If you are comfortable using the Honda ATF then go for it. I would find out how much Honda retails it for. The price difference should be very small from that of regular ATF.

Chances are you may get it for less than what the mechanic will sell you the ATF for. There is nothing stopping you from supplying your own Honda ATF and paying him a few dollars for the labour. Just make sure you have enough fluid to do the job.

Flushing transmissions is usually a bad idea. There is the potential to dislodge junk in there and create a huge mess. In my Avalon I just did the drain and fill with a Dextron III ATF.

It never hurts to ask the mechanic if the cylinder head was removed. I doubt it as he would have charged you for a head gasket.

 

Wouldn't the shift solenoid going bad cause the shifts to become later. I think the problem is trying to factor in something that happened during the timing belt and tune up job. Sometimes things just happen while the car is in for repair. I had a water pump start shooting out anti freeze between getting the keys from the customer and driving it into the shop. I had a Mustang in park while I was under the hood adjusting the carb go in reverse and drive through the shop door. We had a Saab motor explode on the test drive to determine the price for trade in while the customer was waiting. We had to purchase the car.

 

Got my car back after the transmission flush and yes they did flush it...not fill, drain and refill. STILL having the same problem. I talked to the actual guy that did the work and he told me I have been doing this since I was 16 and I am now 47, and I know what I am doing. I said to him that my car NEVER had a problem with shifting changes or the rpms running too high EVER until I brought it in for the timing belt change.

I also asked him if he checked the downshift cable and he said yes. I also asked him about the cylinder head and if he had removed it and he looked at me like I was crazy and why would he do that??

The end result was that he told me if I can find someone that says what he did was done incorrectly or whatever then they can't do anything about it but they do stand behind all their work and will fix it if they are at fault. How can they FIX it if they don't know what is wrong? They are still insisting that it is the transmission.

So this is where I am at. If anyone has anymore suggestions on how I should handle this, I would certainly appreciate it.

Thank you to everyone that replied

 

I don’t know automatic transmission but from reading other post on here about late shifts they usually mention the shift solenoid. Hopefully someone with more knowledge on automatics will post. I do know it is time to consider the problem and disregard when it started for now. Sometimes a car sitting for a few days when it was used to being driven everyday is all it takes.

 

there is no need to do anything with the tranny when doing a t-belt or tune up.........( they are on opposite ends ),,,, It could just be a coincidence,,,,,,,just for the heck of it,,,,,,,,,,remove both upper solenoids and see if there is any debris on the screens,, also any tranny codes ??