2003 honda civic fluids

[dja4260]

Just purchased an 03 honda civic EX automatic with 73,xxx miles. It is a 1 owner car but I don't have the service history. I want to change trans & engine oil asap.

I've been lurking on this site and learned that honda auto tran's are junk.

I purchased QS 5w-20 Synthetic + fram filter for engine. I plan on running any name brand synthetic oil at 5k change intervals thats on sale.

I purchased Maxlife ATF fluid (9 quarts) to do the drain and change three times. I cannot afford honda Z1 and would use Amzoil if I could.

I want this car to last and I treat it as so. Everything sound good thus far?

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Pictures of my new (used) car. This is my first major purchase ever. I just graduated college and didn't want car payments at this point in life.

 

[Mr Nice]

Actually the auto trans in the Civic is pretty reliable as long as you keep the fluid fresh (drian/refills every 40K miles) there is no trans filter to replace.

My mom has a 2001 and my dad has a 2005 Civic and they are very easy to work on. I would also inspect the cabin A/C filter (inside glove box) and the air filter while you are under the hood. Don't forget to check the water inside the battery and look at your gas pedal cable as the 2001-2005 Civic has a lot of slack in the gas pedal from the factory and can easily be adjusted.

You Civic will last 20 more years with just basic maintenance.

 

[dja4260]

Great to know!

Thanks for the pointers.

The adjustment for the throttle cable can be found by the throttle body under the hood?

 

[dparm]

Transmission is plenty reliable.

The Honda 0w20 synthetic is good stuff and it's cheap, though it's hard to beat the 5qt + filter deals at the store. I think that 5k changes are totally doable. It could probably go further...that motor is not tough on oil.

Congrats on your purchase -- should last you a long long time.

 

[bepperb]

I'd bump the oil changes to 7500 (and I did, I had that car for about 50,000 miles) and get the air filter right away. It's pretty small and a pain (like 7 bolts) to remove, so chances are decent it hasn't been changed.

Otherwise liked the car. A little small for me, at 6" 225lbs, but always got great gas mileage. It could hit 40mpg Milwaukee to Minneapolis, though mine was stick.

 

[Mr Nice]

The gas pedal cable bracket is on the driver's side of the car, just under the thick black A/C hose right next to the master cylinder for the brake fluid. Talking about brake fluid.... if the fluid is getting dark you should flush it out with new fluid as old brake fluid gets contaminated with moisture from age.

The D series Civic engine is a great engine. Smooth running, very reliable, gas sipping and parts are dirt cheap. There is no fuel filter, no distributor cap & rotor to replace and the car uses 110K mile platinum spark plugs. Basically a very low maintenance car. Chicago has some of the highest gas prices in the nation and you will be smiling as you drive by the gas stations in your Civic.

 

[dja4260]

Brake fluid looked good along with other fluids. Not knowing however the fluid history I plan on changing it all as well as the timing belt.

The manual says 7 yrs or 110k. Since its an interference motor I'd rather be safe then sorry and just change it. My dad and I build big inch chevy stuff so a timing belt is an afternoon job. Guess I'd change the h20 pump while I'm down there. I'd owe my dad a case of beer at most.

 

[mattd]

timing belt job is cake on those engines. I'd adjust the valves while your in there too.

 

[dja4260]

Good to know. Id imagine that running the valves on a 4 cylinder is a cake walk as well.

Everyone is cool with using Maxlife ATF fluid as Z1 replacement?

 

[dparm]

Yes. Z1 is not that good of a fluid from what I read.

And yeah, I'd do the timing belt early.

 

[mattd]

i like redline D4 for replacement for Z1. have not used maxlife.

 

[dja4260]

Changed the trans fluid 3 times today and changed the oil. What a terrible spot for the oil filter.

The trans fluid was purplish with a brown tint to it. odd looking and smelled like [censored]. The magnet of the plug was just full of very tiny shaving and other [censored] as well. The fluid seemed to smooth the shifts up but who knows.

 

[ltslimjim]

Wow, you changed the transmission fluid 3x?

 

[dja4260]

I didn't flush the system. I did 3x drain and fill. Each took around 2.5 qts of fluid. The trans holds 9 qts so its still only around 50% fresh.

 

[shrooms]

Civics are great cars. Engine is virtually bullet proof. Just recently, all 4 ignition coils had to be replaced as the 'check engine' came on. (car has 160K) Piece of cake to change them.

While I'm speaking about repairs, get an engine code reader. http://www.tmart.com/Autel-MaxiScan-MS509-OBD2-II-EOBD-Scanner-Code-Reader-Live-Data_p88572.html

Thanks to this little gem, I knew what was wrong and did the repair myself.

 

[dja4260]

Thanks for the info. I am fortunate enough to have a computer scanner. I was all excited when I got it and now no cars have thrown any codes.......go figure

 

[dja4260]

Just changed the Oil and did another drain and fill of Maxlife ATF.

Went with purlator fliter + QS synthetic 5w-20. 5.5k since first change.

Going to adjust the throttle cable in about 5 minutes.