Hi guys, long time lurker, and owner of a 99 TL that my dad is "lending" me as a first car until I graduate.

My TL is going in for Transmission Fluid/Filter replacement today, because, get this, IT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE! The car has 160k miles on it, and has never had tranny fluid/filter done. I recently noticed it was slipping a bunch, so I am having these done...

I figured I was lucky to get one of the few TL's with NO tranny problems, and then my dad had to go and do this

 

Tranny doesn't have a filter.

 

What? Hmmm..... Didnt know that, the guy at the garage said he would need to do that...

At least Im getting new Tranny fluid finally, according to the paperwork I have, it is supposed to be changed every 30k miles.

 

No filter and the proper procedure (documented somewhere around here) is to drain and refill the transmission 3 times. Each time you will get 3.1 qts out of the transmission.

 

no filter and if its not going to a acura/honda garage make sure they use honda atf fluid

 

?? ... That really makes me wonder...

I am having a friend of my grandfather's (the friend owns an Auto-Repair shop), do it, and he took the job w/o seeing the car... Perhaps it was just mistakes all around? Hopefully he will be able to figure it out...

 

Yes, there is a filter. But it's internal and you don't need to change it. Make sure the mechanic does the drain/refill x3 routine. If he recommends that you flush the transmission, then just leave. Acura strongly recommends against flushing our transmission.

 

flushing is ok...I had mine done 30k miles ago at the dealership, but not necessary - a regular drain and fill will do just fine, and it is much cheeper. But you really dont want to flush it with that many miles on the stock fluid...I would be interested to see what the fluid looks like and how much he gets out!

 

If you really wanted to flush, then it would be a good idea to prime the machine with Honda ATF to flush with. Then fill it up with Honda ATF.

 

IDK what shape itll all be in, Im at work, and my grandfather was bringing it in sometime today, so Ill ask him what turned up.

 

Make sure he uses Honda ATF! Call him or something, but don't let him use another brand. That's just something I wouldn't want to chance!

 

I called my grandfather to make sure, he said hed do something... we'll see...

 

If he didn't change it ever in 160k miles I bet he probably doesn't care what brand ATF he uses.

 

I know, it was my Dad's car (he recently gave it to me), and he abused the car to hell. This is the car that went 45k miles w/o an oil change, etc...

You can see where this leads, he didnt care for the car at all. its really a shame.

 

45k without an oil change? I doubt that even being possible, perhaps a gross exaggeration? Even so, this car is a testament to Honda's ability to build durable automobiles.

 

Not an exaggeration. I looked up the paperwork (my mom is GREAT at keeping stuff), and it got an oil change at 10k miles (the first one ) and another at 53k, after that, he seemed to do it every 10-15k miles. At least they were ALL highway miles.

This car is proof that honda makes bullet proof cars. The fact that an engine could go that long w/o new oil, or even that this transmission could go even half as long and still run is just amazing to me. Out of the few complaints I have about the car, reliability is not one of them!

 

I may be wrong, I usually am. But I've heard and read that its not always good to flush the tranny at that many miles if it has never been done before. Alot of times the sludge etc. is what is keeping the tranny together in the first place and cleaning that out may only cause more problems.

 

I considered that, but because it started slipping recently (between gears, into Drive, into Reverse, etc), I figured it needs to be done. If this breaks, it looks like Im investing in a new tranny. BTW, If I do replace it with a rebuild transmission, do I HAVE to replace it with a 99 4speed, or can I replace it with one of the 5 speeds? I only ask b/c one of my largest complaints is the aweful gear ratios, which they supposedly fixed in the 5 speed.

 

...reading this thread has left me speechless.

 

Well, I JUST got a call back, apparently the couldnt figure out how to change the fluid and "It must be a sealed system".

I figure this weekend, Ill take it back to the dealer and have them do it.

BTW, anyone know what needs to be done to replace the tranny with the 5speed?

 

Drain bolt on the bottom, filler bolt on the top. Drain, fill, drive. Repeat two more times.

 

I figured the garage I brought it to was just stupid. Its just as easy to have the dealer do it, that way I dont have to worry about screwing anything up. Thanks for hte help though.

 

Yeah, if they can't figure that out, then they are not that competent.

 

i remember pep boys told me a long time ago that they couldnt do it because it required "special fluid" (i just wanted to see how much they charged for it)