My girlfriend and I got a 2005 Civic EX "Special Edition" about 4 months ago. It has a 1.7L V-tech and a 5 Speed and just over 57,000 on it.

Im going to be completely honest here and say I virtually know nothing about the motor thats in the car. Ive been a ford guy all my life and neither me nor her has owned a foreign vehicle before.

So, what can you guys tell me about the motor? Anything I should know? anything to look out for? What oil? Im going to use Mobil1 but is there a better oil out there for it?

So far its a great car and I have absolutely no problems with it. Ive been told that we can get 150K-200K out of it with no issues. I can post pics if need be

 

if the new engines hold bar to the old ones 200k will be an easy hurdle, my first civic i sold with 240k on it and as far a i know the guy that i sold it to is still driving it every day. im not a motor guy so i cant say much about the other stuff but good luck and welcome to hcf!

 

Here's some stats I was able to dig up on your motor:

D17A2
VTEC
Found in:
2001-2005 Honda Civic EX (US only)
2001-2005 Honda Civic LX (Europe)
2001-2005 Honda Civic Si (Canada only)
2001-2005 Acura 1.7 EL (Canada only)
2000-2007 Honda Stream 1.7 (Japan)
Displacement : 1,668 cc (101.8 cu in)
Bore and Stroke : 74.98 × 94.4 mm (2.952 × 3.72 in)
Rod Length : 137 mm
Rod/Stroke : 1.48
Compression : 9.9:1
Power : 127 hp (94.7 kW, 132 ps) @ 6300 rpm
Torque : 114 ft·lbf (114 ft·lbf USDM[4]) (15.8 kg/m, 155 Nm) @ 4800 rpm
RPM redline: 6800 rpm
Rev-limiter : 7200 rpm
Valvetrain : SOHC VTEC (4 valves per cylinder)
VTEC Switchover : 4500 rpm
Fuel Control : OBD-2 MPFI


I've always liked the look of the Special Edition cars, and they seem to have a good motor in them. I believe starting with the 2001 model year, Honda started recommending 5W-20 so use that. Mobil 1 is great, and they make a 5W-20 viscosity. I've used Mobil 1 in my 1999 since day one, and it now has 220,000 miles and doesn't use a drop of oil and has never let me down.

 

Nice! That helps a lot thanks.

and I did use M1 5W-20 yesterday when I changed the oil, I just used a Honda oil filter that the guy that we bought the car off of gave to me.

 

Good choice, I've always felt the Honda oil filters are of good quality. Just stay away from Fram, they suck. Many people will say that it doesn't matter, but I'm one of those people that are **** about preventative maintenance so I prefer to do my research and find out which brands are quality and which are not. Pretty much all of the Honda OEM fluids and filters are really well made, you can't go wrong with them.

 

I know exactly what youre talking about. about a year ago I cut open a fram oil filter and a Mobil 1 oil filter, you'd be shocked at the difference. I used fram for the first 6 months I had my truck, but when i switched to Mobil 1 the whole way through the truck (motor, trans, transfer case, and rears), I used Mobil1 filters. Recently I did switch to K&N just because of the fact that theyre wrench off, not necessarily better quality, just easier to use.

and I know what you mean about Honda parts, it'll look 10x better if you take your car to the dealer and have honda parts on it as apposed to an aftermarket companies

 

Is there any half-decent looking black rims that are made for Civics?