My Accord has the Maintenance Minder which is supposed to give you a "3" to tell you to change the ATF. My car has 50k and I have yet to see the "3" when my MM activates. Now I've talked to different dealers and one told me that it won't go off untill 60k while another Honda Dealer told me to change it at 30k. Now what shall I do? Wait for the maintenance minder or just to the typical 3 drain and refills at my next oil change?? I seem to get the hint of some funky shifting and jerking at times. Thanks.....
2011 Honda Accord ATF-When to change
- Thread starter Krazymatt
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One thing I'd like to add is the car is primarily driven on the highway for a 100 mile per day comute more or less. I'd say about 25% is in city/urban driving.
I am the cautious type so I would tell you to change it every 50k.
On a Honda if you start early and do a drain & refill do it every 30-50k. New Hondas take a synthetic atf. I use amsoil fuel effecient in my parents 09 accord. It takes 3 quarts. So.....$35 for fluid is a small investment for a quality fluid and preventative service. May be overkill with synthetics but its a small price to pay.
Originally Posted By: Krazymatt
My Accord has the Maintenance Minder which is supposed to give you a "3" to tell you to change the ATF. My car has 50k and I have yet to see the "3" when my MM activates. Now I've talked to different dealers and one told me that it won't go off untill 60k while another Honda Dealer told me to change it at 30k. Now what shall I do? Wait for the maintenance minder or just to the typical 3 drain and refills at my next oil change?? I seem to get the hint of some funky shifting and jerking at times. Thanks.....
You are past due at 50,000 miles. I change the ATF fluid at 30,000 miles for Hondas. With Honda you do not want to vacuum out the product but do the incremental change of 3 times 3 quarts easier than an oil change.
My Accord has the Maintenance Minder which is supposed to give you a "3" to tell you to change the ATF. My car has 50k and I have yet to see the "3" when my MM activates. Now I've talked to different dealers and one told me that it won't go off untill 60k while another Honda Dealer told me to change it at 30k. Now what shall I do? Wait for the maintenance minder or just to the typical 3 drain and refills at my next oil change?? I seem to get the hint of some funky shifting and jerking at times. Thanks.....
You are past due at 50,000 miles. I change the ATF fluid at 30,000 miles for Hondas. With Honda you do not want to vacuum out the product but do the incremental change of 3 times 3 quarts easier than an oil change.
According to the MM you aren't past due. The last year Honda listed an OM atf interval for the Accord, 05, severe service was 60k and normal 120k for initial service.
That said, I think 50k is plenty. You can do the 3x ATF d&f if you choose. I've done single d&f's on an 01 Civic EX at ~25k mi. intervals after the initial, and it's still going strong approaching 200k miles.
But it's your comfort level, your money, your call. DW-1 is likely best choice in this case since it is spec.
That said, I think 50k is plenty. You can do the 3x ATF d&f if you choose. I've done single d&f's on an 01 Civic EX at ~25k mi. intervals after the initial, and it's still going strong approaching 200k miles.
But it's your comfort level, your money, your call. DW-1 is likely best choice in this case since it is spec.
I let the shop do it at 50,000 then i did the 9 quart flush myself at 77,000 . Now im going to do the three quarts myself every couple of years or 15-20,000 miles (whatever comes first) its just peace of mind and obviously overkill, But if i keep the car another 7 years i dont want to even think about a tranny.. drive easy, change often, sleep well
Like ram_man and NorWest5, I do our VUE (which has a Honda 5-speed AT) every 30K. While a 3x drain/fill every 30K may be unnecessary, it's easy and it's cheap and I like knowing our AT is running on good fluid.
You'll find A LOT of opinions on whether to stick with Honda fluid or use something like MaxLife DEX/MERC. I myself like MaxLife in our VUE over the spec'd ATF-Z1.
You'll find A LOT of opinions on whether to stick with Honda fluid or use something like MaxLife DEX/MERC. I myself like MaxLife in our VUE over the spec'd ATF-Z1.
Your going to think I am crazy but I do a drain and fill every year/10,000 miles. That way every 3 years/30,000 miles all the fluid has been replaced. Honda transmissions are very picky, use only Honda AFT DW-1. I bought my car at 97,000 miles and replaced the trans at 100,000 miles. The owner changed once at 50,000 miles and the car was not driven hard, draw your own conclusions.
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On the Maint Minder equipped cars, I've seen them call for the first change at around 60k, then every 30k thereafter.
Your 2011 came filled with DW-1, which seems to be a much better fluid than Z1.
Your 2011 came filled with DW-1, which seems to be a much better fluid than Z1.
Originally Posted By: gregk24
Your going to think I am crazy but I do a drain and fill every year/10,000 miles. That way every 3 years/30,000 miles all the fluid has been replaced. Honda transmissions are very picky, use only Honda AFT DW-1. I bought my car at 97,000 miles and replaced the trans at 100,000 miles. The owner changed once at 50,000 miles and the car was not driven hard, draw your own conclusions.
I wonder if the PO had a proper fluid installed during that change on the original trans?
Your going to think I am crazy but I do a drain and fill every year/10,000 miles. That way every 3 years/30,000 miles all the fluid has been replaced. Honda transmissions are very picky, use only Honda AFT DW-1. I bought my car at 97,000 miles and replaced the trans at 100,000 miles. The owner changed once at 50,000 miles and the car was not driven hard, draw your own conclusions.
I wonder if the PO had a proper fluid installed during that change on the original trans?
The Honda DW-1 fluid is synthetic & much better than the previous & obsolete Z1 fluid.
During the ownership of my Acura TL, I simply performed a 3 qt drain & fill every other OC which is 15K.
Although it gave me sense of security that I took extra care of the vehicle,I regret that I spent the extra $$ to over service that particular AT as Honda had major problems with their AT (mostly w/ V6 engines) at the time.
IIRC, the V6 Accords, Odyssey, Acura TL, MDX from early to mid 2000's all had tranny problems.
Mine was replaced under warranty twice, 3rd time it was on me & that started to slip after 40K. Basically, all that extra $$ spend on fluids went to waste, it did nothing to offset the poor/defective transmission design.
If owners manual calls for 60K interval, then wouldn't hurt to drain & fill at 30k.
Originally Posted By: Krazymatt
My Accord has the Maintenance Minder which is supposed to give you a "3" to tell you to change the ATF. My car has 50k and I have yet to see the "3" when my MM activates. Now I've talked to different dealers and one told me that it won't go off untill 60k while another Honda Dealer told me to change it at 30k. Now what shall I do? Wait for the maintenance minder or just to the typical 3 drain and refills at my next oil change?? I seem to get the hint of some funky shifting and jerking at times. Thanks.....
During the ownership of my Acura TL, I simply performed a 3 qt drain & fill every other OC which is 15K.
Although it gave me sense of security that I took extra care of the vehicle,I regret that I spent the extra $$ to over service that particular AT as Honda had major problems with their AT (mostly w/ V6 engines) at the time.
IIRC, the V6 Accords, Odyssey, Acura TL, MDX from early to mid 2000's all had tranny problems.
Mine was replaced under warranty twice, 3rd time it was on me & that started to slip after 40K. Basically, all that extra $$ spend on fluids went to waste, it did nothing to offset the poor/defective transmission design.
If owners manual calls for 60K interval, then wouldn't hurt to drain & fill at 30k.
Originally Posted By: Krazymatt
My Accord has the Maintenance Minder which is supposed to give you a "3" to tell you to change the ATF. My car has 50k and I have yet to see the "3" when my MM activates. Now I've talked to different dealers and one told me that it won't go off untill 60k while another Honda Dealer told me to change it at 30k. Now what shall I do? Wait for the maintenance minder or just to the typical 3 drain and refills at my next oil change?? I seem to get the hint of some funky shifting and jerking at times. Thanks.....
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If you're a DIY, consider a "MityVac 7300" Fluid Extractor. It vacuum the fluid thru dip stick hole.
Its not only handy for replacing ATF, it can be used for boats, bikes, lawn mowers & generator etc. Basically anything that you don't want craw underneath to drain it.
Its not only handy for replacing ATF, it can be used for boats, bikes, lawn mowers & generator etc. Basically anything that you don't want craw underneath to drain it.
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Originally Posted By: gregk24
Your going to think I am crazy but I do a drain and fill every year/10,000 miles. That way every 3 years/30,000 miles all the fluid has been replaced. Honda transmissions are very picky, use only Honda AFT DW-1. I bought my car at 97,000 miles and replaced the trans at 100,000 miles. The owner changed once at 50,000 miles and the car was not driven hard, draw your own conclusions.
I wonder if the PO had a proper fluid installed during that change on the original trans?
I know he had some work done at the dealer and most at a non-dealer shop. The only work the car had got from 0 to 96,000 miles were oil changes, I power steering fluid change, one atf change, and an 02 sensor. Then I got the car at 96,000 miles and had ALL the fluids changed out, new drive belt and tentioner, plugs, brakes tires and transmission and she has been golden since. Transmission has been the only thing that was unexpected. But not surprised since only 1 ATF change had been done, and im not even sure if OEM fluid was used (most likely not).
Originally Posted By: gregk24
Your going to think I am crazy but I do a drain and fill every year/10,000 miles. That way every 3 years/30,000 miles all the fluid has been replaced. Honda transmissions are very picky, use only Honda AFT DW-1. I bought my car at 97,000 miles and replaced the trans at 100,000 miles. The owner changed once at 50,000 miles and the car was not driven hard, draw your own conclusions.
I wonder if the PO had a proper fluid installed during that change on the original trans?
I know he had some work done at the dealer and most at a non-dealer shop. The only work the car had got from 0 to 96,000 miles were oil changes, I power steering fluid change, one atf change, and an 02 sensor. Then I got the car at 96,000 miles and had ALL the fluids changed out, new drive belt and tentioner, plugs, brakes tires and transmission and she has been golden since. Transmission has been the only thing that was unexpected. But not surprised since only 1 ATF change had been done, and im not even sure if OEM fluid was used (most likely not).
If you change the ATF early on a Honda, is there a way to let the car know that you have done it? Does MM ask you what type of maintenance you just completed as a part of the reset procedure without needing any fancy factory service tool?
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Originally Posted By: Vikas
If you change the ATF early on a Honda, is there a way to let the car know that you have done it? Does MM ask you what type of maintenance you just completed as a part of the reset procedure without needing any fancy factory service tool?
No, you probably need a factory service tool for that.
If you change the ATF early on a Honda, is there a way to let the car know that you have done it? Does MM ask you what type of maintenance you just completed as a part of the reset procedure without needing any fancy factory service tool?
No, you probably need a factory service tool for that.
Originally Posted By: Vikas
If you change the ATF early on a Honda, is there a way to let the car know that you have done it? Does MM ask you what type of maintenance you just completed as a part of the reset procedure without needing any fancy factory service tool?
No, at least not the Accord. You just do the maintenance and then when the code appears you clear it yourself. I just my did second single d&f on my 3.0L Accord at ~52k and the ATF code has yet to appear on the dash read out. When it does, I'll clear it.
Also to clear up an 'opinion' posted earlier here as fact on this thread. There's no proof (ie. scientific studies) proving that Honda AT's are picky about the ATF used and then concluding only Honda ATF should be used. It is true that some Honda transmissions have a record of being something less than reliable, to put it kindly. Some early 2000 V6's and the 01 Civic seem to be inlcuded. It is a fact that Honda's Z-1 had a far less stellar reputation here (Bitog). Now that said, I've maintained an 01 Civic since new using only the [censored] Z-1 till discontinued, and now MaxLife for second single d&f now approaching 200k miles. Based on Car Compliants.com 01 Civic AT rep and my anecdote, apparently not too picky about the ATF.
And that single d&f on said Accord mentioned earlier, was also done with MaxLife replacing the spec'd Z-1.
If you change the ATF early on a Honda, is there a way to let the car know that you have done it? Does MM ask you what type of maintenance you just completed as a part of the reset procedure without needing any fancy factory service tool?
No, at least not the Accord. You just do the maintenance and then when the code appears you clear it yourself. I just my did second single d&f on my 3.0L Accord at ~52k and the ATF code has yet to appear on the dash read out. When it does, I'll clear it.
Also to clear up an 'opinion' posted earlier here as fact on this thread. There's no proof (ie. scientific studies) proving that Honda AT's are picky about the ATF used and then concluding only Honda ATF should be used. It is true that some Honda transmissions have a record of being something less than reliable, to put it kindly. Some early 2000 V6's and the 01 Civic seem to be inlcuded. It is a fact that Honda's Z-1 had a far less stellar reputation here (Bitog). Now that said, I've maintained an 01 Civic since new using only the [censored] Z-1 till discontinued, and now MaxLife for second single d&f now approaching 200k miles. Based on Car Compliants.com 01 Civic AT rep and my anecdote, apparently not too picky about the ATF.
And that single d&f on said Accord mentioned earlier, was also done with MaxLife replacing the spec'd Z-1.
I own a Mity-Vac and I would not recommend using it for any Honda auto transmission. Honda dealers use a special unit, of Honda's design, for flushing.
We have two Honda's here with AT. If Honda's have a mechanical weakness it is the autotrans.
We have two Honda's here with AT. If Honda's have a mechanical weakness it is the autotrans.
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