I keep my cars for a LONG time, usually 200K+, "my" 04 impala has 298K with no problems. The one thing I try to avoid is mixing different brand fluids, pick the brand you like or trust and stick with it. For my wifes 13 accord 2.4 it's mobil 1 oil, since they say Honda approved [ the 04 has lived on Castrol ] and I read that mobil makes "Honda" the rest of the fluids will be Honda.

 

Hmmm, not a good sign (restating the obvious). Sounds like it's time for a fluid replacement exercise.

 

Well, I've seen quite a few posts of people who drain/fill their ATF with Honda, and dilute away the off-brand stuff. Many times they find their poor shifting gets better. So using non-Honda stuff doesn't have to cause permanent problems.

 

Would you...
A) Prestone Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant: Motor Oil, Transmission Fluid & Car Lubricant : Walmart.com
B) Prestone Extended Life Prediluted Antifreeze/Coolant Premix: Motor Oil, Transmission Fluid & Car Lubricant : Walmart.com

And how many gallons?

 

I'd use the first one (not "pre-mixed").

The only reason is that I prefer to rinse the system out and I know that every last drop cannot be drained out. So I use 1/2 of the volume shown in the specifications from the owner's manual. I don't know what that is, but I bet it's a little less than 8 quarts. So you'll use a little less than 4 quarts of the non-premixed stuff.

 

When you dilute down, use distilled water, rather than tap or spring water; distilled is $1/gal at any grocery store.

 

Ok, here are my plans as follows:

PS drain and refill with Prestone Honda PS Fluid
Radiator drain and refill with Prestone Coolant
Transmission (using the honda procedure) drain/drive/drain/etc with Valvoline MaxLife ATF

The reason I'm choosing MaxLife over Z1 is:
1)Supporting information from Valvoline about their MaxLife brand transmission fluid ( I read the info from Castrol Import and it didn't really support its own product )
2)The cost of MaxLife vs Honda ATF as well as the ease of getting it locally
3)Every shop I've talked to locally (not dealership) puts another brand other than Honda in accords
4)Evidence found in the trunk, not one name brand fluid in the trunk, which leads me to believe the previous owner never used Honda brand fluids

Car has 267k miles on it. V6 with automatic. I plan on being around and having this car a long time... So if my transmission goes, I'll be sure to let everyone know.

Another reason I'm going this route with the transmission... For some reason, Honda transmissions are SO cheap and can be found everywhere around here...
Which I could have said the same for my ford explorer with that rare 2wd 4 speed trans lol

ADDED: When I change out all my fluids, I will continue to use the same exact fluids with every service.

 

Got it! Will do
Thanks for the tip

 

I keep hearing that "modern" antifreeze, especially the hybrid-OAT type, is more tolerant of the minerals in normal tap water. But I still use distilled water, just because I'm not convinced it's good to have other random collections of minerals in there.

 

Humm, just me but a 5th gen V6 auto trans is easy to find? Yes the trans for the 4 cyl you can trip over them since there are so many and so many choices (any 90 thru 97 4 cyl will "fit"). The 5th gen v6 auto's were only around for ~2 years.

Carquest carries Honda DW-1 trans fluid (replaces Z-1) for $7.99 a quart all day long.

Again, these are my opinions and I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do.