xasnxkiddox

Today is New Year's Eve and spent the morning doing my first tranny drain/fill/drain/fill. I believe it might have been changed once during it's entire 4 years/60k miles. The hardest part was getting the drain bolt off since it was stuck on there pretty tight and I thought my generic ratchet was almost going to break apart. I filled through the dipstick hole because I just found out I don't have a freggin 1/2 inch extension to reach down to the filler bolt. Pics are below if you wanna see how dirty the fluid is. I got about 25% of the old fluid left in there because it started raining so that's good enough for me. BTW, this is the original tranny so hope all goes well. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. I used Honda ATF-Z1 fluid and I got like 3.3 qts. out every time. Maybe it had something with me leaving the tranny in neutral? Gotta go pick up teh gf now so more later.

yield2s

That's DARK! WOW! I thought id be good and drain/fill at every oil change and add a B&M tranny cooler. I still went threw 5 trannies in 100k miles.
How was the magnet on the drain plug? Was it covered in a graphite-looking sludge?

xasnxkiddox

Wow drain/fill at every oil change would be a bit overkill for me but it can't hurt. I just can't see myself spending so much time and effort on a tranny that might give up on me any day.

What's a B&M tranny cooler? Please explain and where can I get it for how much?

Since this was my 1st EVER tranny change on any car, I forgot there was a magnet on the drain plug. When I took out the drain plug, there were a bunch of graphite-looking sludge as you mentioned on the tip so I was wondering what the heck that was. Not sure if there were a lot of shavings since the sludge was so dark I just wiped it off with a cloth. I didn't have another 18mm washer so I just reused it and it didn't leak. Torqued it down just like a oil drain bolt. Quite simple to do but just time consuming to drain/fill/drive/drain/fill/drive . It'd be great if I could just suck out all 7.6 qts. with something. I also discovered I can now drain the tranny fluid without jacking the car up since the bolt isn't torque down as tight now as it was before I did the initial drain.

Does anyone know why I got more than the expected 3.1 qts. as stated in the owner's manual? I left the tranny in neutral because I was jacking up the car and the tranny fluid was drained almost 10 minutes after the car had been driven. Could that have helped me get more out? What is the gear I'm supposed to leave it in when draining the tranny fluid? I think I got out somewhere between 3.3 to 3.4 qts. I heard someone in this forum got out 4 qts. even with a tranny cooler (oh yeah I still don't know what a tranny cooler is)?

Another thing, I do not have an oil jet kit installed since the dealer still probably doesn't know I'm the new owner, although I did fill out the postcard on the back of the owner's manual to notify them change of ownership. Is it better to get the oil jet kit installed or not? If it makes things worse, I'd rather just leave it the way it is right now.

avs007

A tranny cooler is a thing that looks like a little radiator. You can get one for less then 50 bucks. Heat is the worst enemy for an automatic tranny. If the fluid gets too hot, (above about 280 degrees f, or something like that), the seals start to break down inside the tranny. Once that happens, 1 of 2 things start to happen (usually both). Solenoid don't get enough fluid pressure, so you start getting slips. Or, parts in the tranny start getting starved of oil, and they fail completely. A cooler is usually cheap insurance for the tranny.

xasnxkiddox

Is this a diy? Where can I buy one? Can someone post some pictures where it would be installed under the hood? This is my first time hearing of a tranny cooler so is this specifically apply to our weak automatic TL trannys or automatic trannys in general? Thanks.

fsttyms1

its a very easy diy i have one, it cost me about 45 bucks from the auto parts store.
the hardest part is running the lines to the back of the tranny and getting the hoses on. (still very easy)

as for why you got out 3.4 qts, the 3.1 is just a aproximate. i got about 3.2 the first time, with the cooler i got about 3.5.
the cooler is a auto tranny thing in general. they help get rid of heat which is a killer of just about every thing mechanical. with mine with in 30 sec of starting the car the cooler is to hot to touch, that just shows the amout of heat being generated

its teh small black radaitor. i have mine mounted in front of the radaiator on the drivers side

fsttyms1

here is a GREAT DIY on the cooler install

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/184466/21

xasnxkiddox

repped for the link & info!

fsttyms1

oh and i recomend getting a long extension to take out teh filler bolt! it will really speed up the fill process!

thanx!

Bitium

Yeap, that bolt gets really hard, I usually use a breaker bar inside a 4 foot tube and is still hard to turn.

xasnxkiddox

lol my breaker bar was a 6 in. ratchet :gheylaugh:. I eventually managed to get it off after pounding away with the hammer. Does anyone know how much bigger the hole is on the filler bolt compared to the dipstick hole? Took a while to fill via the dipstick but it wasnt so bad. If the hole is almost the same size I would rather just fill via the dipstick so I won't have to worry about messing up the filler bolt. That and also I would need at least a 1/2" drive 12" extension to reach that bolt .

fsttyms1

its about 3/4 to 1 inch in dia

Munda

The tranny dipstick can be snug fitted (no leakage) with 0.25" clear plastic tubing (found 2ft. at Advance Auto), fitted to a 0.5" tube piece, hooked to inside of the spout of a funnel. Though it did take more time than "pouring" in thru the drain port, this was a good alternative to have to remove the bolt.

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

Good information but this thread is 3 years old.

fsttyms1

Yes it works, but the time spent getting hose and doing so you could have simply removed one small bolt and been done pouring in the fluid in a fraction of the time.

Station

alright my car has 125k miles on it on the original tranny i got the car 20k ago and i havent replaced the fluid and i dont know when the fluid has been replaced. i really want to change the fluid but i keep reading about tranny failures shortly after replacing the fluid ive searched it but have still not found why. i know not to completly flush it and refill but to use the 1/3rd method of drain and fill. should i worry about my tranny failing because of the fluid change or should i not worry. fyi my tranny runs fine no slipping or acting up, love the reliability of the 4-speed but yes i am missing the 5th gear but i can bring the rpm all the way without shifting, but never do that haha

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

You have GOT to be joking...

gorne

i did replace mine at about 123k and nothing happened so far after 12k so do it.

01tl4tl

the 4 speed has less problem than the 5 speed- which tried to cram more parts and power into the same space of transmission case.

01tl4tl

The trans that have the failure soon after-- have often hooked up to a machine that used pressure to force fluid out of the torque convertor and thru the lines.
Or something in that idea of `power flushing`- thats bad news for our cars.
If you insist on doing it now- use the drain and refill method. Plenty of DIY info here to not need repeating

Munda

For newbies
Two days ago, I nearly had a disaster. Though I'm new to doing DIY on my daughter's 01 TL, I have done oil change on different cars before (cost & doing-it-right factors). Thinking this oil change to be "as simple", once I got under the car (on ramps) at first I could not locate the oil filter. Then I noticed the easily visible drain plug looked funny (recessed with a square). After some elbow grease (cursing those mechanics at oil changing malls) I drained some black looking fluid. I must have got about three quarts in this 79K engine.
Now I removed the oil filter with the usual run down in the zip lock bag around the filter. Put a Mobil 1 back on. Replaced the drain plug.
Filled the oil crancase with 4.6 qts. Got the car off the ramps and on a flat surface, checked the dipstick. Wow! the level is way up. Went for 1/2 ml. ride, checked again. Same thing.
Thought this is not right. Opened the same drain and got about another 1.5 qt fluid. The dipstick did not show a "dip".
There is something terribly wrong! Turned the car, no oil lamp light to indicate my efforts at draining. I put it in drive, NO movement.
I've drained the transmission!
I now look under the car (with my head on the driveway). I have got to look for that familiar bolt that can be removed with a hexnut. I found this on the same side as the oil filter facing the back.
Drained the oil (about 8-10 qts, with a 16oz of Seaform), changed the oil filter, refilled the transmission with the Advance Auto bought Castrol Transmission for Import cars fluid.
Cranked the car perfectly and went for a ride. No smoke, no slippage and both dipsticks showing perfect fluid levels.
Next day Seaformed thru the vacuum (with due credit to 01tl4tl for a wonderful rightup). Got a great smoke-out.
I have driven the TL for 20 more miles, and man........ this baby is smooth with better swifting, quieter idling and no smoke in the tail-pipe.
Embarrasing as this DIY turned out to be, I did learn some lessons. If there is something funny looking, ask someone or come to the forum and investigate. With as good writeups on this forum, I should not have assumed, but checked first.
As yet, I've not told my 17 yr. daughter of "why is daddy taking so long to change the oil?"

Munda

I agree.
Such as when I read posts for information, any addition to the age of a thread is additional benefit, especially for newbies wanting to avoid mistakes as well as have a pleasant experience from other's advice

fsttyms1

Only thing i still see wrong is the Brand of transmission fluid used. The only fluid i would use is Honda fluid or Amsoil synthetic.

Station

I might go with Honda fluid but i most likely just get fully synthetic Royal Purple Max ATF. They have me hooked and they will have you to except for the price but if you love your car as much as i do it worth it,

-Brandon

CJITTY

I went about 20K or so on my 2nd tranny before doing a drain and fill..whatever changes they did to my 2nd tranny seemed to help because my fluid was still pretty red when I did my change. I did a 3x drain/fill and used Acura fluid...there may be better fluid, but for these trannies, I stick with Acura fluid just in case they give me shit if I have another failure

TACURA

I had the same problem. This bolt was unbelievably hard to get off. I also broke my ratchet on it!

fsttyms1

Craftsman FTW

totaledTL

Use a breaker bar- spare the ratchet all that stress.

Acura 02 TL-S

iTrader: (1)

Does the transmission cooler kit help anything?...cept keeping the fluid cooler, was planning to grab the kit off summit and installing it.

terenz

Hey guys,

What's the appropriate level to fill up the tranny fluid? All the way up or just between the 2 dots on the dipstick?

Sperry

iTrader: (1)

I drop in three quarts and it is always just over the bottome line when cold.

soria

...

This thread doesn't want to die.

Type-ES

Right under the top dot.

soria

The fluid level will expand and contract depending on its temperature. The best way to measure the ATF level is to first take a short drive, bringing the car up to operating temperature, then check the level. If it's in between the two dots you're okay.



Source: Service Manual (1999-2003) Acura 3.2 TL