Hi All
I have purchased a 2004 Honda Accord EXL (2.4L 4 cylinder VTEC) and absolutely love it! The carhad a partial trans fluid flush at around 100,000kms (from the previous owner) and is soon due for another according to the dealer, it has 143,000 kms on it now. The service department at this dealer has done the maintenance on this car for a while now, has all the maintenance records, and they told me theymight even do a trans fluid flush if they felt it was required.

The transmission seems 100% to me, the fluid does not smell burnt andhas a light pink color. I am not happy at the thought of a trans flush unless it is absolutely required and will make sure the service department knows this and I will also make sure to be there to make insure they don't do an unnecessary flush.

I have no reason to doubtthe dealer really but am terrified at what a flush could do to my seemingly happy little tranny. Am I overly concerned about the flush thing or is the 04 auto tranny still not so reliable and I should give the dealer complete say in this matter?

Thanks
Steve

 

Hey Steve,

Honda automatic transmissions, in design, are nothing like any other car manufacturers automatic transmission on the road today.

The Honda transmissionunits do not have a transmission pan and do not have a serviceable filter...Unless one has been installed in-line inone of the cooler lines coming from the radiator. Since it doesn't have a serviceable filter, it is very important to keep the ATF fresh.

There is absolutely nothing in the transmission fluid, that if drained out withold fluid,will cause a operational failure....nothing.

When you hear stories of other owners draining or servicingtheir transmission and then a problem arises, it was most likelyalready going to occur,or they did something wrong during the servicing. Many of the horror stories such as "I flushed it on Tuesday and it went out on Thursday" did not provide what happened the day before on Monday, when the transmission started flaring between upshifts, which is why they serviced it on Tuesday.

Anyway, as I stated earlier, there is no serviceable filter and no pan to remove. All you do is drain it, clean off the drain plug magnet and fill it with Genuine Honda fluid....It is that simple.

Always use Genuine Honda fluid and change the fluid every 12 months. It will hold just under 3 quartswhen performinga simple drain and fill.

Finally, the 2004 Accord transmission has been known to fail prematurely(when (comparingto pastHonda quality). There is nothing to say it will go 60,000 miles or 300,000 miles. Honda transmissions got really sloppy when they went to a 5 speed automatic. Just keepchanging the fluidonce a year and use the Genuine Honda fluid. That is really all you can do.

Ed Brian
Accurate Automotive
www.accuratecars.com


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Ok, so doing the fluid change is very important, I expected that, and that should be all I need to expect to do at this point, that's what I was hoping.

I didn't know about the transmission being a 5 speed automatic, is that all the 04 Accords with the 2.4L 4 cylinder or is there a part number on the tranny that would identify the transmission?

Thanks
Steve

 

When I look at my shift selector, it is the traditional "in line" and not the "sport" style shift and I have a "D3" and a "D" positions, also, I am in Canada, does thissuggest I have the 4 speed auto trans?

Thanks

 

You're concerned because everyone here says "DON'T FLUSH HONDA TRANNYS", right?

There's a big difference between some jiffylube place using a powered flushing machine with solvents & non-Honda ATF; vs a dealer who disconnected a tranny cooler hose & let the tranny pump old fluid out & new fluid in using it's own pumps. If it was done at a dealer I'd ask the method of 'flushing'.

 

Hi Jim
You're right ... the third party flush machines are bad news in my books, as is my experience with many transmission service places.I am starting to feel there might not be so much of an issue to worry about, my 7th gen 4 speed tranny seems to have a good record, and mine works great now ... I *should* only be looking at a partial fluid change in my case.

Here's hoping!