Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Read my saga with my trans and see for yourself... I am running the castrol multi import. It is working just fine. There are known issues with these transmissions. The fluid can make a difference in shift quality and transmission longevity with any auto trans. NOT just Hondas. The main reason it affects shift quality is because the Honda stuff is thin.

clicky here

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

It would be a BG machine. Those are the fluids we use at our dealership, I sell KIA's BTW.

After learning from the tech at my work that in all reality I would need 10-12 qt's for a proper flush I have decided to hold off. He looked at my fluid and by looking at it ascertained that it had probably been ~15k miles since the last flush (seriously, this has got to be the best maintained Civic ever 148k on OE tranny not even a slight slip).

Since I will more than likely not have the car for 15k more miles I think I'll just do the minimum with the 4 qt's I have.

Maybe a dumb q but since I have pretty much only owned manual tranny cars what is the process of draining 3-4 qt's out of the tranny, just unscrewing a drain plug on it and letting it go till it stops then topping off?

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

I don't know all the different procedures for all the different years. But it is probably a good idea to jack the wheels up off the ground, start the engine, and manually shift through the gears one at a time to ensure there is no air lock in any of the lines. If you try to drive off and fluid doesn't get to the clutch plates even for an instant, they could burn up because of the weight of the car.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

I have access to lifts in the service department so when you say jack the car up are you recommending that I have either the front/back up at an angle? Like if you jacked it up with a floor jack.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Other than having the drain hole at a low point when draining, and having the car level when checking oil level with the dipstick, you have to have the wheels off the ground when running through the gears. There is a Honda service bulletin which details this.