How often should I change my...
 

Hi everyone. I have some questions...

2006 Accord EX-L 4 cyl

How often should I change my brake fluid, power steering fluid, anti-freeze, and air filter?

I've read that the brake and power steering fluid should be changed every 3 years (or per 45,000 miles)? And the anti-freeze should be changed every 100,000 miles.
I am still uncertain about the air filter...
Are the fuel filters and oil filters the same thing?

Please advise. I am still a beginner to cars and to this forum. lol. Thanks :)

Every 3 yrs is a good interval on those fluids including the antifreeze. It's cheap and not worth running 100K miles (5-7 yrs) to find out if antifreeze will last that long.

Air filter should be replaced on interval specified in owner's manual. Oil filter w/ each oil change. No they are not the same.

good luck

I don't believe your 2006 has a fuel filter that gets routinely replaced. There's a fine mesh screen at the pump inlet (inside the fuel tank). But you don't replace that unless you measure problems with fuel pressure.

I appreciate the feedback. The manual reccommends the Honda brand, but how is it different from the Castrol, Pennzoil, etc. i can get from Pep Boys/Kragens's/O REilley auto parts? Does the Honda brand contain special additives to make the car better, or is it all just NAME BRAND?
Thanks again :)

^^^ There are nothing special about oil; it's a commodity in the big picture.
That said I wouldn't switch to synthetic oil on a high mileage engine
because syn oil can cause gasket & seal leaks (@185,000 - me!)

I change (flush) brake fluid, coolant at ~4 yrs.
I try to do power steering fluid as often, but usually forget it - my bad.
I do air filter every 25,000, but don't know what your car says on topic.

You're new. Welcome to car ownership.

So the target/walmart stuff I get is just as good as the Honda stuff?
I would prefer to do all the fluid changes myself because I don't want to have the dealership charge a lot of money for things I am very able to do.
Manual says nothing about air filter...internet says I should do at least once a year or per 15-25000.

Thanks again

We do recommend only Honda ATF. It has shown to be very good at curing problems and is not that much more expensive than aftermarket ATF.

good luck

Reading your original post I don't know if we answered it real well...

ATF for your automatic transmission should be Honda brand. You don't say auto vs. manual transmission, so I just guessed. If you have manual, then Honda fluid is real good but less important. There's other manual trans. fluids like RedLine etc.

Power-steering fluid has to say "FOR HONDA/ACURA". The stuff that says "for all makes" isn't good for your car. Couple different brands are available if you don't want to buy from a dealer. Complete replacement of the fluid isn't called for at any scheduled time, but I refuse to believe it lasts FOREVER. Maybe 100k miles??

Antifreeze itself is all ethene glycol and that lasts about forever. It's the anti-corrosion packages that get "used up". Factory-fill is probably good for a long time (the schedule probably says 10 years). If you rinse it clean then you can use most types, don't need to buy Honda brand. If you add it together with old, then it should match the type.

Brake fluid absorbs moisture from the air, and that makes it corrosive. Replace every 2 or 3 years. No need for Honda brand. DOT-3 or DOT-4 brake fluid is available from lots of stores. DOT-4 has higher boiling points, but tends to absorb moisture faster. If you replace brake fluid every 2 years then DOT-4 is good. If you're gonna let it go 4 or 5 years then use DOT-3.

Air filter gets dirty at very different rate depending on dusty environment. Maybe that's called for every 20k miles or something. If it's always clean at that mileage, you can use your judgement. I'm sure it's in your manual somewhere, but it might be in the "service" booklet rather than "owner's manual".

^^^ yeah. I'm not speaking about any oil other than engine oil in my generic call.