Resetting the Engine Oil Life Display – 2006-2007 Honda Accord Hybrid

ServiceNews Article

March 25, 2015

A15030D Version 1

 

Resetting the Engine Oil Life Display? Don’t Disconnect and Reconnect the 12-Volt Battery Beforehand!

 

AFFECTED VEHICLES

2006−07 Accord Hybrid

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article replaces “Resetting Engine Oil Life? Don’t Touch the Battery Beforehand!” posted in  June 2009.

If you’re going to reset the engine oil life display, make sure you don’t disconnect and reconnect the 12-volt battery beforehand. If you do, the display won’t reset!

 

That’s because the gauge control module is designed to keep the display from resetting when power is removed and then reapplied, until the engine oil life drops. This prevents the display from unintentionally resetting when power is reapplied.

Here’s a typical scenario of how this can happen:

Your customer comes in for a scheduled oil change. The 12-volt battery tests bad during the multipoint inspection and your customer gives the OK to replace it. You do the work and then go on to the oil change. You then go to reset the engine oil life display to wrap things up, but it won’t reset.

If you wind up in this situation, we’ve got a fix: Test-drive the vehicle until the engine oil life drops by 1%, then reset the display. Be aware for this fix to work, the display must currently read more the 0%. Furthermore, it takes about 70 to 80 miles of driving to drop the engine oil life by 1%, and there’s no way to actually see that drop on the display, so this could take some time to complete.

So, if you’re going to reset the engine oil life display, just remember: Don’t disconnect and reconnect the 12-volt battery beforehand. You’ll spare yourself time and effort.