Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

In the past I lucked out buying a couple of cases of Honda ATF and have been changing it every 10k miles. I'm out now and it is about $7.00 a quart to my door. I have almost 90k miles on the original trans which according to the failure rate here is great. Any parts store brand of ATF work good as a sub if you change every 10k miles?

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Does anyone come here anymore?

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

I would only consider Honda ATF Z1

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Expensive as hell these days it seems though. I wonder with 90k miles how many are left given the early failures some see? Is their really that much difference in this trans fluid than another good brand name or synthetic?

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

It is strange how some of the early 7th gen autos fail and some don't. At some point in time they started to build them in Japan (or maybe just assemble, not sure)

If you have done the drain and refills frequently enough you should be o.k. (25-30k)

What does your local dealer charge per qt ?? Would save on shipping cost if you can pick them up.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

I never heard of Honda ATF. Sounds kind of stupid.
Makes me wonder why Car Manufacturers do this.

Ford brake fluid?
Dextron?
It's not needed.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

i would not use anything but the honda fluid. the shifting will not be as smooth, and the trans could fall apart. $25 every 10k miles isnt that much to save your trans.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Dont be stupid and put anything in there except honda atf. I work at a lube shop and every kind of atf is different. You cant just throw in anything. Only use Honda ATF.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Well found in the local Pep's a Castrol ATF that is for Imports at $3.99/Qt. It even mentions being a replacement for Honda ATF-Z1:

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/secti...tentId=7028224

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

I sent Castrol questions about their ATF and it's use in our Hondas.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

try it, then come back and post 3 months later when it fails.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Has anyone before me reported it?

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

yeah some guy put mobil1 into his auto trans and it was dead within the year. totalled out, they couldnt even rebuild it. another friend put redline in it and then started complaining how jerky it was when shifting. with the honda atf, it shifts like butter you can barely even feel it. lucky for him we did another drain and refill and it improved the shifts quite a bit. there is a 9 quart capacity tho so every time youre really only changing 33% of the fluid. the manual says to do a drain and refill several times in a row, but so long as you do a single drain and refill early enough (every 10k), that should suffice. i went overboard and installed a trans oil cooler and the HX CVT inline fluid filter. my trans has started slipping at 50k miles so i took quick action and now im at 85k miles and the slip is no worse. still drives fine and it only slips 500rpm between 2->3 but i know thats from the defective clutch carrier which i plan to have it rebuilt anyway when it dies with the TCI upgrade kit.

also never do a full fluid flush with the machine, it will almost always ruin the trans.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

I think mine RPM's a little now. I always figured if it made it until 100k miles I did pretty good. So does the TCI kit totally fix the carrier problem? Any link to the kit?

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

i gotta search hold on. its a full rebuild kit, more than enough for na, prolly fine with low boost too. all new clutches. oh great well the master racing kit is no longer available from the site i had found.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

honda atf is the way to go.

You only change 33% of your fluid on a simple drain and refill- you wouldnt add several different quarts when doing a normal oil change would you, so why would you even think about mixing atf's?

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

As promised:

Thank You for Contacting Castrol North America,

Castrol always recommends following the guidelines of the original engine
manufacturer for the recommended fluid to use in your specific applications.

With the information provided for the 2001 Honda Civic excluding models with
CVT, Castrol's ATF Reference Guide recommends the following,

Manufacturer recommends Honda ATF-Z1 P/N 08200-9001

Castrol's Import Multi-Vehicle ATF meets performance specs for your
application but has not been approved by the original engine manufacturer.

Please find attached the Product Data Sheet for Castrol Import Multi Vehicle
ATF to confirm the ATF-Z1 specification with the exclusion of the CVT's.

Castrol Consumer Relations


I couldn't find the Honda ATF-Z1 spec sheet so looks like unless someone has it I will stick with Z1.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

that says it all lol

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Good game

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Don't cheap out on OEM Honda ATF. You can never duplicate the original out of an "alternative" fluid. Save yourself a grand and spend a few extra bucks on Honda ATF.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Honda has designed the ATF to mate properly with internal components without failure. Other Trans fluids tend to damage the clutch packs prematurely. Its got something to do with the specific additives that honda uses. Its the same with the Dual pump fluids on CRVs rear diffs. Anything but the Dual Pump II fluid causes them to blow apart in 10k miles or less.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

I put honda atf in a couple of months ago, and since doing so the tranny whine has been a bit more noticeable, and now that is cold its been even worse. got 68k

anyone else experiencing this?

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

if its whining already, new fluid will not fix a dying trans that already has a problem. esp since you only replace 3 qts out of the 9qts total that the housing holds.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

FWIW, I noticed my trans starting to slip slightly earlier this summer, so I bought some Honda Z1 but only got around to doing two fluid changes. Here recently I've noticed my gas mileage decreasing, so I decided to do two more fluid changes. On the second change I added 12oz of Lucas Oil Trans Stop Slip. Bad idea, made it slip worse! So called Honda, Z1 around here is now like 12.53 a quart! or 8 something if you buy a case. I did some research on the web and by chance found out you can order Honda Z1 from Carquest!! lol, called the local Carquest and gave them the part number, worked and got a case for around 7 a quart. I have done two more fluid changes so far, slip is not as bad, but not gone yet, been way too cold to get the other two changes done. Point is, use the Honda ATF Z1, nothing else!

edit: my trans has almost 100k on it

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

i have had good luck using the LC20 additive in the honda trans fluid (would not recommend any other additive). it didnt help the slip, since thats a mechanical problem with the defective second clutch, but it made shifting a bit smoother and keeps the fluid lasting longer.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

So, my civic had that ATF replaced by the previous owner and according to the sticker under the hood, they didn't use Honda fluids. I woul like to get Honda Fluids back in the transmission. What would be the best way to do this? Should I worry about getting out every last bit of the old fluid with a flush or will a few drain+refills do the trick?

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

a few drain and refills should work. just do one, drive around to mix it all up (maybe 100 miles to be sure), then drain and refill again. id prolly do 3x drain and refills. flushing with a machine will ruin the gears

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

Hmmm...I put Castrol in my 2001 automatic about 1.5-2 years ago at 95K miles. Drained and refilled, drove 10 miles, drained and refilled again. Didn't do the third flush...figured I'd get around to it but never did. Runs great and it's about to turn 118K. Of course I don't beat the piss out of it like I used to with other cars (and all the bikes) I've had but I don't baby it either. It's no speed demon but I still enjoy the vtec surge when accelerating down the on ramp or passing on back country roads.

My guess is that the wording in Castrol's reply was submitted by their lawyers to avoid potential lawsuits. You can keep forking out extra $ to Honda if it gives you peace of mind, but I've been using Castrol products for years with no problems.

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

I know im digging up an old thread but thats what happens when you use Google.

My 01 EX has 148k and is still on the OE tranny (auto) im going to get some Honda ATF and have one of my techs at the dealer I work for do a flush/change. I spoke with the guy at the Honda dealer (where I will be buying the fluid from) and he said that even when they hook it up to the machine it only calls for 3.75 qt's.

Is there any real concrete/first hand evidence for those of you claiming a flush with a machine would do any harm? They do it at Honda dealers everyday so it seems pretty silly to assume that it would be a bad idea???

Re: Alternative to Honda ATF?
 

No dealers near me perform flush services, so yours sounds more like the exception, not the rule.

If I was to do a flush, I'd only be comfortable getting it done with a BG branded machine. BG flush and additives are good stuff. I'd also use Honda DW-1 fluid for replacement.

But would I do a flush in a 7th gen civic? Nope.