Rep Power: 0

I just brought my car to Cush Honda here in San Diego for a transmission fluid change for $50. They did it awfully fast, in like 30-40 minutes. Before I got it done it was kinda harder for me to get into gear, especially 1st gear from neutral. All of the other gears you would have to push a little harder to get in. I thought my changing tranny fluid it would eliminate this, but I get my car back and it doesn't seem too different. The only thing I notice is that my clutch engages more smoothly and not so jumpy. I don't know if that has anything to do with the transmission fluid, but yeah. Help me out guys.

 
Rep Power: 813

I have an auto and changing the fluid every 15k miles is a must. I noticed a major improvement in the way it shifts. Don't know about manual. Just check to see that the fluid is red and smooth like new oil (cause that's what it is basically). Takes me about 15 mins to do mine in the apartment parking lot. Just loosen the bolt, drain, and pour new fluid in after tightening the bolt. I didn't even have to jack the car up.

 
Rep Power: 0

gearbox, you might want to consider having a shop with the proper equipment do it next time. One of those machines that sucks the old fluid out, including the stuff you can't get by draining (in the torque converter). Although you change it so frequently it's probably less of an issue for you.

I just changed my manual tranny fluid today - I put in Redline MTL. Within the first half mile or so of driving I thought it was acting funny, but as I drove more everything seemed to return to normal. I haven't noticed any differences, but i've also only gone about 10 miles. Chances are that changing the fluid won't fix any rough shifting problems - there is probably something wrong internally.

 
Rep Power: 0

I brought it to Honda b/c I needed that machine to flush out my fluid and put new fluid in. I mean the shifting is not THAT big of a problem, its just that sometimes I find it harder to put into first gear when I'm slowing down to say, 5mph, but that may be normal. It may just all be in my head. And once I figure out which one the transmission oil reservoir is, I'll check it to make sure the fluid isn't black. Thanks guys.

 
Rep Power: 813

Just fyi. Most dealers do not have that machine to flush it. I asked what mine would do and they said just drain and refill. That's all they do for coolant as well. The machine sucking out fluid actually might damage the tranny even more.

 
Rep Power: 283

I didn't notice a difference either when I changed my MTF (at 15k). Only ATF is died red, MTF looks like normal 5-30 oil. If you're draining ATF, you should do it once, drive around for a few minutes, and drain again to get most of the fluid out. Those pressure machines are crap, why the hell would you want to pressurize ALL the lubricant out of there? Oh thats right, to make more money. Any good mechanic knows all this.

 
Rep Power: 321

How will this machine damage the transmission? I was thinking of taking it to one of those places.

Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 304

Put a whole tube of Moly assembly lube into the gearbox. Moly is a superlubricant, and it bonds with the metal parts on a molecular level. I had my tranny fluid changed as well because shifting was notchy. It didn't do much either. The Moly is an old remedy I have always used in my manual transmissions. It takes a few miles for it to do it's thing, but the shifts have gotten much smoother. Works everytime. My old honda shifted like greased snot after I used Moly. It was scratching gears before.
Moly grease won't harm a thing, so it's safe to try it. You'll need a toothpaste size tube. Just squeeze the whole thing into the fill/check hole, and start driving. Figure about 100 miles before it gets real smooth. Note: Do NOT do this in an automatic!!
BTW, we did this to my brothers new Accord 6speed, and he said it also shifts much smoother.

Well, my 2 cents. Do with it what you will.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yeah, when I had the tranny fluid changed on my old oldsmobile at 155,000 miles, it made a HUGE difference. I was: The shifts were more smooth and it felt like the car had more pep. But I've not done it with my civic MT yet.