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Oil % - where to check it?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by andreimontreal, Oct 15, 2019.

  1. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    I googled it, but could not find anything other than this statement: " According to Honda, the "A" stands for an oil and filter change,..." What else does it stand for?
     
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Read carefully: "A" signifies just the oil is changed, not the filter. The Maintenance Minder alternates: one time it's "A" (oil change only), the next it's "B" (oil and filter change). In a nutshell, Honda advocates to change the filter at alternate oil changes. I warned you...

    Screen grab from the attachment in my post #11:

    upload_2019-10-17_7-48-9.png

    It happens to be from a 2010 Honda Pilot Owner's Manual, but it's the same for all models.
     
    #22 Mendel Leisk, Oct 17, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2019
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  3. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Oh really? Darn it, I must have missed that info. I know I have looked it up on the maintenance schedule, but did not pay enough attention to catch that detail. If I have known this, I could have finished the last oil change on my son's CR-Z much easier. lol

    Here is the rest of story:
    Last maintenance I had to do for my son's CRZ, the code was indeed A-1. I assumed I needed to do "oil and filter" and rotation. Tires were just rotated after winter change over. Thus, I proceeded to do just "oil and filter" on his car. This was the first scheduled maintenance on his car after he purchased it used last December. Since I had leftover oil and filter from HCH, I thought I had everything I needed for the job. Raising the car up was the biggest problem. The front was too low to use the ramp or floor jack. I had to raise it by the side, one at a time. After getting the car up high, I took off the under cover and the drain plug, and drained oil. So far so good, then I tried to remove the filter. I had a filter wrench for OEM Honda oil filter for HCH. But, but, but... the filter that was on this used car was aftermarket canister filter that was slightly larger than Honda OEM filter. My wrench would not fit on it. Here, if I knew I did not have to change the filter on A-1 maintenance code, I could have just changed oil and called it done. Instead, I tried to change the oil and filter, but the filter could not be removed because of wrong size wrench. My son needed the car that afternoon. So, instead of using expensive 0W-20 oil I had, I used old 5W-30 oil I bought for the lawn mower and such, just to fill the engine for him to drive the car to work that day. I had to go to a store to get an universal oil wrench. And do the oil and filter change all over again the following day, this time filling with 0W-20 oil and replacing aftermarket filter with genuine Honda OEM filter.

    IMG_20190825_103046.jpg
     
    #23 Salamander_King, Oct 17, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2019
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  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    One of the few times I got dealership oil changes for our previous 06 Civic Hybrid, I asked them to abide by the Honda instruction for a type "A" oil change (I'd just noticed it myself. They basically let me know I was nuts. They even noted on the invoice that the oil would appear dirty because "customer requested to not change oil filter". They also perenially overfilled (the spec called for 3.2 liters, they dumped in 4, always...).

    I went back to DIY after twigging to the overfill. There's something wrong with the picture, when you pay someone to change your oil, then afterwards you're lying under the jacked up car, tricking out about 3 cups...

    BTW: one trick, even though I didn't change the filter on the "A" events, I would remove it and pour out the content.
     
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  5. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Thanks. Good to know trick, now I have proper oil filter wrench that fits. Though, I might just continue to do "oil and filter" on both A and B codes, since I bought oil filters in bulk for my HCH and still have 5 more in stock. LOL
     
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah it doesn't hurt, for sure. That's what I'm doing with the Prius. Toyota maintenance specs it for one, and: that cannister and O-ring makes me nervous, I definitely would not want the O-ring failing from reuse, and don't want leave it longer than one oil change.

    I've toyed too, with converting to the spin-on style, it's a Toyota Corolla part IIRC. Currently produced Prius and Prime are also spin-on.

    Still, what I have is fine, so I don't want to mess with it. And it seems to me a little better for the environment, not having the metal/rubber casing disposed of every time, just the inner filter element.
     
    #26 Mendel Leisk, Oct 17, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2019
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  7. andreimontreal

    andreimontreal Active Member

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    I would have installed 4 penguins that would pop out of under what have you with'a "Boss, time to change oil". At least you know you got a reliable smart system.
     
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  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Mid-April and Mid-October for oil/filter change, I can manage to remember that. It's always months before miles for me.

    Tri-yearly I do the brakes, front in spring, rear in fall.

    Also tri-yearly: change the brake fluid, in the fall, in conjunction with snow tire swap.

    Transaxle fluid, once in a blue moon now, having done it more times than I care to admit.
     
  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    When multiple people are driving a pool of multiple vehicles, "just keep track of your miles" collapses. The window stickers or other reminders become necessary.
     
    #29 fuzzy1, Oct 17, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2019
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  10. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    I totally agree. I believe we were only talking about a single, or 2 vehicles....

     
  11. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Having lived in such a household only a tiny fraction of my driving life -- just the post-college, pre-partnership years -- I just don't think in those terms.
     
  12. CR94

    CR94 Senior Member

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    Very good post, up until you confused the Miles-to-km/hr button with a steering-wheel button.
     
  13. CR94

    CR94 Senior Member

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    Stop worrying about the O-ring! It won't leak, unless it is abused. I've left one through nearly six changes now, and it hasn't leaked a drop. I might change it next time, just for fun..
     
  14. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Maybe that is also how the shops techs unintentionally clear the Trip meters?

    OK, for a refresher, here it is, page 403 in the 2012 manual:

    upload_2019-10-20_21-36-21.png