check engine HONDA CIVIC SEDAN 2008 Owner's Manual (in English)

2008 Civic Sedan Online Reference Owner's Manual

Refer to 2008 Civic GX Supplement for topics specific to the Civic GX. Contents

Owner's Identification Form

Introduction .............................................................................................................................\
............................. i

A Few Words About Safety ......................................................................\
........................................................ iii
Your Vehicle at a Glance (main controls) ....................................................\
................................................ 3
Driver and Passenger Safety (seat belts, SRS, and child protection) ......................\
.............................. 5
Instruments and Controls (indicators, gauges, dashboard, and steering column) ................................ 55
Features (heating and cooling, audio, steering wheel, security, and cru\
ise control) ............................ 107
Before Driving (fuel, vehicle break- in, and cargo loading) ................\
..................................................... 179
Driving (engine and transmission operation) .........................................\
....................................................... 195
Maintenance (minder, fluid checking, minor services, and vehicle storage)........................................... 221
Taking Care of the Unexpected (flat tire, dead battery, overheating, and fuses) ............................. 265
Technical Information (vehicle specifications, tires, and emissions controls) ....................................... 289
Warranty and Customer Relations (U. S. and Canada only) (warranty and contact information) ... 305
Authorized Manuals (U. S. only) (how to order) ..............................................\
........................................... 309
Index ......................................................................\
......................................................... ........................................ I

Service Information Summary ( fluid capacities and tire pressures)
\
\
1 00X31-SNA-6210

How to operate the heating and air
conditioning system, the audio
system, and other convenience
f eatures. A convenient ref erence to the
sections in this manual.
A quick ref erence to the main
controls in your vehicle.
Explains the purpose of each
instrument panel indicator and gauge,
and how to use the controls on the
dashboard and steering column.What gasoline to use, how to break-
in your new vehicle, and how to load
luggage and other cargo.
ID numbers, dimensions, capacities,
and technical information.
How to order manuals and other
technical literature.
A summary of the inf ormation you
need when you pull up to the f uel
pump. A summary of the warranties
covering your new vehicle, and how
to contact us for any reason. Refer to
your warranty manual f or detailed
inf ormation.
The proper way to start the engine,
shif t the transmission, and park; plus
what you need to know if you’re
planning to tow a trailer.
This section covers several problems
motorists sometimes experience,
and details how to handle them. The maintenance minder shows you
when you need to take your vehicle
to the dealer for maintenance service.
There is also a list of things to check
and instructions on how to check
them.
Important inf ormation about the
proper use and care of your vehicle’s
seat belts, an overview of the
supplemental restraint system, and
valuable inf ormation on how to
protect children with child restraints. Contents
Your Vehicle at a Glance
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
Instruments and Controls
Features Bef ore Driving
Driving
T echnical Inf ormation
Warranty and Customer
Relations
(U.S. and Canada only)
Authorized Manuals
(U.S. only)
Index
Service Inf ormation Summary
T aking Care of the Unexpected Maintenance
Overview of Contents
2
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After all occupants have adjusted
their seats and head restraints, and
put on their seat belts, it is very
important that they continue to sit
upright, well back in their seats, with
their feet on the floor, until the
vehicle is parked and the engine is
of f .
This could cause
very serious injuries in a crash.
See page f or additional
inf ormation about your seat belts
and how to take care of them. Using a seat
belt that is not working properly can
result in serious injury or death.
Have your dealer check the belt as
soon as possible.
If the seat belt touches or crosses
your neck, or if it crosses your arm
instead of your shoulder, you need to
adjust the seat belt anchor height.
The front seats have adjustable seat
belt anchors. To adjust the height of
an anchor, press and hold the release
button and slide the anchor up or
down as needed (it has f our
positions). If a seat belt does not seem to work
properly, it may not protect the
occupant in a crash.
Sitting improperly can increase the
chance of injury during a crash. For
example, if an occupant slouches,
lies down, turns sideways, sits
forward, leans forward or sideways,
or puts one or both f eet up, the
chance of injury during a crash is
greatly increased.
18
CONT INUED
Protecting A dults and Teens
Maintain a Proper Sitting
Position
6.Never place t he shoulder port ion of a
lap/shoulder belt under your arm orbehind your back.
No one should sit in a seat wit h aninoperat ive seat belt .
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
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If the impact is on the passenger’s
side, the passenger’s side curtain
airbag will inflate even if there are no
occupants on that side of the vehicle.If the SRS indicator does not come
on after you turn the ignition
switch to the ON (II) position.
If the indicator stays on after the
engine starts.
If the indicator comes on or
flashesonandoff whileyoudrive.
To get the best protection f rom the
side curtain airbags, occupants
should wear their seat belts and sit
upright and well back in their seats.
If the indicator comes on at any
other time, or does not come on at all,
you should have the system checked
by your dealer. For example:
In a moderate to severe side impact,
sensors will detect rapid acceleration
and signal the control unit to
instantly inflate the side curtain
airbag and activate the seat belt
tensioner on the driver’s or the
passenger’s side of the vehicle. When you turn the ignition switch to
the ON (II) position, this indicator
comes on f or several seconds then
goes of f . This tells you the system is
working properly. The SRS indicator alerts you to a
potential problem with your airbags
or seat belt tensioners.
CONT INUED
How Your Side Curtain A irbags
Work
How the SRS Indicator
Works
Additional Inf ormation About Your Airbags
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
29
SIDE CURTAIN AIRBAG
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This indicator has two f unctions:Itcomesonwhenyouturnthe
ignition switch to the ON (II)
position. It is a reminder to check
the parking brake. A beeper
sounds if you drive with the
parking brake not f ully released.
Driving with the parking brake not
fully released can damage the
brakes and tires.
If it stays on after you have fully
released the parking brake while
the engine is running, or if it
comes on while driving, there
could be a problem with the brake
system. For more inf ormation, see
page .
The instrument panel has many
indicators to give you important
inf ormation about your vehicle.
If your f ront passenger does not
f asten their seat belt, the indicator
comes on about 6 seconds af ter the
ignition switch is turned to the ON
(II) position. This indicator reminds you and your
passengers to f asten your seat belts.
If either of you do not f asten your
seat belt while driving, the beeper
will sound and the indicator will f lash
again at regular intervals. For more
inf ormation, see page . If you turn the ignition switch to the
ON (II) position bef ore f astening
your seat belt, the beeper sounds,
and the indicator f lashes. If you do
notfastenyourseatbeltbeforethe
beeper stops, the indicator stops
f lashing but remains on.1.
2.
18 279Parking Brake
and Brake
System
Indicator
Seat Belt Reminder
Indicator
Instrument Panel Indicators
Inst rument s and Cont rols
59
U.S. Canada
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This indicator normally comes on f or
a f ew seconds when you turn the
ignition switch to the ON (II)
position. If it comes on at any other
time, there is a problem with the
ABS. If this happens, have your
vehicle checked at a dealer. With
this indicator on, your vehicle still
has normal braking ability but no
anti-lock f unction. For more
inf ormation, see page .
This indicator comes on f or several
seconds when you turn the ignition
switch to the ON (II) position. If it
comes on at any other time, it
indicates a potential problem with
your f ront airbags. This indicator will
also alert you to a potential problem
with your side airbags, passenger’s
side airbag automatic cutoff system,
side curtain airbags, automatic seat
belt tensioners, driver’s seat position
sensor, or the f ront passenger’s
weight sensors. For more
inf ormation, see page .
This indicator comes on brief ly when
you turn the ignition switch to the
ON (II) position. It will then go of f if
you have inserted a properly-coded
ignition key. If it is not a properly-
coded key, the indicator will blink,
and the engine’s f uel system will be
disabled (see page ).
This indicator comes on f or several
seconds when you turn the ignition
switch to the ON (II) position. If it
comes on at any other time, it
indicates that the passenger’s side
airbag has automatically shut off.
For more inf ormation, see page .77
29
20830
Supplemental Restraint
System Indicator
Immobilizer System
Indicator
Anti-lock Brake System
(A BS) Indicator Side Airbag Of f
Indicator
Instrument Panel Indicators
60
U.S. Canada
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If equipped If equipped
This indicator normally comes on f or
a f ew seconds when you turn the
ignition switch to the ON (II)
position.
If itcomesonandstaysonatany
other time, or if it does not come on
when you turn the ignition switch to
the ON (II) position, there is a
problem with the VSA system. Take
your vehicle to a dealer to have it
checked. Without VSA, your vehicle
still has normal driving ability, but
will not have VSA traction and
stability enhancement. See pagef or more inf ormation on the
VSA system. This indicator has three f unctions:
Itcomesonasareminderthatyou
have turned off the vehicle
stability assist (VSA) system.
It flashes when VSA is active (see
page ).
It comes on along with the VSA
system indicator if there is a
problem with the VSA system.
This indicator normally comes on f or
a f ew seconds when you turn the
ignition switch to the ON (II)
position. See page f or more
inf ormation on the VSA system. This indicator normally comes on
when you turn the ignition switch to
the ON (II) position and goes of f
af ter the engine starts. If it comes on
at any other time, there is a problem
in the electric power steering system.
If this happens, stop the vehicle in a
safe place, and turn off the engine.
Reset the system by restarting the
engine. The indicator will not turn
of f immediately. If it does not go of f
after driving a short distance, or
comes back on again while driving,
take the vehicle to your dealer to
have it checked. With the indicator
on, the EPS may be of f , making the
vehicle harder to steer.
1.
2.
3.
210 210
210
Instrument Panel Indicators
Vehicle Stability Assist
(VSA ) System Indicator VSA A ctivation Indicator Electric Power Steering
(EPS) Indicator
Si and Canadian DX-G with manual
t ransmission models
62
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Each trip meter works independently,
so you can keep track of two
dif f erent distances. There are two trip meters: TRIP A
and TRIP B. Switch between these
displays by pressing the SEL/
RESET button repeatedly.This shows how much f uel you have.
It may show slightly more or less
than the actual amount.
To reset a trip meter, display it, and
then press and hold the SEL/RESET
button until the number resets to
‘‘0.0.’’ This meter shows the number of
miles or kilometers driven since you
last reset it. This shows the temperature of the
engine’s coolant. During normal
operation, the reading should rise to
about the middle of the gauge. In
severe driving conditions, such as
very hot weather or a long period of
uphill driving, the reading may rise
into the upper half of the gauge. If it
reaches the red (Hot) mark, pull
safely to the side of the road. See
page f or instructions and
precautions on checking the engine
cooling system.275
Trip Meter Fuel Gauge Temperature Gauge
Gauges
Inst rument s and Cont rols
67
Avoid driving with an extremely low
f uel level. Running out of f uel could
cause the engine to misf ire, damaging
the catalytic converter.
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¶¶µ
µµµµ µµµ
If equipped
The temperature sensor is in the
f ront bumper. Theref ore, the
temperature reading can be af f ected
by heat ref lection f rom the road
surf ace, engine heat, and the
exhaust f rom surrounding traf f ic.
This can cause an incorrect
temperature reading when your
speed is under 19 mph (30 km/h).
The sensor delays the display update
until it reaches the correct outside
temperature. This may take several
minutes. If the outside temperature is
incorrectly displayed, you can adjust
it up to 5°F ( 3°C) warmer or
cooler.
NOTE: The temperature must be
stabilized bef ore doing this
procedure.
This indicator displays the outside
temperature in Fahrenheit (U.S.
models) or Centigrade (Canadian
models). To see the outside
temperature, press and release the
SEL/RESET button until the
temperature is shown on the
inf ormation display. Select the outside temperature
display, then press and hold the
SEL/RESET button f or 10 seconds.
The f ollowing sequence will appear
for1secondeach:0,1,2,3,4,5, 5,4, 3, 2, 1, 0 (U.S.) or 0, 1, 2,
3, 3, 2, 1, 0 (Canada).
When it reaches the desired value,
release the SEL/RESET button. You
should see the new outside
temperature displayed.
In certain weather conditions,
temperature readings near f reezing
(32°F, 0°C) could mean that ice is
f orming on the road surf ace. Your vehicle’s onboard diagnostic
system will detect a loose or missing
f uel f ill cap as an evaporative system
leak. The f irst time a leak is detected
a ‘‘CHECK FUEL CAP’’ message
appears on the information display.
Turn the engine of f , and conf irm the
f uel f ill cap is installed. If it is, loosen
it, then retighten it until it clicks at
least once. The message should go
off after several days of normal
driving once you tighten or replace
the f uel f ill cap. To scroll to another
display, press the SEL/RESET
button. The ‘‘CHECK FUEL CAP’’
message will appear each time you
restart the engine until the system
turns the message of f .
Outside Temperature Indicator Check Fuel Cap Message
Gauges
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The inf ormation display in the
instrument panel shows you the
engine oil lif e and maintenance
service items when the ignition
switch is in the ON (II) position. This
inf ormation helps to keep you aware
of the periodic maintenance your
vehicle needs f or continued trouble-
f ree driving. Ref er to page f or
more inf ormation.
If the system still detects a leak in
your vehicle’s evaporative emissions
system, the malf unction indicator
lamp (MIL) comes on. If the f uel f ill
cap was not already tightened, turn
the engine of f , and check or
retighten the f uel f ill cap until it
clicks at least once. The MIL should
go off after several days of normal
driving once the cap is tightened or
replaced. If the MIL does not go of f ,
have your vehicle inspected by a
dealer. For more inf ormation, see
page .
278 223
Maintenance Minder
Gauges
Inst rument s and Cont rols
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