1991 Honda Accord ATF

[SamMan23]

My brother wants to change out his fluid in his '91 accord. We can't find the manual, so we don't know the specifications for the fluid.

What fluids would you recommend?
Do I need LubeGuard?
Will Amsoil work?

This fluid has probably been in there 140k

Hopefully changing the fluid won't bring out any problems caused by worn out 140k miles fluid. Any thoughts?

 

[SamMan23]

it's also varnished on the dipstick

 

[darryld13]

The '91 Accord uses 2.5 quarts of Dexron II and is on a 2 yr/30K maintenance interval. Changing it is easy - you don't even need to jack the car up. Get the drain pan and newspapers together like you would with an oil change. Drive the car around for 10 minutes or so to get the tranny fluid hot, stick a 3/8 drive into the drain plug (located on the passenger side), loosen and away you go. Be careful and use gloves and a long sleeve shirt because the fluid will be HOT and will likely spurt out a bit. Put the plug back in securely and begin refilling a bit at a time, verifying fluid level. You will need a funnel with a long hose attached to fill it back up through the dipstick hole. When the dipstick reads full, start the car up and shift the selector into all positions from Park to 2nd, shift back into Park turn the engine off and recheck the fluid level.

Don't be alarmed by the sight of gray goop on the drain plug. It's magnetic and normally grabs stuff during routine operation. Just wipe it off before reinstalling. Compare the color of the old fluid to your new fluid - as long as it is still red, you are probably in good shape. If it is brown and smells burned, you will need to keep an eye on how the new fluid does. Black indicates trouble with the tranny. I wouldn't recommend any kind of flush on a tranny that age - you could wind up causing some trouble. Good luck!

[ May 16, 2004, 03:41 PM: Message edited by: darryld13 ]

 

[SamMan23]

http://www.amsoil.com/lit/filter_man_council01.pdf

I just remember reading this article. But as far as I know, 1991 honda transmissions do not have filters so therefore I don't have to worry about clogging it. Although, I'm still worried about stuff floating around that have washed free from the clean fluid. Maybe I should just use dino atf and plan on changing it 3000 miles later to the good stuff.

 

[Ken2]

The Honda transmission is the only case I've heard of where Dexron-III ATF is not backward compatible with Dexron-II ATF. And, of course, Dexron-II hasn't been available for years.

I'd do an Auto-Rx cleaning of the transmission, then do a triple drain & refill. Run the Auto-Rx the specified miles... www.auto-rx.net ...get the transmission warm by driving, drain the transmission refill with ATF, drive around the block, drain & refill, drive, drain & refill. If you use Honda's ATF, you're done. If you use Dexron-III, add a bottle of Lubegard black bottle HFM supplement.

It would be a good idea to add an ounce of Auto-Rx to the power steering, drive as long as the transmission cleaning, then do a triple drain & refill of that, also. Use Honda's special power steering fluid...or add ATF plus Lubegard's power steering supplement, or Lubegard's power steering fluid.


Ken

 

[mkosem]

In my friend's 92 Accord with 80k miles we did the following as the car never had a fluid change and the shift quality was poor(slow and hard):

3qt each time:

Drain/Fill with Maxlife ATF

Drive 100mi

Drain/Fill with B&M Trick Shift Synthetic

Drive 1000mi

Drain/Fill with B&M Trick Shift Synthetic

He's been driving the car since and now, 5k later the car is shifting smoothly and quickly as it should be! Just MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT DO A COMPLETE REPLACEMENT! This leads to tranny death.

--Matt

 

[thrace]

QUOTE "The Honda transmission is the only case I've heard of where Dexron-III ATF is not backward compatible with Dexron-II ATF. And, of course, Dexron-II hasn't been available for years."

My '94 Honda Accord is supposed to use Dexron II according to the owners manual. Dexron II is not available. The current Honda ATF Z1 was not sold yet in 1994. What ATF works well for early 1990's Honda owners out there among BITOG readers other than DexronIII plus Lubegard Black?

Has anyone used "Multi-vehicle ATF" from Quaker State, Pennzoil or Wal Mart? These are supposedly compatible with Dexron II according to the label on the bottle.

[ May 18, 2004, 03:14 PM: Message edited by: thrace ]

 

[RH+G]

I have a 94 Accord and Mobil 1 Tranny Fluid works just as well as honda if not better. Redline's fluid also works well too.

 

[mkosem]

Myself, and a friend of mine, have run into problems with using the honda fluid in autos that did not spec it. The shifts WERE lightening quick and hard as a rock, but in both cases where this fluid was used(91 accord and 92 prelude), the transmissions met their demise within 4k and 7k respectively. I've seen other reports on the web of this happening as well.

--Matt