I believe I am using 2 and 3/4 qts. on my 94 accord but you can measure what you remove. I love honda dip sticks, engine off and perfect readings. and you should change the fluid. If you ever take one a part you would see that they are not like other tranny's they won't tolerate dirt build up
all these new tranny fluids are hfm (high friction modifiers) I dont know if this additive breaks down after time so even if your oil is clean it might not be doing the job it suppose to do.
on my 02 oddy I added hfm and added a external cooler. 100k and no problems. these trannys will shift for ever. heat and improper maintenance kill these trannys. on my accord I have 300k on a junk yard tranny that had 100k on it. yes it's the old 4 speed but the design hasn't changed

 

I was hearing what I thought was a wheel bearing going bad on my '03 V EX Cpe with 77k miles. Took it in to very reputable Honda repair shop in town that I have dealt with for a long time.

The diagnosis: Final drive bearing is coming apart, slowly but surely. Cure: rebuild tranny (can't just do the bearing...needs complete rebuild) at a cost of $2950 total. Will take 3-5 working days and they will give me a warranty for 3 yrs./36k miles (as good as a new car warranty on drivetrain).

My dilemma.. Should I drop the $$ and get it done? The car is solid other than this. The owner of the repair shop and I talked about it for an hour and he says that he has an 03 Oddy that is about to get it's 4th tranny. He also said that V6 trannys from model years 98 - 06 are trouble and he has seen a lot of them. After rebuild he has seen 2 come back. Of course others after rebuild traded the cars and he had no way of knowing about those.

I do know there was a class action lawsuit a few years back because of the massive amounts of trouble.

How about some feedback. What would YOU do?

 

I would get a second opinion. Maybe take it to a Honda dealership.

If both places come back with a transmission replace/rebuild, I would consider getting a used transmission installed. I think the 03-07 accords didn't have the premature failures as the 98-02 accords. Check out prices from local junkyards at car-part.com to see what a used one will run.

 

I would go with a used tranny . this guy putting a 4th tranny in an 03 oddy raises questions about his rebuilding abilities. by 03 honda addressed their tranny problems so I think a used tranny with low mileage would be as good as a rebuild. I guess what he means by the final drive is the trans axle roller bearings. seen this happen but very rare and not the usual tranny failures. if a second opinion(and you should get one because this is a tough noise to pin point) points to this then yes the tranny needs to come apart.
if you do decide on a used one try to get it locally. like pahonda said car-part.com will help.

 

'02 had a warranty extension not technically a recall but up to 107k miles. If that car was an '02, honda would replace the transmission for free. I dont know if they will for the '03 model but worth a try.