Since the 'specified' 3.5 Quarts for the Civic brings the oil level to the UPPER mark on the dipstick, the manual is right on for this car.
That is checked after the oil change, idled for at least 5 minutes, then shut off for at least an hour.
I typically use the 'cold' reading of a morning before it has been ran to approximately keep the oil at the UPPER mark, of course this varies the actual amount since each oil filter may change the level(some more than others).
I'm sure this leaves room for more oil since if checking the oil hot/soon after driving the oil filter is holding more oil than when it's cold of a morning. This means the level on the dipstick in the morning 'could' be with a 'mostly' empty filter compared to a reading after idling(at least).
That is checked after the oil change, idled for at least 5 minutes, then shut off for at least an hour.
I typically use the 'cold' reading of a morning before it has been ran to approximately keep the oil at the UPPER mark, of course this varies the actual amount since each oil filter may change the level(some more than others).
I'm sure this leaves room for more oil since if checking the oil hot/soon after driving the oil filter is holding more oil than when it's cold of a morning. This means the level on the dipstick in the morning 'could' be with a 'mostly' empty filter compared to a reading after idling(at least).
