Transmission fluid change.

[crj19]

I did a drain and refill 2 times today and filled up with Amsoil Synthetic Trans. fluid, was very easy and the fluid cost me about $60.00 and so far so good. Fluid was dirty but not to bad fo 71,000 miles, dealer wanted $190.00 to do it and I don't trust anyone else because of the special fluid type.

[1saxman]

Please detail your drain and fill procedure.

[crj19]

Please detail your drain and fill procedure.

It was very easy, I bought a fluid extractor http://www.autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=3411&sc=3364 it took about 5 minutes to drain out 3.5 quarts, I refilled with Amsoil ATF and drove around for a while then came back and took out 3 more quarts and refilled again with Amsoil. All I can say is WOW, what a difference... Not more dragging of gears, firmer shifts and absolutely zero rpm fluctuation while at a steady speed in drive.

[The Critic]

It's very important that you drain a Honda transaxle through the DRAIN PLUG. The drain plug is a magnetic drain plug that captures all of the metal shavings and sludge. This magnet is usually full at the first fluid change due to break-in and needs to be cleaned.

[Bill Murray]

I agree critic.
The bad stuff never drains UP.
Plus it's always good (IMHO) to get underneath and inspect everything.

That Honda trans is an easy drain and refill much like an oil change.

[crj19]

Yes but under the circumstances I had to work with its the best I could do, and it does not change the fact thats its driving much better.

[Tom92SCm]

What I do with my Protege (which has an automatic as well) is I drain the fluid out of the pan and fill it back up with new fluid. Then I disconnect the line coming out of the transmission cooler and put a hose onto that and stick that into a bottle. Then I start the engine and let it run for 10-15 seconds. This pumps all the fluid out of the torque converter that you didn't get when you drained it and doesn't allow the bad fluid to mix with the good fluid that much. Shut the engine off. Fill with more fluid. Start the engine again. Fill. And repeat until the fluid coming out looks like the fluid that you're adding.

I'm not familiar with the Honda transmission at all so I don't know if this work work.

[1saxman]

This method is exactly what I plan to use on our '03s. The auto trans doesn't have a drain plug and inserting the small-diameter suction tube on my vacuum canister down the dip stick tube will pick up some of the crud in the pan. However, I have no plan to do this twice on the same session - I'll do it probably every year. I used the vacuum canister to change oil on our previous LW1 because it had such low clearance under it. The alternative is a total fluid replacement which is definitely better and would be repeated maybe at 30K intervals. A somewhat similar drain/refill already happened to my trans - I had a leak fixed at the dealer at about 30K (trans cooling lines attaching bracket seal) and they had to put quite a bit of oil back in it. Since I now have about 52K on it I figure it's a pretty good time to suck another gallon out and replace it. Now I just have to find some T-IV.

[bigjimz28]

I thought using anything besides the Honda Z1 ATF
the the honda trans was a big NO-NO

[Vue&SL1]

Amsoil ATF covers off on the Z1 spec. On that bob oil guy forum there are a lot of folks using it in the Vue transmissions with no problems.