Initial Purchases

• 1). Make sure the oil filter you buy matches your model and model year. It should say on the label. Unfortunately, you can't go by the car's manual, which doesn't make a specification.
  
  
• 2). Purchase five quarts of SAE 10W-30 oil with the API "For Gasoline Engines" starburst on the can, as recommended by Honda. Use SAW 5W-30 if the weather will go below minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Buy a new drain bolt washer as well.
  
  
• 3). Buy an oil filter wrench to fit the filter. Ask the retailer or read the packaging to ensure compatibility. If you're having trouble finding it, keep in mind that the oil filter wrench isn't really a wrench. It's more of a rubber-gripped vise to put on the filter to enable you to turn it with an ordinary wrench.
  
  

Changing the Oil

• 1). Idle the engine until the oil temperature gauge on the dashboard rises to operating temperature. This makes it easier to drain. Even heated, it still takes upwards of 20 minutes to fully drain.
  
  
• 2). Elevate the car while the engine cools enough so you don't burn yourself when you crawl underneath. A hydraulic lift or blocks are preferable to an emergency car jack, which the car might roll off. This step is optional, so don't risk the car falling on you just to get more space to work. If you do decide to use the jack, put heavy bags (of seed or salt, for example) underneath both sides of one rear tire.
  
  
• 3). Take off the engine oil fill cap. It's at the very back of the top of the engine. Allowing air in helps the oil drain faster.
  
  
• 4). Slide yourself under the engine, locate the drain bolt and slide the drain pan underneath. It's on a side corner of the bottom of the engine.
  
  
• 5). Remove the drain bolt using an ordinary crescent wrench.
  
  
• 6). Drain the oil tank for 20 minutes. Screw the bolt back on, using a new washer, since they are crushable and wear with use much faster than the bolt. If you're using a torque wrench, tighten it to 29 foot-pounds.
  
  
• 7). Locate the oil filter a couple inches above the drain bolt.
  
  
• 8). Put the oil filter wrench on it. Twist it with the crescent wrench to loosen it. Unscrew the filter the rest of the way manually.
  
  
• 9). Remove the seal (a rubber O-ring) that fits between the filter and engine. Wipe clean the seal's contact area on the engine.
  
  
• 10
  
  Put a coat of oil on the seal that came with the new filter. Hold the seal in place while you screw the filter on manually. Once you feel some resistance, finish it off with the oil filter wrench, turning two-thirds of a revolution. Tightening further could cause the oil to leak.
  
  
• 11
  
  Pour five quarts of oil into the engine where you removed the oil refill cap. Check the dipstick to ensure you don't overfill. Replace the oil refill cap.
  
  
• 12
  
  Idle the engine in neutral again, until the oil temperature gauge reaches operating temperature. Check the oil filter and drain bolt to make sure the oil doesn't leak out at operating temperature.
  
  
• 13
  
  Lower your car off any supports.
  
  

Used Oil

• 1). Wash used engine oil off your skin with soap and water as soon as you can.
  
  
• 2). Put the oil in a sealed container and leave it with a gas station or recycling center, as advised by Honda. Dumping it on the ground or in the garbage can affect landfill chemistry and possibly the water supply.
  
  
• 3). Turn the empty oil canisters and the used oil filter open-end-down in the drain pan. The next time you do an oil change, they'll have drained enough that you can throw them out in the regular garbage.
  
  

Resetting the Oil Life System

• 1). Turn the ignition key to "On" (position II) without turning the engine over.
  
  
• 2). Press the "Trip" button repeatedly, until the engine oil indicator is displayed.
  
  
• 3). Press the "Trip" button again, holding it until the oil life indicator blinks. This takes about 10 seconds.
  
  
• 4). Press and hold the "Trip" button again, holding it until the engine oil life resets to 100 percent.