Agreed

 

Today, I replaced Front & Back Brakes (Rotors & Brake pads) on my Oddy...it was a long day and done just now...Hope I don't have to touch them for another 30 or 40K miles

 

Good job!
I did an identical job a few weeks ago. The 2nd best part I liked about the job was that I only spent $122 for the front brake parts. The rear brake parts were left over from 2018 (I think) from an Ebay purchase. I almost tossed them in the trash 😁 .

 

I haven't done it in a long time if ever, but I finally had a chance to measure just what kind of MPG my Ody gets after all these years:

14.8 MPG with pretty much entirely city driving and relatively short trips with plenty of A/C usage.

 

Not bad. I typically get around 20-22 mpg per fillup. Mostly highway, some city driving 75/25 percent probably. My driving habits are that I typically take it easy, rarely accelerate hard unless I need to for some crazy highway merging.

 

50cty/50hwy use, about 17-19MPG in my muzzled 2005EX-L (I rarley check, as I drive so little. MPG would have zero effect on my choices, other than Tire pressure check). On a long 800 mile trip, where it was 100% highway, 26 MPG (empty van) with a high of 27.1 MPG (I was shocked and did math several times)! HWY use 65-75 MPH (depending on conditions and traffic/police). Around town I use my winter beater more (2005 Freestyle AWD). MPG around town (city) is pretty similar on both cars. (sub 18MPG). Obviously stop and go traffic is terrible for any car/van/truck, as is towing, low pressure tires or excessive idling (my neighbor uses remote start and his truck runs for 20+ mins) my other neighbor when it snows (or there is heavy ice) they will start their car and leave it with heat blasting for 30+ mins till it melts ice on windows. I try to tell them tons of added wear to accessory and timiung belt etc... Both drives me a little nuts, oh well.

 

Weird thing happen this weekend when I drove the car. It was a short local trip. There was a popping sound from the rear passenger when I apply brake, either light or hard braking. It's veryt random and doesn't have the pop every time I brake. It was a caliper I had replaced a month or so ago.

So after I get back home. Took the wheel off and took a look at the pads, caliper and checking the pins are working. Nothing is binding. Everything looks normal. So I took the driver side rear off and look with seems all normal. Went for another drive in the parking lot near by and I can not replicate the sound.

Drove 300 miles past 2 days and also no pops. Weird....

 

Was the pop dependent on the dive of the van?

 

No. As I mentioned, even if I was slowly brake, it might make the sound, coming mostly from the rear of the car.

 

In other news, I got a P0498 code on my van on Tuesday. EVAP Shut Valve Low Circuit. Did an investigation and found a split wire on the connector underneath. Since it is nearly impossible to get to even with a floor jack, it went to our local nearby Honda-only specialist. He called me and said a mouse or some such got up into the pocket that holds the EVAP canister and chewed the wire and one of the hoses. $300 later, it will be fixed. The van sits for long periods in a detached garage behind my house, along with another seldom-used classic-type car. I found a mouse in the trunk of that car in June. So we are dealing with rodent control. This garage now reeks of a combination of peppermint and citrus. Plus, the shop is going to shove a dryer sheet up into the pocket since nothing moves or gets hot in there.

As far as MPG, I am averaging 18-20 per tank, with about 80% city driving and 20% freeway, but I am careful. That is about right, as it is stated in the literature and hasn't changed. My sister's 2014 model gets slightly better, as she reports, probably due to the extra gear in the transmission. I don't run my van down below a 1/4 of a tank if I can help it.

I am getting ready for my annual inspection, which is due by September 30. According to my records, I have driven 4,093 miles in the preceding 12 months.

 

At least you can justify an annual oil change! Never sure what I should do. I drove 950 miles in the preceding 12 months...

 

The UOA I did after 3 years on the same oil showed no time based degradation of the oil. Not even a little bit.

 

Installed front H&R Springs on KYB Struts. Went relatively easily. Now gotta do the rears tomorrow!

 

Cool, rears are so much easier

 

got the rear springs in. Got stuck with the rear shocks, didn't wanna bother the neighbors.

 

 

I missed the deadline for my smog test and registration payment… oops. Took it to the smog test this morning and it passed with no problem.

The cost went up from $25 back in 2015, to $45 in 2023, and now $80 this morning… geez.

 

I thought only houses are more expensive in CA 😁
Do they insert a sniffer in the muffler for the smog test?

 

My birthday was a few days ago, so I decided to get myself a present. I finally picked up one of these, a Foxwell NT530:

I haven't plugged it into either of my cars yet to see what it can do, but it seems like a nice little device.

 

Nice. Not the most intuitive or user friendly but it does a lot. I see you have the Honda software.
Wait until you try to download and install another vehicle. A very cumbersome process.