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Comments
But, what I'm sure the dealer rep. meant was more along the lines of that you merely replace when/if it needs replacing, and their is no predefined service interval for the timing chain. Just as you would other major engine components.
I've had timing chains last several 100,00's of miles, and I've also had them go in far less then 100,000 (my Datsun pickup chewed through one in only about 78,000 miles).
For me that is the catch 22 with the fiber belt. Every time you do it, at 105k intervals it is like a tune up!
And if you think Honda oil filters are a bear, try the upside down mounted Toyota filters.....right above the exhaust downpipe....
Moving it to the front of the pan would get them nominated for a Serviceablity Genius award.
But the filter is a piece of cake. Truly the easiest I have seen in many many years (and I've been doing my own oil changes for about 30 years.)
My name is Tracy and I have owned my 2002 Civic LX since 11/02. I love it. I am concerned though on what I really need to begin replacing: spark plugs, etc.
I met other owners who said to simply change oil/filter.
I think it is time for me to do more preventive maintenance. I wish to keep for another 5 years+...
Appreciate your experience and advice - approx. 77K miles.
Replaced battery, tires, and simple oil/filter changes, light bulbs,and tire rotation regularly.
Thanks.
Tracy (NJ)
You didn't mention transmission fluid change.
a damp cloth will clean the dash. if you insist on using a chemical, something like Endust (the kind used for electronics equipment cleaning (TV, stereo, etc)) will work quite well, not hurt the plastics and more importantly, not leave any gooey silicones behind to attract dust.
a dash is not supposed to be shiny. clean, yes, shiny, no.
I think my dealer accidentally or mistakenly reset the minder system without actually performing any service.
This is what happened. I had my car in today for a checkup on the bottom of the car because this morning I hit a ply of floor wood at a high speed on a highway. After the dealer check the car and told me everything is fine, I drove away. Out of curiosity, I turned the maintenance minder to show the oil life. To my big surprise, it was reset to 100%. I knew for fact that it should be 90% or lower since just a few days ago I have just checked. It seems the dealer reset the minder for some reason.
This is a new car, and I have just had my first oil change plus tire rotation when "A 1" shows up on the display. The same dealer did the scheduled maintenances and reset the minder.
Now, I am terrified that if the dealer indeed reset the minder system. If they did, why? And, more importantly, would this mess up my whole minder system, not just oil change and tire rotation, but all other things? How would I change this back if possible?
I am so frustrated and angry now with the dealer.
Thank you a bunch in advance!
1. Turn the ignition switch to the ON (II) position.
2. Press the SEL/RESET button repeatedly until the engine oil life indicator is displayed.
3. Press the SEL/RESET button for about 10 seconds. The engine oil life and the maintenance item code(s) will blink.
4. Press the SEL/RESET button for more than 5 seconds. The maintenance item code(s) will disappear, and the engine oil life will reset to "100".
The step from 3 to 4 is confusing to me. Do you release the button, then press again for 5 seconds or do you simply hold it for another 5 seconds?
Basically each time the say "Press", it is a "new" Press. Their tech writers need a bit of slapping about.
Cheers
Thanks for any help.
i was fortunate enough to have been given a '97 civic ls from my mother who had it maintained regularly at our local honda dealership. she had a 'tune up' at 175,000 miles and it is now at around 195,000 miles. i've been changing the oil myself but have noticed the gas mileage has been getting worse and worse. as a student, my financial situation is pretty dismal, and i was wondering if i'm able to do any more maintenance on her beyond mere oil changes. sure, this will depend on how much i know about cars, which is very little, but am no 'slouch' and can follow directions well enough, and am more concerned about not having the necessary tools or equipment to proplerly maintain her. so, to get to the meat of this post, is it realistic for me to maintain her by myself? does honda, or anyone else, publish any guides on doing this? can you offer any suggestions as to how to improve her gas mileage?
thank you in advance,
kevin
So for example, your oil change interval cost 3.33 x's more than it has to (as a min). I change oil and oil filter at 20,000 (Mobil One 5w20) So to me that is 6.67 X more costly. I dont wish to change peoples' notions' about this, but changing the oil at the 3,000 mile intervals , actually according to UOA'a "INCREASES" engine wear.
The car gets 38-42 mpg during the course of grueling daily commutes. If I use the fuel lamp buzzer as the metric, that would translate to between 10-11.5 gasl or 380-483 miles. If I for some reason I wanted to run it to within .5 gals left in the tank (12.7 gals) that range is between 483-533 miles.
Regarding you use of synthetic oil, the fact is that you are seriously wasting your money as even the cheapest of cheap 5W-20 oils will work just as well in your car as any synthetic. Why? Because you are only going 3,000 miles per oil change. At that OCI rate, I seriously doubt that using synthetic oil will allow your engine to last even one mile longer.
Best Regards,
Shipo
OCI = Oil Change Interval
As to an oil change interval, I know what Honda, as well as other manufacturers, say regarding extending the oil change interval to 10K miles. But, I think this is ludicrous. If you drive like most normal human beings, that is quite a bit of stop and go city driving inter dispersed with highway driving, I would never, ever go 10K miles between oil changes. I've been inside too many engines with extended oil change intervals, and it's not pretty. Sludge build up, worn valve guides, worn piston rings, and on and on.
On the other hand, I've seen the internals of engines, Honda engines included, where owner's changed oil every 3K miles or 3 months, and the engine looks like it did when it came off of the production line. It's your investment, but I wouldn't consider extending an oil change to 10K miles - never.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I have at least 3 vehicles that used as a min 15,000 mile intervals with 250,000, 146,000, 72,000 miles. Two of these engines required value adjustments so the wear and absolute cleaniness has been verified by dealer mechanics. I run another (non Honda) on (after the dismal warranty period) on 20,000 to 25,000 mile OCI's and again the wear and cleaniness was verified at 100,000 miles by the guru doing the timing belt and water pump interval and inspection of a sometimes problematic (fleetwide) intake and EGR, all pronounced good to go! In fact he looked at me quizzically and pointed to the all critical camshaft lobes and saw original tool markings and had that look..."so what is the big deal?" I run the Honda on 20,000 mile intervals, changing the filter at the oem recommendation of 20,000 miles. Again it gets 38-42 mpg in a daily grueling commute, the internals are totally clean. My target for this vehicle is a min of 4 timing belt changes (105,000 miles) or a min of 450,000 miles.
The guys who designed your car put quite a bit of time and money into making sure you don't spend more than you have on maintenance, and they know better when oil needs change...
thanks for the advice.
They did mention that the oil life indicator in the civic, which calculates the oil life using a formula, is not specifically calibrated for synthetic oils, which often have a higher mileage figure for oil changes. The civic owners manual, and my dealer, said they still recommend using the oil minder to guide you when to change the oil, even though Mobile's recommendations may be different from what the oil minder ends up recommending.
i change oil every 5000 miles with synthetic and the filter - both of which can handle 5000 miles - everyone is happy. the maintenance minder is happy (if you reset it) - and therefore honda is happy. the engine is happy. i don't have to do mathematical gymnastics to remember to change the oil every 3000 miles - i'm happy.
btw - i change the oil myself so i know absolutely what is going in and i can afford to put in synthetic that way.
anybody know if mobil one or castrol syntec is better?
also - nothing personal - but for the guy who wants to know where the airbox is to change the air filter - if you can't figure this out by just looking, you don't belong under the hood. (i assume you mean engine intake air filter - not cabin air filter - that's a different can of worms)
Fortunately for the rest of us, we don't have to be restraned by your doubts. I rely on scientific evidence (i.e. UOAs) to determine what kind of mileage an oil and filter can or cannot handle as far as mileage, and there is absolutely zero evidence to suggest that changing your oil before 10,000 miles will make your engine last even one mile further than if you went 10,000 or maybe even 15,000 miles (assuming the UOAs come back showing that kind of mileage is doable).
"i change oil every 5000 miles with synthetic and the filter - both of which can handle 5000 miles - everyone is happy. the maintenance minder is happy (if you reset it) - and therefore honda is happy. the engine is happy. i don't have to do mathematical gymnastics to remember to change the oil every 3000 miles - i'm happy."
Scientific Used Oil Analysis proves quite convincingly that 5,000 mile oil changes with synthetic oil are an absolute waste of time, money, and resources.
"anybody know if mobil one or castrol syntec is better?"
For your application? There's no difference. In fact, with the OCI that you're using, you'll do just as well by using a conventional oil like Havoline or any Honda/Ford approved 5W-20.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Actually on page 233 of my 2008 manual, it has a section on Synthetic Oil and says it can be used. It says to still follow the change intervals on the information display.
My Honda dealer didn't have synthetic oil when I first started going to them 5 years ago, but they said I could bring it in and they would pour it in when they did the servicing. So I buy what I want and I don't have to pay any dealer mark-up on the oil itself.
(copied from wiki.answers.com):
1. Open the glove box and look in the top corners of the back wall. There should be a button or flexible area which you can pull in on each side. ( The box will fall open so be sure to empty it first!)
2. Behind the glove box you will see the fan housing and directly above that is the air filter tray. Find the tabs which allow you to remove the air filter and pull straight back towards you. The old filter lifts right out.
3. Insert the new filter (there should be arrows on the filter and on the tray indicating air flow direction). There is a raised lip on the inside of the tray. Make sure that the last rib on each end of the filter hooks over this lip to keep the filter expanded so air doesn't just blow around it.
4. Slide the filter tray back into place until it clicks.
5. Raise the glove box back into place. You will probably have to push the buttons in the corners again to get the box closed.
What the manual refers to as an air cleaner element is more commonly referred to as an engine air filter.
It is located near the battery. You'll see a box with four clips. Two on front, two on the right. Unlatch each clip. Lift the top of the box up and pull it forward and up out of the way. You will see the air filter.
Simply remove the air filter, drop the new one in place. Replace the box securely and latch all 4 clips and you're done.
It sounds like a scam to me. The only thing that you mentioned that is a part of the Civic maintenance is the cabin air filters. If it's time to change those you will see a #2 on your maintenance minder. Although you may change it at 15,000 miles according to the following:
"Replace dust and pollen filter
If you drive primarily in urban areas that have high concentrations of soot in the air from industry and from diesel-powered vehicles, replace every 15,000 miles (24,000 km)."
What do they mean by brake service? Are they changing any pads? If so, usually the front pads need changing way before the rear pads. $114 is a low price for a dealership to change all 4 wheels, so I bet they're not doing much for "brake service".
You can get your tires balanced for a lot less at a tire place, if you thought they needed it---for example if they're wearing unevenly. But again, tire balancing is not a standard procedure for Civic maintenance and neither is oil system flush.
If you have a different Honda dealer in your area, I'd suggest taking it to them for future maintenance. The Honda dealer that I use, always just does exactly what the manual says and never asks to do anything additional. If they're already hitting you up additional maintenance at 15,000 miles it could be a sign that they'll get a lot worse as you need to do more maintenance.
A Honda if not ill treated/driven can go its WHOLE life without a oil systems flush. Unless you are an habitual brake abuser, you can look forward to app 100,000 on your brake pads and rotors.
Best Regards,
Shipo