Honda Dummy Afraid to Change Trans Oil Not Knowing what PO Used.
 

Hello All, Never Owned a Honda Before. Was Going thru PO's prior Work Orders. It would appear as Though She used various shops, and they Used Various Fluids. Both Crankcase Oil and Tranny Oil.

Don't know what to do! Little afraid to switch to Honda Fluids, if Generic Junk has been used in the Past.

The Tranny Fluid Spooks me the Most. I Bot the rig 2 weeks ago. Really want to refresh almost everything not knowing was has been done and how long ago.

231 K mileage on the Honda.

Thanks in advance,

Ron

If it was me, I would do three drain and fills using Honda fluid and call it a day. Honda trans fluid can be found at the dealer, online or at carquest auto parts.

Drive a bit between each drain and fill.

What year is it? And I would use only honda fluids in tranny and powerstearing. I know some accords older then 95ish it says in the maintanance manual you can you dex3 but I definitely would stay with honda fluids.

I also have a 97 Accord, with an AT and change the fluid (3 qts) once a year. I use Honda ATF DW-1, which I think is now synthetic and replaced to old Honda fluid a few years ago. It's about 8 bucks a quart from the dealer, so for 25 buck a year it is a good preventive measure. If you have a MT, I think it is a different fluid though.

As Poorman said, 3 changes with some miles in between each change might be best. The parts guy at the dealership also said the mechanics do 3 flush and fills for a total of 9 quarts for a complete change out.

You might be better off just buying a case off Ebay, which might be cheaper. You would have enough for the initial 9 quart flush, and 3 quarts to use at a later date.

Good luck!

This whole discussion is just for automatic transmission Hondas. Manual is very different.

You can only drain about 1/3 of the total fluid because the torque converter doesn't drain. So that's the reason for doing 3x drain & fill to dilute away the old fluid. Hondas don't like being "power-flushed".

After you do that once, I think it's best to just do a drain/fill at some interval where it doesn't ever get so dirty that you have to do the repeats. Probably that's 30k miles or something???

You mentioned crankcase oil (engine-oil) in the first post. Don't sweat that, good engine oil can be bought anywhere.

Power-steering fluid is special. There are brands that specifically say "for Honda/Acura" and that's OK. Anything that says "for all makes" is not good. PS fluid from the dealer isn't stupidly expensive anyway.

Back to the transmission....
Honda wants you to check the auto-trans dipstick with the engine all warmed up & shut down. That's different from a lot of other car makes where you check the auto-trans dipstick with the engine idling in PARK.

I have a '97 auto. When purchased the seller mechanic (on my insistence) did
drain and fill X2 using, gasp, "Global" AT fluid from Oreilly's Auto Parts.

I really dislike Oreilly for everything, but got to admit the tranny fluid has been OK,
now 55,000 later. My subsequent drain and fills, annually, have also been
with this "Global" stuff. But it is working for my '97, despite my prejudices.

Best.

Fluid Changes
 

Thank you all for the advice and experience shared.
Sticking with Honda tranny fluid, PS, Coolant, and Brake.
Still trying to chose a good Crank case oil and filter.

AGAIN Thanks All!!!!:)

Ron

OK, I'll start a flame war here...
I've used Castrol GTX & Purolator Pure-One filters in the Hondas for a long long time. In the days before oil-life monitors (2006) I use to go 2/3 or so of the interval from the owners manual. Occasional used-oil analysis showed good results.

Flame on, I've heard it all! Actually, as long as you don't suspect the store from counterfeiting the API symbol (API-SM or something), then it's hard to buy a horrible oil.

No flame here. I just want to add that checking the oil LEVEL is just as, if not more important than chaning it.

And I have to admit, I use the "house brand" engine oil when I can get it in the proper weight for the car it is going in - right now that means the Saab is the only one getting a "name brand oil". Of course I have access to the the spec's of "said house brand oil" :)

EDIT: For the trans, the signature line of the OP lead me to the fact the trans is an auto.

I typically use the synthetic Castrol GTX and Pure One Purolator oil filter. I have used the bosch filters too. I have Royal Purple in the TSX right now. I found that I'd lose Mobile 1 in my TSX and assume some burned. I don't have nearly as much loss with Castrol, verdict is out with the royal purple.

The most important thing is to check the fluid level and change your fluid/filter at the recommended intervals. Everyone has their opinions on different brands of oil.