How to Check and Fill Under Hood Fluids 2005-11 Honda Civic
Created on: 2017-10-31
Learn how to check the brake fluid, coolant, transmission fluid, engine oil, washer fluid, and power steering fluid on the 05-11 Honda Civic
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step 1 :Checking the Brake Fluid
- Twist the brake fluid reservoir cap off counterclockwise
- Check the brake fluid level, using a flashlight if necessary
- Check that the brake fluid is between the minimum and maximum lines
- Check that the brake fluid is clear or an almost yellow color
- If the brake fluid is murky or dark, drain and refill it
- Twist the brake fluid reservoir cap on clockwise
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step 2 :Checking the Coolant
- Wait for the engine to cool
- Twist the coolant reservoir cap off counterclockwise
- Check the coolant level, using a flashlight if necessary
- Add the right coolant to the reservoir up to the cold fill line
- Twist the coolant reservoir cap on tight clockwise
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step 3 :Checking the Transmission Fluid
- Bring the vehicle up to operating temp
- Shut the vehicle off
- Pull out the oil dipstick
- Clean off the oil dipstick
- Insert the oil dipstick
- Pull out the oil dipstick
- Check that the oil level is between the low and full marks
- Insert the oil dipstick
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step 4 :Checking the Oil
- Pull out the oil dipstick
- Clean off the oil dipstick
- Insert the oil dipstick
- Pull out the oil dipstick
- Check that the oil level is between the low and full marks
- Insert the oil dipstick
- Twist the oil fill cap off counterclockwise, to add oil
- Add oil as necessary
- Twist the oil cap on clockwise
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step 5 :Checking the Washer Fluid
- Pull off the washer fluid reservoir cap
- Fill the reservoir with washer fluid
- Snap on the washer fluid reservoir cap
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step 6 :Checking the Power Steering
- Remove the T27 bolt from the engine cover
- Lift the engine cover
- Twist off the cap and check the level with a flashlight
- If the power steering fluid smells burnt, is murky or dark, drain and refill it
- Replace the engine cover
- Tighten the T27 bolt to the engine cover
Tools needed
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Windshield Washer Fluid
Power Steering Fluid
Gloves
Brake Fluid
Transmission Fluid
Flashlight
Cloth Rags
Anti-Freeze
Engine Oil
Hi, I’m Mike from 1A Auto. We’ve been selling auto parts for over 30 years!
Open the hood. Safety is right here. Pull it up. Prop right in. This side we have the brake master cylinder. The max fill line it's just below the cap here. We need to add fluid. Unscrew it. That's really full so that one's fine.
Coolant reservoir is over here. It's kind of hard to see but between the battery here—there's a min and a max. I just want to make sure the coolant's at that max level. Can add coolant by unscrewing the cap and using a funnel. Put your coolant right in here, and fill it up to the max level. If it's totally empty, you want to just double-check that there's coolant in your radiator. And when this is cool, you can open it up. There's plenty of coolant in there. So if you spilled any, I'm just going to take a rag and clean it up. If your coolant is really low, there's none on the radiator, so you definitely want to check for leaks because you should never run low on coolant.
To check the transmission fluid level, you'll want to run the car and have it up to operating temperature. Then you can shut it off and within 60 seconds you can pull this dipstick out. Wipe it off. Put it back in. Pull it out. It's actually, that would be cold that first line, hot is that second line. If you needed to add fluid you could put a funnel right into the opening, that's down here in the transmission. You pull the dipstick out of and top it off with the appropriate fluid.
Check the engine oil level. The dipstick is right here. It’s this big orange knob looking thing. Pull the dipstick out and wipe it off. This oil actually looks a little bit low with the little mark there and the full mark would be right there. Looks about a quart low, and add a quart oil. If you need to add oil to your engine, the oil cap is here. It tells you the weight. Going to unscrew it, and just put it right here. Put the funnel in there and add about a quart of oil. Take the funnel out, screw the cap back on. It's tight.
Fill your washer fluid. The reservoir is right here. Pull the cap off. This should have a dipstick that goes in here and tells you how full it is. This one's broken off. These are translucent so you can kind of, if you look real closely, you might be able to see what the level is. They usually take about a gallon of washer fluid. Just top it off.
This is your power steering reservoir. There are two lines. There's a low and a high. They're very close together. They're right here at the top. This one is right at the high mark so it's got plenty of power steering fluid in there. If you need to add some, just pull the cap straight off, fill it with a funnel and the correct fluid. Place the cap on.
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