Odyssey first oil change (maintaining Hondas- Ugh)
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Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
The problem is once you do an oil change on a BMW or a Mercedes your expectations are set and every car is now a PITA to change the oil on.
Solution! Drop it off at the dealer.
Agreed. With proper tools(fluid extractor and oil filter cap wrench) there is no easier way.
Every time I change oil in my S2000(once a year) I cursed Honda for not designing the dipstick tube and filter the MB way.
BMW used to be very easy just like MB, but lately they eliminated dipstick tube to cut cost so you have to drain oil via drain plug and it is a mess. Some Youtube videos show newer BMW oil change and oil was all over the other parts of the car.
Some vehicles with splash guard under the engine that cover the drain plug and oil filter, this would be pain to remove/reinstall.
The problem is once you do an oil change on a BMW or a Mercedes your expectations are set and every car is now a PITA to change the oil on.
Solution! Drop it off at the dealer.
Agreed. With proper tools(fluid extractor and oil filter cap wrench) there is no easier way.
Every time I change oil in my S2000(once a year) I cursed Honda for not designing the dipstick tube and filter the MB way.
BMW used to be very easy just like MB, but lately they eliminated dipstick tube to cut cost so you have to drain oil via drain plug and it is a mess. Some Youtube videos show newer BMW oil change and oil was all over the other parts of the car.
Some vehicles with splash guard under the engine that cover the drain plug and oil filter, this would be pain to remove/reinstall.
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Never done BMW or MB; when I had my Saturn I never changed the oil (let the dealer instead). My VW though I did, and boy was I spoiled by using a vacuum extractor. And doing 100% top side oil changes. 11 years and the oil drain bolt was never touched!
I felt I was stepping back in time and technology when I bought my Toyota's.
I felt I was stepping back in time and technology when I bought my Toyota's.
Originally Posted By: supton
Never done BMW or MB; when I had my Saturn I never changed the oil (let the dealer instead).
The saturn filter is not in a convenient location. I use the 3600 longer filter for that reason.
Never done BMW or MB; when I had my Saturn I never changed the oil (let the dealer instead).
The saturn filter is not in a convenient location. I use the 3600 longer filter for that reason.
Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
the first gen CRV is legendary hard to reach the oil filter. might as well break your arm in 4 places or call gumbi to do that job.
My sister had one. I gave up after an hour trying to change the filter. And I have ALL the filter removal tools known to mankind.
the first gen CRV is legendary hard to reach the oil filter. might as well break your arm in 4 places or call gumbi to do that job.
My sister had one. I gave up after an hour trying to change the filter. And I have ALL the filter removal tools known to mankind.
Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch
Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
the first gen CRV is legendary hard to reach the oil filter. might as well break your arm in 4 places or call gumbi to do that job.
My sister had one. I gave up after an hour trying to change the filter. And I have ALL the filter removal tools known to mankind.
Perfect application for a Fram Ultra oil filter! Its wire-backed and full synthetic fibered. Just discussed on another thread, the Fram Ultra will hold about twice the dirt as a regular paper oil filter, so you go twice as long without changing the oil filter. Just change oil, skip the filter every other oil change.
Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
the first gen CRV is legendary hard to reach the oil filter. might as well break your arm in 4 places or call gumbi to do that job.
My sister had one. I gave up after an hour trying to change the filter. And I have ALL the filter removal tools known to mankind.
Perfect application for a Fram Ultra oil filter! Its wire-backed and full synthetic fibered. Just discussed on another thread, the Fram Ultra will hold about twice the dirt as a regular paper oil filter, so you go twice as long without changing the oil filter. Just change oil, skip the filter every other oil change.
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Apparently Honda is still stuck on punishing their owners for doing their own oil changes. My old 95 Accord was pretty bad when compared to my prior domestic cars. That's when I started to question the "superiority" of Japanese makes. Looks like things did not change in 20 years.
That's one of the reasons I won't own another Japanese car. I don't see anything superior about them and they're not meant to be worked on. Practically anything that needs repairs if more difficult and more expensive than the typical GM product.
Apparently Honda is still stuck on punishing their owners for doing their own oil changes. My old 95 Accord was pretty bad when compared to my prior domestic cars. That's when I started to question the "superiority" of Japanese makes. Looks like things did not change in 20 years.
That's one of the reasons I won't own another Japanese car. I don't see anything superior about them and they're not meant to be worked on. Practically anything that needs repairs if more difficult and more expensive than the typical GM product.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: Falken
Changing ALL the fluids on the Honda Fit is every DIYer's dream... Honda is a great mfgr.
What does that have to do with an odyssey?
Changing ALL the fluids on the Honda Fit is every DIYer's dream... Honda is a great mfgr.
What does that have to do with an odyssey?
Moving forward, I have good news for you. You've busted off the factory filter, which has been Gorilla Glue'd on every new car I've ever had. You've got a good filter on there that requires no tools to remove next time. Now that you and your van have introduced yourselves to each other, that's a 15 minute oil change, tops. I prefer a cold oil change, for a number of reasons. One...you obviously don't burn yourself on any exhaust components or hot oil. But secondly...with the oil drain plug in the very rear of the oil sump like it is, and especially with 0W-20 oil, you're going to get every drop of oil out of that sump, whether you change it warm or cold. You might as well let everything drain from the upper nether regions of the engine first. Mine are easy, as I don't need ramps, but for your case, I'd just park it up on ramps and go do something else for a few hours and then come back to it. I think you kill a number of birds with that stone.
More good news. All Hondas use the same oil (easy!). All Hondas use the same filter (easy!). All Hondas use the same 17mm head on the drain plug (easy!). Both of your Hondas are 15 minute oil changes and, on top of that, they take the same oil and filter, so you don't even have to stock different materials. Maintaining one Honda is easy enough. Maintaining two is even easier.
As you own and service your vehicles for a while, I think you'll find most things on them to be very straight-forward (with the possible exception of the non-conventional hybrid stuff on your Accord). Batteries are easy to access and maintain. Coolant is easy to access and maintain. Your V-6 even has a very nice engine block drain petcock with a hose connection on it (think brake bleed valve in concept) so you can drain the block when you drain your radiator if you like. Brakes are conventional in design and are super easy to service. You can do nearly everything with just a small assortment of metric sockets (10, 13, 15, 17 are the most often used in my experience). It's almost as if they're designed with the DIYer in mind.
While I have to admit to never owning anything European, I've owned a lot of brands in my life. Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Dodge, Honda, Nissan, Saturn, and Toyota. Our Hondas have not been more difficult to service than those vehicles have been and, in many cases, I've found some very smart design touches in them.
They're not perfect, though. I wish they would have used adjustable rear upper control arms, so camber could be maintained as the springs settled. They didn't, and the aftermarket has stepped up and there are plenty of options for that. If you ever have to replace your rear stabilizer bar bushings, they're on TOP of the rear suspension subframe, and quite difficult to access. A bit of good news: our MDX and Ridgeline have the same design, and both are sporting the factory bushings (130k and 100k miles respectively), so they do appear to be durable. Outside of those two bits, however (one of which was easy to solve, and the other being a non-issue so far), I've found them to be very enjoyable to own over the long haul. We've owned our MDX for about 80k miles now. The Ridgeline is new to us, but shares some design elements with the MDX, so a lot of the same concepts apply to it, too.
Edit: one more issue I'd rather they not have...in some years in the mid-2000s, Honda was using a combination of materials in the transmission cooler fittings in the radiator that were prone to corrosion after so many miles or years. It'd be a "minor" issue, except that if the coolant and ATF mix, it sometimes means replacement or rebuild of the transmission, so it can be costly if you don't take care of it. Radiators are not expensive, and are easy to replace, and I sort of look at them like intake gaskets on a GM 3800. When you buy one of these vehicles used, you replace the parts for good measure and go on with your life. It's a problem I wish they didn't get themselves into, but they did. I think the design was changed in the 2008-2012 era, or somewhere in there, for many of them. Some never seemed to have been prone to it (like the CR-V or Accord radiators for instance).
More good news. All Hondas use the same oil (easy!). All Hondas use the same filter (easy!). All Hondas use the same 17mm head on the drain plug (easy!). Both of your Hondas are 15 minute oil changes and, on top of that, they take the same oil and filter, so you don't even have to stock different materials. Maintaining one Honda is easy enough. Maintaining two is even easier.
As you own and service your vehicles for a while, I think you'll find most things on them to be very straight-forward (with the possible exception of the non-conventional hybrid stuff on your Accord). Batteries are easy to access and maintain. Coolant is easy to access and maintain. Your V-6 even has a very nice engine block drain petcock with a hose connection on it (think brake bleed valve in concept) so you can drain the block when you drain your radiator if you like. Brakes are conventional in design and are super easy to service. You can do nearly everything with just a small assortment of metric sockets (10, 13, 15, 17 are the most often used in my experience). It's almost as if they're designed with the DIYer in mind.
While I have to admit to never owning anything European, I've owned a lot of brands in my life. Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Dodge, Honda, Nissan, Saturn, and Toyota. Our Hondas have not been more difficult to service than those vehicles have been and, in many cases, I've found some very smart design touches in them.
They're not perfect, though. I wish they would have used adjustable rear upper control arms, so camber could be maintained as the springs settled. They didn't, and the aftermarket has stepped up and there are plenty of options for that. If you ever have to replace your rear stabilizer bar bushings, they're on TOP of the rear suspension subframe, and quite difficult to access. A bit of good news: our MDX and Ridgeline have the same design, and both are sporting the factory bushings (130k and 100k miles respectively), so they do appear to be durable. Outside of those two bits, however (one of which was easy to solve, and the other being a non-issue so far), I've found them to be very enjoyable to own over the long haul. We've owned our MDX for about 80k miles now. The Ridgeline is new to us, but shares some design elements with the MDX, so a lot of the same concepts apply to it, too.
Edit: one more issue I'd rather they not have...in some years in the mid-2000s, Honda was using a combination of materials in the transmission cooler fittings in the radiator that were prone to corrosion after so many miles or years. It'd be a "minor" issue, except that if the coolant and ATF mix, it sometimes means replacement or rebuild of the transmission, so it can be costly if you don't take care of it. Radiators are not expensive, and are easy to replace, and I sort of look at them like intake gaskets on a GM 3800. When you buy one of these vehicles used, you replace the parts for good measure and go on with your life. It's a problem I wish they didn't get themselves into, but they did. I think the design was changed in the 2008-2012 era, or somewhere in there, for many of them. Some never seemed to have been prone to it (like the CR-V or Accord radiators for instance).
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Originally Posted By: supton
when I had my Saturn I never changed the oil (let the dealer instead).
I thought you don't change oil on a Saturn. You just top it off.
when I had my Saturn I never changed the oil (let the dealer instead).
I thought you don't change oil on a Saturn. You just top it off.
Originally Posted By: Vikas
I can't help but laugh maniacally when somebody mentions changing cartridge filter which is filthy disgusting soaking black mess.
Have you done it before? It's not bad actually. You just handle it through a latex glove, just like you would a canister filter if you did not want your hand covered by the spilling oil.
Also, the filter that comes off my 530i is never really a soaking black mess. Maybe I change it too often.
I can't help but laugh maniacally when somebody mentions changing cartridge filter which is filthy disgusting soaking black mess.
Have you done it before? It's not bad actually. You just handle it through a latex glove, just like you would a canister filter if you did not want your hand covered by the spilling oil.
Also, the filter that comes off my 530i is never really a soaking black mess. Maybe I change it too often.
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Very nice reply!
Except, I am suspecting you are wrong on needing 13mm; you need 10, 12, 14 and 17 to take off the 90% of the Honda
The only 13mm fasteners on a Honda came from aftermarket parts.
Yes, I think you're right. I think the brake caliper slide pins are either 12mm or 14mm...
Very nice reply!
Except, I am suspecting you are wrong on needing 13mm; you need 10, 12, 14 and 17 to take off the 90% of the Honda
The only 13mm fasteners on a Honda came from aftermarket parts.
Yes, I think you're right. I think the brake caliper slide pins are either 12mm or 14mm...
Originally Posted By: Vikas
well, I am the guy who uses filter bags on my vacuum cleaner
Actually, I do, too. The one time wife bought a bagless Dyson, I refused to use it and she ended up selling it.
If oil was dusty, I would not be a fan of cartridge oil filters, for sure.
well, I am the guy who uses filter bags on my vacuum cleaner
Actually, I do, too. The one time wife bought a bagless Dyson, I refused to use it and she ended up selling it.
If oil was dusty, I would not be a fan of cartridge oil filters, for sure.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
More good news. All Hondas use the same oil (easy!). All Hondas use the same filter (easy!). All Hondas use the same 17mm head on the drain plug (easy!). Both of your Hondas are 15 minute oil changes and, on top of that, they take the same oil and filter, so you don't even have to stock different materials. Maintaining one Honda is easy enough. Maintaining two is even easier.
All good stuff and all true. The above point was of particular interest to me and factored in to why I bought the HAH after we got the Odyssey.
Nothing difficult, some things silly, and I may just go to cold changes anymore...
More good news. All Hondas use the same oil (easy!). All Hondas use the same filter (easy!). All Hondas use the same 17mm head on the drain plug (easy!). Both of your Hondas are 15 minute oil changes and, on top of that, they take the same oil and filter, so you don't even have to stock different materials. Maintaining one Honda is easy enough. Maintaining two is even easier.
All good stuff and all true. The above point was of particular interest to me and factored in to why I bought the HAH after we got the Odyssey.
Nothing difficult, some things silly, and I may just go to cold changes anymore...
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