I'm new. We got a 2007 Accord Hybrid from my in-laws after my MIL passed away. The car is in pretty good condition and has been well cared for. It has about 80K miles. Because of the circumstances when my MIL passed away, we got the car needing an oil change, i.e. past 0% oil life. It had a flashing "A12" and negative oil life mileage counter (I don't recall the exact number but it was probably around -150 miles). I understand that A is oil change and the 1 & 2 are tire rotation and air filter change. We had all of those things dealt with as needed (the air filter was brand new, didn't need changing) Anyhow, the service station where we had it done said they were unable to reset the flashing maintenance minder in the Gauge display. After looking it up in the manual and online, I was also unable to reset it - this has been going for months now. This is the ignition "on" or II, scroll to the flashing oil life, hold down the odometer **** for 10 sec, release, then press for 5 sec. All this ever does is go back to the flashing oil life: A -XXXX (miles since 0% oil life). So it's not a failure to read the manual, it just hasn't worked, and it has literally been tried dozens of times.

Since I am a nerd about these things and I also wanted to check the health of the hybrid battery and other things, I got a Honda HDS - one of the knockoff ones. Among other things, it is supposed to be able to reset things like the maintenance minder. I tried doing that, and was able to reset the "1" & "2" reminders, but not the "A" and negative oil mileage, which is now up in the thousands. I'm trying to get these things sorted out so that I can pass the car to my son, who is in college and will need one for an internship next Summer.

How the heck does one reset that thing without having to go pay a Honda dealer? (because, based on conversations, I'm not sure my local dealer knows any more than I do at this point - didn't sound confident). Yes, I know it's just an annoyance, but given the age of the car, I'd rather have the accompanying "check engine" wrench off, so that when it DOES have a problem, it'll be quicker to notice.

Steve in Southeastern PA

 

From the shop manual:

1. Turn ignition switch ON (II position).
2. Press the trip meter reset **** on the instrument panel repeatedly until the engine oil life indicator is displayed.
3. Press and hold the trip meter select/reset **** for about 10 seconds until the engine oil life and maintenance item codes blink, then release the ****.
4. Press and hold the trip meter reset select/reset **** again for about 5 seconds until the maintenance item code(s) disappear and the engine oil life resets to 100, then release the ****.

 

Yes, that's exactly what has already been tried literally dozens of times. The owner's manual, shop manual (which I also have), and lots of internet sources all say that, plus the guy I talked to at the Honda dealership.

Still, I have a blinking "A -####" Change Oil indicator in the display, along with the check engine/wrench light.

Oh, and by the way, there is also a procedure in the the Accord Hybrid shop manual for "Resetting the Maintenance Required Indicator" to "Push and hold the trip/reset button, turn the ignition switch ON (II), and continue to hold the button for more than 10 seconds." (Page 22-270 under Body Electrical, Guages)

Tried that slightly different procedure and it also didn't work.

 

Did the oil life and codes blink after the first ten seconds in step 3, or did the oil light not reset at step 4?

 

Step 1 When the key is inserted and turned to "on" (II) the display below the speedometer shows only a flashing "-####" (the mileage since the oil life was at 0%, where # are numbers)
Step 3 causes the display of "A -####" with "Service" above to all blink
Step 4 causes the display to go back to the same state as Step 1 with just the "-####" blinking and there is NO reset

My first assumption was that I was doing something wrong. I've had others try look at the instructions and try it, same result.
Here's a link to a video I took of trying this process to get it to reset: (I'm not sure how big an attachment I can load here, so that's why I'm providing a YouTube link)

 

1. Make sure the headlight switch is in the off position.
2. You may have to hold the **** longer the first time than what was shown in the youtube video. The video never showed "oil life" in the display before the button was released the first time.

 

Headlight was in the off position, I was aware of that from other discussions as well.

I have also tried holding that trip/reset button for a LONG time, like sat there and held it for way past the 10 seconds, while the whole thing is flashing. It just eventually goes back to just the negative mileage flashing, no reset. Video from this morning:

 

Just wild suggestion. Maybe disconnecting the battery for 5 mins will reset the ECM, so that it will get the signal from the buttons?

Kind of like turning off your PC and turn it back on when it is acting up.

 

One other suggestion I read was to have the driver's door open when you do this. Some safety feature to make sure you aren't resetting your oil life while driving?

Also saw turning the headlights from auto to off as well.

It is worth a shot.

 

I get it. I've done it in the past. Despite the car being in reasonably good condition, it needed some A/C work, which I completed. I switched off the drive battery (behind the back seat) as well as disconnected the 12V battery up front - actually did it a couple of times for various reasons. I tried this same procedure both before and after. The battery was variously off for days or a few minutes depending on what I was doing. It didn't change anything.

I WILL however, give it another try, but tomorrow when its dry - raining all day here today.