hey anyone know how to change their tranny fluid i heard that its pretty hard...someone told me that i had to take it to a shop to get done...is it possible? if so any easy instructions? i figure im about due just rolled over 66k miles and i checked it and its not that pinkish color anymore

btw: its a 01CLS 5spdauto

 

goto the dealership...doing it yourself or anyone else doing it voids the factory warranty

 

It is easier than changing your own motor oil.....there is a bolt behind the left front tire on the lower part of the tranny casing. Remove that, and it'll drain about 3 quarts. Replace the plug, and replace that amount in the tranny fluid fill plug. Dirve around for a few minutes, and repeat the procedure 3-4 more times to complete the fluid exchange.

You should use Honda Z-1 ATF while still under warranty....if you do not that COULD void your warranty...but changing it yourself will not void it.

Good luck.

 

thanks jared ill give it a try tomorow

 

any idea of how much it costs to get done? cause i was thinkin and i do have the notorious 5spd auto that could prolly go out at anytime and i def want to keep my 100kmile waranty

 

My dealer charged $70 for drain & refill.

 

Good advice man. I was just think about doing my transmission fluid the other day.

 

Hey JaredGMS - So how much ATF should I buy for this? 3-4 times repeating this procedure would equal 9-12 quarts or so?

 

The perfect customer!!!

 

Jared- excellent post!

 

I have another couple of questions that I couldn't seem to answer from searching:

1) Do I want the car perfectly flat to do this? Or can I just jack up the front end?
2) What ft/lbs do I torque the drain and fill plugs to?

 

In my experience with Honda's, the trans always go if i did it myself...several times at the cost of the dealer doing it, several thousand dollars to spend on a new trans is much, as oppose to the dealer taking responsibility for it. Sometimes it's better to pay the money, instead of paying it in the long run, it winds up being cheaper.

 

Do any of you have oil extractors? I wonder if one of those would such out more trans fluid then draining it? Also, can someone help me with the location of where you fill the trans fluid? It's not clear to me where it gets added...

Thanks.

 

The extrac

 

The extractor will remove less than a quart from the tran dip stick. Can't remove anything from the fill plug.

The fill plug is located on top the the tranny, driver-side, between the engine and tire. It is large (17 mm?) and and 'ATF' printed on it. I can't remember the torque, maybe 70 ft/lbs?

The drain plug is on the driver side. It is at the bottom, but horizontal. It is square, you need a 3/8" or 1/2" driver to remove it.


Look online here to get a better idea of the locations:

http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.net/...p/mws/home.htm

The drain bolt is #12, the fill bolt is #9. You will want a new drain bolt washer. You can get it and fluid at the Honda dealer for cheap.




WARNING: Remove the fill bolt before the drain bolt.

The fill bolt can be extremely difficult to remove. The fill bolt on my replacement tranny was cross threaded. It took a 600 ft/lb pro impact gun to remove. It was not a pretty sight. If you drain the fluid, and can't remove the fill bolt, you'll have to refill using the dip stick. Make sure you have what it takes to get the fluid back in, before you drain the fluid.

 

I jack the front end before draining just to help get my big frame under that part of the car. Then release it to drain.
As far as torque, I usually just go "tight". This is not a torque you should really worry about as long as it is not coming loose.


And yes, I bought 12 quarts the first time I did this...now I do it every other oil change. Be sure to go to a Honda dealer for the fluid, though....My local Acura dealer wanted almost $6 / qt, while the honda dealer three blocks away wanted $3.95/qt....same fucking bottle.

Good luck.

 

I wonder if you could suck trans fluid from where you fill it from???

Anyone try that?

 

Follow up...

Does dirty fluid an indicator of anything more than the trans fluid is dirty? I.e., is it a sign of impending doom?

I had a shop drain and refill and the fluid was dark and a hundred miles later (sufficient time for the old and new to mix), it is still fairly clean....

Trans was replaced at 55K, now have 102K.

 

Hard to tell if color = failure. But, you could send the ATF fluid in for an analysis.
Blackstone Lab They do oil and ATF. I had a sample from my car I never sent in.

 

"dirty" trans fluid is actually usually burnt trans fluid....it just gets old a loses some of it's lubricating properties.....the fact that it was burnt does not, in and of itself, mean you tranny is going to poop out.

Just keep an eye on it...

 

Not really worth the extra effort, imho....the drain is really simply, and then fill from the top....as easy (or easier) that an oil change (no filter to worry about)

 

I tried to watch the mechanic that was doing the trans fluid change to see if I could figure out how he got the fill plug out and he used what appeared to be a fairly specialized tool to do so?

WHat do y'all use?

 

the Trans plug has an inner square 3/8" hole.....just use a 3/8" ratchet to remove it...

 

I've haven't spent much time investigating, but isn't it really far down into the engine compartment? Do you know an 18" extension bar? Thus, a really long funnel would be required as well, huh?

 

Sorry...i thought you said the drain plug, not the fill plug...the fill plug is a 17mm bolt, unless you have the oil jet installed, in which case you have to remove a 15mm (i think) bolt, and the oil jet nozzle....the fluid then goes directly into the middle of the fill bolt.

And you should only need a 12" extension.

 

Does Anybody Know Where I Can Find A 97-00 3.0 V6 Transmission.. Give Me A Call At 201-233-1573

 

Well I did a drain a refill of 3 quarts on Sunday. Nothing too difficult, you were right. Fortunately for me the fill plug came off pretty easily... I used a 10" and a 6" extension combined and that gave me more than enough reach to get down to the plug.

I think I'll probably do the 3 quarts around every oil change from now on as regular maintenance.

 

Sorry to bring an old thread back up.. but how many quarts is actually in the transmission? Is it 9 or 12?

 

lil shortcut for you guys. to fill trans with fluid get a long funnel with ~15mm end and stick it over the dip stick tube. so much easyer and save tons of time especially if your car is equipped with a jet kit. if you get the right size funnel or cut the end to fit dpstick it wont leak at all .


hate to brake it to you but no it wont... i wish it did i'd make so much money doing these transmissions. got it down 3 hours including the ecu swap . and it pays 6.4 warrenty and customer pay is 8hrs

 

www.car-parts.com is by far best place fo used auto parts

 

Color change is definitely normal, but to many small metal shavings/chunks are really bad. should be checked out soon...

 

Did you just jack up the left side of the car for draining?

What do you do with the old fluid?

 

anyone? what do you do with the old tranny fluid?

 

Whats different with the cars with the oil jet kit? Mines has it.

I cant find the transmission fill plug. I have the manual and a bolt i found that I think is it doesnt look like how it is in the manual. I have also found that the trans drain plug requires an Allen wrench to loosen. However, the socket of a 3/8's socket wrench fits in it perfectly. Has anyone done it that way?

Also, what inner diameter plastic tube should woud fit good on the coolant drain plug?

 

Could anyone answer the question about what's different with replacing the tranny fluid w/ the oil jet vs. w/o the oil jet? I supposedly had the oil jet installed on my car, but don't see any difference between pics online, and with the Helms manual. Is it simply the same, remove the 17mm ATF bolt on top of the tranny, drain the fluid, and replace with 2.6quarts? I've read a couple of threads stating you have to remove the oil jet or something to that affect and fill through that hole.

 

as long as it dosen't do it within 5K miles :P

 

remove the 12 mm bolt that holds the rubber metal line that replaces the fill plug and just pull out the metal line. the hole is big enough for a funnel. WITH JET LINE ONLY all others will have a 17mm plug labeled ATF.