No matter how many times you mash the gas or pull to redline a day, its not considered hard driving. Lots of people think that driving in that style is hard on the car, but in reality the only type of driving that's hard on cars is on the track, or very short brief trips that don't allow the engine to fully warm up.

That being said, there's no real reason to change your oil before your light comes on, or before about 5,000 miles. Even with convential dino oil, you're fine for that interval. All current motor oils that pass SAE standards are made extremely well, and as long as you're using the correct grade, it doesn't really matter what oil you use. If you use synthetic, and the car is again only street driven, then 8,000 and beyond is usually fine.

As far as differential and transmission, I'd say 10-15k or once a year should suffice.

However if the vehicle is tracked (not once every six months BS) then more frequent changes will be required.

 

For those with MY 2006 or later, if you need your differential and manual transmission fluids changed will this appear on the "mainenance minder" on the dashboard?

Or does that only appear on the display when your oil needs changing too? The OM is very unclear about this.

 

I just called my Honda dealership service dept to see what they said about how often the manual and differential fluids should be changed.

They said every 30,000 miles. Is this unreasonable?

 

Ack, my head hurts from all this random info being thrown out. Plus there are probably 100 threads about this with most of the replies being "read your frickin' manual"!! I like to be more helpful most of the time.

I go by the "Severe" Maintenance Schedule in my 2000 owner's manual that came with the car. I only vary this schedule with a 6k mile oil change interval (OCI) since I use synthetic.

-Engine Oil = 6k (I use Mobil1 10w30)
-Transmission = every 30k (I use Redline MTL)
-Diff = every 15k (I use Mobil1 75w90)
-Brakes = every 45k (I use ATE Super Blue)
-Clutch = not listed so I do it the same time as the brakes

That "minder" is for the engine oil only.

-Hockey

 

With all due respect, hockey, the minder on the dashboard display in my 2006 OM indicates symbols for manual and differential fluids changing reminders as well.

This is on page 139 of my manual.

This is why the OM manual is so confusing on the 2006: it does not indicate any mileage intervals at all regarding these fluid changes. It simply says to go by the "minder" on the display.

For example it says, "The differential should be drained and refillled with new fluid according to the intervals shown on the information display."

But if the display is reset every time you change the oil, then how does it display correct manual trans and differential minders?

 

For synthetic oil, I would change every 5-6k miles or every 6 months. Doing it every 3,000 miles is a waste of money.

According to Honda, the diff fluid should be changed every 30,000 miles, and the transmission fluid every 90,000 miles under normal use.

Personally I change both every 15-20k miles. 1) just to keep the diff clean and happy, and 2) because the tranny gets noticeably less smooth well before 90k miles. SAE90 hypoid gear oil, API classification GL5 or GL6 for thd diff. Personally I use Lubrication Engineers 607 Almasol SAE 90 LE1605. I'm using this for the winter too. For the tranny, I stick to the New Honda MTF (green cap).

 

Well, with almost 20,000 on my odo, I just dropped off my S for a differential fluid change, a man trans fluid change, an engine air filter change and a dust and pollen filter change.

I hope it's not too soon and a waste of money, but based on what other owners are doing, it seems to be not too far off the mark.

 

Fair enough. That makes sense now that you explained it more....and your question is valid. How about this......when you reset the oil minder it reads 100% and starts clicking down with time - right? If there is a percentage meter for each one (presuming only) then can you check those percentages after resetting the other? Follow?

-Hockey

 

Yes, I follow, but there is not a percentage meter for each one. Presumably, the symbols appear in the display for the dif fluid and the man trans fluid only when service is required.

Now, do the trans fluid and dif fluid minders reset each time the oil change minder is reset? Or rather, does the computer keep track of those individually?

Since I don't know, and the OM does not specify a mileage interval, it's confusing. Bottom line, I'll keep track of my own mileage and change these fluid levels between 15k and 20k miles. I think that's safe.

I wonder how other MY 2006+ owners do this? Do they play it by ear as I do or do they wait for the symbols to appear in their maintenance minder display on the dashboard?

 

Why?