when to change tranny fluid
 

i have an 05 lx sedan auto, it has about 22,000 miles on it since march of last year , so not even a year old and lots of driving time in it, when is the best time to change the transmission fluid? ive been reading a lot of threads and its almost makign me thing i wish i had it done, but im thinking at 25 get it done with the oil change?

Your car is an almost exact match to mine (purchase date and mileage) Glad to know someone other than me drives, A LOT !

My plans were for 30k but leaning towards 25k as well.

The oil change cycle for me is every 5k

I looked at my air filter and it looked very good still, May do it at 30k. The filters for the HVAC look like they need replaced soon.

yea like 2 trips to orgeon from san diego mind you, vegas, and arizona plus all my trips up to santa barbara it added up, but yea same oil change scheldue plus rotate everytime i should check the air filter, since i peronally havent done it and i doubt sears has. but usually at the 30k service they change the air filters for the car , so unless im doing that myself ill just wait for them to do it

Just make sure it is OEM fluid. IMO, I would never put anything else in a Honda automatic. 3 quarts required for drain and re-fill.

i got a 04 with 55k on it. At 30k when i did my first change, the fluid was pretty black with a lot of metal chips. I changed it again after 20k and the fluid was really red with almost no metal chips. I would say 25k would be your best bet.

Some people say you should change it every 15k-20k, but if you drive normal and not aggressive i say 25k is fine.

Good advice CraigW. If Honda says brandX oil is right for your (stock) engine, then just use that. Engineers are smart people (lol)

i change mine every 20K only use oem honda fluid

NOW. then every 10k. remember with a drain and refill you will have old fluid inside. its something like 9 quarts total and you only replace 3.

Damn...metal ships eh..I should do a complete change. Just went over 30k last weekend and never did it before..
So for a whole change=9 quarts and periodically like 10k 3 or so quarts?? How pricey is teh fluid?

fuild is teh pricey. usually $25 for 3 quarts.

Ouch, that's pricey..but I'd rather do the whole change since I've never done it before.

so is it easy to do?

so you never do a flush of the system? just take out 3 quats and add 3 back in, but why are you say now gearbox? i know ive ready that yours has started to have problems at like 50k , where is the best place to get it done at cause obviously i cant do it myself in an apartment?

i do mine in parking lot. just get an oil bin, jack up car, loosen bolt, let fluid drain, put bolt back, add fluid, drive car around through gears slowly, check fluid when car is warmed, add more til it goes to full.

thats not a bad idea and next weekend i will be at my parents so i will have a garage of some sort or at least a drive way, how long do you let it drain for if your only getting out 3 quarts? would it be a good time to get a magnectic drain bolt?

i have just a little over 20,000 and ive had the car for almost 2 years so i plan on doing a tranny fluid change at around 22,000 with an oil change, since i dont want to do it myself is the best place to get it done at the dealer? i really wouldnt want jiffy lube or a place like that doing it

Yeah the drain bolt is magnetic so it collects all the metal chips from the tranny. The first time i changed it the bolt was completely black with metal chips. Second time there were barely any. I would definately change the tranny fluid if this is your first time.

The bolt being magnetic is a great idea; would be good to have one like that for the engine's oil tank as well..
I may do mine at the end of this month..but I'm wondering if I should replace the whole fluid or simply like 3 quarts as some ppl said..:shrug: Will read the manual when I get home.

i think the manual said you only have to do a flush when you hit 100k. changing the fluid is good enough. The main purpose of the change is to get rid of the metal chips.

try B&M Trickshift Full Synthetic, $6 bucks a quart at the local speed shop. feels much smoother over all rpms, shifts quicker, and keeps the tranny cooler at full throttling. will provide for long transmission life.

i put lc20 in the tranny and it gives the same effect. btw the bolt is magnetic already...

well ya its just oil like in the engine.

why do you only drain 3 quarts at a time? but i guess this will be my next project

thats all that comes out the drain hole. the rest is in the torque converter and other places.

so the car is off when you drain right? haha
cuz i know it's supossed to be running when you check the dipstick?

YES the car should be off unless you don't want a tranny anymore. Just warm up the car for a little bit so the fluid comes out a little faster. You can drain just cold but it takes a little longer. I would just do it all at once with your oil change.

no. check it with it off.

early model GMs and etc you check auto trannies with the car running. don't need to with this car.

thanks for the advice and thanks for saving my tranny
:)