Honda Civic Care and Maintenance

lawdawgfl

There are two schools of thought when it comes to introducing synthetic oil into a car. First is, wait until the car is well broken in about 12,000 miles and then add the oil. The other is go ahead and put it in at the start, today’s engines are made better etc, etc… So the question is, which is it? Wait, or do it now? I plan on keeping this car for a long time and want to do the best for it.
One last thing, should the oil be changed after the first 1000 miles due to any metal shavings from the engine?
Thanks for the info.

bd21

No doubt synthetic is the best oil to use, I just can't justify the cost difference no matter how long I plan on keeping a car. Change your oil as indicated in your owner's manual on the severe schedual for your first oil change, then put your synthetic in. Metal shavings are not a concern and your engine will be more than broken in enough to change to synthetic on that schedual. Corvettes, Volvos and Mercedes all ship from the factory with synthetic, so you will be fine.

snarks

A last point if you are going to use Synthetic oil only use Amsoil, Redline, Mobil 1 or Castrol (Made In Germany on bottle only!). A court ruling occured where oil can be called synthetic that is really more like dino. It is not a bargain to buy the other types since those listed above are not much more if at all. Interestly enough it was Castrol that pushed this ruling but their Made in Germany stuff rarer to find is very good.

lawdawgfl

Thanks for all the help.

lawdawgfl

While looking at some of the difference between the HX and other Civics I noticed that the HX does not come with a center console with armrest. It would be nice to have one of these but I am not willing to give up the MPG or the extra money just for an armrest. Is there some place it can be purchased for a reasonable price?
Thanks for the help.

dudka

try your local dealer if you like being raped. If you are handy, you can buy the console at an online dealer and install your self.
here are a few, pick one closest to you. Visit the website, get the number and call.

North East and New England (personally recommended, next day pick up in NY/NJ/CT):
http://www.fairhondapartsforyou.com

West coast (used once, Very good, take too long to ship to CT):
http://www.handa-accessories.com

Heartland: (used once, very good, still takes long to get stuff from)
http://www.hparts.com

I hope the moderator does not delete, I have no personal gain, just passing the info.

miester_v

I recently got a '04 Civic Coupe. Did some driving with it and it is around 200 miles at this point. There's some dust, spots, grime on the body as expected from driving on not so clean roads. How long should I wait until I get the first car wash for my car? Is there some sort of guideline for car-washing brand new cars? And also, how often should cars be washed in general?

bd21

You can start washing waxing your car the day you buy it, there is no need to wait. Wash it whenever it's dirty and wax it a few times a year. Hand washing with a car soap in the shade is best and wax it in the shade too.

cantfixx

I bought my civic last june 03. Lately i noticed a discreet whining sound which i can hear from the cabin esp. during idle and, more profound when i turn the steering wheel left and right. When i went to the dealer for the 10k preventive maintenance sked, they confirmed that the whining sound is coming from the power steering pump. So now, i had the car scheduled for next week for them to diagnose the problem. I wanna know if anyone of you guys experienced similar problems with your civics. And was it solved? Thanks in advance for any input.

ncampbell2002

My 2003 Civic Ex has done the same thing since the day I bought it (April 2003) so I thought it was just normal. I knew it was the PSP. The car now has just over 15,000 miles and so far no problems here. Let me know if your dealer finds it to be a problem so I can bring it to the attention of my dealer as well. Email me if you want or post it on here so others can see whats going on! Thanks!

dudka

It could just be that the belt is slipping. It should not happen on a car this new. My 88 preludes makes the screeching noise when it is just started up and the wheels are being turned, but come on, it is 16 years old and has 4 wheel steering. With 4 wheel steering the pump has to work twice as hard.

gillman3

Hi everybody,

I have Honda Civic LX 2003.
Can someone give me an advice that how long I will need to do alignment ? and what's the signal I could recognize that my car needed to alignment ?

Sincerely,

ncampbell2002

My family and I have never once needed an alignment on any of our 5 Hondas we have owned in the past and to this day. However a good way to check to see if your car needs an alignment is simply by monitoring the tire wear. If the tires start to wear in a skewed form (1 side more than the other) you can bet you need one, other than that just keep those tires rotated every 5000-10000 miles and in good condition and you should be able to avoid that maintinence.

gregoryc1

I was reading your posting about using oil and condensation (water) in the oil raising the oil level. If a vehicle has that much condensation, (water) in the engine oil, it would be forming "sludge" in the crankcase. If the oil level rises, it is most probably caused by "raw fuel" entering the crankcase during combustion, (faulty rings, fuel injectors, misfiring due to ignition problems, high fuel system pressure ---etc). ---- Just my opinion. -----Greg

james

As a new honda owner I need a little reassurance about the maintenance schedule. According to the manual I fall into the "normal" schedule - which calls for an oil change every 10K and no early "break in" oil change. Should I feel OK with this?

gregoryc1

This information is both my opinion and the opinion of my Honda dealer in Northern New Jersey. First oil and filter change at 3,750 miles. Every oil and filter change after that, should be done at 3,000 miles or 3 months which ever comes first. Now, you will hear other opinions on this subject, and your will read different service intervals in the Honda Owner's Book, but the bottom line is,---- YOU own the vehicle and YOU set the standards of maintenance. Oil and filter changes are cheap maintenance.

snarks

Go what your comfortable with. In my opinion 3000 miles is too soon but 10,000 on dino oil seems long. Everyone's conditions differ, personally I have used 5000 miles oil changes as recommended by a few mechanics and less than 7500 miles recommended by Honda and have had 202,000 problem free miles on my current 95 civic. My driving conditions are some city and some highway.

Oil is good these days and car burn cleaner now in lieu of the carburated days (many years ago) that contaminated the oil with fuel and other combustion products.

imidazol97

Somewhere in one of these forums someone indicated the oil from the factory had a high molybdenum content. Molybdenum has been used in oils and greases for a long time. Apparently Honda feels this helps with breaking in the rings and cylinder walls.

I agree with Gregc1. Do what your dealer feels best, but I don't think more than 5000 is reasonable for even someone who drives only open road all the time at 50+ mph. If you do short trip driving, change sooner. Try putting the oil on a paper towel from the dipstick. Look at the color and size of the dirt spot in the center. Then do that occasionally. When the center spot gets close to the size of a dime, I think it's time to change. When the smell of the oil gets like tailpipe gases or gasoline-like, it's time to change if it's over 3000 for me.

ncampbell2002

You can do what you want with this as I also agree with the others that you make the final decision. I have always used 5-6k intervals between oil changes using synthetic oil driving a mix of highway and city. I have even gone much longer with my 95 Civic I used to own and never noticed a "sludge" buildup inside the valve cover. In my opinion, a great way to check to see if you need to shorten the interval of oil changes is to take a pen light, open the oil cap and look at the valves and components. If there is no sludge buildup, then you're doing just fine on your intervals. If you notice sludge in there, change the oil, then rechange the oil again in another 1000 miles or so to help clean out the system, then shorten your intervals slightly to see where that gets you. Again, your choice.

damion316

I have a 1992 Honda Civic, and everytime I start the car up, the clock resets back to 1:00 and the radio goes back to 87.7 FM. What is the problem?

blueiedgod

I would say your battery is low.

brunodag2

Has anyone had experience asking a dealership to replace oil with Mobil 1 synthetic, either supplied by the dealer or yourself? I'm thinking about replacing the original oil in my '04 civic ex with Mobil 1 but also want to build a maintenance relationship with the dealer. I have a feeling they will want to replace oil with Honda oil. How about high performance spark plugs?

ncampbell2002

I know independant mechanics will put whatever oil you give them in your vehicle but I'm sure if you take it to a Honda dealer the people there will probably give you a big saga story on why it is "necessary" to only use Honda fluids in your vehicle. Make sure you don't change the oil until at least 5000 miles for the first time and if you do switch to sythetic, don't switch back to conventional oil.

About the spark plugs, try this link. I thought it was very interesting. You may want to pick a spark plug depending on what kind of driving you are doing. I used to be what I call brainwashed from advertising gimmics, such as when the Bosch Platinum 4+'s came out. I put those in my 95 Civic and the car felt the same with no noticable increases in power. After reading this article I got the impression that if you put high performance plugs in an engine that doesn't require them, you may get some premature ignition which could be harmful to the engine, kinda the same thing when you use premium fuel in a vehicle designed for regular fuel. It may not happen, but there is a chance. Check out this article though. It might be beneficial to help you make your own decision.
http://www.corollaperformance.com/TechInfo/sparkplugs.html

Nick

gregoryc1

If you want to use synthetic oil, I am sure that the dealer sells a line of this product, so why not use their synthetic oil and filters. Should something happen to the engine down the road, and the vehicle is under warranty, it is their oil and their filter. In terms of spark plugs, the one thing that you need to remember, is that the entire "engine management system" is a "balanced system", which means if you change one thing, you could possibly upset the system. I would never install an aftermarket sensor in any computer command controlled vehicle. I would always purchase original equipment parts. The slightest difference in sensor values could result in driveability problems. -----Greg

snarks

Spark plugs are indifferent as long as they meet specs of Honda. You'll likely notice little to no difference with high performance plugs as the Civic motor is extremely far from high performance.

Bring your own oil in and see what the dealer will do, as long as oil meets Honda's specs typically 5W-20 and SL its fine with regards to any warranty claim. The likely hood of an oil failure is so mimimal during the warranty period (extended or not) especially with regular oil changes. Honda does not require you to use their own oil and dealers typically do not use Honda oil anyway (bulk oil). An FYI on current Honda OEM oil filters is that are produced by FRAM for Honda.

good luck

gregoryc1

If you were the dealer, would you want your customers to bring in their own oil and filter for an oil & filter change?---- What would you charge them for the service?----- If I was the dealer, I would charge them the regular price, and if they didn't like that price, they could take their oil and filter business to another location. An oil and filter service is between $20.00 to $25.00 with tax. If you put on 12,000 miles per year and you change the oil and filter every 3,000 miles the cost for this service is between $80.00 and $100.00 dollars per year. That is "cheap" maintenance from a dealer using original equipment quality parts and fluids. How "cheap" can people be with regards to maintaininig their vehicle??? No wonder people have problems with new car dealers. If you expect warranty work and professional / careing service, the dealer also expects some maintenance work in return. They are in business to make money! I give our Honda dealer all the maintenance work, and he treats us VERY well in terms of service. I also purchase my tires from the dealer.

ncampbell2002

If what snarks said about Honda having FRAM making their oil filters is true, I would call those anything but quality and therefore I will NEVER buy a Honda oil filter. FRAM is the cheapest oil filter you can buy, and I know a few people that have had problems with the filters deteriorating and then start circulating fragments through the system. BTW, I have never taken my car to the dealer for any normal maintinence work that I have to pay out of pocket and they still give me the same "professional caring service" whenever I need warranty work. Remember, the dealer still gets paid for the work they do under warranty, it just comes out of the pocket of Honda Motor Company and not the dealer.

crazygrrrl

Does anyone know when I'm supposed to change the fuel filter in my 2003 Civic LX sedan? I've had the car for a little over a year and it has 16,700 miles on it now.

The owner's manual doesn't say anything about fuel filters.

Thanks.

celica115

They don't get 100% labor paid by Honda Motor Company so many of them do not like the warranty works.

bd21

There is no time change requirement and you can probably go for the life of your car without replacing it. If you want to change it anyway, I would wait at least 5 years.

snarks

like bd21 said, no specified interval. Honda service never changed mine. My independant mechanic caught onto this and change the OEM filter at 8 years and 195,000 miles.

I would at least wait till the major service at 90k or 105,000 miles before thinking about it.

mjg

i have a 2000 si with 52k. not finding any info on fuel filter changes, i had mine changed last week. i did find this info but since they sell stuff i don't know how accurate it is. better safe than sorry i guess.

http://www.overnightautoparts.com/honda-civic-cvc--009-fuel-filte- r.html

crazygrrrl

Wow! I can't imagine leaving a fuel filter in the car for that long. On my Firebird, I replace it every 15,000 miles or 2 years, whichever comes first.

Thanks for the info!

blueiedgod

My dealer, Fair Honda in Danbury, CT sells Mobil 1 at the parts counter along with Honda oil and other fluids. They highly recommend Mobil 1 oil change, but they also charge close to $60 for it. I do my own changes with Mobil 1 from Costco ($22 for 6 quarts) and filter from Honda. I have been toying with the idea of replacing the filter with Mobil 1 filter, but there may be some warranty issues. I just don't want the hassle. Honda filters may be made by Fram, but Honda would not have a leg to stand on if something happened.

bd21

I'm just curious on why you are spending $60 for a twenty dollar oil change. I'm a mechanic and I know synthetic oils are slightly better, but conventional will easily take an engine past 200,000 miles without an oil related issue coming in to play, if the oil is changed at reasonable intervals. You won't get better gas mileage or save any money on mechanical repairs, so what benefit do you expect to gain with synthetic oil. I can see the cost worthwhile in race cars with the extremely high temperatures they run, but I find the additional cost hard to justify for most drivers. Again, I'm just curious. Also, you can use any filter on your car, it will not and can not cause a warranty issue as long as the application was rated for your car.

snarks

I have a high mileage Civic 203k miles and starting using Mobil 1 for one reason. Walmart charges $27.88 for the synthetic oil/filter change. Surprising professional and you can watch all their work from behind a short knee wall if you like (I don't). They do use Fram but you can ask for SuperTech (rated decently by many) oil filters. I am streching my interval now to every 6 months/7500 miles like manual says for normal now. I do about 6000-7000 miles in 6 months. Previously I used dino in the 4-5k oil change interval. Basically one less hassle of changing oil slightly less in a year's time.

As far as benefits you really only see them in winter when motor cranks over quickly due better viscosity in cold temps with synthetic.

blueiedgod

I don't pay $60 for Mobil 1 changes. I do my own for $18.33 for oil (($22/6)x5 Civic Si takes 5 quarts) and $3-5 for a Honda filter. As to why I do that, Honda recommends oil changes every 10,000 miles for normal and 5000 miles for severe service with dyno oil. I am not comfortable with those intervals for dyno oil. I have beed doing 5000 mile intervals with Mobil 1 for quite a few years now (other vehicles), and pretty sure it is safe.

I do feel some hesitation and sluggishhess on dyno oil after 3000 miles, with Mobil 1 I get the same sensation after 5000 miles. With fresh Mobil 1, the car feels sprited and weightless. I know it could just be my perception.

imidazol97

I don't know how you can feel a hesitation or sluggishness, and especially how you can tell a difference between regular oil and artificial oil!

Can anyone explain this to me?

ncampbell2002

It is possible to start feeling the car underperform when you are nearing the end of your oil change interval. As the oil gets dirtier, it thickens and you lose some engine performance along with fuel economy, although I have personally had it get this bad to where I actually felt a difference in engine performance.

ncampbell2002

sorry I meant, have NOT had it get this bad to where I actually felt a difference in engine performance.

blueiedgod

Like I said it could be just my perception, but I do feel that I have mush the pedal farther to get the same performance out of the car with different oils. I feel the same when I change the air filter.
With fresh Mobil 1, the car just wants to go. I don't have to press the gas pedal as far to get the same response.

snarks

I just changed to Mobil 1 for the first time and noticed no difference after dumping 5000 mile old dino out. I'll now go the full 6month or 7500 miles on Mobil 1. My only concern is that Walmart installed a Fram (standard practice) instead of SuperTech I asked for , but I know Honda uses Fram as manufacturer of OEM filters currently (you can find name stamped on some) although construction may be different.

I did however notice a bit of accelaration difference after changing plugs/wires/cap&rotor/air filter after 50,000 miles since last change....

But hey if it just feels good whether really true or not there is nothing wrong with that.

bd21

It is definetly a perception. It would be impossible to notice any difference in engine performance by changing oil with less than 5000 miles on it unless the oil had congealed from high temperatures, regardless of whether it was a synthetic or dino. Not even a dyno would pick up a performance difference. In extreme cold environments synthetic will let an engine turn over a little easier, but in most parts of the USA it's really not a factor. I would use dyno oil with 5,000 mile oil change intervals or use snythedic with 10,000 mile oil changes. As long as you are doing the oil changes yourself, that will at least make it a little more cost effective. I recommend Pure One or Honda oil filters if you are going to have change intervals past 4000 miles. Don't worry whether Fram makes Honda filters or not, it is not the same filter. Honda specifications make it a significantly better than a standard Fram filter.

gregoryc1

Change the oil and filter every 3,000 miles. Your engine will "love you"! Use a high quality oil and filter. Let the Honda dealer do this service, then all your service records are in one place should a "warranty issue" develop. Most Honda dealers have oil and filter change specials. My Honda dealer recommends oil and filter changes at 3750 miles, (not 5,000 or 10,000 miles). I do this service at every 3,000 miles. I do not believe in long oil and filter change intervals. I also warm up my engine on a cold winter morning, and I use premium fuel, but that is another story. You will read different opinions on this subject, so read all the postings, and make up your own mind!

qbanspice

I just got my new 2004 Civic LX coupe on Sunday. I plan on driving my car slowly until my first oil change. Since I live in Southern California where there is a lot of traffic, I plan on changing the oil every 5,000 miles. The other reason why I want to change the oil at 5,000 miles is because I average about 25,000 to 30,000 miles a year. Obviously, this qualifies as "severe driving."

This is my fourth car, and I have never used synthetic oil. What is it? Why is it supposedly better? Is it safe to put sythetic oil when I get my first oil change? What other types of oil exist?

Help! I don't know anything about cars.

crv16

On the contrary, putting on lots of miles each year is not necessarily "severe driving". Severe driving conditions are when there are a lot of short distance trips (where the engine doesn't get to warm up completely), driving down a lot of dirt roads, towing, or lots of city stop-n-go driving. If you are doing mostly highway driving, that is not considered severe. Even so, 5k oil changes are a safe bet.

Take the two vehicles we own - my Civic which I drive 100 miles per day commuting back and forth to work, and my wife's Sienna, where she makes several short distance trips every day. Even though she only puts on 30 miles per day compared to my 100, her engine is likely to wear more due to all the cold starts.

gregoryc1

If you want your engine to stay "NEW" longer, change your oil and filter every 3,000 miles. Don't spend your money on Synthetic Oil. Just use a high quality oil, and keep it clean!

snarks

First 25k-30k is not severe its easier on the car unless excessive stop and go ie delivering pizza's or mail. I imagine its highway mileage. Gregoryc1 means well in telling you to change the oil every 3k miles but really 5k is more reasonable with regular oil, Honda knows more than we do. If you follow his schedule you'll changing the oil 10 times a year, a waste of time and money. The only synthetic that is easy to get and popular is Mobil 1 and you could do 7500 miles+ with it. Others such as Amsoil, Royal Purple, Redline are worth getting but are difficult to obtain. All other synthetics ie Castrol, Pennzoil, Valvoline are not much better than regular oil and cost the same as Mobil 1.

Personally I would stick with a regular oil (dino) and use 5k miles. I used Honda's severe schedule of 3750 miles on my 95 Civic (reality was 4-5k oil changes) with regular oil, and it runs fine after 9 years and 210k miles. The motor has never been repaired just maintained and the last mechanic pointed out how clean my engine was when checking/adjusted the valves.

gregoryc1

"Honda knows more than we do"! -----Do you actually believe this statement when it comes to designing a "preventive maintenance program" for your own vehicles? ----- Can a Lab. simulate all the possible driving conditions that a vehicle could experience within a period of 3,000 miles?--- I don't think so!--- As owners of vehicles, we need to "think for ourselves" when it comes to preventive maintenance. I don't care how good the lubricating product is, 5,000 or 10,000 mile oil change intervals are excessive, and as a result of this type of maintenance, deposits will be forming in the oil passages of the block, cutting down on oil flow. In addition, "dirty oil is dirty oil", and circulating this product does no good for the engine, no matter what corporate engineers think and / or publish on this subject. Have you ever heard of a car manufaturer turning down a "warranty claim", because the owner of the vehicle performed oil and filter changes at more frequent intervals? (The engine was TOO CLEAN)! The answer is NO! But if "sludge" is found in an engine the manufacturer can deny the claim! Did you ever wonder why oil pumps fail? They are sitting in 4 + quarts of lubricating engine oil and they fail. Reason: ---- The oil is dirty!

snarks

Hi greg,

A lab does not simulate all possible driving conditions. Manufacturers/engineers take cars on the road and run them through a pleathora of abusive conditions. My old college roomate works for GM and has this job of vehicle testing. With regards to oil changes, they actually perform a used oil analysis which tells you the actual life left in oil based on conditions. Try this link for more info, a resource really for oil and even additives!

http://theoildrop.server101.com/whatisoilanalysis.htm

They use existing customer fleets of vehicles and determine the change interval according to him.