I just attended a Honda Owners Appreciation Workshop. As they were demonstrating changing a tire, I asked about using a floor jack on a cross-member under the engine. The technician said that they were unable to be seen due to underbody shields added to aid gas mileage. I have no reason to doubt him, but it seems that hinders folks without hydraulic lifts.

Discussion?

 

Don't know about a 2013, but my 2005 has a jack point in the middle of the cross member. There is a cutaway the in the plastic shield and an arrow molded into the plastic pointing to it. Then I put jack stands under the body jack points on each side and lower it down. Great for changing oil, tranny fluid, etc.

 

That sounds reasonable. I'm starting to doubt the knowledge of the person I was talking to. I asked about the subwoofer and he started talking about the SVC setting which he apparently didn't know was supposed to control volume levels while driving (faster --> more volume). The car is supposed to have a subwoofer, but it doesn't sound like its working to me... I have a couple in my house and you can definitely tell when they are functioning.

Found out the neither of my front seat heaters works. I bought this car on Honda's reputation that things just work. That hasn't been my experience so far.

 

All I can say is make them fix it. I assume it is still under warranty? Did you buy it new or as a "certified" used? I am on my second Odyssey minivan and am on on my first Accord. I have to say I have had very few problems with any of them and am quite satisfied. That said, the more features you have the more things there are to go wrong. For example, the sliding side doors on my 2002 Odyssey had some issues in cold weather but my 2008 has given me no problems. Apparently they figured it out.

PS. If you live in an area where a another Honda dealership is not too far away take it there. I have done that myself with good results.

 

Well, it is under warranty and I'm taking it in Monday morning. I wish there was someone on this forum that owned a 2013 Accord and could verify whether warm air comes out of the center vents in Auto mode. It seems like it should, despite what the guy at the dealership said. I think the default answer to something like that is, "that's the way is supposed to work" so they don't have to bother investigating and repairing the suspected flaw. This was the same guy who didn't know what the SVC setting was for, and he's supposedly the "go-to techie" of the group.

The only repair that I've had done by them was done expeditiously (replacing a dented tweeter), so I'm not ready to go to another dealership for repairs yet, but I do actually have a Honda dealership that is closer to me than this one is. I suspect the guys who actually do the work know exactly how things on a Honda work... I mean that's what they do every day.

I still can't find a Service manual; even one on a CD or DVD would be okay. The answers to all of my nitty questions would be found there in their testing procedures. The guy at the dealership said they used to get them, but not any more (I assume he means for sale to customers.) I think he also said that all that stuff is online somewhere.

 

I've had some issues with my heat so I've been doing a lot of reading. From what I can tell, heat does NOT blow out of the center vents when on auto. Most of it comes out below the dash. If you want direct heat out of those vents, you have to change the mode to force it to.

I've got a 98 Accord, so your mileage may vary.

 

Well, that's somewhat comforting. I played with it today of was able to force warm air out of the center vents by switching the mode to what I call bi-level. So I guess it is by design. Thanks for your input.

 

Update on my heated seats: apparently they are not defective, according to Honda. The service manager compared my seats with another Honda and got the same results. I am underwhelmed! The seats take about 10 minutes to warm up to approx. 80 degrees on the High setting. Well that's warm but not what I was used to. My Pontiac's heated seats warmed up in about a minute and on high got TOO warm for my comfort.

 

Well, I rotated my tires and while I had the front right tire removed, checked under the car as best I could. I could see no cross-member! Everything in the middle looks like important stuff, like tran., engine, etc. I'm wondering if there is a point nearer the front-middle of the vehicle that would serve? It's my first look underneath a Honda, so if anyone would like to chime-in, that would be appreciated. The reason I want to use a floor jack is to change my oil. I'm used to doing this job myself. I have a complimentary oil change from the dealership that I will be using, but I suspect they're not gonna let me watch while they do the job. If they would, I could ask the mechanic.

 

The dealer will use a lift that lifts the whole car by the 4 points under the rocker panels (where the tire-changing jack fits).

I don't have a 2013, but it's very traditional for Hondas to have a lifting point under the center of the radiator support frame. There's usually a big arrow in the plastic splash shield pointing at a flattened spot on the metal frame roughly under the center of the radiator.

For oil changes, I normally drive onto some kind of low block. I have an extension piece that goes with my ramps, but if I didn't have that I'd make something from 2x8 or 2x10 lumber.