Bladehunter

Just wondering if I should have a tranny flush done at the dealer when I hit 30k it's mostly highway miles, but I do live in northern Jersey which is stop and go traffic hell god this states highway system is the worst ever, I'm at around 25K now....I'v got an 03 CLS, that is not included in the tranny recall, but think I should have it done just to keep the tranny in good condition.....

sushimaster

i changed mine at 15 k. If you hadn't changed yours prior, I think a flush wouldn't be a bad idea.

EricL

IMO, it couldn't hurt to change it, especially if you do a fair amount of in town driving (the car will do a lot of shifting if not put into D2 or D3). ATF degrades with time, and the ATF gets very hot inside various parts of the transmission (inside the second and third gear clutch packs for example).

BTW, I'm also aware that there are a few people that believe that changing the fluid leads to transmission failure. (IMO, the logic used to arrive at that conclusion scares me.)

louisn

Are we talking about a "change" or a "flush." My dealer told me a flush was much better but cost more than double???????Any comments??

Bladehunter

Yes I also read that a flush or change could lead to quicker failure, but there was a huge debate thread on this...I was thinking of just doing a flush, rather then a change right now, maybe a full change would be more apropriate....My feeling is a flush would be cheaper then a change but I'll have to investigate that....

dgracer

I've been changing mine every 10k since new and since mine is part of the bad tranny group. No failures at 59k and will probably have it flushed at 60k.

fender4

I flushed mine with 9 qts. synthetic,,
http://www.amsoil.com/products/atf.html

Now I just change it with synthetic( 2.7 qts) every 15k miles,, IMO a flush is not needed with synthetic changed every 15k. I'm still on the orginal trans nearing 60k miles. (knock on wood)

fender4

I flushed mine with 9 qts. synthetic,,
http://www.amsoil.com/products/atf.html

Now I just change it with synthetic( 2.7 qts) every 15k miles,, IMO a flush is not needed with synthetic changed every 15k. I'm still on the orginal trans nearing 60k miles. (knock on wood)

fender4

I flushed mine with 9 qts. synthetic,,
http://www.amsoil.com/products/atf.html

Now I just change it with synthetic( 2.7 qts) every 15k miles,, IMO a flush is not needed with synthetic changed every 15k. I'm still on the orginal trans nearing 60k miles. (knock on wood)

fender4

I flushed mine with 9 qts. synthetic,,
http://www.amsoil.com/products/atf.html

Now I just change it with synthetic( 2.7 qts) every 15k miles,, IMO a flush is not needed with synthetic changed every 15k. I'm still on the orginal trans nearing 60k miles. (knock on wood)

fender4

I flushed mine with 9 qts. synthetic,,
http://www.amsoil.com/products/atf.html

Now I just change it with synthetic( 2.7 qts) every 15k miles,, IMO a flush is not needed with synthetic changed every 15k. I'm still on the orginal trans nearing 60k miles. (knock on wood)

EricL

Do I hear an Echo, Echo, Echo, Echo????

EricL

If the flush is the "iterative" change of fluid that just uses MORE HONDA (or other) ATF, there shouldn't be a problem. Some trannies – not ours -- can stand a "pressure flush" that consists of a solvent clean-out (under pressure) along with ATF being pumped through the tranny to "remove" any solvent residue to insure all new/clean ATF is exchanged for the old/previous ATF.

Comptech said that they did use a non-Acura tranny shop to "flush" the "slushboxes", but they did mention that they did check to see that the process was compatible with the transmission. (I can't comment on this, as I have not used this process.)

Here is the link to the factory method/iterative method for flushing/changing (Jens and others brought the info here):

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...ighlight=flush

fender4

Hummmmmm now how did that happen??? Computer wasn't allowing any sends so I guess it was and I didn't see any return,, ECHO it is I guess,,, can't figure out how to delete old threads. ???

JokerABC

Don't worry. That's been a problem today.

The Inside Line

dgracer:

You and me both. I change my ATF every about every 10K or 3 oil changes. Have an early 01 CL-S @ 67K mi. Never a tranny prob and I've gate shifted hard 'everyday' since day one.

loiusn:

As to whether or not to have your Acura dealer "flush" or "change" your ATF, have them "change" the fluid. Depending on the dealership, flushing would entail using a machine to force flush the fluid in/through the tranny. As someone early had mentioned that he heard changing/flushing fluid may actually damage the tranny, is somewhat correct. "IF" your tranny fluid has not been flushed in many miles and is very dirty, "flushing" the fluid can actually force particals in the gear packs - bad - the idea of course is to remove the particals through the fluid drain. If this is your situation, then "change" your fluid multiple times - drain, fill, run, repeat. If not, just change it regularly. This is even an "internal" Honda recommendation from what I've heard from my Acura tech. Using the flushing method is really another way for the dealer to have a higher markup service and charge extra for other things like tranny additives - which really don't help much. Good luck.