Chojun

Hey Guys,

I wanted to get your opinion on some of the behaviors I'm seeing on my transmission.

I had it rebuilt at 96K miles in '11, and just rolled over 160K yesterday. I changed the fluid for the first time after the rebuild at around 153K miles. I did a 2x3 with Valvoline Maxlife (got busy and missed the last 3), and noticed a bit better response after the 2 changes. I didn't get around to the 3rd change so there's a bit of old fluid in there still.

I plan to do another 3x3 with genuine Honda DW-1 as soon as I can source some reasonably-priced fluid.

The magnetic drain plug had some sludge on it the first change but nothing overly concerning. The fluid was very dark. The 2nd change the plug had a trace amount of sludge (basically no sludge) and was still very dark. I don't have a whole lot of experience with cars and maintenance so I can't say for a surety that the fluid wasn't burnt/varnished but it smelled the same as the new fluid that I put in.

I changed the external spin-on bypass filter less than 1K miles ago. The old filter wasn't particularly dirty (I could blow through it roughly as easily as the new one).

Anyway, on to the behavior:

I've noticed that if I'm midway through 1st gear and punch it, the car will sometimes act a bit confused and immediately downshift into 2nd. If I punch it from idle, it will go through the full RPM range of gears.

Additionally, when cruising at about the 45mph range, the car likes to linger in 4th instead of shifting down to more efficient 5th. Sometimes, under light loads in 4th (for example, a road slightly inclines) at around 30-35 the transmission will downshift into 3rd.

The transmission shifts smooth and somewhat crisp under ordinary conditions and doesn't slip at all from what I can tell. Under heavy load, like WOT, it might slip a bit but I'm not sure since I have driven this like a grandpa since the costly, extortionate rebuild in '11.

Granted, and I'm embarrassed to admit this, my air filter has apparently never been changed since I have owned it (bought the car in '06). It's the first car I've owned without a K&N filter and so I completely spaced it. Could the car be confused about engine output because of the air restrictions?

IF I keep my car I'll definitely go down the AV6 route, but I have such a big maintenance backlog that I'd like to keep the transmission running for another 1-2 years to get caught up on other things.

So, on to maintenance - What are the user-maintainable items on the transmission? Here are the ones I know of:

* 3x3 Drain/refill DW-1 ATF every 15K miles
* External spin-on filter
* Shift solenoid
* Starter

Are there any other maintenance items that I can take a look at that I don't know about?

I plan to inspect and clean the solenoid this weekend. Is there a DIY for this here?

Skirmich

Point 1: About your 1st to 2nd Auto-up-shift. You cant remain on 1st even if you like it to.. the ECU is programmed to shift out of 1st in the quickest moment available! the only way to force all 1st is to shift-gate or completely WOT. If you where just moving out of a stop sign and started moving and decided to WOT then the engine can do 2 things, Either hold 1st (Unlikely) or Shift quickly into second to gain traction (Most Likely). This is a normal ECU Operation.

Point 2: About your "linger" the ECU is set for different loads, while you can force your way into 5th on SS while doing 40-45 the car behaves extremely sluggish/heavy! remember that our J32 has a laughable amount of torque in the low range! so doing 5th at 40-45mphs is asking a shit load for the engine! You aren't saving gas since you are pressing more the gas pedal since the car feels slow/unresponsive.
5th gear should and will come up almost reaching 50mph where the RPMs are upper 2K. This is normal operating feature of the ECU.


Point 3: If you feel slippage something is wrong, Under no circumstances-operating moments the trans should slip. Once it started slipping is game over as it will slip more and more over time eating away the clutch packages......


The air filter can affect the whole performance of the car, Point 1 & 2 can be affected by it, but only in how quickly they perform it. They are still normal even on a modified car as its engraved into the ECU Program.

Doing regular maintenance of the trans is the best way to keep it! as sludge and debris are the NUMERO 1 Cause of trans deaths.. Well heat is actually number 1 but Debris and Sludge clogs the solenoids which leads to half engaged clutch packs which in turns heat the trans more.


Hope this helps you!

Chojun

Thanks a bunch for the reply. I don't think my transmission is slipping. But some gears under heavy load (like WOT) don't go into gear as crisp as I'd like, I just picture the slow smooth engagement burning up the clutch packs. I'd rather it jam into gear than be buttery smooth.

I really need to just do a 3x3 with genuine DW-1 and then see how things go. However, based on the condition of my old pre-Maxlife fluid I'd like to inspect and clean all of the solenoids that I can. Is there anyone around here who has done that on an '00-'03 TL and can give instructions?

I haven't disposed of my old fluid yet - I think I'll run it through a screen to see if there are any particles or metal in it.

Skirmich

^ Sometimes the shift can be a little slower which in turns can be felt as a late shift? For example most of the times my car will shift at 7K but there have been some instances where I feel it shifts a little over 7K not enough to hit 7100RPM but enough as to see it wasn't exactly before 7K. This isn't slippage its more like a delayed or late shifting.. This happened to me on some handful occasions on only on 1st gear.


Slippage on the other hand is felt like a sudden loss in power on a given RPM.
Its quite noticeable compared to a delayed shifting.. Perhaps yours are delayed shifts?


Do a 3x3 and try to keep yearly changes (I do mine every December) which includes the spin-on filter + Magnefine Filter into my 2 ATF Coolers. This has worked wonders so far, I haven't done a 3x3 since my trans was rebuilt almost 5 years ago with 120K! Bear in mind that is the original design transmission and a 1300 bucks shoddy rebuild and still shifts smoothly while gentle on the throttle but firm and decided while on WOT.
I have my AV6 waiting in my Garage but this trans wants to keep working for the long run...