Hey Honda people (and others)
 

With the weather warming up and me having more free time, I am getting ready to do my first service on my 98 Civic dx. Its got 'bout 140k on the clock, and seems to run fine.

So for my questions, what should I do?

my list right now is; Eng.oil/filter, tranny oil, air filter, pcv. I will also check my plugs soon as well. Anything else? (keep in mind my mechanical ability is somewhat limited.) What oil should i use, assume its dino in there now. I would like to switch to syn in the tranny, but not sure what wt to use.

Also my pan gasket is a wee bit wet, so i will be replacing that soon, do you guys think i need to get a torque wrench for that or can i safely wing it.

Im thinking of using some oil treatment right before i do the gasket, any thoughts?

Last time the timing belt was replaced?

You could try and wing it, pan bolts don't need much torque, so you could do the "finger tight, then half a turn" thing you do with spark plugs, check a week later for seepage, and give them another quarter turn at a time then.

However, deflection beam torque wrenches are quite inexpensive and can be found in the "cheap tools" bin at auto parts stores and occasionally walmart (Ours had them a couple of years ago). I mean those kind of bins where it's "everything 5.98 or 11.99" or something like that. If you're in Canada, PartSource usually has them.

Don't forget to change fuel filter and you could run seafoam through you system

i dont have much history from the car, i just bought it 1000k mi ago. I do know that the t.belt, wpump, plugs/dist.cap/wires were done @114k, and had a new exhaust put in last year at some point.

When it comes time to do the pan, i think i will get a tqwrench. and I changed my mind about oil treatment. Im trying to save money on this car, not clog the oil passages.

so my list now is
oil change 5w30 high mileage oil
fuel/air filters
pcv valve
tranny oil (not sure what kind of oil, any help???)
seafoam intake/fuel system.

Before you replace the pan gasket, you could give the nut's on the pan a hand tighten torque. It's possible that you just have a couple that are on the shy side of loose. Not trying to discourage replacing the oil pan gasket, it's just it's rather a hassle to do, time wise.

And if you do the timing belt replace the water pump, they are both impossible toget to. It's a $700 job at the dealer though. :thumbdown:

for tranny fluid i would pick up the honda manual transmission fluid or gm synchromesh-friction modified.

Unless a 98 DX is alot different between my Integra or my CRX (and I doubt it is) this isn't a difficult job. Once you have the right tools to get the crank pulley bolt off, the rest is pretty easy.

Motors in FWDs with the waterpump on the end of the motor driven off the cambelt usually take about 8-10 hours to change the pump the first time you do one, then about 4 hours for the second. Generally, you just do something like jack the motor off the passenger side mount, let it down sideways, and tackle it through the fenderwell with the splashguard off.