[Clarity_newbie]

On another forum, multiple folks have asked for the data I have collected reference the vaunted Honda Maintenance Minder. Finally found time to gather the screenshots and put some sort of logic to them. I figured I'd share on all Clarity forums.

Clarity build date: January 2018
Clarity arrive dealership: March 2018
Clarity purchased: July 2018
Oil change: March 2019
Tire rotation: August 2019
Cabin air filter changed: August 2019

The data I have allowed access to encompasses 5 drive days. Feb 1, 20,22,26 and March 15. Screenshot days chosen at random except for Feb 1 and Mar 15. The MM was reset on March 15th and the data reflects this fact. Each screenshot reflects a different drive day. Files are labeled by date to assist in your own evaluation. Mileage driven each drive day was never less than 50...up to a max of 150.

The link to the files: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Dcfdd3N6juPwO0mCcxNqgL4_aChhgMXs?usp=sharing

I also included a sub-folder which houses the two page Maintenance codes n definitions for those who may wish to download.

The crux of it is...Items 0,2,3,5, and 7 appear to be strictly day count-down timers.

Item A appears to be a day counter unless a trigger point is reached on odo miles. In other words...for this particular Clarity...it drove less than 6500 miles in one years time...so the counter stayed spot-on course to 365 days till due. If a Clarity drives more miles...the model must activate Item A sooner than one year time frame as we have all witnessed. The key is...this data was based on less than 6500 miles driven odo. Possible connection to how many times ICE is run as well versus solely miles.

Item 1 didn't change on several drive days but did on two others. Curious. In other words...tire rotation wasn't linear. Mo data needed to try and figure the correlation or lack of. Item 1 is the most wonky with no clear pattern.

Item 4 and 8 are the most interesting because of the wide variance of days added and subtracted. Both Spark Plugs and Air Cleaner element are miles based as described in the manual. (ie) at 100k replace spark plugs. AT 15k replace air cleaner.

Item 4 ranged from a low of 6697 days left to 8809 days in no particular order. What I glean from the data is Item 4 is based on ICE miles and/or run time. It would be hard to fathom how a car with 20,000 miles on the odo can display data which shows 8809 days left to replace spark plugs at the 100k mark...if the data was based on odo miles. If not based on odo miles...the hypothesis: Honda Corp does know ICE miles on any given Clarity through the software.

The short of it regarding item 4...more ICE miles driven in one day..the greater the drop in days remaining...If car sits or only short trips on EV...days accelerate upwards.

Item 8 reflects the same up/down pattern as Item 4 on the same drive days so safe to assume it too is reflective of ICE miles.

I do plan on capturing this data around June 15, 2020 and compare to the March 15th readings.

Possible variable: Software in the Clarity used for this testing is wonky. Caveat: same trends reflected off several other Clarity's I've had the pleasure to assist with data collection. However...mo data...mo data...mo data needed.

Hope this helps.

 

[obermd]

One year intervals are the new standard for extended service oils and filters - specifically the filter needs to be replaced after a year even though the oil may be good for another year. The Volt's two year oil & filter replacement when not burning gas is the only exception I'm aware of.

Tire rotation reminders not taking into account all miles driven is a failure on the part of Honda, pure and simple. Rotate every 5,000 miles unless the car specifically want's earlier rotations. GM and Ford say 7,500 miles between tire rotations but I've found this is too long for even treadwear so I recommend the earlier of 5,000 or what's in the owner's manual.

The air cleaners are both easy to do in your driveway. Check both annually and only replace them when they start to turn color (gray or yellow). I've seen yellow-green cabin air filters after heavy pollen seasons.

The cabin air cleaner is behind the glovebox and should be checked at the end of spring pollen season. Replacement instructions are at

with the hardest part being getting all the junk back into the glovebox. Air flow in the cabin air filter is top to bottom.

The engine air filter should be checked annually as well. Replacement instructions are at

. Air flow in the engine air filter is bottom to top, to allow any debris to fall into the airbox where you can easily vacuum it out. When checking either make sure you clean out the airbox for the filter as wet leaves can be sucked into either despite any grills that may exist.

Brake fluid is hydrophilic. In humid climates you need to replace it more often as a result which is where the 36 month recommendation comes from. Those of us in the semi and fully arid west can safely go longer. Brake fluid per se doesn't wear out. What happens is water gets into the system, which allows the fluid to compress under pressure. DOT-3 fluid doesn't compress under pressure (actually it does, just not much) so replacing this fluid is the first thing to do if you feel your brakes are getting softer and the pads are in good shape.

If you do any maintenance on the maintenance minder list, don't forget to reset the maintenance minder for that item to prevent premature nagging.

 

[Clarity_newbie]

Personally I could care less what the Maintenance Minder says. I wish I could turn it off.

The point of the post is to give folks who follow the MM an idea of what goes on behind the scenes. Really is nothing more than a fancy calendar tracking system.

The curious number is the spark plug interval. From what I glean...it uses ICE miles/runtime which means Honda knows this info...the consumers do not.

 

[obermd]

Personally I could care less what the Maintenance Minder says. I wish I could turn it off.

The point of the post is to give folks who follow the MM an idea of what goes on behind the scenes. Really is nothing more than a fancy calendar tracking system.

The curious number is the spark plug interval. From what I glean...it uses ICE miles/runtime which means Honda knows this info...the consumers do not.

The maintenance minder could actually be useful if it gave the reminders in English (or whatever language for the market the car is sold in). Instead of A0, it should say "Oil Change Soon". I do find it rather annoying but at least it's easy to reset the counters.

The ECU (Engine Control Unit) knows very well how much the ICE has been used. It turns it on and off. You can estimate this by tracking your gas consumption from the day you take delivery. You can assume about six and a half gallons in the tank as that seems to be the first click off of the gas pump. Take the number of gallons consumed and multiply by 42 (use the EPA estimate to be conservative).

 

[Clarity_newbie]

Maintenance Minder (MM) follow-up as promised.

I received the MM screenshot for the Clarity referenced in the OP today and the screenshot has been included with the original data set.

Below are the particulars:
...screenshot of data taken 19-June-2020
...96 days has eclipsed since the last MM screenshot taken on 15-March-2020
...~1800 miles driven during is time with a 70/30 split EV/ICE

The link to the files: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Dcfdd3N6juPwO0mCcxNqgL4_aChhgMXs?usp=sharing

Not surprisingly, the data collected June 19th confirms the findings from the data samples collected Feb/Mar 2020.

Items 0,2,3,5, and 7 once again reflect a downward, linear path typical of a day count-down timer. One day goes by...one day gets subtracted.

Item A is a day count-down timer unless a trigger point is reached via odo miles which is ~6000 - 7000 miles. Then day counter accelerates downwards.

Items 4 and 8 remain tied to ICE miles and/or ICE run time. More ICE runs...day counter downward trend accelerates. Less ICE/more EV...day counter accelerates upward.

Item 1 remains an enigma. Some ciphering shows: March 15th - 328 days till due...June 19th - 414 days till due. This 414 days remaining roughly equates to a 10,000 mile tire rotation (600 miles/month x 13.8 months + 1800 miles already driven).

If Honda thinks 10k is a good tire rotation mileage..that makes the all too common A01 service required combo suspect...very suspect.

Item 6 is conspicuously missing from the visible data stream...more info to follow.

Hope this helps.

 

[jzchen]

I dunno whether it was changed with the programming update I brought it in for a long while ago, but I noticed this trend:

A @ around 11000 mi
1 @ around 7000 mi
0 follows A by about 1 month (at least last time).

I rotated the tires around 1500 mi ago, A01 came back, then as we reach 12 days left 8 popped up. Current ODO 55619 with 10 Days remaining. I will only do the oil change, reset "A" and observe. This is the first time I've seen 8....

 

[jzchen]

@ 55671 mi got "Service Due Now A 0 1 8". Changed the oil and filter at 55679 and reset A. 2 Months until next service is due. 0 propagated to two months because I waited the month after the last oil change to do it.

 

[cranium79]

Took the Clarity to dealer to get oil change after one year and usual checkup, dealer is telling me I will need to replace transmission fluid and break fluid. Only 26,800 miles and using 90% EV. Dealer quoted $600 to do this, I just said have to go home and talk to the wife lol.

 

[ClarityDave]

Took the Clarity to dealer to get oil change after one year and usual checkup, dealer is telling me I will need to replace transmission fluid and break fluid. Only 26,800 miles and using 90% EV. Dealer quoted $600 to do this, I just said have to go home and talk to the wife lol.

Gotta love those dealers.

 

[obermd]

Took the Clarity to dealer to get oil change after one year and usual checkup, dealer is telling me I will need to replace transmission fluid and break fluid. Only 26,800 miles and using 90% EV. Dealer quoted $600 to do this, I just said have to go home and talk to the wife lol.

How old is your Clarity? Honda recommends these be done every three years/36,000 miles. I definitely agree that this is more to pad a dealership's wallet than for actual vehicle longevity, but until all warranties are expired I recommend sticking with the recommended service intervals.

 

[ClarityDave]

How old is your Clarity? Honda recommends these be done every three years/36,000 miles. I definitely agree that this is more to pad a dealership's wallet than for actual vehicle longevity, but until all warranties are expired I recommend sticking with the recommended service intervals.

I agree too. Just find someone who will do it for way less than $600!