drcookie

Hi All,
My TL-S is going to be 30k miles soon. Last time I checked (two days ago) tranny fluid, it was brownish in color. Should I change the tranny fluid myself or should I take it to the dealer ? How much fluid do I need to get if I plan to do it by myself ?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers !!!

wanker256

My tranny fluid was brownish at 15,000 miles so I had it flushed at the dealer. They used (or at least charged me for) 10 quarts of Honda ATF. I made sure they did a true flush and not a one time drain and fill. I paused a bit at the $120 cost but at least $50 went to cost of the fluid and they do have to drain and fill three times and test drive in between. I considered it health insurance for my tranny since I love this car and want to drive it for a long time.

The manual spells out how to flush yourself. If you're comfortable with the instructions, you could do it yourself and save $70 in labor.

NYDesi80

I believe the tranny fluid should never turn that color in such a short time, which indicates that the tranny is going through a lot of strain. In other words, your tranny is getting fried.

IMO, why change the tranny fluid when you can just a wait a little longer and just change the tranny under warranty?

wanker256

Even though I have one of the supposedly good trannies (build date late 5/03), I am a bit paranoid (or this forum has made me paranoid). When I checked my fluid, it was still clear but it had a slight brownish tint to it. I also smelled it but could not detect any odor but decided to flush anyway to be sure. I would rather do a little extra preventative maintenance than have to swap trannies any day. Or maybe that's just wasteful, wishful thinking...

NYDesi80

To my knowledge the reason for the tranny fluid in turning brown is cuz of the 2nd gear clutch pack being worn down and literally being shredded and those shredded filing are in the fluid changing its color from clear pink to brown.

So even if you do change your tranny fluid and flush it out and what not..yada yada... if your 2nd gear clutch pack is being shredded, it will continue to happen and continue to change the tranny fluid to brown again. I mean if its a defective tranny, its a defective tranny and there is nothing me, you or maintainance can do about it. I mean sure, the tranny flush might just prolong the inevitable, but would you want the tranny going bad on you after the warranty coverage is over??

I dont know my build date on my car, but I bought my car in August of 2003, and I can tell you already I had a few slips in the tranny and Im only at 18k miles.

I think the people that dont experience tranny problems are those that do mostly highway driving and are predominantly switching in and out of 3rd, 4th and 5th gear. When people do a lot of city driving or local driving, your car switches a lot between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Cars that switch from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd, I feel are going to damage their cluth pack sooner since this is where the weakness is. Of course this is somethign that is my opinion and I could be wrong, but I talked to many people and taken a mini survey and from that... this is what I've concluded. I could be wrong too.

NYDesi80

Oh and to add to that comment, my car's slips on my previous 99 Accord was when the car would go from 1st into 2nd and from 2nd into 3rd... 3rd into 4th was fine, and there was no 5th gear since it was a 4 speed.

I will start a poll in another thread regarding this.

Mr Hyde

I think you are jumping the gun, if teh fluid is a very dark red/brown, its normal. If its black or smells burnt, thats a different story.

My tranny failed with fresh red fluid in it.

pca7ggr

iTrader: (1)

Go to your local Honda dealer and buy three quarts of "jan-u-wine" Honda ATF. When you pop the tranny's drain plug, you will drain three of the seven quarts in the tranny/torque converter. The fill pug is right on top of the tranny which sits on the left side drier's side of the engine bay. I did this at 30K and plan to do it every 7,500 miles. Like you, mine was brownish but I have had no problems with the tranny. Good luck.

drcookie

I agree with all the opinion y'all given. On one hand, the tranny is failing anyway, why should I try to maintain it ? But on the other hand, I love my TL-S. Eventhough the tranny is failing, I have the resposibility to keep every single spot of the car in good shape.

I guess I will just spend a little $$$ and change it myself.