kfalisi

Years ago I used to work at the Turnersville Automall ( Penske dealership ) here in South Jersey. I just went today to pick up my supplies to do the ATF drain/fill. While there, I went and talked to a few Acura techs, a few Honda techs and one of the service writers for Acura ( I know him personally ) ... I told them I was doing the drain and fill and every single one told me the same response. They do not recommend a complete flush ( machine ) and they also do not a 3x drain/fill. When I first bought my TL used with 90K I had one of the techs do a complete flush with a machine and replace with new. I was told IF THE VEHICLE HAS DECENT MILEAGE ( 100Kish ) then yes, do the 3x drain/fill. Otherwise, do the drain/fill once MAYBE twice if the ATF looks dirty. They stated if you do the 3x drain/fill when it is unneccesary all it will do is CAUSE PROBLEMS such as slipping. I also asked them about changing out the O-ring and external transmission filter which is stated in a HOW TO FORUM on Acurazine. They all told me DO NOT EVEN MESS WITH IT UNLESS YOU ARE EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSMISSION. They told me they don't even touch it when they do it at the dealership. After all said and done... I went to the dealership expecting to drop around 90$ on the supplies and only paid $29 for 4 quarts of DW1 and 2 crush washers. I will take their advice and do just 1x drain/fill and keep up on every 20-30K or sooner if it looks like it needs it.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Guess we had better stay away from that dealership as they certainly don't know squat.
You said that when you first got your TL they did a flush using the machine. First Acura/Honda does not recommend
this method at all, they only recommend a single or flushing which is the 3x3 exchange. Also, how ridiculous in the statement that you can only do one drain/refill or problems will occur. Guess the next two will cause problems. Now, the filter; there lies the problem, they don't change it even at the dealership..................Maybe they should.

Here's the TSB:
NOTE: American Honda defines flushing the transmission as draining and filling the transmission with a drive cycle three times to help make sure the deteriorated fluid is removed. There are other aftermarket flush systems available, but American Honda does not recommend using them.

Guess they better check the FSM and get up to speed with the TSB's that's been out for years.

NoTLoud

There's a lot of myth out there on whether or not replacing ATF fluid on a transmission will potentially cause issues. Chances are if you replace your fluid and then your transmission starts slipping, it was on its last legs anyways. I guess the theory is that the clutch material that has been shaved off is in the old fluid and will allow enough friction to get the car into the next gear. When you drain that fluid out, there is no longer the extra friction from the clutch material and the transmission starts to slip. However, you are replacing the worn down fluid with new fluid that has friction modifiers in it that are going to perform much better than the old fluid.

I did the 3x3 when I first got my car because the fluid in the car was pretty much black, even after the dealer had done one drain and refill. I have put about 5k miles on my car and the fluid still looks pink, as it should. Had a service writer at the place I take my car for any repairs I don't feel like doing tell me do the fluid change every 15k miles. He worked at an Acura dealer for 10-15 years, I can't remember exactly.

The transmission filter should probably be replaced on these cars as well. I just did mine and the old filter was gross and deteriorating. It had quite a bit of clutch material on it. Did I notice any difference from replacing it? No, but for the $25 and piece of mind, it was worth it to me. If you have an 07-08, I don't believe you can replace the filter.

Pressure switches are a big key on these cars as well. I replaced these 5k miles ago and between the switches and fluid, I have no more slop in my shifts. The shifts are not un-noticeable all the time, but I really only ever notice a rougher shift between 1st and 2nd at low RPM's. I also cleaned up the harshness of these shifts by replacing two torn transmission mounts on my car. The top and lower, rear mount were both torn. Car still jerks a little between 1st and 2nd, but it's much better than before.

I believe a lot of the failures of these transmission are due to Honda/Acura doing their customers a disservice on the service interval recommendations. I believe their interval for trans fluid change is like 60-70k, which is BS. Do at least a 1x3 drain and refill every 15k miles and you should be able to get much more life out of the transmission. Pressure switches I plan on doing around every 30k miles. If you do both of these and still are having rough downshifts or upshifts, check your mounts, engine and tranny. This solved about 90% of my issues with rough shifts, like I said, I only have jerkiness now between 1st and 2nd and usually that is at low RPMs and when the engine/tranny are still on the cold side.

Is this overkill? Maybe, but if it saves a transmission swap or rebuild, the costs are worth it. Hopefully this helps clear up some of the confusion.

kfalisi

I am not experiencing any shifting problems ( knock on wood ). I just wanted to replenish the trans with new fluid due to visual inspection of the dipstick. I think I will go back to the dealership and pick up a filter as well as check the fluid again in near future to see how it looks. Thanks for the input!

NoTLoud

If the fluid is really dirty, drain it once and refill. See how it looks after that. If it still is dark, do a second drain and refill. Mine looked significantly better after the second drain and fill, but for good measure, I did the third. I forget exactly what the number were, but with a 3x3 drain and refill, you are looking at something like 90% new transmission fluid. You ideally want the color on the dipstick to be the same as what is in the bottle you are putting in! Once the friction modifiers start to break down and the fluid starts to get dirty is where ya start to run into issues!

Yep, do the filter. It's a bit of a hassle to get to, required removing the air filter box and I highly recommend removing the battery tray as well. You'll want a good 6in extension for that. I had some line getting in the way when doing mine, but was able to push it out of the way enough to get the old filter out and new one in. Probably took me an hour or so. I also replaced my air filter while I had everything out. I would also recommend inspecting the condition of your top transmission mount. I noticed mine was torn and had to remove the air filter box and battery tray the next week again.

kfalisi

Safe to say I will be doing the 3x drain/fill. Gonna pick up filter so I can finish the job...does anyone happen to know if the same part # PF557 cooler line spin on return filter is what I need? Dealership is closed tonight and Sunday so I called around to local parts stores to see if they have it.

NoTLoud

Yeah, that fluid looks pretty bad. Basically what mine looked like when I replaced it.

Here are the part numbers you will want:

• 91302-ray-003 : Bushing
• 91301-ray-004 : O-ring
• 25803-ray-000 : Spring
• 25450-ray-003 : Filter
• 94109-12000 -or- 90471-rgr-000: Crush Washer

You can refer to this thread for the DIY: https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g...t-pics-787078/