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I'm no mechanic. I'm what you'd call a "learned idiot" - all I have to fall back on is my own experiences and little real schooling with fixing cars. So stay with me.

1996 Civic. Just over 185k as of this week. She's been *intermittently* shifting hard; can't figure out why some days she drives fine and other days she's shifting hard (no clunking or noise) or hesitating to shift up a gear (mostly first into second).

Brilliant guy that I am pulled out my old log of repairs and fluid checks this past weekend and see that, surprise!, I'm WAY overdue for a transmission fluid change. I even had a bottle of ATF-Z1 sitting in my trunk that I never used.

Anyway, I had surgery on my arm a month ago and I don't have full strength in it yet and I'd have to wait to get my pump jack back from my friend anyway. That said...

1.) is it true you shouldn't "dump and fill" a Honda transmission of its fluid if its far past its date? That seems weird to me.

2.) I'm having a hard time getting a good idea of the fluid level in my transmission (though its a dirty pink color still). Would adding a little extra be okay?

3.) I'm suspecting the previous driver (family, don't even get me started) went to a third party place (as she always does) and had something like VALVOLINE put in instead of Honda ATF. I have half a mind to dump it, fill it with new fluid, dump that, fill it again with Z1, etc and see if I can't get it running a little better. Am I risking the transmission it's self in doing this?

Input is welcomed. I realize this is totally a DUH situation but the most I've ever done is replace O2 sensors and brake pads / rotors.

 
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If it's a Automatic . I had this problem once in a Ek civic coupe i owned .. I just drained the old Fluid and Replaced the fluid but I substituted one of the quarts with a Bottle of "Lucas Transmission Treatment " and it Fixed all my problems and then even made it shift smoother and better then ever... its all pretty simple to do.. Hope this helps ...

 
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False IMO. No harm in normal fluid service at any time (drain and fill, approved fluid).
Don't use chemicals or a machine though.

Don't blame trans failure on new fluid after you do it either. The trans already has a problem, you said so yourself. And it has a ton of miles on it.

Too much fluid can do just as much damage as too little. Get it right.


IMO that would be fine.

Dexron and some others sometimes seem to make Hondas trannys shift a lot harder than Z1 or DW1. Different friction and cushion properties.
Sometimes we can guess accurately when one has non-Honda fluid in it, just from the way the car drives and shifts.

DW-1 is the current approved fluid available from Honda or Acura dealers. Z-1 is obsolete now.


JMHO. YMMV.



EDITS: There is no pan. Filter is internal.

 
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Correct.. not sure why i was thinking that at first..