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How Does the Acura Maintenance Minder Work?
The Acura Maintenance Minder system is offered on the Acura ILX, your Acura MDX lease deal and other popular Acura models. You might have noticed that your owner's manual no longer lists a service schedule for maintenance items. The Acura Maintenance Minder monitors motor oil levels in your engine and displays it as a percentage, starting at 100% when the oil is fresh.
Your car's Acura Maintenance Minder tracks your car's mileage and the oil's lubricating properties and updates you when it is time to change the oil or book that Acura 123 Service appointment. The Maintenance Minder oil percentage will count down to 0%, which is never recommended and can result in catastrophic engine failure. That's why you'll receive alerts well before this point, so your car's engine always has the optimal level of synthetic motor oil.
It also considers factors like hours driven, engine operating conditions (normal or severe), ambient temperature, number of miles driven, and average speed when alerting you to service intervals. With this algorithm, you might get an oil change prompt for your new Acura RDX lease deal after 4,000 miles of challenging stop-and-start city driving, or it may take as long as 12,000 miles of consistent interstate use.
What Do the Acura Maintenance Codes Mean?
When that Acura B14 Service light comes on, you might be concerned there's a severe issue with your vehicle. The best thing to do is call our dealership to schedule an Acura B Service. When you call, we'll also go over what you need to know regarding these maintenance minder codes and tell you about any service specials or oil change coupons we're currently offering. In the meantime, we've put together an Acura Maintenance Minder chart of codes and meanings.
| Code | What It Means |
| 15% | Oil change service is due soon, 15% oil life remaining |
| 5% | Oil change service is due now, 5% oil life remaining |
| 0% | Service is overdue: take your Acura for an oil change now |
| A - Main Code | Replace engine oil |
| B - Main Code | Replace engine oil, filter change, rotate tires, front/rear brake inspection, check parking brake adjustment, and other inspections |
| 1 - Sub Code | Tire Rotation |
| 2 - Sub Code | Replace dust/pollen filter, check drive belt, replace air filters, air cleaner element |
| 3 - Sub Code | Replace transmission and transfer fluid |
| 4 - Sub Code | Replace spark plugs, check water pump, inspect valve clearance, replace the timing belt (if required) |
| 5 - Sub Code | Replace engine coolant |
| 6 - Sub Code | Replace rear differential fluid |
How To Understand Acura Codes and Sub Codes
Let's say an A1 code has been illuminated on your new Acura TLX. What does that mean? In the maintenance chart above, we can see that an A Main Code means it's time to replace the engine oil and a 1-Sub Code means tire rotation. Therefore, an A1 means it's time to change the oil and rotate the tires.
With this in mind, an A12 code would mean you need an oil change, tire rotation, air cleaner, drive belt, and a cabin air filter. B123 would refer to an oil change, tire rotation, brake inspection, parking brake, cabin air filter, drive belt, and transmission fluid.
Notice how some subcodes overlap with the B-code services. A13 would be an oil change, tire rotation, and transmission fluid. A16 would be an oil change, tire rotation, and rear differential fluid. B14 would mean oil change, tire rotation, engine coolant flush, and so on.
What does Acura B15 Service mean? It means it's time to call our service department and tire center to have the B Main Code services performed as well as a tire rotation and coolant flush.
Acura A1 Maintenance Minder Code
The A-code is determined by the algorithm according to driving conditions. For instance, if you're driving for a rideshare service in an urban area, the algorithm will recognize that you're logging more city driving and recommend an oil change sooner than driving 20,000 highway miles. These codes are user-specific, as Maintenance Minder knows that things like oil changes aren't a one-size-fits-all service.
If you get an Acura A136 service alert, it's time to change the oil, rotate the tires, and replace the transmission and differential fluids.
Acura B1 Maintenance Minder Code
The B-codes and subcodes aren't necessarily a lower priority than oil changes. They are important for total vehicle maintenance and should be performed according to schedule. Even things that may seem like a lower priority are still important regarding your vehicle's reliability, resale value, longevity, and continued warranty coverage.
Acura Service Costs and Scheduling
Having top-tier and subcode maintenance performed simultaneously means that the system's codes stay in sync with each other, and you won't be getting confused about what service was performed when. Missing service intervals will be a thing of the past. Remember that the Maintenance Minder might also shorten service intervals for things like tire rotations to keep them harmonized with A-code maintenance.
So if you see Acura Maintenance codes and reminders for B16, A13, B13, A123, A14, or any other combination, go ahead and schedule Acura service with our tire or service center, and we'll be more than happy to take care of it for you.