Is tranny fluid change every 2 years overkill?

[JeffKeryk]

I service our 2006 TSX trans about every 25K miles.
I do the Nissan CVT's about every 30K maybe.
Gonna do my used GS350 soon; it has 60K miles.

Keep up the good work.

 

[dgunay]

Originally Posted By: asker123
I bought my car in 2012.
I guess tranny oil that time would have been Honda ATF Z1.
I drain and filled 3 liters each time, once in 2012 then 2014 then 2016 with Honda full synthetic dw1
in these 6 years I have driven 70000 kms . 70% highway, 30% stop and go.

Do you guys think this approx 12000 kms per year drive , should I keep on changing every 2 years as manual says...
I checked the color on white paper. its really pink colour as near as new... smell is bit acidic sort of.. definitely does not smell like new..

what you guys think?


I change ATF every year or 25k kms. It's not overkill. No need to wait until the fluid gets dirty.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted By: asker123
Originally Posted By: JamesBond
Every two years or so is what I do on our 7th gen accord. Don't forget the transmission filter, it's on top of the transmission.


hmmm.... Manual does not talk anything about tranny filter...This is debatable I guess. I don’t think even deal changes tranny filter


Some newer Hondas than yours have a transmission filter but Honda doesn't recommend replacing it. If you ask most Honda dealer shops, they aren't likely to even be familiar with it. Our '05 Odyssey with the 3.5L V6 had one. A mechanic we used offered to change it as part of a drain/fill but I didn't have it done. It's a pretty inexpensive filter - on RockAuto they range from $5 to $25. On an Odyssey forum, a number of people replaced theirs but they were "clean" after 100k miles and each person didn't see the need of replacing it now that they had done it (just as Honda said - it doesn't need replacing).

 

[JamesBond]

Originally Posted By: asker123
Originally Posted By: JamesBond
Every two years or so is what I do on our 7th gen accord. Don't forget the transmission filter, it's on top of the transmission.


hmmm.... Manual does not talk anything about tranny filter...This is debatable I guess. I don’t think even deal changes tranny filter


There is a small inline filter on top of the transmission that is clamped to the hose that runs to the radiator cooler. Is changing it necessary? That is up to you.

I'll let you in on a secret, the dealer isn't interested in extending the life of your 2003 transmission, they would like to sell you a new Honda.

 

[Mainia]

Originally Posted By: asker123
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: asker123
ok then next question, mechanic that I go to keeps Eneos atf and said that its even better than Honda dw1 . I told him that I have been putting dw1 since 2012 and its very smooth. Even though he said he can put dw1 for me , I am skeptical that he must be getting eneos cheap so he will tell me that he will put dw1 but he will actually put eneos.
have you guys put eneos ever? I am thinking to take the car to dealership to avoid any fluid related issues. I don’t like going to dealership but in this case I don’t think I have choice...


OEM ATF in a 15 year old car would not be my course of action unless it needed to be OEM or it was competitive on quality or price. Best retail ATFs that are available to me are 1. Castrol Transmax Synthetic @ Costco or 2. Valvoline Maxlife Dino @ Walmart? not sure if they still have it.


I get you but I heard these Honda trannys are very sensitive to oil...Although mine is not V6 which is said to be a tickeling time bomb . Mine is I4 but I don’t want to take a chance.


NO...... Honda auto trans are NOT sensitive to different ATF fluids. That is just pure auto forum Dogma that gets repeated and repeated. I have run Amsoil, Redline, and once MaxLife for the last 20 years on all my families Honda’s and to top it off I run 2 to 3 Qts of racing or Type F with no slip agents in what ever brand I use. Keep the brands the same so the add-packs are common. So if I am running Redline D6, I use Redline racing and Redline Racing low viscosity so I can match the viscosity of the D6 since the regular racing is thick and the low viscosity is very thin.
Redline is my go to brand now a days for ATF and now manual trans fluid for DCT trans in my 2018 Hyundai Kona AWD 1.6 turbo. I have 1,700 miles on it now and plan to dump all trans and front and rear diffs and put Redline in. The engine oil I am running Amsoil SS 0-40. I am on boost quite a bit.

Now where Honda fluids ARE finicky is the power steering fluid. That’s the only place I have ever seen a Honda picky about its fluids. Don’t believe the forum Dogma BS.

No it is not overkill especially with that crap cheap dw 1 ATF.


.

 

[SirTanon]

I do a trans drain and fill on my Fusion once every year

..then again, I also do roughly 28,000 - 30,000 miles per year, so it works out.

 

[4WD]

Is that the original trans …?

 

[Revving2Redline]

Keep fluids fluently fluid. Change some out between services is a good idea especially during summer and to prepare for the winter. Never seen a tranny or a dog die early from too much love and preventative care.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Yes. Every time you open up the transmission you risk introducing contaminants. Of course wasting perfectly serviceable ATF seems a bit silly.

 

[Olas]

It's a question of money and time.

How much does it cost to buy the fluid, and how long does it take to drain&fill? £30 and 1 hour maximum?

How much does it cost to buy a new transmission, and how long does it take to install? £2000 and a whole day?


Depends how long you want to keep the car, if it still has warranty, if you have to time/skill/motivation to do the work, lots of factors come into it.

Personally I feel that it's better to change cheap fluids than to change expensive parts.

 

[WyrTwister]

I agree 100% . ATF is relatively cheap , compared to a transmission job . As I have said before , cheap insurance .

 

[Kira]

"Twas just mentioned that the POWER STEERING fluid is one area where Hondas are picky.
I've heard that too.

I've also heard that COOLANT is another fluid you want to keep original in Hondas.
Maybe not as important as Subaru coolant is claimed to be, but how cares?
I do 1 gallon drain & fills on two Hondas, a 2010 Accord and an '07 Odyssey.
Both are happy campers.....actually, one is a 4 door car and the other a mini-van (ain't much mini about it though).

To to original question / point of this thread: I believe there is no overkill (practically speaking) to keeping fluid clean. Doing a partial anything every two years can't be overkill.

 

[Poohbah]

I just changed my ATF this weekend. Always use Honda fluid. Change about every 30k. Easy as an oil change. I get about 3-3.5 quarts out of the 9 quart system.

 

[SirTanon]

Originally Posted By: 4WD
Is that the original trans …?


Yes, still on the original transmission. Still shifts nice and tight.

 

[camrydriver111]

Overkill. It's like changing your oil at 2000 or 3000 miles.

Following the factory interval won't damage your transmission.

I only changed mine after 160k km and 10 years on a transmission with "lifetime fluid". I'm at 230k km now and there is no issues.

 

[SirTanon]

Originally Posted By: camrydriver111
Overkill. It's like changing your oil at 2000 or 3000 miles.

Following the factory interval won't damage your transmission.

I only changed mine after 160k km and 10 years on a transmission with "lifetime fluid". I'm at 230k km now and there is no issues.


Not saying that you haven't been fortunate enough to have your fluid last 100,000 miles without incident, but that doesn't mean that it's not beneficial to do it earlier. You may have just been lucky. Lack of apparent evidence of damage does not mean that it wouldn't have benefited from earlier change.

Also, just because your car's trans did okay with a 100k mile interval, doesn't mean that all cars should. Fusion manuals spec a 100,000 mile interval, but any Ford tech worth his salt will tell you that you're better of doing it much more frequently, and most will tell you to do a drain & fill every 30,000 miles. Some transmissions are just harder on fluid, and any trans that doesn't have a user-serviceable filter (like the 6F35 trans in the Fusion) will definitely benefit from an earlier drain&fill.

 

[WyrTwister]

One of our cars is a 2015 Chevy Sonic 1.8l automatic . I read that you must pull the tranny & split the case to service the filter . Not a DIY project for me . So , at 52,000 miles , I have done 2 drain & fills . Thinking about doung another .

I DO NOT want that filter to clog up !

 

[Johnny2Bad]

A new (rebuilt) transmission Remove & Replace (R&R) will cost minimum $3000 and could be up to twice that for a modern automatic.

Your cost to replace fluid every two years is ... what? ... up to $100? I'd say doing the fluids (and filter if you're up to it) is far from overkill.

 

[asker123]

Originally Posted By: JamesBond

There is a small inline filter on top of the transmission that is clamped to the hose that runs to the radiator cooler. Is changing it necessary? That is up to you.

I'll let you in on a secret, the dealer isn't interested in extending the life of your 2003 transmission, they would like to sell you a new Honda.


Thanks but this is no secret
I do not go to dealers if I don't have to.
Once I went to get the Takada Air Bag recall and they were trying to sell me a new Car.
In the ATF case, I think I will have to go to them because I am running risk that my mechanic will pour Eneos into Tranny and not DW1....

 

[littleant]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I think what you're doing is just fine.
This here.