2003 HONDA CIVIC HATCHBACK hood release

Your Car at a Glance
2POWER DOOR LOCK
SWITCH
GAUGES (P. 63) AIRBAGS
(P.9,46)
(P. 75)
POWER WINDOW
SWITCHES
(P. 85) HOOD RELEASE
HANDLE
(P. 130)
FUEL FILL
DOOR RELEASE
(P. 129) HEATING/
COOLING CONTROLS
(P. 96) M/TAUDIO SYSTEM
(P. 104)
(P. 144)

Control L ocations
Inst rument s and Cont rols
56 MIRROR CONTROLS
(P. 88)
POWER DOOR LOCK
SWITCH
(P. 75)
POWER WINDOW
SWITCHES
(P. 85)
FUEL FILL DOOR
RELEASE
(P. 129)
HOOD RELEASE HANDLE
(P. 130) M/T
GAUGES
(P. 63)
HEATING/COOLING CONTROLS
(P. 96) AUDIO SYSTEM
(P. 104)
(P. 144)

Shift to Park or Neutral and set
the parking brake. Pull the hood
release handle located under the
lower lef t corner of the dashboard.
The hood will pop up slightly.
Push the f uel f ill door closed until
it latches.
Stop f illing the tank af ter the f uel
nozzle automatically clicks of f . Do
not try to ‘‘top of f ’’ the tank, leave
some room f or the f uel to expand
with temperature changes.
Your car has an on-board ref ueling
vapor recovery system to help
keep f uel vapors f rom going into
the atmosphere. If the fuel nozzle
keeps clicking of f even though the
tank is not f ull, there may be a
problem with this system. Consult
your dealer.
Screw the f uel f ill cap back on,
tighten it until it clicks several
times. If you do not properly
tighten the cap, the Malfunction
Indicator Lamp may come on (see
page ).
Put the attachment on the fuel fill
cap into the slit on the f uel f ill door.
1.
5. 6.
4.
236
Service Station Procedures
Bef ore Driving Opening the Hood
130 ATTACHMENT
SLIT FUEL FILL CAP HOOD RELEASE HANDLE

CONT INUED
Pull the support rod out of its clip
and insert the end into the hole on
theleftsideof thehood.
To close the hood, lif t it up slightly to
remove the support rod f rom the
hole. Put the support rod back into
its holding clip. Lower the hood to
about a f oot (30 cm) above the
fender,thenletitdrop.
If you can open the hood without
lifting the hood latch handle, or the
hood latch handle moves stif f ly or
does not spring back as bef ore, the
mechanism should be cleaned and
lubricated (see page ).
Standing in f ront of the car, put
your f ingers under the f ront edge
of the hood to the right of center.
Slide your hand to the lef t until
you f eel the hood latch handle. Lif t
up on this handle until it releases
the hood. Lif t the hood. 3.
2. 181
Service Station Procedures
Bef ore Driving
131
LATCH
CLIP SUPPORT ROD
GRIP

If the temperature gauge stays at
the red mark, turn of f the engine.
Wait until you see no more signs
of steam or spray, then open thehood.
If you don’t f ind an obvious leak,
check the coolant level in the
radiator reserve tank (see page). If the level is below the
MIN mark, add coolant to halfway
between the MIN and MAX marks. If the temperature stays normal,
check the coolant level in the
radiator reserve tank. If it has
gone down, add coolant to the
MAX mark. Put the cap back on
tightly.
If there was no coolant in the
reserve tank, you may also have to
add coolant to the radiator. Let the
engine cool down until the pointer reaches the middle of the tempera-
ture gauge, or lower, bef ore check-
ing the radiator.
Using gloves or a large heavy
cloth, turn the radiator cap
counterclockwise, without pushing
down, to the f irst stop. This
releases any remaining pressure in
the cooling system. After the
pressure releases, push down on
the cap and turn it until it comes
off.
Start the engine and set the
temperature control dial to
maximum. Add coolant to the
radiator up to the base of the f iller
neck. If you do not have the
proper coolant mixture available,
you can add plain water.
Remember to have the cooling
system drained and ref illed with
the proper mixture as soon as you
can.
Look f or any obvious coolant leaks,
such as a split radiator hose.
Everything is still extremely hot,
so use caution. If you f ind a leak, it
must be repaired bef ore you
continue driving (see
on page ). Put the radiator cap back on
tightly. Run the engine and watch
the temperature gauge. If it goes
back to the red mark, the engine
needs repair. (See
on page .)
4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9.10.
11.
12.
133 245
245
Emergency
Towing
Emergency
Towing
If Your Engine Overheats
T aking Care of t he Unexpect ed 233
Removing the radiator cap
while the engine is hot can
cause the coolant to spray out,
seriously scalding you.
Always let the engine and
radiator cool down before
removing the radiator cap.