Thanks again, gents!

 

Just wanted to put up pic of what we're talking about so people that need visual aids, like me, will have them:

Tranny fluid plug:



Brake bleeder valve (uncovered):

 

Good pics. How did the fluid change go?

That first picture looks like you're under the right-front headlamp, looking towards the left-front tire. ;-)

FYI, the drain plug for a manual tranny is in a different location.

 

You know what, Jim? You're absolutely right! When I contradicted you I was, um, uh, standing in FRONT of the car, not sitting in it. Boy, do I feel intellectually challenged right now. You were right all along. My bad.

Sheesh!

I also want to add that I haven't done the tranny fluid change just yet, but I hope to have time this coming weekend. I took this pics when I changed the motor oil about two weekends ago with my daughter. She had fun and remarked, "People pay to have other people do this? I thought it was gonna be harder." Yep, she's learning. And she already knows that she'll be helping out again for the tranny fluid change.

ONE LAST THING: Is there a particular order in which to bleed the brake lines? Like right rear, left rear, right front and left front?

 

The general rule of thumb is to work your way towards the master cylinder, start farthest away.

For me, that's RR, LR, FR, FL

 

Everyone does that bit about right/left when facing the engine compartment. I just had to tease you about it. And changing the tranny oil is even easier than the engine because you don't need 3 elbows to reach the filter.

For brake bleeding order, my Helm book (2003-2006) says LF - RF - RR - LR.
Not only that, I used to have a '98 and the Helm book for '98-99 said the same order.

With ABS, the bleeding order isn't really based on distance any more. Depending on the plumbing details around the ABS modulator, the bleeding order is based on which circuit will push air bubbles into which other circuit.

I'm pretty sure the only consequence of doing the wrong order, is you might have to go around more than once to get all the air bubbles worked out.

 

Finally getting around to changing the tranny fluid. I'm a bit over 30K at the moment. I also now think that changing the fluid every 30K is probably a good idea, as it feels, at least to me, that the tranny is not shifting as seamlessly as before. It just seems that the shifting is a tad bit more noticeable. We'll see what happens after the fluid change. I also just changed the breather element and cabin filter. The breather element was a little tough to change, but I got it done.

 

FINALLY got around to changing the transmission oil. VERY, VERY simple to do and saved me a bit o' cash.





I only did 9 qts, so that was 2 drain and fills (6 qts) and 1 fill in order to top off the tranny (3 qts).

 

Is it imperative to use HONDA BRAKE FLUID? Or can other fluid be purchased that is just as good or better?

The reason I am asking, is that I may opt to not do the brake fluid change myself and may have Big Brand Tire do it instead. They stated that they use Wagner brake fluid which exceeds Honda's specs for brake fluid, which they also use in all the BMW's and other high end cars that come into the shop. The guy who I talked to was super courteous and appeared knowledgeable. However, if you guys think this is crap, then maybe I'll just do the brake fluid change myself.

By the way, they're charging $42.00 do a full replacement of the brake fluid.

ETA: Okay, I just re-read the beginning of my own post and see that some have used a different brake fluid. So, now the question is wheter Wagner is a good product?

 

What do you guys think about what this guy is saying about DIY brake fluid replacement?


What is the difference between flushing and bleeding? Flushing is just that, flushing the old dirty fluid out of the system and replacing it with new clean fluid. Bleeding usually consists of removing just enough brake fluid to get out the air pockets that have become trapped in the system, and usually does not focus on the time consuming process of removing the dirt and old fluid from the system.
One side note learned by experience. If you are interested in doing a brake fluid flush on your own vehicle, be warned of the potential dangers. Foremost, follow the brake bleeding procedures outlined in the repair manual you should be using. Stepping on the brake pedal with the brake lines cracked open can cause the dirt and debris to be pushed into the body of the master cylinder, thus causing damage to internal parts and seals of the master cylinder and the anti-lock brake components. Stepping on the brake pedal as someone under the vehicle opens each brake line at the wheel used to be the way you bled brakes, but not anymore.Gravity bleeding does take a little longer to perform and can require a lot of new brake fluid to push out the old dirty fluid, but the risk of doing internal damage to the anti-lock system is greatly reduced. They also make vacuum assisted brake bleeding and flushing equipment to help speed up the process.

I got this info from here: http://www.trustmymechanic.com/brake_fluid_change.htm