I did my first oil change today. Man is this car easy to do oil changes on. The filter is even positioned properly for easy pre-fill before spinning on. Easiest of the 3 cars I own.

While laying under there I was checking everything out real close, just to see how it all goes together. I see that the transmission is typical FWD, no pan. But I also did not see a spin-on transmission oil filter anywhere. At least not anywhere obvious. Where exactly is the trans filter? Someday I'll have to do a service on it and would like to know. Did a search but I can't find where anyone seems to have done there own.

 

It is on the top... and it not replacable unless you are overhauling the tranny.

 

time to buy a Helms manual

 

So the most a guy can do for normal maintenance is just a tranny flush. Guess that makes sense in why I didn't find any reference to someone replacing theirs. That's kind of a crock. You get these clutch packs start to chew themselves up and it's just going to load the filter down. Crappy engineering.

 

In the tranny replacement TSB, they mention the following (as to what good this info is -- I don't know):

TSB 90-009 "Automatic Transmission in-Warranty Exchange Program"

Blah, blah, blah...

REPAIR PROCEDURE
1-4...
5. Flush the transmission cooler, hoses, lines, and fitting as described in the A/T section of the appropriate service manual.

6. Install the transmission filter kit included with the remanufactured transmission. If a filter kit was not included, call the ATR order desk at (888) 997-7278 and request one.

7. Fill the transmission with Honda ATF-Z1


The question is: by the time the filter is clogged would you want to keep the transmission. I really don't know the answer to this -- but...

 

the trany filter is inside the pan. When u take off the trany pan, it should be right there. I've done it on my other cars, but never my acura.

 

Look at your Acura, there is no visible pan, not on mine anyhow. A few little covers down there but no main pan. My aunt's Saturn has a nice spin on filter, that's proper engineering.

I'm kind of torn on this tranny thing. I figure I have 7 years for Honda to figure out how to fix it for good. Should I take extra care and make it last or should I let it crap and get a new (hopefully fixed one) in a couple years?

 

Hey guys. I'll tell you why Honda AT's don't have the spin-on filters. Honda decided that they did not want to pay royalties on the "planatery gear transmission" patents that other car companies when they make automatic transmissions. Honda got around the typical auto tranny design by modifying manual transmissions to shift automatically. This is also why Honda AT cases are typically smaller than other AT's on the market. And do not have the typical screw-on filters for the auto tranny.

There IS a filter for the AT. But it's INSIDE the tranny housing as someone pointed out already. It's a screen filter design that makes me wonder whether a tranny flush is the best thing to do on the AT. I mean, a flush will force a lot of the fluid to be filtered against the screen filter at a high flow rate. The point of flushing is to get rid of the contaminants left in the tranny that can't be drained out. Why would I want to clog my filter up by flushing? But anyway, that's another topic to be discussed and has been discussed a lot in other forums and boards.

My advice is to use one of those in-line magnetic tranny fluid filters (forgot the name or the link) with your tranny filter or tap into the tranny lines from the radiator. It costs about $30 and you replace it every time you do a tranny fluid change.

I also like the screw-on filter replacement for the same reason you stated above, but this is how Honda wants to play the game. It's a smart, bold move by Honda to save costs. Who knows if a screw-on filter AT design could prolong the life of the tranny if the owner simply changes the filter at a shorter interval, i.e. 10K miles. Please email me for more details. ACL.com doesn't seem to notify me of new posts after awhile. I can try to find the link to the explanation if you email me. It was a discussion between a forum member and a Honda tech., I believe.