Good afternoon - Recently purchased a 2004 Honda Pilot. It's at 97k miles, and has had Honda service its entire life. The 90k (most recent) service included the trans fluid, however it's also recommended to change at the 105k mark. I think this engine is on its original timing belt (YIKES), so that's going to be done in the next few days with the water pump and inspecting cam and crank seals.
I'm going to go away from the OEM trans fluid and wanted some thoughts on synthetic ATF options. Currently the transmission seems to shift fine, and no leaks or noises.
The 2004 Pilot does not have a separate front diff/transfer case. The transmission does not have a seal between those components, so the trans fluid serves as both transfer case fluid and front diff (of sorts) fluid.
With that in mind, should I be looking at something with a higher viscosity like Amsoil, or will the Valv MaxLife ATF be just fine? If I didn't have the consideration of sharing fluids, I'd punch the easy button: Valvoline maxlife atf. I've used that fluid in other vehicles and like it. But the shared use without isolation has me thinking hard on this.
If I remember and researched correctly, the big dig on the original Honda trans fluid (z1) was that it was shearing in no-time (is that why the change interval is so short?). Then the next gen fluid (w1) improved upon that, but I believe there are newer, better - and more readily available - options available now and I'd like to take advantage of them.
Any help appreciated.
I'm going to go away from the OEM trans fluid and wanted some thoughts on synthetic ATF options. Currently the transmission seems to shift fine, and no leaks or noises.
The 2004 Pilot does not have a separate front diff/transfer case. The transmission does not have a seal between those components, so the trans fluid serves as both transfer case fluid and front diff (of sorts) fluid.
With that in mind, should I be looking at something with a higher viscosity like Amsoil, or will the Valv MaxLife ATF be just fine? If I didn't have the consideration of sharing fluids, I'd punch the easy button: Valvoline maxlife atf. I've used that fluid in other vehicles and like it. But the shared use without isolation has me thinking hard on this.
If I remember and researched correctly, the big dig on the original Honda trans fluid (z1) was that it was shearing in no-time (is that why the change interval is so short?). Then the next gen fluid (w1) improved upon that, but I believe there are newer, better - and more readily available - options available now and I'd like to take advantage of them.
Any help appreciated.