Honda Ridgeline Oil Change: The Towing Footnotes Matter

The Ridgeline is Honda's pickup, built on the same unibody bones as the Pilot, with standard AWD on most years since 2017. Owners use the bed and the hitch, and Honda clearly expected them to: the Ridgeline manual carries more specific towing footnotes than any other Honda on this list. If your truck pulls a trailer up US-395 or crawls over Geiger Grade on the way to Virginia City, those footnotes are your real schedule.

At a glance

• SAE 0W-20, 5.7 qt with the filter (2023 Ridgeline manual)
• Transmission: Honda ATF-TYPE 3.1 or higher, about 3.7 qt
• Rear differential: Honda DPSF-II, about 1.92 qt; transfer: Honda HGO-1
• Towing or low-speed mountain driving: transmission fluid every 30,000 miles or two years

Fluids listed in the 2023 manual

Honda's 2023 Ridgeline manual lists Honda Genuine Motor Oil 0W-20 or an API Premium-grade 0W-20, with 5.4 quarts for a change and 5.7 quarts including the filter. The automatic transmission takes Honda ATF-TYPE 3.1 or higher, about 3.7 quarts. The rear differential takes Honda DPSF-II, about 1.92 quarts, and the transfer assembly takes Honda HGO-1, about 0.45 quarts. Coolant is Honda Long Life Type 2, about 1.96 gallons including the reserve tank.

Honda's towing and mountain footnotes

The Maintenance Minder handles the oil on its own. The transmission and differential are where Honda overrides it. The 2023 manual says that driving in mountainous areas at very low speeds or towing a trailer raises transmission temperature, and owners who regularly drive that way should have the transmission fluid changed every 30,000 miles or two years. The same reasoning applies to the rear differential: under towing or low-speed mountain driving Honda asks for a differential fluid change at 7,500 miles and every 15,000 miles after that.

A third footnote covers the timing belt: if you drive regularly in very high temperatures over 110 F, very low temperatures under minus 20 F, or tow a trailer, Honda says to replace it every 60,000 miles. That towing clause catches a lot of local trucks.

We record your mileage and towing use on the service sheet so you can see where you are on each of those lines. A differential service with DPSF-II fits in the same visit as the oil change.

The rest of the visit

1. Drive in at any of our four service centers; trucks fit every bay.
2. We read the Minder code, change the oil and filter with 0W-20 and reset the Minder.
3. Differential, transfer, transmission and coolant levels get checked, and we look underneath for leaks and torn boots.
4. Battery, belts, lights, wipers, tire pressure and both air filters round out the check, and we go over the results with you.

Dust and the air filter

Honda's manual footnotes a 15,000-mile engine air filter change when you drive in dusty conditions. Reno's dry climate, about 7.35 inches of precipitation a year on the NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals, keeps dirt roads dusty most of the year. We show you the filter so the call is yours.