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I have a 2001 Civic EX 5 speed automatic with 130K miles on it. When I first start driving the car in the morning the shift from 2nd to 3rd gear lags a bit and the rpm's jump slightly ( a slight rev really) as it gets into 3rd gear. After the car warms up it doesn't really happen again.

I "changed" the trans fluid about 20K ago ( drained what I could and replaced). Would you guys recommend a complete trans flush and where is a good place to get it done? How much should it cost? I live in San Francisco if anybody has any local recommendations.

 
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first congrats on making it past 100k with the auto. its a very rare feat. onto your gear slipping issue, its very common for 01-05 civic autos and is caused by a defective secondary clutch carrier. the friction material wears out faster and causes the slip between 2-3 shift. mine has been doing it when cold since the car had 50k miles. i made it to 100k and finally decided something had to be done. for the past month i've been using valvoline maxlife atf (not the version that has stop leak additives, just the regular atf) and the slipping when cold is greatly improved. i did 4x drain and fills to remove most of the honda fluid. however for you, i would not recommend changing that much fluid at once in an older trans. i did it because i usually do a drain and fill every year so i know the fluid is pretty clean already. you prolly want to start by diluting the fluid a bit over time so its not a shock to the trans. if the old fluid is dark and has debris, new fluid could make the slipping worse by loosening old deposits in the trans and clogging the internal filter. but i do recommend switching to maxlife atf (the only one that says it can be used in place of honda Z1 fluid). after switching, i noticed the shifts were actually smoother and there was very little if any slipping when cold. almost feels like when the car was brand new. i have not driven in the winter yet but on cold mornings i would still get slipping with the honda fluid until it warmed up. with the maxlife, i hardly ever get slip and it shifts way faster and smoother.

oh also, our autos are only 4 speed.

 
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Lol...... true the moniker, the "super moderator" knows my car better than I do.

So you don't recommend a professional trans flush at a service station? Just the inefficient "drain and replace" method several times? Thanks for your help.

 
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Disregard that......I get your point about not shocking the trans. Thanks again.

 
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a drain and fill isnt that bad. the total capacity is 6 qts, and when you do a drain and fill you are changing 3 qts of it or about 1/2 the total fluid.