HONDA CIVIC 2011 8.G Owners Manual

Quality grades can be f ound where
applicable on the tire sidewall
between tread shoulder and
maximum section width. For
example:
All passenger car tires must conf orm
to Federal Saf ety Requirements in
addition to these grades.The treadwear grade is a compara-
tive rating based on the wear rate of
the tire when tested under controlled
conditions on a specif ied government
test course. For example, a tire
graded 150 would wear one and one-
half (1 1/2) times as well on the
government course as a tire graded
100. The relative perf ormance of
tires depends upon the actual condi-
tions of their use, however, and may
depart signif icantly f rom the norm
due to variations in driving habits,
service practices and dif f erences in
road characteristics and climate.
The traction grades, f rom highest to
lowest, are AA, A, B, and C. Those
grades represent the tire’s ability to
stop on wet pavement as measured
under controlled conditions on
specif ied government test surf aces
of asphalt and concrete. A tire
marked C may have poor traction
perf ormance.
Warning: The traction grade
assignedtothistireisbasedon
straight-ahead braking traction tests,
and does not include acceleration,
cornering, hydroplaning, or peak
traction characteristics.
The tires on your vehicle meet all
U.S. Federal Saf ety Requirements.
All tires are also graded f or
treadwear, traction, and temperature
perf ormance according to
Department of Transportation
(DOT) standards. The f ollowing
explains these gradings.
Unif orm T ire Quality Grading
T readwear 200
Traction AA
Temperature A T readwear T raction
DOT T ire Quality Grading (U.S. Vehicles)
T echnical Inf ormation
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Warning: The temperature grade f or
this tire is established f or a tire that
is properly inf lated and not
overloaded. Excessive speed,
underinf lation, or excessive loading,
either separately or in combination,
can cause heat buildup and possible
tire f ailure.
The temperature grades are A (the
highest), B, and C, representing the
tire’s resistance to the generation of
heat and its ability to dissipate heat
when tested under controlled
conditions on a specif ied indoor
laboratory test wheel. Sustained high
temperature can cause the material
of the tire to degenerate and reduce
tire life, and excessive temperature
can lead to sudden tire f ailure. The
grade C corresponds to a level of
perf ormance which all passenger car
tires must meet under the Federal
Motor Vehicle Saf ety Standard No.
109. Grades B and A represent
higher levels of perf ormance on the
laboratory test wheel than the
minimum required by law.
Temperature
DOT T ire Quality Grading (U.S. Vehicles)
358
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The tires that came on your vehicle
have a number of markings. Those
you should be aware of are described
below.
The tire identif ication number (TIN)
is a group of numbers and letters
that look like the f ollowing example.
TIN is located on the sidewall of the
tire.
This indicates that the tire
meets all requirements of
the U.S. Department of
Transportation.
Manuf acturer’s
identification mark.
Tire type code.
Date of manuf acture.
Whenever tires are replaced, they
should be replaced with tires of the
same size. Below is an example of
tire size with an explanation of what
each component means.
Vehicletype(Pindicates
passenger vehicle).
Tire width in millimeters.
Aspect ratio (the tire’s section
height as a percentage of its
width).
Tire construction code (R
indicates radial).
Rim diameter in inches.
Load index (a numerical code
associated with the maximum
load the tire can carry).
Speed symbol (an
alphabetical code indicating
the maximum speed rating). Year
Week
P 55R 16
DOT B97R
FW6X 2202
205 89 H
CONT INUED
T ire Ident if icat ion Number (T IN)
Tire Size
Tire Labeling
T echnical Inf ormation
359
TIRE LABELING EXAMPLE
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4) Tire Size
Maximum Tire Load
Tire Identification Number (TIN)
Maximum Tire Pressure (3)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(4)
DOT B97R FW6X 2202
P205/55R16 89H
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Cold Tire Pressure The tire air
pressure when the vehicle has been
parked f or at least three hours or
driven less than 1 mile (1.6 km). Maximum Load Rating Means the
load rating for a tire at the maximum
permissible inf lation pressure f or
that tire.
Recommended Inf lation Pressure
The cold tire inf lation pressure
recommended by the manuf acturer.
Treadwear Indicators (TWI)
Means the projections within the
principal grooves designed to give a
visual indication of the degrees of
wear of the tread.
Maximum Inf lation Pressure The
maximum tire air pressure that the
tire can hold.
Load Rating Means the maximum
load that a tire is rated to carry for a
given inf lation pressure.
Tire Labeling
Glossary of T ire T erminology
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U.S. models only
Each tire, including the spare (if
provided), should be checked
monthly when cold and inf lated to
the inf lation pressure recommended
by the vehicle manuf acturer on the
vehicle placard or tire inf lation
pressure label.
(If your vehicle has tires of a
dif f erent size than the size indicated
on the vehicle placard or tire
inf lation pressure label, you should
determine the proper tire inf lation
pressure f or those tires.)As an added safety feature, your
vehicle has been equipped with a tire
pressure monitoring system (TPMS)
that illuminates a low tire pressure
telltale
when one or more of your tires is
signif icantly under-inf lated.
Accordingly, when the low tire
pressure telltale illuminates, you
should stop and check your tires as
soon as possible, and inf late them to
the proper pressure.Driving on a signif icantly under-
inf lated tire causes the tire to
overheat and can lead to tire failure.
Under-inf lation also reduces f uel
efficiency and tire tread life, and may
af f ect the vehicle’s handling and
stopping ability.
Please note that the TPMS is not a
substitute for proper tire
maintenance, and it is the driver’s
responsibility to maintain correct tire
pressure, even if under-inf lation has
not reached the level to trigger
illumination of the TPMS low tire
pressure telltale.
CONT INUED
Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) Required Federal Explanat
ion
T echnical Inf ormation
361
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Your vehicle has also been equipped
with a TPMS malf unction indicator
to indicate when the system is not
operating properly. The TPMS
malf unction indicator is provided by
a separate telltale, which displays the
symbol ‘‘TPMS’’ when illuminated.
When the malf unction indicator is
illuminated,
the system may not be able to detect
or signal low tire pressure as
intended.
TPMS malf unctions may occur f or a
variety of reasons, including the
installation of replacement or
alternate tires or wheels on the
vehicle that prevent the TPMS f rom
f unctioning properly.Always check the TPMS malf unction
telltale af ter replacing one or more
tires or wheels on your vehicle to
ensure that the replacement or
alternate tires and wheels allow the
TPMS to continue to f unction
properly.
Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) Required Federal Explanat
ion
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The burning of gasoline in your
vehicle’s engine produces several by-
products. Some of these are carbon
monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen
(NOx), and hydrocarbons (HC).
Gasoline evaporating f rom the tank
also produces hydrocarbons. Con-
trolling the production of NOx, CO,
and HC is important to the environ-
ment. Under certain conditions of
sunlight and climate, NOx and HC
react to f orm photochemical ‘‘smog.’’
Carbon monoxide does not contri-
bute to smog creation, but it is a
poisonous gas. The United States Clean Air Act
sets standards f or automobile
emissions. It also requires that
automobile manufacturers explain to
owners how their emissions controls
workandwhattodotomaintain
them. This section summarizes how
the emissions controls work.
In Canada, Honda vehicles comply
with the Canadian emission
requirements, as specif ied in an
agreement with Environment
Canada, at the time they are
manuf actured.
Your vehicle has a positive
crankcase ventilation system. This
keeps gasses that build up in the
engine’s crankcase f rom going into
the atmosphere. The positive
crankcase ventilation valve routes
them from the crankcase back to the intake manif old. They are then
drawn into the engine and burned.
The onboard ref ueling vapor
recovery (ORVR) system captures
the f uel vapors during ref ueling. The
vapors are adsorbed in a canister
f illed with activated carbon. While
driving, the f uel vapors are drawn
into the engine and burned of f .
As gasoline evaporates in the f uel
tank, an evaporative emissions
control canister f illed with charcoal
adsorbs the vapor. It is stored in this
canister while the engine is of f . Af ter
the engine is started and warmed up,
the vapor is drawn into the engine
and burned during driving.
The Clean Air Act
Crankcase Emissions Control
System
Onboard Ref ueling Vapor
Recovery
Evaporative Emissions Control
System
Emissions Cont rols
T echnical Inf ormation
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The emissions control systems are
designed and certif ied to work to-
gether in reducing emissions to
levels that comply with the Clean Air
Act. To make sure the emissions
remain low, you should use only new
Honda replacement parts or their
equivalent f or repairs. Using lower
qualitypartsmayincreasethe
emissions f rom your vehicle.
The emissions control systems are
covered by warranties separate f rom
the rest of your vehicle. Read your
warranty manual f or more inf orma-
tion.
The PGM-FI system uses sequential
multiport f uel injection. It has three
subsystems: air intake, engine
control, and f uel control. The
powertrain control module (PCM) in
automatic transmission vehicles or
the engine control module (ECM) in
manual transmission vehicles uses
various sensors to determine how
much air is going into the engine. It then controls how much f uel to inject
under all operating conditions.
This system constantly adjusts the
ignition timing, reducing the amount
of HC, CO, and NOx produced.
The exhaust emissions controls
includethreeorfoursystems:
PGM-FI, ignition timing control,
exhaust gas recirculation, and three
way catalytic converter. These
systems work together to control the
engine’s combustion and minimize
the amount of HC, CO, and NOx that
come out the tailpipe. The exhaust
emissions control systems are
separate f rom the crankcase and
evaporative emissions control
systems.
The three way catalytic converter is
in the exhaust system. Through
chemical reactions, it converts HC,
CO, and NOx in the engine’s exhaust
to carbon dioxide (CO ), nitrogen
(N ), and water vapor.
The exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)
system takes some of the exhaust
gas and routes it back into the intake
manif old. Adding exhaust gas to the
air/f uel mixture reduces the amount
of NOx produced when the f uel is
burned.
2
2
Except Si model
Exhaust Emissions Controls Replacement Parts
PGM-FI Syst emIgnit ion T iming Cont rol Syst em
Exhaust Gas Recirculat ion (EGR)Syst em
Three Way Catalytic Converter
Emissions Cont rols
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The three way catalytic converter
contains precious metals that serve
as catalysts, promoting chemical
reactions to convert the exhaust
gasses without af f ecting the metals.
The catalytic converter is ref erred to
as a three-way catalyst, since it acts
on HC, CO, and NOx. A replacement
unit must be an original Honda part
or its equivalent.
The three way catalytic converter
must operate at a high temperaturefor the chemical reactions to take
place. It can set on f ire any
combustible materials that come
near it. Park your vehicle away from
high grass, dry leaves, or other
f lammables.
A defective three way catalytic
converter contributes to air pollution,
and can impair your engine’s per-
f ormance. Follow these guidelines to
protect your vehicle’s three way
catalytic converter. Always use unleaded gasoline.
Even a small amount of leaded
gasoline can contaminate the
catalyst metals, making the three
way catalytic converter inef f ective.
Keep the engine well maintained.
Have your vehicle diagnosed and
repaired if it is misf iring, back-
f iring, stalling, or otherwise not
running properly.
Three Way Catalytic Converter
T echnical Inf ormation
365
THREE WAY CATALYTIC CONVERTER
THREE WAY CATALYTIC CONVERTER
Except Si model
Si model
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If you take your vehicle f or an
emissions test shortly af ter the
battery has been disconnected or
gone dead, it may not pass the test.
This is because of certain ‘‘readiness
codes’’ that must be set in the on-
board diagnostics f or the emissions
systems. These codes are erased
when the battery is disconnected,
and set again only after several days
of driving under a variety of
conditions.Without touching the accelerator
pedal, start the engine, and let it
idle f or 20 seconds.
Make sure the vehicle has been
parked with the engine of f f or 6
hours or more.
Make sure the ambient
temperature is between 40° and
95°F (4° and 35°C).
If the testing f acility determines that
the readiness codes are not set, you
will be requested to return at a later
date to complete the test. If you must
get the vehicle retested within the
next two or three days, you can
condition the vehicle f or retesting by
doing the f ollowing.
Make sure the gas tank is nearly,
but not completely, f ull (around
3/4). Keep the vehicle in Park
(automatic transmission) or
neutral (manual transmission).
Increase the engine speed to 2,000
rpm,andholditthereuntilthe
temperature gauge rises to at least
1/4of thescale(about3minutes).
Without touching the accelerator
pedal, let the engine idle f or 20
seconds.
1. 2.3. 4.5. 6.
T esting of Readiness Codes
Emissions T est ing
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