hello guys well i think is time for me to change my trans fluid on my 04 it has 80k on it and a shop is charging me like............100 bucks to flush or drain idk the diff to be honest ..but i def wanna do it my self and learn any DIY on that? also because my girlfriend has an 04 accord coupe and i wanna be able to do hers and not make her spend all that money..thansk guys

 

A transmission "flush" is an attempt to replace all the fluid in the transmission. One method involves opening up the cooler lines and allowing the transmission to pump out old fluid while simultaneously adding new fluid. The new fluid is really diluted with the existing fluid. Another method is to drop the pan and connect directly to the pump inlet. Since you can't drain all of the fluid in the transmission, you would need to drain and add fluid several times to duplicate a flush. A single drain and fill is probably good enough. It's more than what most people do.

 

Hi,

If you want to do complete flush you need to take it to a shop .

And as per Acura Bulletins the flushes are not recommended..If you want to do a drain and refill here are the instructions..

1) You need to remove the fender plastic beneath the car. You need to remove close to 10 clips ( some folks were able to access the drain plug by removing few clips..I remove the entire fender plastic as i did drain the coolant as well) . Removing this fender plastic is the time consuming task . By the way i broke couple of clips..

2) You need a 3/8 ratchet to remove the drain bolt.

Refer this https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-tsx-problems-fixes-128/where-tranmission-drain-plug-695639/ thread for a picture of where the drain bolt is located..

You don't need a torque wrench , it didn't work for me. Also the breaker bar i bought is too long . I used the ratchet wrench and attached a small tube to unscrew it.

The fluid will come out as soon as you unscrew it..

3) Drain the fluid.

4) Tighten the drain plug . Use a new crush washer.

5) Fill the recommended ATF Transmission fluid from the dipstick hole. You need a long nosed funnel. Measure the fluid that got drained and fill equal amount.

6) Check the fluid level and fill if it is low..

On accord i don't think you need to remove the fender plastic as there is none ( i might be wrong)..

mars

 

One thing to add to that. When you pull the drain bolt be sure to clean it off good before you put it back in. Reason being, there's a magnet in it to catch any shavings or any other metallic slivers hanging around in the fluid.

Need somebody with access to a service manual or Helms manual to chime in here. Does the TSX have a paper transmission filter or does it have a permanent washable type? My Neon had a paper filter that I changed whenever I changed out the fluid. My Mazda had a washable metallic filter.

 

ok thanks guys for all the info...u guys def know wat u talking about..but one last thing...do the TSX has a drain plug and a fill plug at the bottom?..like if i was to drain it..idk where the fill up plug is located any ideas? because is is both at the bottom then idk if im able to do it my self since idk how in the world and i going to fill it up from the bottom

 

You fill the new Fluid from the transmission dip stick hole, take out the dip stick and get a long Funnel and fill the fluid..

 

actually, just as there is a drain plug on all acura cars, there is also a fill up bolt. Alot bigger and easier to fill up using this bolt instead of the dipstick tube. Look on top of the transmission and there is a bolt that sticks out like a sore thumb. If you cant find it by looking, just look at the diagram of ur transmission case at hondapartsunlimited.com

 

I did this twice, first time was good, 2nd time i had atf running down the drive way.. missed the bucket.. hahaa...

i end up getting a pump aka oil extractor..

now i just pump out 3 qt, and fill 3 qt every 10-15k miles.. yeah i miss the shaving stuff but its such a bitch to get to the drain..

Also there is a filter you can replace, around the battery area.. its not really user accessable but someone here did it..

 

One thing to add: When you unscrew the drain bolt the oil will start to drain out but it will gush out when you remove the dipstick. The dipstick provides a pretty good seal. So be careful with the placement of whatever you use as a catch basin for the transmission fluid.

 

seems pretty easy to do, the dealer just quoted me $105 as well for a drain & refill & every other shop just uses an "all purpose oil" for all cars...yeah, NO! I'm going Honda products.

 

from what i remember .. you'd have to do the drain, fill, start the car and shift into drive and let it drive .. then repeat for a total of 3 time to get most of the old fluid out.

 

so i thought i could buy the honda ATF Z1 trans fluid & have the guys that do my oil change take care of it since they adverstise trans service but i go there last night and they tell me they cant, Acura parts are difficult to access. I personally think it was because I got there 30mins before closing. I dont have the parts, jack nor tools at home to do this so I think I might just have the dealer do it & suck up the $100 this time around. I'm taking the car in Saturday anyway for the mirror jittering & rear speaker vibration.