1997 HONDA ODYSSEY Owners Manual

Maintenance Safety
Regularly maintaining your car is the
best way to protect your investment. Proper maintenance is essential to
your safety and the safety of your passengers. It will also reward you
with more economical, trouble-free driving and help reduce air pollution. This section includes instructions for
simple maintenance tasks, such as
checking and adding oil. Any service
items not detailed in this section should be performed by a Honda
technician or other qualified
mechanic. Some of the most important safety
precautions are given here. However,
we cannot warn you of every conceivable hazard that can arise in
performing maintenance. Only you can decide whether or not youshould perform a given task.

Maintenance

Improperly maintaining this car
or failing to correct a problem before driving can cause a

crash in which you can be

seriously hurt or killed.
Always follow the inspection and maintenance recommendations and
schedules in this owner's manual. Failure to properly follow
maintenance instructions and
precautions can cause you to
be seriously hurt or killed.
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Maintenance Safety

Important Safety Precautions
Before you begin any maintenance,
make sure your car is parked on
level ground and that the parking
brake is on. Also, be sure the engine
is off. This will help to eliminate several potential hazards:

Carbon monoxide poisoning

from engine exhaust. Be sure there is adequate ventilation
whenever you operate the engine.
Burns from hot parts. Let the
engine and exhaust system cool
before touching any parts.
Injury from moving parts. Do

not run the engine unless in-
structed to do so. Read the instructions before you
begin, and make sure you have the tools and skills required.
To reduce the possibility of fire or explosion, be careful when working
around gasoline or batteries. Use a
nonflammable solvent, not gasoline,
to clean parts. Keep cigarettes, sparks, and flames away from the
battery and all fuel-related parts.
You should wear eye protection and protective clothing when working
near the battery or when usingcompressed air.

Maintenance
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Maintenance Schedule

The Maintenance Schedule specifies how often you should have your carserviced and what things need
attention. It is essential that you have
your car serviced as scheduled to retain its high level of safety,dependability, and emission control
performance.
The services and time or distance
intervals shown in the maintenance
schedule assume you will use your
car as normal transportation for
passengers and their possessions.
You should also follow these
recommendations:

Avoid exceeding your car's loadlimit. This puts excess stress on
the engine, brakes, and manyother parts of your car. The load
limit is shown on the label on the driver's doorjamb.
Operate your car on reasonable
roads within the legal speed limit.
Drive your car regularly over a
distance of several miles
(kilometers).

Always use unleaded gasoline with the proper octane rating (see page
108
).
Which Schedule to Follow:
Service your car according to the
time and mileage periods on one of
the Maintenance Schedules on the
following pages. Select the schedule
for "Severe Conditions" if most of
your driving is done under one or more of the conditions listed on that
page. Otherwise, follow the schedule
for "Normal Conditions."

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Maintenance Schedule

Your authorized Honda dealer knows your car best and can provide
competent, efficient service.
However, service at a dealer is not
mandatory to keep your warranties
in effect. Maintenance may be done
by any qualified service facility or
person who is skilled in this type of
automotive service. Keep all the
receipts as proof of completion, and
have the person who does the work
fill out the Maintenance Record. Check your warranty booklet for
more information. We recommend the use of Genuine
Honda parts and fluids whenever you
have maintenance done. These are
manufactured to the same high- quality standards as the original
components, so you can be confident
of their performance and durability.

U.S. Cars:

Maintenance, replacement or
repair of emission control devices
and systems may be done by any
automotive repair establishment or individual using parts that are
"certified" to EPA standards. According to state and federal
regulations, failure to perform
maintenance on the items marked
with an asterisk (*) will not void your emissions warranties. However,Honda recommends that all mainte-
nance services be performed at the
recommended time or mileage
period to ensure long-term reliability.

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Maintenance Schedule (Normal Conditions)

Follow the Normal Maintenance
Schedule if the severe driving
conditions specified in theSevere Conditions Maintenance
Schedule on the next page do
not apply.
NOTE: If you only
OCCASIONALLY drive under a
"severe" condition, you should
follow the Normal Conditions Maintenance Schedule.

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Maintenance Schedule (Severe Conditions)

Follow the Severe Maintenance
Schedule if you drive your
vehicle MAINLY under one or more of the following condi-

tions:

Driving less than 5 miles (8
km) per trip or, in freezing
temperatures, driving less
than 10 miles (16 km) per trip. Driving in hot [over 90°F (32°C)] conditions.
Extensive idling or long
periods of stop-and-go driving.
Trailer towing, driving with a car-top carrier, or driving in
mountainous conditions.Driving on muddy, dusty, or
de-iced roads.

For Canadian Owners

Follow the Maintenance

Schedule for Severe Conditions.

* 1 : Refer to page 170 for replacement
information under special driving

conditions.

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Required Maintenance Record

Maintenance
Have your servicing dealer record all Required Maintenance below. Keep receipts for all work done on your car.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Non-Scheduled Maintenance Record
Record additional maintenance for severe driving conditions or non-scheduled maintenance on this page (see page 143).

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