kiluminati616

I'm about to hit 105k so I've been doing a lot of maintenance on my car (timing belt, spark plugs, brakes.) One thing that i've pretty much ignored since i bought it (3 years, 50K miles ago) was the transmission. I know some of you probably think that's pretty stupid with a TL but i've honestly had no trouble with it. I checked the recall status and it said fix so i figured that was cool. I finally called up acura yesterday to see if i got a new trans or just the cooling thing and they informed me the cooling jet was installed 12/29/04. I don't exactly baby my car. i use the manual mode pretty regularly for slowing down and droppin the hammer. maybe i just got blessed with a trans that doesn't suck. So i wanted to know if you think i should do the 3x3 fluid change or what? i've read in some posts if you've made it this far without a problem then don't mess with it so i dont really know what to do.

01tl4tl

the trans oil jet recall had nothing to do with wearout of the 2nd and 3rd gear clutches- yes auto trans have clutches.. on each gear shaft!!

smell the fluid- burnt- ?
take a sample and send to blackstone labs

change 3 qts only- not the full fluid changeout- that has been known to cause problems.
use honda atf

STOP using SS to downshift and use trans as a brake- brake pads are cheap compared to trans rebuild~
especially avoid dropping into 3rd or 2nd with high rpm= that says goodbye to the clutches faster than you can imagine

Use SS to be on the power/torque to exit the corner--mostly a racer thing
otherwise leave it alone with those miles

dc5nomore

Im sorry but what is the cooling jet?

Sperry

iTrader: (1)

I just finished up three drain/fill cycles. I too have the 2nd gear oil jet, and have been filling through the dip stick.

The fun part is wiping the muck off the transmission drain plug magnet after the first D/F, and observing less particulate after the 2nd, and third drain/fill. I did them about a week apart.

I fashioned a funnel ending in a piece of 5/16" O.D. tubing. Before a final drain/fill, a better funnel/tube design will make it off my workbench.

The drain plug was tight as heck the first time I tried getting it off. In fact, I couldn't get it off, reaching under the car. While up for a recall item, I asked the techs to crack it loose, ad re-tighten, which they did.

The oil is now shares the healthy color of Grenadine, and lost it's medium-burnt smell.

The cheapest place I've found the Honda ATF-Z-1 fluid is Dover Acura, @ $7.07/qt. Doing the D/F cold, as I did by accident the third time, found 6 ounces less than three quarts drained, and was replaced.

I'll do a fourth D/F, and yearly will pick up a case of fluid for a 4x3 D/F.

01tl4tl

thats not the way you do a 3x3-
5 minute drive with use of each gear up and down then drain again is the method from acura
and 15 minute freeway warm up before first drain

you dont want to go a week between each session,,idea is to push old fluid out not mix them together

the cooling jet- or `recall installed external oil jet kit` sits in the normal filler hole- you can remove it easily for doing fluid change, 1 bolt and pull up
Its purpose is to supply extra oil the 2nd gear shaft and gearset- they were breaking from heat/oil starvation and caused the wheels to lockup--while going 70mph,,it was pretty exciting for a few owners and caused a safety recall of 4-6 years worth of acuras

That did solve that particular problem,,, but did not have any relation to the low oil flow to clutchpacks and their early wearout that most encounter

thewhitepearl

i would think that his modified 3x3 may actually be better.. it would allow for more particles to be drained wouldnt it?

kiluminati616

I checked the fluid and its brownish and doesnt have that sweet smell. I won't be able to do the change until i'm at my parents in a couple weeks so i'll take a better look at it then. is there a reasone you would have to fill thru the dipstick tho? is drain 3 and add 3 the normal maintenance?

all this has me thinking about selling this thing before i do run into a problem

01tl4tl

acura says `normal` maitenance is 3 qts- thats 1 drain and refill done with car warm from 15 minute drive

the point of 5 minute drive in between drains is so you push fluid thru selenoids and out of the TQ towards the drain - by the new fluid coming in behind it
Yes there is some mixing but not much in just a few blocks driving- the key is shifting thru each gear manually- even park and r and n- a efw times to get fluid thru their oil gallies and towards the pan to be drained

metal particulate matter grabs the drain plug when it reaches there- no worries!

getting rid of the old burnt dead fluid is your intention with a 3x3-
which according to acura-for gen2- you only need to do 3x3 if you added `dex3` in an `emergency top off`- which should never happen-in a desire to rid the system of contaminated fluid
3x3 is really 12 qts total used to get most of the old 7.3 out- read the book carefully

of course acura engineers wrote that book a decade and a half ago- before any real data was available on these trans and the fluid and its poor performance

01tl4tl

the only reason to refill thru the dipstick is you cant find the large bolt with `ATF` stamped on it-
or if it is an original trans with recall installed oil jet kit- you cant see the thing that looks like an oil derrick and remove its 1 bolt then pull straight up to reveal original filler hole
a Long thin tubed oil filler funnel at parts stores is all you need for a mess free install of new fluid

Warranty trans after 2005 (with the new case design) have the oil jet kit installed inside the trans, so if your car has a large ATF bolt, look under car at trans,, towards engine direction- see any painted blue bolt heads on the trans? thats an acura warranty rebuilt unit
If not sure call acura and ask 1-800-382-2238 x5 there are still cars running around without that recall performed and its very important to your safety
there is a new gen2 recall for airbag inflator....
so everyone not already- needs to register with them so you know about these things!!

NOTE:
carefully ck fluid level per book method,
amount coming out needs same going in each time, many get 3.2 out and put 3 in--thats bad for the trans to be low on fluid- with known cooling issues~

notbrant

iTrader: (2)

Why are you filling through dipstick?

There is a large fill plug that is very easy to get to, Looking down at the engine, is it back and to the right of the throttle body, you might need a breaker, as it may be very tight.

Sperry

iTrader: (1)

Wait . . . You mean there's a dedicated fill hole?


Why the dip tube? I'm not in any great rush to do the job, usually doing several things at the same time.
And the oil jet kit is installed, and I don't feel like pulling it out and risking any contaminates or particulate entering.

I found a Parts Department employee who will sell Z-1, by the case, @ $6.05 / quart.
I've still another three+, but next year, or maybe before the winter, I'll buy at the case price, and do another 3x4.

I got my tires balanced and rotated at the Honda/Acura dealership today, also.
Best $49 I've ever spent! Steering feels tighter, and no more steering wheel shake.