Maintenance on 06 Civic 115k miles

[houdini1313]

Long time reader, first time poster. I have an 06 civic lx with 115k miles, and have some questions about maintaining it properly so it can get me to 200+.

I do oil changes every 5,000 miles, and have kept up with the fluid changes myself (power steering, coolant, and only the brake fluid and ATF done at the dealership) The service advisor suggested my valves be adjusted at 120k (I had the full 100k checkup/tuneup done and the valves were adjusted then this past november) Do the valves really need to be adjusted every 20k or is that the dealer padding their wallet? What tips/experiences do you have with civics or any other car past 115k to make the car last? Thanks for your time and replies!

 

[lawman1909]

I would continue doing what you do already. ATF every 30k along with your coolant and might as well do the PS while you're at it. Unless your vehicle seems to be idling rough, etc., I see no reason to adjust the valves.

 

[tommygunn]

Welcome to BITOG!

Doesn't that Civic have a maintenance minder? You can follow it with confidence

Changing the ATF is very easy, even easier than changing the oil, so you can definitely do it yourself.

The valves really only need to be inspected/adjusted if they're noisy. And DEFINITELY not every 20k! That dealership is swindling the [censored] out of you.

Change the oil when the minder gets down to 15%

Check this out: Honda Maintenance Minder

 

[gathermewool]

His Civic does have a Maintenance Minder, which it seems he's ignoring, because 5k miles seems way to short an interval to get it down to even 15% oil life left.

ALL maintenance should be done in accordance with the Maintenance Minder, which will display a code for when to change the oil only, the oil and filter, ATF, coolant, spark plugs, etc. Your spark plugs would have been due around 100k, your coolant 120k, etc.

The valve clearance should be inspected around this time, but if they're not making any noise that can be heard over your injectors then what's the point in paying all that money.

I plan to do everything by the Maintenance Minder for our R18, with the exception of changing the ATF every 30k miles or so. These little cars seem to take very little to make it to high mileage, so you shouldn't feel the need to throw your hard-earned money away performing needless maintenance. With excessive maintenance you may end up causing an issue due to adding human error into the equation more often...

 

[Mr Nice]

I got 140K miles on my 2007 Civic and haven't adjusted the valves.

 

[zuluplus30]

If the maintenance minder didn't call for it and the valves aren't overly noisy, then pass. I always let the MM dictate what and when. It has a much better handle on intervals than I ever did. If you insist on changing the oil every 5k, do so but don't reset the minder. Let it continue to dictate what code services to perform at it's specified intervals. Baring some major mechanical breakdown, R18s can go for a LONG time. Plenty of 200-300k examples floating around on the internet.

 

[Patman]

These cars don't need overmaintenance to reach high mileage, they are pretty robust. I've got 113k on mine and haven't really done too much, I changed the trans fluid, air filter and spark plugs 3 years ago when I first got it (with 80k on it then), and I've done all the oil changes when the MM hits 15%. That's it. I should probably change the coolant soon, but other than that I don't plan on doing anything else other than perhaps another trans fluid change soon (I'll do it myself so it's under $50)

 

[jk_636]

Originally Posted By: houdini1313
Long time reader, first time poster. I have an 06 civic lx with 115k miles, and have some questions about maintaining it properly so it can get me to 200+.

I do oil changes every 5,000 miles, and have kept up with the fluid changes myself (power steering, coolant, and only the brake fluid and ATF done at the dealership) The service advisor suggested my valves be adjusted at 120k (I had the full 100k checkup/tuneup done and the valves were adjusted then this past november) Do the valves really need to be adjusted every 20k or is that the dealer padding their wallet? What tips/experiences do you have with civics or any other car past 115k to make the car last? Thanks for your time and replies!

Valve adjustment every 20k seems a little fishy to me. Im no expert on Honda motors, but you may definetely want to get a second opinion

 

[houdini1313]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I did think a valve adjustment every 20k seemed too much, will keep an eye and ear on it. I certainly don't want to over maintain and waste money, but want to do the things I need to keep it going.

Who has experience with knowing about needing to replace things like shocks and struts? Can I go to 200k on the originals or are those things part of regular maintenance? I tend not to trust those chain car places for anything, but also know the stealership is after my money (and would charge dearly for shocks/struts. Any experiences?

 

[tommygunn]

Shocks/struts are not routine maintenance items. Just replace them when they fail. You'll know when you need them when the ride is rough and you're bouncing around always getting a headache every time you drive.

They may or may not be able to make it to 200k depending on how the roads are there and driving conditions.

By the time you need new shocks/struts, they'll have quick struts available (quick struts are pre-assembled struts that include all-new components such as a spring and the strut mount "top hat"--and you won't have to use a spring compressor)

Also, when you replace the front struts, be sure to get new mounts as well--yes they do go bad over time.

 

[MarkM66]

Originally Posted By: houdini1313
Thanks for the replies everyone, I did think a valve adjustment every 20k seemed too much, will keep an eye and ear on it. I certainly don't want to over maintain and waste money, but want to do the things I need to keep it going.

Who has experience with knowing about needing to replace things like shocks and struts? Can I go to 200k on the originals or are those things part of regular maintenance? I tend not to trust those chain car places for anything, but also know the stealership is after my money (and would charge dearly for shocks/struts. Any experiences?


I replaced the original struts on my '01 at about 240k miles with quick-struts. I actual didn't think they needed to be replaced for safety reasons, just thought the ride might be a little better. I felt no difference in ride.