What do I need to do for proper maintenance?
 

I'm new to the mechanics of car... I've been driving my 05 Civic for almost 2 years now and haven't done any maintenance on it... not even oil change... my dealership said to change oil every 8000km... so far, I only have 7300km over these two years... mostly only driven to campus and work which is very close by where I live... some people suggest changing oil every year...

Will it also hurt my car if I change oil too often? I don't mind that because I got the oil change for life from Honda...

I also heard I need to change wipers every year...
Some people suggest changing air filter when I'm going in for oil change too... and I have no idea what or where it is under the hood...

My dad suggested a "tune-up"? I don't know what that is, and don't want to sound stupid by asking my dad what it is...

I live in Vancouver, BC... so the winters here aren't very cold either...
Are all those things necessary? Is there anything I missed to keep proper maintenance of my car?

Thanks in advance. Truly appreciate it if someone could help me out. I'm really a pure noob when it comes to cars... =/

Short trips in cold weather are not good, You should be changing your oil more often IMO.

Wiper refills about once a year for me, I always keep a spare set ready. Winter blades during the coldest and snow and then back to originals.

Air and cabin filters would be due at 25-30 k miles.

No tune up items are due, Spark plugs are due much later and they are really the only item of this type. (no distributer cap and rotor/ no plug wires)

Check your owner's guide for a list of recommended maintenance items. Some people will insist on oil changes every 3,000 miles or 3 months which ever comes first. Usually Honda recommends 7,500 mi but please check it for your car. Some synthetic oil manufacturer suggest that you need to change their oil every 12,000 miles.

If you do a lot of short trips, i'd recommend changing the year more often. Twice a year would be fine. When you do a lot of short trips, the small amount of water and fuel which gets in your oil doesn't get a chance to evaporate because the car isn't run at operating temperature for long enough.

With as little miles as you have, i'd only worry about oil and filter changes, air filter changes, cabin filter changes, and transmission fluid changes. Everything else on your car will be fine for a long time.

Amsoil's take on fuel dilution
https://www.amsoil.com/dealer/techse..._0702_2004.pdf

I'll try to find a good link on condensation later.

you need to change oil right now and check all the fluids. Although the CIvic doesnt require much maintencance, motor oil and tranmission oil is very important. I dont know about the KM #'s but when I had my CIvic the book said 7000 miles but even the dealer suggested 3500 miles. Even if I dont achieve 3000 miles in 6 months, I still change the oil.

thanks for all the replies... i actually called the dealership last year and ask them if i needed an oil change when i get 3500km on it... my car ran for a year back then... he said the car is still in the break-in stage and told me to get it to 8000km first before changing my first oil...

Theres a lot of debate on when to change the oil for the first time. There really is no right or wrong way. If you've only gone 7300km in two years, i would get the oil changed, no question.

I trust tech's on certain things, but oil is not one of them. They think they know what they're talking about, but they don't. There is no reason to go 8,000km. Most of the break-in occurs in the first 50 miles, and usually lasts up to 20k-30k.

u might want to clean out ur engine b 4 u add new oil cuz since u nvr change da oil. if u add new oil it will burn up faster and ur car go boom boom:rockon:

what the hell are you talking about?

what the hell are you talking about?[/QUOTE]

^^^^^^
I agree:_doh:

^^^^^
I agree What the hell are you talking about:susp: