Maintenance on HCH
 

Tell me if you agree or disagree...

Every 10k for oil change

Every 10k for oil filter change

Every 10k rotate and balance tires

Every 20k for air filter

Every 30k for cvt fluid change

Every 30k for cabin filter

What am I missing? I'm a novice when it comes to this stuff, I just want to make sure my car lasts forever.

Re: Maintenance on HCH
 

Hi Big,

One of the longest debated subjects on most automobile forums! But let's do it.

I would follow the factory recommendations for the oil/filter, within a few hundred miles or so.

It sounds like you are stretching the oil change/filter. For any type of driving condition.

I use 3750 miles for the initial oil/filter change, then go to 5000 miles after that. Some people will say synthetic oil can go longer, I sleep better on a 5k schedule.

Tires - If they are wearing even, I don't do anything.

Regards,

Re: Maintenance on HCH
 

Being a brand spankin new owner, I find myself wondering about how much additional wear and tear, from an oil perspective, the auto-stop/start feature is introducing. The conventional wisdom in some circles is that stop/go driving increases the frequency of oil changes required. Wouldn't this feature make the doubly true?

-O

Re: Maintenance on HCH
 

I think it balances itself out because when the AutoStop is engaged, the engine is not pumping the oil, the oil is sitting dormant, but is still coating the engine parts just fine. Notice that the AutoStop will not engage when the engine is COLD, meaning they took that into consideration when designing the car..My guess is that it has no negative impact on oil function .:D

Re: Maintenance on HCH
 

I thought the factory recommendation was to change the oil every 10k, so how could that be a stretch? Unless, of course, the salesman lied to me and the info provided by Honda is incorrect....

Re: Maintenance on HCH
 

Like I said at the start, let the debate begin!

Looking at my owners manual for a '05 Insight (not a HCH), it says change oil every 7,500 miles - filter every 15,000 miles, under normal driving conditions.

Severe Conditions - oil and filter every 3,750 miles.

I choose to go somewhere between these two intervals, mainly because of the small volume of oil in the engine and the south Louisiana heat. And if I'm changing the oil, the filter will get changed at the same time. Those Wal-Mart Super-tech filters are good quality and bargain priced.

Does the Civic Hybrid maintenance schedule differ from this? I wouldn't know.

Happy Motoring!

Regards,

Re: Maintenance on HCH
 

Don,

The HCH manual ('05) says oil & filter change at 10K miles or 1 yr (whichever comes first) for "normal" conditions and 5K or 6 months for "severe" conditions. My salesman said something about a first oil change around 3750 miles, I believe, but I need to check that again. :)

jimbob

Re: Maintenance on HCH
 

When I purchased my 05 HCH I was told not to be proactive and have the first oil change before 5000 mils as it comes from the factory with a special breakin oil in the engine.

Re: Maintenance on HCH
 

I was advised the same as saemad, as special break in oil is used first and needs to be retained.

Re: Maintenance on HCH
 

When I purchased my HCH is May 04, the salesman asked me specifically about the way I would drive the car. When I told him 112 miles per day on the local highway at 65 mph, he said don't come in until 10K. When I called for my first service, the service technican almost had a heart attack. When I told him it was a Hybrid, he backtracked. But still, who ever does the oil change puts a sticker on the windshield that says come back in 3750 miles.

I have just about had it with the Honda service and am almost ready to go back to changing my own oil.

As for the other items: at 20K my air filter was way far gone. I got 3-5 mpg for changing that. At 30K it didn't look at all dirty, so I took a vaccuum to it and things are still OK.

Cabin filter at 30K seems OK, mine had a visitor (a mouse), so it was hard to determine. (The dealer wanted $150 to change them, I paid $18 for the filters and spend a whopping two minutes changing them.)

Tire are rotated when I think about it, I have never bought into the regular rotation theory.

I have MT, so I don't change the CVT fluid.