Acura Maintenance Minder codes
The codes Acura’s Maintenance Minder shows when service is due: a letter for the oil service (A or B on a US car) and numbers for other work due at the same oil change. On most current Acuras A12 means replace the engine oil, rotate the tires, and replace the air cleaner element and dust and pollen filter.
How to read it
Acura’s owner’s manuals say the car calculates the remaining engine oil life from how the engine has been run and shows it as a percentage. Once it is below 15%, Maintenance Minder messages appear each time the car is switched on. On the Maintenance screen the display shows codes for the maintenance items due at the next oil change, with the oil life remaining. A and B and the numbers 1 to 5 mean nearly the same on every Acura; 6 and 7 depend on the model, and the NSX’s table differs most.
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Acura lights vary by model and year. The owner’s manual for the vehicle says what each light means on it, and an Acura dealer or a qualified mechanic can say what it means for a particular car.
The codes on Acura models
This table sets the US tables in six Acura owner’s manuals side by side: the 2024 RDX, 2025 MDX, 2024 TLX, 2025 Integra, 2022 ILX and 2022 NSX.
| Code | Maintenance items the manuals list | Where the models differ |
|---|---|---|
| A | Replace engine oil | The same in all six |
| B | Replace engine oil and oil filter, inspect front and rear brakes, and other inspections | The ILX adds checking the parking brake adjustment; the NSX adds inspecting the direct injection + port injection fuel system |
| 1 | Rotate tires | NSX: inspect tire condition |
| 2 | Replace air cleaner element and dust and pollen filter, inspect drive belt | NSX: no drive belt item |
| 3 | Replace transmission fluid | RDX, MDX and TLX add the transfer fluid (the MDX and TLX on the models that have one); NSX adds the clutch fluid |
| 4 | Replace spark plugs, inspect valve clearance | MDX and TLX add replacing the timing belt and inspecting the water pump (the TLX on 3.0 L engine models); NSX adds the Active Exhaust Valve and Intake Sound Control |
| 5 | Replace engine coolant | The same in all six |
| 6 | Replace rear differential fluid | RDX, MDX and TLX only (the MDX and TLX on the models that have one); no code 6 on the Integra or ILX; NSX: replace Twin Motor Unit fluid |
| 7 | Replace brake fluid | RDX, MDX, TLX and Integra; none on the ILX or NSX, whose manuals give the brake fluid as every 3 years, independent of the Maintenance Minder |
Under B, the other inspections are the tie rod ends, steering gearbox and boots, the suspension, the driveshaft boots, the brake hoses and lines, all fluid levels, the exhaust system and the fuel lines, and the expiration date of the tire repair kit bottle on cars that carry one.
Reading a code such as A12
Each manual’s picture of the message shows one main item followed by the sub items. A12 is code A, the engine oil, with sub items 1 and 2. On the RDX, MDX, TLX, Integra and ILX that means rotating the tires, and replacing the air cleaner element and the dust and pollen filter with a check of the drive belt. On the NSX, 1 is an inspection of the tires’ condition instead of a rotation. B12 is the same sub items with the B service, which adds the oil filter and the inspections.
Canadian models
The Canadian tables use A for the engine oil and 0 for the engine oil and oil filter. The brakes and the inspections that B covers on a US car are a sub item of their own, 9. The numbered items are otherwise the same as in each model’s US table.
Older Acuras
Codes change with the car, not only the model name. Acura’s Maintenance Minder sheet for the 2016 RDX has no 7 and gives the brake fluid as every 3 years. Its code 3 is the transmission fluid alone, and its code 4 adds the timing belt and water pump, items the 2024 RDX’s table doesn’t have. Its B adds the parking brake adjustment, as the 2022 ILX’s does.
Oil life and the messages
Each of these Acuras calculates the remaining oil life from how the engine has been run and shows it as a percentage. At 15% (15 to 6 percent remaining) the message is Maintenance Due Soon; at 5% (5 to 1 percent), Maintenance Due Now; after that, Maintenance Past Due with a negative distance. The NSX calls the last two Service Due Now and Service Past Due, and on the Integra the negative distance blinks.
What the manuals say about time and towing
The manuals with a code 7 have the same two footnotes. Acura’s RDX manual says: “If a Maintenance Minder Indicator and message does not appear more than 12 months after the display is reset, change the engine oil every year.” For code 7 they give 36 months and the brake fluid every 3 years. The RDX and MDX manuals add that trailer towing or very low speeds in mountainous areas call for differential fluid changes more often than the Maintenance Minder shows: at 12,000 km (7,500 miles), then every 24,000 km (15,000 miles).
The same codes on a Honda
Honda’s cars use the same letters and numbers; see Honda Maintenance Minder codes. Other makers have their own maintenance reminder light.
Read next
More acura dashboard symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with curves and waves or letters and numbers.
Sources
- 2024 Acura RDX Owner’s Manual, American Honda Motor Co. (copy hosted by Dealer eProcess), Indicators, p. 101; Maintenance Minder, pp. 579–584
- 2016 Acura RDX Maintenance Minder, American Honda Motor Co. (Acura Owners)
- 2025 Acura MDX Owner’s Manual, American Honda Motor Co. (copy hosted by Dealer eProcess), Maintenance Minder, pp. 619–622
- 2024 Acura TLX Owner’s Manual, American Honda Motor Co. (copy hosted by Dealer eProcess), Maintenance Minder, pp. 541–545
- 2025 Acura Integra Owner’s Manual, American Honda Motor Co. (copy hosted by Dealer eProcess), Maintenance Minder, pp. 634–638
- 2022 Acura ILX Owner’s Manual, American Honda Motor Co. (copy hosted by Dealer eProcess), Maintenance Minder, pp. 521–523
- 2022 Acura NSX Owner’s Manual, American Honda Motor Co. (copy hosted by Dealer eProcess), Maintenance Minder, pp. 381–383
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 13, 2026. How we research
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