Rep Power: 0

I have a 2004 civic lx and it has about 144k miles on it and from the service records i can see it last had a transmission fluid change at 27k miles back in 2010
I read that in older automatic transmissions you shouldn't change the fluid at this point
Do you guys think it's too late for me to change the fluid? It isn't a super dark black color it's a light reddish brown I think

 
Rep Power: 125

Not sure why it would be too late to change it. Maybe too late to flush? I don't see any issues with draining and refilling.

 
Rep Power: 118

Drain it, refill with Honda.
Drive fast enough for the car to shift into 4th, run in reverse for a few feet.
Wait for car to cool down some.
Repeat at least one more time, preferably 2 more times.

Consider doing same for coolant system, except I like to drain, refill with distilled water only, drive for a bit drain, refill with distilled water again, drive and drain then refill with 3 quarts of concentrated anti freeze and top off with more distilled water.

 
Rep Power: 118

There are thoughts that the “old contaminated” fluid can help failed clutches get a slight bit better grip. Certainly proof that “flush” machines can clog up stuff and “kill” the transmission

But it’s more likely the old fluid is causing excessive wear by limiting pressure the pump can exert on the clutch discs allowing them to slip and wear down faster resulting in dirtier fluid and further wear..

 
Rep Power: 518

Simple drain and fill using the correct fluid is always safe and is the procedure in theiir service information
Honda doesn't approve using extra chemicals or a flush machines.

 
Rep Power: 133

The new Honda DW-1 ATF is synthetic and should perform better than the old Z-1 that was probably used in 2010. Drain and fills only. Never flush.

 
Rep Power: 209

I agree. I believe most of the stories about failures after changing the fluid are because people wait to change the fluid until they are having problems and then when the transmission fails they associate it with changing the fluid.