Skipping my next a01 check

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by glockgirl, Nov 26, 2018.

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  1. glockgirl

    glockgirl Member

    My 2nd a01 alert came up. I have less then 13k on my tires and 75% of that in EV range. I'm getting my tires rotated every 6k but I'm going to skip the oil change this time around. No need to pay $50 for less then 6K in HV mode. Saving my $$$
     
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  3. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Honda engines are usually very reliable so you probably don't have to worry about the company denying a warranty claim due to skipping a recommended oil change.
     
    glockgirl likes this.
  4. jdonalds

    jdonalds Well-Known Member

    My only concern is if I need Honda to do some warranty work they could balk if I don't do all of the service work.
     
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  5. MNSteve

    MNSteve Well-Known Member

    I have the same concern and would be interested to hear if anyone has actually experienced it.
     
  6. craze1cars

    craze1cars Well-Known Member

    If your engine fails and it is proven to be due to lack of oil changes they may not cover the replacement engine. All other systems do not rely on engine oil so the warranty on the rest of the car would not be impacted.
     
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  8. Clarity_Newbie

    Clarity_Newbie Active Member

    Glockgirl

    Every owner of the Clarity has to decide how to deal with the disparity between the odometer and miles actually put on the ICE.

    The Honda maintenance minder may work well on the typical car with an ice...not so much on the Clarity as it seemingly informs folks its time to change oil around the 6500 - 7500 mark on the odo irrespective of ICE miles.

    My personal approach is to change the oil every 12 months or 15000 miles on the odometer, which ever comes first. Why 15000 miles? If I figure a conservative 60% EV factor...that in turn equates to 6000 miles on ICE.

    Why 12 months? Because that is in the manual as a requirement for proper maintenance which would be hard to defend not doing...plus there is some data that suggests oil degrades over time that I don't disagree with.

    As most of us do, I maintain a spreadsheet that closely tracks miles, gallons of gas, kWh charged etc. to provide a fair representation of ICE vs EV miles. Documentation is the key if the warranty ever comes into question...and I have no doubt Honda will spend many dollars to defeat a consumer on a matter like this...just because they can. In the highly unlikely event something goes wrong with the supposedly impeccable Honda engine...the onus will be on the consumer to prove the maintenance met "their" standards.

    If you decide to forgo the MM service alerts...my suggestion is to keep impeccable records of all work done and the methodology you use to calculate ICE miles between oil changes. The game is stacked against you since most folks acquiesce when it comes down to the brass tacks and Honda USA knows this.

    Good call on the tire rotation.

    Hope this helps.

    Good luck.
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2018
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  9. Dmiko

    Dmiko New Member

    If 75% was in EV, than 25% of 13K = 3.25K in HV mode?
    I will be due for the first A01 at 7.5K total miles with 15-20% HV mode, meaning 1.2-1.4K HV. Only 25 gallons burned total. Will either skip the whole service or replace the oil myself without changing the filter. I have a pump that sucks oil through the dipstick tube. 3.5 quarts of oil is < $10. Just waste and a bit of hassle.
     
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  10. Steven B

    Steven B Active Member

    You must live in the Middle East if 3.5 qts of 0w20 is less than $10.
     
  11. Electra

    Electra Active Member

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  13. Dmiko

    Dmiko New Member

    Price after rebate. You can routinely get 5-quart jugs of M1/Pennzoil Platinum for $10-14 after a rebate.
     
  14. craze1cars

    craze1cars Well-Known Member

    I agree. Oil is cheap if you shop it smart. Usually $23ish for 5 quart jug at a local big box store, then submit a $10 rebate request.
     
  15. Claritydfw

    Claritydfw Member

    Why would you change the oil but not the filter. Would they not be the same as taking a bath and putting your dirty underware back on? Seems to me if your going to go to the trouble of change the oil out the work and cost to replace the filter is very small.

    I know people keep saying that you don’t really need to replace the oil because the ICE is used so little but people are forgetting about the time and weather factor. Oil does not really wear out like people think it just gets contaminated. And if I had to guess the oil in our cars are at higher risk of being contaminated with gas and water because many times the ICE only runs and warms the unit up and shuts off again without being used aging for some time. This is when the ICE will run rich and not have enough time to burn off moister from the crank case. You also have to remember the environmental factor like dust.

    But hey it’s your car and you can do what you want with it. But for me I am not going to try and save a few bucks on a car that cost 28-35k. If I didn’t want to deal with oil changes I would have got a BEV.
     
  16. Dmiko

    Dmiko New Member

    I am not trying to save a few buck. I am trying to save time. And one of the benefits I expected when I bought the Clarity was fewer oil changes and longer overall service intervals. My E-Class only needed service every 10K miles and I expected the same if not better.

    People have been using this ridiculous argument about baths and dirty underwear on BobIsTheOilGuy forums for as long as I recall. At the same time, some have been running oil filters for 5 years and in one case, a member ran no filter at all for 3K miles. And nothing bad happened, as proven by the used oil analyses.

    I have been changing oil filters once every few years on my Infiniti G35, which I drove very hard for 13 years. I did change the oil every year. And nothing happened.

    More to the point. To each their own. These exact filters are recommended for my other Hondas (7th and 9th generation Accords) for 2 oil change intervals. Which in some cases works out to 20,000 miles. I am pretty sure it can handle 3-5 thousand miles of running (actually less so since some time in HV mode is spent with engine not running at all).

    Well known fact: filters filter better as they have some contaminants in them. And changing filters is a pain. Oil on the other hand, I am more concerned with due to fuel dilution. If that.
     
  17. Claritydfw

    Claritydfw Member

    How long does it take you to change a filter? Also would you like to buy a used filter for half price? It works better than a new one.

    Just joking. But seriously I am perplexed on you trying to save time. How much are you saving per year? I would also have to assume you must be driving 16 hours a day and making a large amount of money to have the need to save that much time
     
  18. Dmiko

    Dmiko New Member

    I am not here to get into stupid arguments. Thank you.
     
  19. Atkinson

    Atkinson Active Member

    I ordinarily go 3000 miles on oil changes (severe service interval), but my Prius had a maint reminder at 5000 miles so I went with that.
    If the Honda minder clocks at 5000 miles and I ran 25% of that in EV mode, I'm still OK with that.
    I want credibility from Honda especially since I do my own oil changes and only have my own signature documenting that I did the work.
    I know plenty of people that run way over miles on oil changes (or run low oil) with no issues after many miles.
    It's just not he way I roll.
    If I had any luck at all, it would be bad luck.
    I have rebuilt engines, but given the choice I prefer to do oil changes instead.
    About 5 years ago, I also started using synthetic oil to minimize sludging in winter with the intermittent ICE operation.
    None of this is mandatory, but it might make a difference at 200K miles.
     
  20. Claritydfw

    Claritydfw Member

    I am not trying to get in one. I am honestly curious at to why your trying to save time as you stated by by not changing the filter. I understand what your trying to say about a dirty filter but even though personally I don’t agree with it but I don’t understand the time saving argument. I know in commercial vehicles they setup some engines to never need oil changes to save on downtime and keep the vehicle moving as much as possible. Maybe I should have asked are you using the car in a business that requires as little downtime as possible.

    I do apologize if the humor didn’t come off the way as I was trying to give it.
     
  21. Atkinson

    Atkinson Active Member

    Speaking of maintenance schedules, the wife's Bolt EV has tire rotations every 7500 miles and cabin filters every 2 years.
    Coolant loops (three) drain and fill at 100,000 miles.
    That's incredible.
     
  22. Claritydfw

    Claritydfw Member

    I know on Toyota’s that the reminder is set on mileage not actual usage. Talking to a actual GM engineer once he told me that they use time, RPM, temp and duty cycles to determine when you get the service light. I wonder how Honda has setup their system. It seems like they look at a combination of mileage and time.

    Personally I am going to have the dealer do it as it’s not that much more in end than what I can do it for and the older I get the more lazy I get. I also hate having to recycle the oil as it takes to much time to deal with. This will also help with any warranty issues if ther ever is one as they would only have themselves to blame.
     
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  23. Dmiko

    Dmiko New Member

    Got "service A01 due " with 7K total miles and less than 5 months. Tires are wearing uniformly with not even 1/32" of an inch difference front to rear. Oil level is at full, clear and only 23 gallons of gas total burned. Figure 1.2-1.4K miles on gas max.

    Skipping this first service altogether. Expect to change the oil next time with about 2.5-3K miles on ICE. Should also coincide with 12 months since the car was built.

    In this aspect, envious of Volt owners who can (and do) go up to 20-24K miles/2 years between oil changed.
     
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