This weekend I did a triple drain/refill on our 2002 Honda Accord (3.0 V6, 4spd auto), which has never impressed me with its shift quality. I used AMSOIL ATF and took it for a good test drive this afternoon. All I can say is wow, this thing shifts better than it did when new.
Drained '02 Accord and Refilled with AMSOIL
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What was in there before? You know have ~ 78% AMSOIL ATF. Any UOAs?
I felt the same after switching to Amsoil in my Honda AT. It's kind of a rough shifting AT by nature but the Amsoil definitely made it feel a lot more smooth. I've done about 4-5 drain/refills thus far.
Originally Posted By: benjamming
What was in there before? You know have ~ 78% AMSOIL ATF. Any UOAs?
I don't feel confident with those numbers call me old fashioned ,but I have owned aquariums and partial changing the water leaves lots of dirty water.
What was in there before? You know have ~ 78% AMSOIL ATF. Any UOAs?
I don't feel confident with those numbers call me old fashioned ,but I have owned aquariums and partial changing the water leaves lots of dirty water.
Im with Steve S on this one. I would perform a cooler line flush using two quarts at a time and after maybe install a magnefine inline.
I just got done flushing a 2001 Alero this way. Even though I drained 7 quarts out of it when removing the pan, i felt better about my decision to flush it after filling the trans and seeing all the [censored] that came out of the clear flush hose for about 5 quarts after the initial top off. This not only gives you a good feeling but really shows the new fluids characteristics since it is 100% pure in a sense. I think you will find even more improvement in shifing after doing this as well. Just a suggestion.
I just got done flushing a 2001 Alero this way. Even though I drained 7 quarts out of it when removing the pan, i felt better about my decision to flush it after filling the trans and seeing all the [censored] that came out of the clear flush hose for about 5 quarts after the initial top off. This not only gives you a good feeling but really shows the new fluids characteristics since it is 100% pure in a sense. I think you will find even more improvement in shifing after doing this as well. Just a suggestion.
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I had flushed it with a case of Valvoline fluid (I think it was maxlife, regardless it said Z-1 on the bottle) about two years ago when it hit 50k. That made a slight improvement but I still thought the shifts were rather rough. The car now has 65k and the fluid looked good. I may drive it for a few days and do a few more drain/refills.
Its not very cost effective to do many drain & refills to do a near total fluid exchange when using expensive synthetic ATF. Better to do a cooler line flush yourself.
Donald,
Can you expand on that a little further? I don't really follow you.
Can you expand on that a little further? I don't really follow you.
Originally Posted By: benjamming
Donald,
Can you expand on that a little further? I don't really follow you.
My Camry holds total of 8 1/2 QTs and a drain & refill of 3 1/2 QTs. So with Amsoil ATF at $8.00/QT it would cost $8 x 9 QTs = $72 to do a full flush via cooler. This would then be above 95% new ATF.
Via multiple drain & refills (to get to 95%) I would need 11 drain & refills or 38.5 QTs at $8.00 QT for a total of $308.
It gets absurd with multiple drain and refills to achieve a very high %, for example when you do the 11th drain and refill you are dumping 3 1/2 QTs of ATF that is 93% new ATF to go from 93% to 95%.
The best cooler line flush starts with a drain and refill of the pan (don't start engine) then pull a cooler line and start the flush.
Donald,
Can you expand on that a little further? I don't really follow you.
My Camry holds total of 8 1/2 QTs and a drain & refill of 3 1/2 QTs. So with Amsoil ATF at $8.00/QT it would cost $8 x 9 QTs = $72 to do a full flush via cooler. This would then be above 95% new ATF.
Via multiple drain & refills (to get to 95%) I would need 11 drain & refills or 38.5 QTs at $8.00 QT for a total of $308.
It gets absurd with multiple drain and refills to achieve a very high %, for example when you do the 11th drain and refill you are dumping 3 1/2 QTs of ATF that is 93% new ATF to go from 93% to 95%.
The best cooler line flush starts with a drain and refill of the pan (don't start engine) then pull a cooler line and start the flush.
The Hondas on which I've changed the transmission fluid have more in the sump and less in the system than other transmissions, so more is changed. I think a triple drain and fill will do a fine exchange.
Originally Posted By: Ken2
The Hondas on which I've changed the transmission fluid have more in the sump and less in the system than other transmissions, so more is changed. I think a triple drain and fill will do a fine exchange.
Not correct. I looked on the Amsoil website for a 3005 Civic (an average Honda) and it has a total capacity of 6.3 QTs and drain and refill of 2.9 QTs.
It would thus take 7 QTs x $8.00 = $56 for a cooler line flush.
To get to 95% replacement would take 5 drain and refills at a cost of $140.
Even three drain and refills would cost you $70 and only get you to 84% fluid changed.
If one can get the cooler lines off easily, unsure why anyone would do multiple drain & refills to exchange the fluid. Makes no sense. Now if you just want to refresh the ATF every so many miles to inject new ATF and remove old fluid with wear metals, then a single drain and refill if fine.
The Hondas on which I've changed the transmission fluid have more in the sump and less in the system than other transmissions, so more is changed. I think a triple drain and fill will do a fine exchange.
Not correct. I looked on the Amsoil website for a 3005 Civic (an average Honda) and it has a total capacity of 6.3 QTs and drain and refill of 2.9 QTs.
It would thus take 7 QTs x $8.00 = $56 for a cooler line flush.
To get to 95% replacement would take 5 drain and refills at a cost of $140.
Even three drain and refills would cost you $70 and only get you to 84% fluid changed.
If one can get the cooler lines off easily, unsure why anyone would do multiple drain & refills to exchange the fluid. Makes no sense. Now if you just want to refresh the ATF every so many miles to inject new ATF and remove old fluid with wear metals, then a single drain and refill if fine.
Honda is against any sort of "Transmission Flush", they only recommend a drain/refill, so that's what I'm sticking to. I just do a drain/refill every other oil change, easy to remember that way and it's such an easy job. Takes only ~15 minutes, depending on how long you let it drain.
I have heard that Honda does not suggest a flush, but I think that its too generic a statement. Most tranny flushes by a machine, they use a cleaner before the flush and a conditioner after the flush.
Remember a flush only pushes new ATF into the pan. Its the transmission pump that pushes fluid through the tranny.
A cooler line flush that you can do yourself is almost like a continuous drain and refill.
Remember a flush only pushes new ATF into the pan. Its the transmission pump that pushes fluid through the tranny.
A cooler line flush that you can do yourself is almost like a continuous drain and refill.
fftopic: Schmoe,
Did the dealer take care of everything or did you pay out of pocket for the labor?
Originally Posted By: benjamming
fftopic:
Schmoe,
Did the dealer take care of everything or did you pay out of pocket for the labor?
I think he paid $500 if I remember right.
fftopic: Schmoe,
Did the dealer take care of everything or did you pay out of pocket for the labor?
I think he paid $500 if I remember right.
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