Questions about transmission fluid

1- I keep on hearing that only Honda transmission fluid should be used. When
these words come out of a dealer I dont pay much attention but as far as
Hondas go everyone seems to be suggesting the same thing. Is it really
necessary?

2- Is transmission flush recommended?

3- What is the difference b/w when a dealer changes the transmission fluid
for $180 and when a regular mechanic does it for much less?

Ok I am a bit paranoid when it comes to transmissions mainly cuz I had a lot
of transmission problems with my old car

Thanks,
W

On 1/12/07 6:33 PM, in article , "w"
> wrote:

> 1- I keep on hearing that only Honda transmission fluid should be used. When
> these words come out of a dealer I dont pay much attention but as far as
> Hondas go everyone seems to be suggesting the same thing. Is it really
> necessary?
>
Yes

> 2- Is transmission flush recommended?

Absolutely not. Honda recommends drain & fill on the transmission. You can
do it yourself. It's actually less of a pain than changing the oil. Hondas
do not have a filter to change, you just drain it out, put the plug back in
& fill it.
>
> 3- What is the difference b/w when a dealer changes the transmission fluid
> for $180 and when a regular mechanic does it for much less?
>
Nothing, unless the regular mechanic doesn't use Honda fluid, then you have
a transmission that doesn't work right.

> Ok I am a bit paranoid when it comes to transmissions mainly cuz I had a lot
> of transmission problems with my old car
>
> Thanks,
> W
>
>

"w" > wrote in :

> 1- I keep on hearing that only Honda transmission fluid should be
> used. When these words come out of a dealer I dont pay much attention
> but as far as Hondas go everyone seems to be suggesting the same
> thing. Is it really necessary?



Year and model please. That makes a difference.


>
> 2- Is transmission flush recommended?



No. Drain and fill only.


>
> 3- What is the difference b/w when a dealer changes the transmission
> fluid for $180 and when a regular mechanic does it for much less?



He uses generic Dexron-III instead of genuine Honda ATF-Z1. And he only
does a drain and fill once.



>
> Ok I am a bit paranoid when it comes to transmissions mainly cuz I had
> a lot of transmission problems with my old car
>


And why was that, pray tell?


--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

97 accord ex 45k miles (mostly garaged)

I will ask my mechanic to drain and fill three times using honda ATF-Z1

My old car was an 02 stick shift corolla with just 70k miles. After the
clutch got replaced, the car started shaking in the first gear with clutch
fully pressed. By accelerating without releasing the clutch, the shaking
used to increase but also disappear after a lil while . Hyrdaulics were
changed no avail. The dealer said that the clutch was bad...the clutch
assembly was opened but no problem found...mechanic said tranny....i am a
student so i went for a used tranny...the tranny was replaced three times no
avail...finally sold the damn car hehe. In any case I also think the clutch
was bad... but I realized it after wasting $2k.

W

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, "w" >
> wrote:
>
>> 1- I keep on hearing that only Honda transmission fluid should be used.
>> When
>> these words come out of a dealer I dont pay much attention but as far as
>> Hondas go everyone seems to be suggesting the same thing. Is it really
>> necessary?
>
> Required. This isn't the 70s anymore; that transmission is highly
> engineered, down to the fluid. The fluid is more than just the energy
> carrier. It's an integral piece of the transmission. Honda knows
> precisely what's required for it all to work together; others, more than
> likely, don't.
>
> Same with Toyota.
>
> Same with their coolants anymore, too.
>
>
>
>> 2- Is transmission flush recommended?
>
> It's specifically NOT recommended. To exchange trans fluid on a Honda,
> you drain/drive/fill several times over. That's all.
>
>
>
>> 3- What is the difference b/w when a dealer changes the transmission
>> fluid
>> for $180 and when a regular mechanic does it for much less?
>
> If the "regular" mechanic (they're all "regular" mechanics, no matter
> where they work) does a simple drain and fill, and uses Honda fluid, and
> doesn't screw up the drain plug or over/underfill it, absolutely nothing.
>
>
>> Ok I am a bit paranoid when it comes to transmissions mainly cuz I had a
>> lot
>> of transmission problems with my old car
>
> Maybe because you flushed it and used Honest Joe's Auto Parts
> Transmission Fluid--"Our Own Brand"?
>

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:33:48 -0800, w wrote:

> 1- I keep on hearing that only Honda transmission fluid should be used. When
> these words come out of a dealer I dont pay much attention but as far as
> Hondas go everyone seems to be suggesting the same thing. Is it really
> necessary?

Yes. Well, only if you want your transmission to operate properly and
last a long time...

>
> 2- Is transmission flush recommended?

NEVER. Drain and fill 3 times, with some driving between each cycle...

>
> 3- What is the difference b/w when a dealer changes the transmission fluid
> for $180 and when a regular mechanic does it for much less?

Make sure they are doing the same service, ie: draining and filling
multiple times with OEM fluid. If they are, then nothing. Dealerships
tend to charge more for service...

>
> Ok I am a bit paranoid when it comes to transmissions mainly cuz I had a lot
> of transmission problems with my old car

I have owned 3 Dodge Caravan's. I know all about tranny issues... ;-)
So long as you follow the above, your tranny should last a long time,
unless you have one of the Accords with the known issues, and then your
warranty has been extended to cover it...

>> 2- Is transmission flush recommended?
>
> NEVER. Drain and fill 3 times, with some driving between each cycle...
>

Do you really need to do it 3 times? The service manual doesn't say.

Bob Jones wrote:
>>> 2- Is transmission flush recommended?
>> NEVER. Drain and fill 3 times, with some driving between each cycle...
>>
>
> Do you really need to do it 3 times? The service manual doesn't say.
>
>
capacity is ~4.5l. can only drain ~1.5l at a time. the change is
therefore achieved by "dilution".

even just one change makes a difference - it removes a lot of the crud -
but it can never be the whole solution.

On 1/13/07 11:31 AM, in article
, "Bob Jones" >
wrote:

>>> 2- Is transmission flush recommended?
>>
>> NEVER. Drain and fill 3 times, with some driving between each cycle...
>>
>
> Do you really need to do it 3 times? The service manual doesn't say.
>
>

The Honda book doesn't say it needs to be done more than once. The FSMs on
my Nissans both give the same advice: drain it, fill it, drive it, check it.
Repeat until it is the right color and smells right, up to three times.
This makes as much sense as anything I've seen on the subject.

On Sat, 13 Jan 2007 17:31:42 +0000, Bob Jones wrote:

>>> 2- Is transmission flush recommended?
>>
>> NEVER. Drain and fill 3 times, with some driving between each cycle...
>>
>
> Do you really need to do it 3 times? The service manual doesn't say.

That is commonly accepted as the number of times it takes to pretty much
completely replace the fluid.

When you drain it, there will still be a significant amount of fluid in
the car. You are looking to dilute it to be close to original formulation...

Bob Jones wrote:
> >> 2- Is transmission flush recommended?
> >
> > NEVER. Drain and fill 3 times, with some driving between each cycle...
> >
>
> Do you really need to do it 3 times? The service manual doesn't say.

The owner's manual says to do it once, and that's what the service
schedule is intended to accomplish.

The "drain and fill 3 times routine" is mentioned, but this is
specifically to get rid of contamination caused by using non-Honda
fluid. At that point, you do have to get the majority of the fluid
out.

That's what the Honda shop manager told me when I asked about this.
They only drain and refill once for a tranny fluid change, in other
words.

That's probably enough in most situations. There are plenty of people
doing more, and I'm marginally one of them. Let the appearance and
smell of the tranny fluid be something of a guide.

My Accord V6 has 28,000 miles and the fluid looks and smells almost
like new. That means one fluid change is all it's getting until it
gets considerably more miles.

My MDX has 28,000 miles also, and the fluid smelled somewhat nasty and
was turning brown. The first time I changed it at this mileage, the
appearance really didn't change, it still looked bad. The second
change (6 miles later), it looked pretty good. Now I'll wait until
the end of the summer heat and change it again. And, then probably put
it on a 15,000 mile routine for a single drain and fill as long as we
have it.

Remember, you get a higher percentage of contaminants out at higher
mileage because they've built up more (so each change makes more of an
impact, percentage-wise). It makes some sense to change it fairly
often after 45,000 or 60,000 miles. But not much sense to change it
very often before then. You're only trying to dilute the contaminants
to a reasonable level. That is, you're diluting the contaminants to
what the transmission would have at, say, 30,000 miles. Each change
after that brings the total contaminants back in line with that 30,000
mile baseline.

Or you can change fluid like crazy and perhaps achieve a 15-20,000 mile
baseline. But the dilution method will never get you even 80% much
less 90% "new" fluid, and the tranny doesn't need that anyway. The
math is an interesting study in futile maintenance. Each successive
change gets about 40% of the remaining contaminants out, so the law of
diminishing returns sets in pretty fast.