SuperGreg

I don't care what a couple people might claim, I would never put anything but DW-1 in our 2nd gen tranny.

01acls

It's not just a couple of guys that use it. There is a large following in the Odyssey forum. If that's not enough of a following there are also professional trans rebuilder that use Dexron ATF instead of DW1. This is a real thing because ultimately their the ones that have to warranty the rebuild trans.

Likewise, it's Acura recommend in emergency use. Never say never.

03TLSinCO

I'm in 01alcs's camp. After 2 failed transmissions (at around 100k miles each) I switched to an '07 AV6 trans and have run MaxLife in it from the beginning. The tranny had ~56k on it when I got it. I've put over 100k on it since then, changing the fluid and external filter somewhat regularly and have had no issues. Prior to switching to MaxLife, I researched as best I could via BobIsTheOilGuy's site and the Odyssey forums. Many people are using MaxLife without issue. Is DW-1 the "safe" choice? Sure. Does that mean it's better? From my experience and experience of many others, I don't believe so.

Darksyne

As long as it's better than the old Z1 fluid that caused all these problems to begin with then I'm ok with DW-1 until problems occur. Just keep it clean and red and the transmission should be just fine.

shamal

I would like to add my recent experience on trans oil to this thread. I have a 99 since almost new, trans was rebuilt once 6 years ago, oil always changed regularly and very well maintained car ( by owner mostly) We decided to change the trans oil after 30k, drained 3 qts out the filler tube with a sump. Oil ( from trans rebuild ) looked very good. We put in Redline synthetic, exact same amount. The trans was working fine no issues, except it shifted slightly late at low speeds, and not as smooth as when new. The change in behavior was very noticeable after the fluid change, and immediate. I had 2 other drivers of the car check it out and they were surprised and could tell the shifts were smoother, very consistent, like when the car was new. Can't wait to complete the 3 X 3 process, this can't be other than a better quality fluid imo.
I hope this helps someone along the way. My guess is the transmission shop uses whatever is in the 45 gallon drums they buy, but it's not the quality of a higher grade oil.
I have a Tacoma in which I replaced the trans oil with Valvoline Max Life synthetic and noticed and slight increase in smoothness and shifting, not as dramatic as this. It was running on original Toyota fluid which had been changed once at 50K and I added the Max Life at 80K.

roscoe1972

Scotty Kilmer told me to leave it alone. At 224k miles at this point it will probably outlast other deteriorating components.

Iggy

:gheylaugh:

Darksyne

You're taking advice from a youtube mechanic that says it's ok to use compression fittings on brake lines and no need to use jack-stands when doing oil changes? Good luck...

frankjnjr

Yep, I'd stick with Scotty VROOM, VROOM, VROOM Kilmer's recommendations. ( " it's ok to use compression fittings on brake lines and no need to use jack-stands" ) He's a mechanical *** GENIOUS***!

frankjnjr

Z1, nor DW1, were at responsible for premature failures, impacting the 2G TL models. The bottom line, these specific transmissions failed, due to DESIGN QUALITY ISSUES, not oil quality problems! It likely, would't matter, it you changed the transmission fluid, as often, as you changed your engine oil, they would still FAIL!

frankjnjr

Isn't Scotty Kilmer the guy that accidentally set his hair on fire, while brushing his teeth.

bbsitum

https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...mprove-950615/ . Transmission still excellent with Maxlife 30K in it. Before that had Maxlife for 100K in Infiniti I30 (140k-240k) without transmission failure and sell it with trany in very good shape.

---"I worked 20 years at the biggest trucking co. in the us as a diesel mechanic , and we had to change transmissions and differentials on a frightening high rate until we started using synthetic gear lube, after that we nearly had to close the rebuild shop because we didnt have the business. Also we started using synthetic blend motor oil and doubled the oil change interval to 25000 miles, that's not a typo, we also went from 350,000 trade in intervals to over 1,000,000 trade in interval ask Yellow freight i have been retired since 95 so some things could have changed but I'm telling it like it was"---

Well about same like my experience. Only I used Maxlife. Synthetic fluids are way to go. Oil, transmission fluid etc.

SuperGreg

I put 150K on my RMQ transmission with DW-1 and changed the fluid exactly one time during that period. I didn't realize until it was too late that we should be changing it more often.