Hey guys,

So my car has been shifting hard for a long long time now. Since before I even owned it when it was my grandmas. The transmission fluid hasnt been changed in about 7 years. Its time. (LOL) Anyway, my grandpa said I should have it done a shop and get it pumped out of the transmission to get it all out. Well, shop charges 90$ to do that. I went down to my parts store and they sell (what they say is the same specs as honda fluid) at about 5 bucks a quart. I was planning on just running 2 quarts through the tranny with the drain plug off and then filling it after that. Would that method work?

QUESTION: Should I really take it down to a shop for all that extra money or can I just change it myself and it should be okay? Also, how much tranny fluid does my car (in signature) even need? Ive looked at mitchell on demand, ALLDATA, haynes, and searched around online. They all give various amounts. Anyone know what the amount really is?

 

do a search for transmission fluid change on this site, your answer will be obvious.

** some quick answers for you **
- do not flush your transmission (unless you want to replace your transmission soon)
- do not use the fluid from an auto parts store (unless you want to replace your transmission soon)

 

Thanks crispin,

So im a student in college going for master automotive technician and I love asking why just so it makes sense and I can give correct information to the next person. So... Why do I not want to flush my transmission fluid? Why do I not want to use tranny fluid from the auto parts store even if they say its the "same" specs as honda fluid?

 

Ummm...

So after researching a bit on this sight I found the answers to most of my questions but got kind of turned away from changing my transmission fluid. Some guy said he had 13 years "experience" with transmissions and he said changing the transmission fluid with new transmission fluid after it hasnt been changed for a long *** time could mean ruining my tranny?

How accurate is that?

 

I changed mine to the Auto Parts Store type that said works for Honda and less than 9 months later - my transmission blew.

Power flushing does harm to the seals in a Honda transmission.

You need to drain and fill your transmission 3 times (drive min 100 miles between fills) using Genuine Honda Fluid

 

As much as I dislike automatic transmissions, I've heard a lot of people say that Honda automatics need to use Honda ATF otherwise the shifting can get very harsh.

Honda autos don't handle ATF flushing when it's done with a flushing machine that has it's own external pump. One method that seems to be acceptable is to use the transmissions own pump like this...

- disconnect the 2 ATF cooler lines that go to the radiator.

- I don't know which one is which, but connect one to a big can filled with a lot of Honda ATF. Hang that can up in the air. Put the other into a bucket for the dirty fluid.

- Start the engine & let it idle. The trans will suck clean fluid from the one reservoir, and spit out dirty fluid into the other. Don't let the new clean fluid go empty because you really don't want the transmission to be sucking air.

- Keep this up until the old fluid starts coming out clean.

(Seems to me it would be easier to just drain & fill 3 times)

Another thing that has caused problems... Shops that do other makes of cars often have trans-flushing machines that use some kind of solvent and not pure ATF. Hondas don't like those solvents.

 

do you remember the particular brand of fluid you tried? Global, Castrol ... ?

 

Castrol

 

Wow, I generally have liked Castrol products. Good to know so I don't go off & tell someone it's OK "just because Castrol makes it".

 

Well I can never say for certain that the Castrol is the reason for my blown transmission but I will say my car had low miles, apx 115k when I put the castrol in and it blew at around 125k miles.
Based on everything I have read across multiple forums, I would never run anything but genuine Honda fluid in a Honda Transmission.