Nobody said that. I wrote that Mercedes has a capacitive sensor that is part of some of their systems that is questionable in its performance. The original article stated that the Civic tests the condition of the oil and that is false. Do you want consumers to be mislead by information here?
    stever said:



    And since we poor consumers can't trust that our techs even know the specs for our engines,

    Well it's not like you are doing the consumers, nor the techs any favors here with statements like that, nor this
    stever said:


    much less trust that they won't dump generic 10w30 in, what are we supposed to do?
    Play it safe and change the oil every 3,000 miles whether it needs it or not? Or follow the manual and oil life indicator?

    It seems that you do want them to be misinformed, why else would you have to post such questions?



  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    So what's the answer, believe the oil life sensor or not?
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,792
    On that Mercedes? They should follow the oil life monitor which runs the same as all of the test of their systems. The owner wouldn't know if that sensor's input caused the monitor to require servicing or not. For the owners sake, they better hope that the capacitive sensor doesn't ever trigger the service requirement. While the sensor is part of the system it's a secondary, or said another way, a last chance input. The countdown monitor is supposed to predict the oil's lifespan. That sensor can only report when the oil has already failed to protect the engine.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited June 2016
    On any car. Do you trust the oil life monitor or do you get your oil changed at 3,000 miles? :)
  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,792
    edited June 2016
    You already know the answer
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited June 2016
    I know what I do on my '09 with the monitor, just wondering what you do. Maybe your Explorer doesn't have one, but if it does (or did), do (or would) you trust it?
  • masterncmasternc Member Posts: 14
    texases said:

    15K? Wow, that's frequent. What does your owners manual say?

    It goes by the Maintenance Minder - no mileage specified in the manual. Some say it happens every 15k, others say just at 15k and then every 30k thereafter. I'm at 32k and nothing yet (but had last oil change done just before 30k, so might get the notification next time around).
  • allthingshondaallthingshonda Member Posts: 878
    160,000 miles on my Acura, oil changes done only when Maintenance Minder indicates it's needed (sometimes not until the pass due warning comes up) and not one problem with the engine. Doesn't even burn oil between 10,000 mile changes. I have faith in the system. BTW Honda's oil life monitor system is actually licensed from GM and Honda tweaks the programming to include all other maintenance needs.
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