An oil change is a very critical regular maintenance for any vehicle. Ignoring your Honda Civic oil change can result in significant engine failures.
⚠️ If It's Broken, Don't Fix It - Get Paid Cash for Your Vehicle ⚠️
When your change oil check light illuminates, it indicates that the engine’s oil is getting old, contaminated, and not suitable for proper engine’s performance. Along with the bad oil, your engine is very likely to have either a partially or completely clogged filter. That’s why all oil changes must be associated with oil filter replacement.
If you did not perform the Honda Civic oil change on time, your engine would not receive the right amount of oil needed to lubricate the internal moving parts. As a result, these moving parts can wear against each other, creating a lot of heat. Too much heat on your engine is not good, and it is one of the main reasons for engine self-destruction.
While it’s critical to change your engine’s oil on time, understanding your Honda Civic oil change's correct approach is even more important.
In this guidance, we summarize all you need to know about Honda Civic oil change starting from the tools and parts you need to take the different steps for a proper oil change. Furthermore, we walk you through the required oil type and quantity needed. Finally, we list some cost estimates for changing your Honda Civic oil at home or a professional repair shop.
Honda Civic Oil Change
Before you start the actual Honda Civic oil change, you need to prepare the required tools and parts. Plus, you must select the right location for your vehicle. After that, all you need to do is drain the old oil, install the new oil filter, refill the oil, and reset the change oil light on your dashboard.
-
Get the required parts and tools
There are many tools required for the Honda Civic, only like the type of filter and the oil, and other tools needed for any oil change.
- General oil change tools
- A pair of gloves
- A pair of protective glasses
- A funnel to pour the new oil
- An oil container to receive the old oil and dispose of it properly
- A wrench for removing the oil filter
- Some rags
- Your vehicle’s owner’s manual to refer to as you work on your oil change. If you don’t have a copy of the manual, you can always request a hard copy from your local mechanic or download a soft copy from the internet.
- Disposable towels
- Honda Civic oil change tools
- The required engine oils. According to the Honda Civic vehicle’s owner’s manual, you need about four quarts of 5W-30 engine oil.
- A gasket for your Honda Civic drain plug
- Engine flush and restore
-
Choose your working station and prepare your vehicle
To allow for the best oil draining, you need to warm up your vehicle for about five to ten minutes before working.
Since the oil change can get a little messy, you need to choose a good open location like your garage or driveway to work in. furthermore, before starting working on the oil change, you need to raise your vehicle using a jack.
If this is your first time to raise your Honda Civic using a jack, you must refer to your vehicle’s owner’s manual for more information and guidance. You can also find many YouTube videos and articles on how to jack up your Honda Civic properly.
In general, all you need to do is place the hydraulic jack under your vehicle's front end and lever the jack until you get a good space for you to slide and work under the vehicle.
-
Drain any old oil in the oil container for disposal
Once your vehicle is jacked up and has all the necessary parts and tools, you are ready to change your Honda Civic engine’s oil.
- Refer to your vehicle’s owner’s manual for instructions about where to locate the vehicle’s oil drain plug. It is usually a 17mm hex placed to face the rear part of your vehicle
- Once you find the drain plug, place the oil container right under it, so it is ready to collect any old oil
- Loosen and remove the oil drain plug using a 17mm wrench and let the old oil drain in the oil container
- It is recommended to visually inspect your old engine’s oil looking for any signs of metal flakes. If you found any, this indicates a significant internal problem with your engine. In that case, you must tow your vehicle to the nearest repair shop to diagnose and resolve the issue.
- As you are waiting on the old oil to drain, you can go ahead and replace the drain plug gasket and clean it up using a dry towel.
- To prevent the gasket from bending inside the oil housing, its recommended to wipe it with a little new engine oil. This way, you also make it easier for your next oil change.
- Once the old oil finishes draining, you can use the wrench and reinstall the oil drain plug.
-
Replace the oil filter
Once you finished draining the old oil, you can lower the vehicle and replace the oil filter.
- Refer to your vehicle’s owner’s manual and locate your oil filter cap. It should be somewhere around half of your engine’s block
- Rotate the oil filter cap clockwise using the oil filter wrench to remove it
- Replace both the oil filter and the O-ring. Make sure to apply a little oil to the O-ring to ensure proper installation in the oil housing
- Reinstall the oil filter cap and secure it
-
Refill your engine’s oil
Now you finished draining the old oil and installing the new filter, and it’s the time to refill the engine’s oil with the proper quality and quantity of engine oil.
- Locate the oil filler cap, which is usually the only cap on top of your engine.
- Place the funnel in preparation for pouring the new oil
- Add about four quarts of the 5W30 engine’s oil as recommended by the vehicle’s owner’s manual.
- Monitor your oil level between now and then to make sure you don’t overfill the oil filer or underfill it.
- Close your oil filler cap and run the engine for about 30 seconds to ensure the oil filled the oil filter.
- Perform a final oil level check using the dipstick to ensure you have the right amount of oil,
- take a quick look at all locations, and make sure there is no oil leak anywhere. More specifically, ensure that the engine’s oil doesn’t leak from the drain plug or the oil filter.
-
Reset the change oil light on the Honda Civic dashboard
The change oil light will not turn off even if you performed the oil change successfully. You still must reset the button manually. Luckily, resetting the oil change light is very straightforward, and any driver without any mechanical skills can do it.
To do so, follow these steps:
- Turn on the ignition switch without starting the engine
- Check the screen on the dashboard, and you will see the oil’s life is something lower than 100%
- Locate the oil change reset button on the left side of your dashboard. If you are unable to find it, you can always refer to the vehicle’s owner’s manual for a more detailed guidance
- Press and hold the reset button until the dashboard screen starts flashing
- Release the button, and you will still see the display flashing
- Hold the reset button until the dashboard screen stops flashing
- The oil change light is now completely reset on the screen, and you can check the oil life and find it 100%.
How much does it cost for a Honda Civic oil change?
Regarding the Honda Civic oil change cost, expect to pay between $93 and $108, according to RepairPal.com.
Now, this price covers both parts and labor costs; however, if you are planning to change your engine’s oil by yourself, the price of parts only ranges from $55 to $60.
Conclusion
Performing a Honda Civic oil change on time is a must to prevent engine failure. According to automotive experts, the vehicle’s oil change is an “engine saver.”
For any Honda Civic oil change, you need to buy a filter, oil, and plug drain gasket. To change the oil, drain the old oil, replace the oil filter, install a new drain plug gasket, refill the oil with the right quality and quantity, and reset the change oil light.
Of course, changing your Honda Civic oil by yourself saves you a lot of money; however, it is recommended that you don’t attempt to change the oil unless you have the required mechanical skills to prevent causing other issues to your vehicle.