Civicnoobie

Especially after a long drive? I drove a 30 minute trip and it was a lot of uphills, a couple i went up to 4500rpm doing about 80km/h (which is like 55m). I noticed my ATF when i got to the place smelt a bit burnt. I just changed the ATF not even a month ago and the levels are right on the max line and its cherry red. I googled it, and apparently some people say its normal for Honda ATF to smell burnt?

MelJ

I know MTF smells kinda funky fresh outta the bottle. If the color is still good, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Then again, I don't drive an automatic and haven't really dealt with slushies too much. My Corolla's tranny fluid smells kinda bad, but it hasn't been changed in ages.

Civicnoobie

What I dont get is why it smelts burnt when its only 1 month old fluid not even that. I cant remember if it smelt burnt the day i put it in.

7genmarathon

iTrader: (1)

Its gonna smell burnt. That means its doing its job. You outta see how those old 454 engines use oil. You can change you motor oil on a tuesday and it will be black on saturday. wierd. But if it aint broke don't fix it.

Civicnoobie

So ATF smelling burnt is normal on these civics? You know im talking about ATF and not engine oil right? Today i had my hood open and my buddys brother stopped by and saw me looking at my ATF. He came over, smelt it, said "its burnt, need change" I told him i just did it less than a month ago but he kept saying burn = automatically bad.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

when i drained the trans of the miata, it smelled like SH*#@

MelJ

I love how on the Honda MTF bottle it says "Don't sniff the fluid"

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

don't even ask me how long it took to take the smeel outta my shirt... and hair...

richs1000

this might sound weird but i love the smell of fresh atf fluid.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

atf should not be smelled at all, how could it inside the trans? if you are getting atf smell after driving, its prolly due to spilling some on the support beam near the drain bolt. i did the same thing and have been getting a strong atf smell (maxlife has a horrible smell) after every drive for a week now. i think some fluid got inside the beam and worked its way back. the whole thing is sweaty from fluid stuck on it.

MelJ

Lol. Those guys who first changed my axles spilled a TON of MTF in my engine bay. I think GB might be right though. I didn't even think of that. Mine smelled for weeks.

Civicnoobie

But im talking about the burnt smell i get from taking the dipstick out and smelling the end of it. Im pretty sure it smelt burnt but like i said i dont know forsire what a burnt smell smells like. How can it smelt like that when my atf is very red. I just put this in less than a month ago. Woukd you do another drain and fill?

I wonder if adding the cooler and filter have anythig to d with it. I wasnt getting this smell 2 weeks ago.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

prolly normal smells. burnt atf is so bad, you would hardly be able to inhale it. and the fluid would be black. i think youre okay. a little bit of burnt is normal since the clutches lose friction material all the time.

Civicnoobie

Thats what i thought cause on my previous civic it smelt the same too and both cars shift fine. To even smell my ATF you literally have to stick the end of the stick right up to your nostril to smell it. I wiped some on my hand and it smells even less.

What im surprised is how picky the ATF level is, it absolutely has to be right on the max line. I once had it about 1/3 between the min and max line and it slipped once from 2nd to 3rd. Its NEVER done that so i immediately dropped some more ATF in, bring it up to the max line and its fixed. Is that normal? Trans will slip when the ATF is not on the max line?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah these trans like to be filled up. ive driven on low fluid before like min and 1/4 of the way up with bad shifting. just keep it at max.