Rep Power: 257

Okay guys, I can't get a straight answer out of anyone so I thought id try and ask here. Driving strategies set aside (cuz I know someone was gonna say it), what is the best way to maintain an auto transmission in terms of routine maintenance?? I mean if you just drain and fill you only drain like 25% of the old fluid leaving 75% of the old fluid still in there. And then there's the tranny flush, and im pretty sure you're not suppose to do this every time its time to service...plus the thought of forcing things to move in directions they werent intended for just isnt settling with me either...

It only freaks me out because I feel I need a flush now because I bought the car back in August 2005. It had 19k on it. The first time I did anything to the transmission was on January 2007. Thats when the car had about 60k on it and thats when I took it to Honda for its first tranny drain and refill....so thats why I feel a bit uneasy about everything...

 
Rep Power: 0

its a Honda..
not a Ford aka find on road dead..
soo dont worry about it too much...if u feel like you should get it done then do it soo you can relax and not be uneasy of little things about it..

 
Rep Power: 257

^^its funny you say that because my friend who was a mechanic for the local Ford place (and who has owned ford's all his life) was the one that freaked out who in turn made me freak out when i told him about when i got my tranny serviced...

 
Rep Power: 0

follow up with the maintanence shown in the owners manual. their are people here who say to drain and refill every 30k or so which sounds reasonable. im at 43k and will do a drain/refill this week. no auto problems here mate.
so take a chill pill, relax, and just follow the manuals advice

 
Rep Power: 322

I think you got your numbers mixed up. You probably drain out about 75% and leave about 25% when you drain your tranny. Honestly i think its a bit less then 25%. Just let it sit there for awhile and most of it will drain out. The metal bolt for the auto tranny is magnetic so it can collect all the metal shards that from your tranny from the break in period. The metal shards is why you need to drain your tranny.

I changed my tranny fluid at 30k and it was black. I changed it again at 18k and it was still red. I would recommend changing the tranny fluid about every 25k-30k depending on the way you drive. Obviously if you drive more agressively you should change it more often. You don't need to do a tranny flush until you hit about 100k on the engine.

I hit 70k on my 04 auto with no problems. I probably only changed the fluid about three times in the life of the car. Long as you don't beat on the auto trannies they'll last a long time especially the 04-05 trannies. I believe the 04-05 honda strengthen one of the parts in the auto trannies that use to cause the 01-02 trannies to fail often.

 
Rep Power: 309

Auto transmission = 2.9 qt drain and refill / 6.2 qt total (7th gen Civics)

I'm doing mine every 25k (drain and re-fill)

I think the most important thing is to use ONLY OEM fluid, and no additives either.

 
Rep Power: 813

i recommend changing fluid every time you do an engine oil change, around 5-6k miles if possible. no later than every 10k. also the trans was designed with a weak clutch, so no amount of maintenance will help you then (i think this is mainly for 01-02 civics, not so much newer ones). You can also install a trans fluid cooler and drop in an oil filter from the HX CVT civic, since our cars never got one for some reason.

 
Rep Power: 257

Yea, when I took my car to Honda for the tranny drain n refill, they said there was no filter in there. I thought that was rather odd. I'd follow the owners manual....if the car came with one, lol. But yea, I plan on getting an oil cooler and filter for my tranny this month actually. I researched some of the info on it for the past couple weeks now. I just cant decide if I should get the one with or without the included fan...and also if I do go with the oil cooler w/fan, how much clearance I would get..

Temjin, im almost positive that you can only drain 25% at any given time.

 
Rep Power: 327

in 90K miles, ive only changed mine twice. no probs.

 
Rep Power: 813

its true, you can not even get 1/2 of the fluid out just draining it. its something like only 3 qt out of a total of 9qt+ that comes out. this is why doing it more often is better. flushing, honda doesnt recommend, also only use the honda atf.

 
Rep Power: 0

I dont think so. my haynes manual says the 2002-2004 trany (automatic) only holds 2.9 quarts. hell the engine only holds 3.6 quarts. I will be changing mine with royal purple here pretty soon. check out this article:

http://www.procivic.com/pages-upgrading_faq/index.html

 
Rep Power: 813

oh i do think so. just because 3 qt comes out does not mean that it is everything. what about cooler lines, torque converter housing? go ask any mechanic and they will tell you. have fun with that, anything other than honda atf will break the transmission over time. just wait and see.

 
Rep Power: 0

yes but only 3 for a drain and fill. I would be a first time user for royal purple, do you really think its a no go to use other fluids?

 
Rep Power: 813

i know someone who used mobil1 atf and 10k miles later the trans was blown. 3qt for a drain and refill, but if you are flushing the system then 9qt or more. flushing is bad too and honda recommends against it.

 
Rep Power: 327

Honda and any of my friends with built Honda's, they always use Honda oem ATF or MTF. i only feel better using them. the Honda is best. same as using a Honda oil filter. i only use them as well. as for an oil cooler or tranny cooler, i havent felt like i should use them. the reason doesnt seem needed. but should i get it? i mena if so ill purchase. but i only get what is needed for my daily driving antics.

 
Rep Power: 0

I'll share with you how I've maintained my auto transmission on my 03 Ex Coupe that I bought new.

30k Drain and Refill 1x
60k Drain and Refill 3x
90K Drain and Refill 3x
120k Drain and Refill 1x (wanted to do 3x, but service writer kept trying to sell me the flush service. I wonder if the flush is faster to complete than 3x drain/refill - faster job turnover for dealer - can service more cars - more profits? Hmm. Anyhow, I got annoyed and went with the basic. I haven't been back to this dealership since.)
130k Drain and Refill 1x
Currently at 141k and debating whether I should do another.

All services were performed by the dealer. I was more abusive to my auto tranny as the car got older. Around 110k, I noticed a deterioation in shift qualitiy. Sure enough, the technician doing my 120k service found that the fluid was black and there were metal scraps in the magnetic drain plug. My tranny now shifts as good as new.

If I wasn't so abusive to my automatic transmission, I would feel comfortable following the manual's recommendation. Otherwise, my auto is surprisingly taking the abuse well and I sense a long life expetency from my powertrain.

 
Rep Power: 813

youre lucky, but alot of 01-02 civic auto has defective clutches. i barely have 55k miles and mine starting to slip even tho i baby it. trans cooler is a good idea for these, the hx cvt comes stock with one so why not the lx/ex? also there needs to be a filter because there isnt one stock. again, hx civic comes with one of those too. in fact im using the hx filter on my car.

 
Rep Power: 0

how do you get the drain plug out??? I know its square shaped, how does it come out? where can i get the tool?

 
Rep Power: 813

its just a socket wrench without any sockets attached

 
Rep Power: 0

oh, ok. I tried that and it did not fit. will try again tomorrow after I clean the plug. thanks.

 
Rep Power: 813

you kinda need to jiggle it, and make sure its the right size socket, and the right bolt. only one of em has that pattern.

 
Rep Power: 476

3/8th inch ratchet

 
Rep Power: 0

I am about to change the ATF from my girlfriend's 01 EX. Any ideas where I should get the Honda ATF-Z1? Is it a bad idea to just get it from the dealer? ALSO, should I only buy 3 quarts, or should I drain it, fill it, and then drain it again like some cars recommend?

 
Rep Power: 813

get 4 qts in case you spill some. also dont blindly pour it in, you shouldnt overfill it. and the correct way to check the level is with the car warmed up, then you check the dipstick. dealer is the only place to get fluid as far as i know. you could change it again later in a couple months if you want. see how the fluid looks. if its still dark instead of bright red then yea you should do a second drain and refill.

 
Rep Power: 247

I just drained and filled mine earlier today fluid was real dark. I freakin screwed up though, when i took the bolt off the washer fell into the drain pan and I didnt wanna go dig for it in the hot fluid. I forgot to fish it out and put it back on so hopefully it doesnt leak.

 
Rep Power: 0

I have an 05 LX with a lil over 19k I changed my auto trans fluid at 15k. Just because I bought my Civic brand new, when I told the dealer almost advised against it because it was barely broke in but I said "well it does still have metal shavings floating around and I don't want to tear up my trans." Yet, I am an auto tech so my Civic gets it's LOF every 3 months/3k whether it needs or not (Mobil-1 5w/30 w/honda filter) and trans service every 15k.

 
Rep Power: 813

yea i did the same, changed at 18k and found all sorts of metal inside and the fluid was BLACK. i change it every 10k miles or every year for the most part, i know the trans is dying tho so its just stretching out the time. it slips but in the summer once it warms up theres no problem. i change the filter with every fluid change, prolly helps a little too.

 
Rep Power: 249

i drive my auto like its a stick first gear then down to d2 until im ready to get to third then back to drive, i know its bad for it but ive done it since august now and it feels exactly the same. Plus its better than it shifting to second when you dont want it to yet or to third.

 
Rep Power: 813

um you know our cars dont have a "1" right? the 2 keeps the car just in second gear even from a stop, d3 uses gears 1,2,3 and d4 uses 1,2,3,4. there is no possible way to prevent it from shifting out of 1st gear.

 
Rep Power: 0

Let me get this right, I have an '04, and ther is no filter? So just drain, drop the pan clean up the pan, replace pan and fill with OEM?
Thanks
Jim