i got this car from my mom and i do not know how well it was maintained other than the interior and all that. like the engine. its got 43000 miles on it. what should i do at a schedule at this milage. please list them all.

 

Since it's from you mom, doesn't she know what she did for service? Not like you're buying from a stranger. You can'tjust go by a schedule, FIRST you have to figure out whether the stuff was done that was supposed to be done at 30k miles.

Check the owners manual for scheduled maintenance, but here's a quick couple things. You'll have to figure out when/if any of this stuff has been done last.
every 30k miles -engine air & cabin air filters
every 2 years - fresh brake fluid & antifreeze

110k miles:
sparkplugs
adjust valve lash (sooner if they're noisy)
manual tranny fluid

If it's an auto tranny, drain & fill more often, but I don't know since mine's a 5-spd.

Brakes (& clutch) lifespan depends so much on driving habits, so there's no schedule. Inspect them every oil change so it's not a surprise when they wear out. You may be needing new brake pads soon.

 

where should i go to get brakes checked up that i can trust. cuz i got fooled before by goodyear. cuz im only 17. and my mom doesnt know what to do to maintain a car i always have to tell her what she needs to do. so far she got oil change. i think thats all other than gettin the car maintained by the schedule of the manual? she doesnt follow that. i guess i have to take care of it now since its my car.

 

If you tell us where you live, maybe someone will have a clue about a good trustworthy shop. Any chain shop can be either good or bad with the people in that particular branch. I bet there's some GOOD mechanics in any of those places.

Oil changes every 10k miles by the book, or 5k miles for 'severe service'. I've been going 7k miles since our '03 Accord is mostly a highway driver. I'm nervous about10k oil changes without oil analysis to prove it's OK. (I'm about to do JUST THAT...)

Probably you should get the brake fluid flushed if it's never been done. That stuff absorbs moisture from the air & that makes it corrosive. That would be a real good time to inspect the brakes. Does the car shake when you stop from say 60mph?

Factory fill antifreeze is really good, lasts a long time. I'm about to flush/replace that for the first time in my '03. Suggest you have that done too. The anti-corrosion properties of the antifreeze wear out with time.

You can do the engine air filteryourself. If it's ugly-dirty, then you'll know to change it more often. The cabin air filter it super easy, just take you3 minutes, including a 90-second break. Unclip the glovebox so it hangs way down, then there's an opening into the air duct right behind there.

 

well yeah it shakes thats why im worried. and i live in minnesota priorlake alot of car shops here. i get amsoil and i get oil change every 7 thousan miles.

i drive more on the streets than highway cuz i just cruise around priorlake from here to there for lakevill in minnesota.

how much does it cost to get the brake fluid flushed. any rocommended fluid to use other than the factory fluid.

how does anti freeze work and when do i need to get it fluished and filled.

i have a k&n air filter its like rewashable but i dont know how to wash it.

what is the code for my engine like what is it called. i know the civic i had was r18.

and whats the down fall with these engines.

 

Hope someone knows a good shop because I live 900 miles away...

Amsoil is a very good oil. You're probably OK with that. You might be able to go longer than 7k but check out www.blackstone-labs.com if you want to prove that to yourself.

Get a K&N 're-charge' kit. It's got cleaner you spray on& rinse off. Let it dry. Then you spray on the red-colored K&N filter oil from the kit. It's got instructions.

Shaking with the brakes means you probably need new brake rotors. As long as 'they' dismantle the brakes it would be silly to put the old brake pads back in, so you'll get all new brakes. That's a perfect thing to combine with flushing the brake fluid.

You drain the antifreeze& rinseit out with water. Fill with 50/50 mix of new antifreeze & distilled water. Look at DIY cause there might be a thread in there with instructions. Factory-fill lasts a pretty long time, but it's 5 years old...

Yourengine isa K24-something-something. It's stamped on the engine block along with the engine's serial number. Mine's a K24A4 but I don't know whether ALL 2003 are the same? Nice engine. It's downfall is it doesn't use as much gas as the V-6.

 

damn im happy that i got this car instead of my 07 civic. and how much does the cleaner kit cost. because i have the recharge filter but not the cleaner.

but still where is a good shop!!!

thanks

 

I don't know what you mean by having the recharge filter but not the cleaner? The kit is probably $10 or $15??

 

well i lost the cleaner thats why. because we were moving.

 

If you have the red filter oil, maybe you can substitute some kind of water-based degreaser for the cleaner? Simple Green or ??? I don't know if the genuine K&N cleaner is anything special?

Otherwise just buy another cleaning/recharge kit.