I just brought home a 97 wagon with 165k on it.

The transmission fluid looks old. I have used dexron in my 94 for ever and no problems.

The Haynes manual says different for the 97. It says Honda fluid, whereas for 94 thru 96 it says dexron or Honda.

What is the difference.

I really don't want to spend the extra Honda charges for their fluid to do it three times to flush it out, if not necessary.

 

The 96 and 97 have the same transmission, so Dextron II, as the 96 manual shows, should be fine. Search the for Dextron, because I am sure this has been covered before.

Maybe Honda wanted people to only buy their ATF starting in 97?

 

Well it seems that the general consensus here is Honda Z-1
Quite a few report that using anything but Z-1 leads to a trans failing.
I recently blew a trans cooler line on my 97.
I went to the local Parts Store and bought Dextron and some additive that is sussposed to make it Z-1 comparable.
I hope it does not cause a problem.