Hello All..!

[drummermark]

Just wanted to introduce myself. I bought a 2010 ex and am happy with it. I am getting between 38-57mpg depending on driving conditions and fuel(summer/winter)I absolutely love having a 32 gig thumb drive full of whatever I want to hear.. although the shuffle algorithm seems to play some songs often and not play others at all(all in MP3 format) it still rocks! I do have a few questions..is it difficult to change your own fluids,filters and standard stuff on these cars? Do I need "special" tools (other than metric).
Thanks in advance,
Mark

[Undutchable]

Welcome, Mark. My Insight is a company car so I am not allowed to do my own maintance. But I'm sure someone in this group will be able to help you.

[NorthernInsight]

Hi,

I have a 2010 EX as well. All the maintenance I've run into so far is no different than any other car. Air filter is just the air box as normal. It takes 2 minutes to do. The strange thing is that the trans fluid as actually easier to change than the oil if you do not have to do the trans filter. For the oil you have to remove a large plastic covering under the car that has a bunch of those plastic fasteners that you just pop off. I'm not sure what they are called. After you do that you can get to the oil and oil filter. For the trans fluid, all you do is unscrew, I believe, 4 screws. Then a small plastic plate comes off and you have access to the drain.

The transmission on this car seems to be especially sensitive to either fluid level and/or fluid age. Many seem to start jerking along at low speeds and they do this well before the recommended mileage for fluid change. Mine did it shortly after I bought it, maybe around 30-35k miles. I drained the fluid (3 or 4 quarts I believe came out), replace it, and most of the jerking went away. Oddly enough it seemed like it took 1 or 2k miles for it to all go away, but maybe that had to do with the changing seasons/temperatures outside. No only will you feel this, but you see it in the RPMs. It happens more when it is cool outside.

Hope some of this helps. Enjoy the car!

[egads]

All Honda automatics (including the cvt) require frequent fluid changes for best
longevity. You must use Honda fluid. The MID on an Insight calls for a fluid change with the 3rd or 4th (can't remember) oil change interval. We did ours at the second I think, about 18-20K That service usually also calls for the air filter changes. Besides the engine one, there is one behind the glove box for the climate control system. I actually do not do my own fluid changes (I don't like having to deal with the spent fluid) but do save by doing the filters. Also, keeping up with tire pressures is a at home activity. I like to set them stone cold in the AM. I usually do an online Honda parts order once a year with filters & wiper blade inserts for all our Hondas.

[Cobb]

Well, the bottom of my engine bay on my car has a panel that covers it and like 7 clips and a few philip head screws.

You got to remove those without breaking them, lower and put the belly pan a side while the front of the car is supported off the ground. You can drive it up on to some ramps or use jacks and jack stands.

I tend to need maintenance in the coldest part of the year and end up breaking a few of those fender clips. You can find them cheap by the bag on ebay from China of all places.

Yeah, other than that, everything is easy to service.

[drummermark]

Thanks for the reply's everyone...My indicator says I have 15% left on my oil...so I'll be changing it soon and I'll order the air filters and some tranny fluid..(transmission).