CivicVoz

I currently have almost 100,000miles on my 02 Civic. I have changed the transmission fluid every 30,000miles using the drain and fill method. I have noticed in cold weather my transmission slips from 2-3, however, once warmed up the slip is gone. I have only used OEM Honda fluid.

A few members on the board have recommended changing the stock transmission fluid to Valvoline MaxLife.

Method for changing the fluid;

Step 1 - Drain/3 Quarts
Step 2 - Fill/3 Quarts
Step 3 - Drive a couple miles
*Repeat 3-4 times
_____________________________________________

Has anybody tried flushing the transmission fluid through the transmission cooler line?

Thanks for the input!

CivicVoz

Drain -> Fill -> Drive -> Repeat

or

Flush thru the Tranny Cooler line?

Any recommendations?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yup you got it. 4 drain and fills is ideal to replace most of the oem fluid with maxlife. unfortunately the maxlife will not fix the slip (mechanical wear defect), but maxlife is a far better fluid and will warm up faster (lower viscosity), last longer, and shift smoother without causing issues internally. it is a semi syn fluid and the only one rated for use in these honda autos. im going on almost a year with maxlife and would never switch. my 2002 started slipping from 2-3 shift at 50k miles and i currently have 103k on it. i only wish i wouldve switched sooner instead of using oem for most of those miles. when doing drain and fills, be sure to drive the car at least 30 mins thru all the gears to fully mix the fluid. then let the car cool for a few hours and drain/fill again. do not torque the drain plug too tight, just enough to keep it from leaking. for the final torque after youre done, wait until the car is completely cool and use a new crush washer. its also easier to measure how much fluid comes out with a 5 gallon large oil jug, so you know exactly how much to put in. a different amount comes out each time. make sure you use the valvoline dex/merc atf WITHOUT the stop leak additive.

and dont worry about the slip for now, you will prolly still get some more life out of it before it dies and needs to be rebuilt.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

you are so bi polar with that maxlife stuff gear haha

CivicVoz

Thanks Gearbox for the info!

The transmission shifts so much smoother than it did with the OEM fluid. I used to have a slight slip between 2nd and 3rd before the car warmed up, but since the fluid change the slip is gone. It may be a bit premature to say the slip is gone completely, but I will update this post with the long term results. This is my first 3 drain transmission flush, which is the method I should have done when I bought the car. In the past, I have done the basic one drain/fill with OEM fluid every 35,000miles.

The transmission magnet did a decent job in picking up fine particles and shavings. I wiped it clean after the first flush and it didn't pick up anything after that. The transmission fluid was a slightly darker red then the new Maxlife fluid, but overall it was fairly clean.

For those that are interested, here are the steps I did..

1. 10min city drive, drained 3.5quarts of fluid, cleaned transmission magnet, refilled with 3.0quarts

2. 10min mostly city/highway drive, drained 2.9quarts of fluid, transmission magnet was clean, refilled with 3.0quarts

3. 20min drive, city/mostly highway, couple of wide open throttle runs, higher rpms, drained 3.4quarts of fluid, transmission bolt was clean, refilled with 3.0quarts

Drove around for 5mins and checked the fluid while the car was running and the fluid level was good. My last transmission fluid change was at the dealership and it looks like may have they added to much fluid.

*Final Flush - I'm going to do a final drain/fill after the 1000-1500mile mark.

Big thanks to Gearbox for recommending Valvoline MaxLife!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

sounds good. glad it worked out for you. after the final drain and fill, you prolly should do yearly (or every 10k miles) single drain and fills to keep it fresh. im sure the maxlife will have no problems going 30k, but its more for peace of mind. most people either do single drain and fills yearly or 3 drain and fills at 30k. its the same amount of fluid, but yearly means you will always have some new fluid going in.

in very cold weather, you will notice the 2-3 gear slip again before the fluid warms up. the reason maxlife seems to "fix" the slip is due to how much thinner it is so it can start moving thru the trans faster and build the proper hydraulic pressures.