newstickdriver

I recently bought a 2005 Civic Manual Shift. This is only my 2nd car and 1st manual shift. When I had an automatic, I took my car every 6 months for oil change and they did a free inspection. If they recommended to change something, I would just do it.

Do I have to take my car for oil change/maintenance every six months, now that I have a manual shift? Also, is taking care of a manual shift any different than an automatic? Could you recommend a maintenance schedule or should I just follow what Honda recommends? Sorry for too many questions. Just one more though. I would like to educate myself on topics related to car maintenance; could you recommend how I can go about it - online, books,any links?

Thanks in advance.

MelJ

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is tranny fluid. I think the recommended change interval is like 50k. I think most change it before then though. There really isn't much in terms of maintenance differences besides that. Just go with the Honda intervals if you drive normally though. Hope that clears up some stuff.

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

6 month, and mile intervals are just standards, it all depends how you drive

If you bought the 05 vic from a previous owner,
if he has done scheduled maintenance from the dealership and has paperwork to show, you're in good shape, however, if he doesnt have paperwork to show maintenance,
i would suggest doing all the fluid changes in the car, and have the timing belt/water pump checked

Typical person who keeps his honda in top shape would do these intervals:
Engine oil change - 3K~5K miles, or 3 months, whichever comes first
Transmission - 10K~30K, or yearly
Powersteering/Brake fluid - maybe check and if needed, flush every 5 years
spark plugs - 30K~60K

Engine oil change is one of the easiest maintenance you can do to to your car, learn to do it yourself.
Transmission fluid is just about the same

-Prop your car up with a jack, or a curb, or driveway, open hood and remove either engine oil cap, or transmission dipstick, depending on which you are doing.
-Get underneath car, put a oil pan under car and remove tranny/engine oil drain bolt
-Let it drain for a good 15 mins or so, then remove filter (for engine oil), let that drain for a couple mins
-for engine oil, put a little oil in the new filter, then put it back in
-plug in the drain bolt
-fill it up with oil


It's about a 30 min process, only takes long because you need to let the oil drain out, or it'd be a 10 min process

Btw, just to throw this in there,
It's either a manual, or a stick shift, dont say manual shift, that sounds retarded

MelJ

Just don't do what I did one time and try to change after driving at 60mph for 20 minutes on the highway. Haha.