Changed my ATF, difference is crazy!

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Between the following factors...
- knowing my car has never had an ATF change, ever..
- having issues such as hunting for gears at speeds at or under 45mph, rough shifting, late shifting..
- scoring 4 still-sealed quarts of MaxLife ATF from 2004 (really old label design) that I found in the stock room at my work on clearance for $1 a piece..
- knowing that MaxLife ATF is compatible with Honda ATF (and confirmed by reading the label and some other places online)

...I finally decided to do an ATF change on my CR-V!

When I drained the old fluid it almost looked grey, and I wiped a ton of crap off the magnet on the drain plug.

New fluid went in, and it feels like a whole new car again. Shifts so smoothly that you don't even feel it now. Not rough anymore when coming to a stop and the clatter at idle is gone too.

Best $4 ever spent IMO
 
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Nice! Transmissions and differentials are often forgotten about.

A friend just picked up a 2000 Civic DX as a daily beater for $1500. Has about 160k and the body is in pretty good shape. Carfax shows the trans fluid was changed at some point (also evident by the almost stripped drain plug head) but not sure when. We put in some MaxLife ATF that he picked up and it shifts better. What came out was dark but definitely not burnt.

My family's Hondas I do a drain and fills every 30k with DW-1.
 
Did you just drain and fill once? If so, drive a week, then do one more, then another week and one more. That will get all 9 quarts replaced with fresh ATF. Then do one spill and fill every 30K as jeepman suggested. BTW, I also use MaxLife in my Odyssey. Just drained and filled 3 quarts yesterday.
 
Originally Posted by jayjr1105
Did you just drain and fill once? If so, drive a week, then do one more, then another week and one more. That will get all 9 quarts replaced with fresh ATF. Then do one spill and fill every 30K as jeepman suggested. BTW, I also use MaxLife in my Odyssey. Just drained and filled 3 quarts yesterday.


To get all the ATF out of my 2008 Civic - I had to drain & fill twice. Do it every 50K.
 
Congrats on your ATF change - very important (even with the so called "ATF for life" in the "sealed" transmissions of many vehicles today) . Take my 2017 Hyundai Sonata with it's sealed transmission : *Once I finish the M.I.T. ATF drain & Fill course outlining the procedures doing a ATF drain & fill for my Sonata's sealed transmission , I will be in a position to see if I can get it to last beyond the 100K mile warranty of the sealed transmission (as if no one keeps a vehicle past 100K miles any more ?!)
 
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The thing that surprised me the most was how easy it was to do. Lay underneath the car and bam, drain plug is right there. To refill it, I just shoved a long funnel into the dipstick tube and did it up in the engine bay.

Just about anything else on this car requires taking the entire car apart and putting it back together it seems.
 
2004 vintage MaxLife? Wow, no telling what that formulation may have been, pre-Dex-VI I would assume, so mostly a DEX-III type?
Can you send us a picture of the back label?
 
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If it was gray coming out, I would have done a full fluid exchange. The "little at time" change IMO is good only when it's good fluid coming out--which this does not sound like--so the old contaminated fluid is still circulating around. It's just not as bad as it was. Better than nothing but still no great.

However I've never heard of gray fluid coming out, and I have to wonder if this is just a Hail Mary pass... that's tossed at the end of the game.
21.gif
Hopefully not.
 
Originally Posted by cwilliamsws6
3 quarts came out, 3 went in.

Honda transmissions have more than just the 3 quarts that drain out FYI. V6 models usually have 9 or so quarts. I assume 4 cylinders have less. Drive a few days and drain and fill one more time.
 
Gee, ya coulda sprung for some new fluid, doncha think?
Hondas love fresh ATF. I service their transmissions about every 25K; it is soooo easy, why not?
 
Not everyone buys their cars brand new... my '99 Camry came to me with 140k on the clock and what I presume was OEM fluid, gauging by the color of what came out. One flush got red fluid in it, a second got most of any residual black stuff.
 
Originally Posted by jayjr1105
Originally Posted by cwilliamsws6
3 quarts came out, 3 went in.

Honda transmissions have more than just the 3 quarts that drain out FYI.
2.5 to 3 quarts is normal with the 4-cylinders.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by jayjr1105
Originally Posted by cwilliamsws6
3 quarts came out, 3 went in.
Honda transmissions have more than just the 3 quarts that drain out FYI.
2.5 to 3 quarts is normal with the 4-cylinders.

You mean in one D&F? Yes, that's probably correct. The total volume in my old Accord is somewhat over 6 quarts.
 
It's amazing what a little maintenance will do. I did a ATF fluid exchange on my Escape and while it was shifting fine before hand I could feel a difference. It will be done every 50k.
 
Even though I have a transmission cooler my FJ Cruiser gets regular full flush with AISIN synthetic AFW+ every 30000, oil is cheap, transmission isn't and a better shifting non slipping transmission leads to better performance and fuel economy.
 
Originally Posted by supton
If it was gray coming out, I would have done a full fluid exchange. The "little at time" change IMO is good only when it's good fluid coming out--which this does not sound like--so the old contaminated fluid is still circulating around. It's just not as bad as it was. Better than nothing but still no great.

However I've never heard of gray fluid coming out, and I have to wonder if this is just a Hail Mary pass... that's tossed at the end of the game.
21.gif
Hopefully not.

I agree.
 
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