Greetings, comrades. Please excuse me if this topic has already been discussed ad nauseam on these forums. Long story short - my transmission builder tells me I should use Honda Z1 ATF in my B7WA gearbox. This oil is very expensive and hard to come by in my region (some even say it has long been out of production). I myself use the more modern DW-1, which is cheaper and more accessible, but my transmission builder warns me that my gearbox will wear out much quicker than on Z1. He speculates that our transmissions were developed to run on Z1, and that Z1 creates the right sort of oil film for all of the internal components to function properly. Now bearing in mind that he imports Z1 into my country through Kazakhstan, and that he offered to sell me some for an absolutely ridiculous amount of money - I'm hesitant to buy into his claims. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance!

 

You are off to a good start!
Trust your gut feeling and go with the cheaper readily available Acura / Honda DW-1.
With that said, though, I'm currently (living dangerously ) experimenting with an even cheaper AISIN ATFDW1 in my rebuilt automatic 2003 CL-S trans.
I have around 5+K miles on it in sweltering Florida 'stop and go' driving with no drivability issues thus far.


P.S: Please tell me that you have not bought into Vova's lie regarding Ukraine?

 

Z1 is deprecated, use DW1

 

Me Valvoline Max life. I have car for 100K and Maxlife work so far.

 

Hey man! Let's not get into the Ukraine situation, it is a complete mess... We common Russians are just along for the ride. Hopefully this gets resolved as quickly as possible and with as few losses for everyone as possible.

 

Closer to the topic - I've never seen Aisin fluids for sale in our part of the world.

 

I'm not sure they sell it in our parts.

 

How about this stuff:

From their website below:

ATF Type H PLUS | Idemitsu Lubricants

Regarging both ATF's, If possible, try your sources on the Pacific coast near Japan?

 

We definitley have that. I used the regular Multi ATF (I think they just sell it as ATF), the gearbox was shifting really, really rough. The Type H Plus might work though.

 

Did you end up trying the Aisin DW1??

 

 

I currently run Aisin in my Honda CRV for years without issues. I run Eneos ‘dual pump’ in my CRV rear diff. No problems. 235k miles so far. But that4 speed in the CRV is rather sturdy compared to our B7WA 5speed.

As for my TL-S, I went through a lot of Maxlife on a dying trans to keep it going. Once I switched to a 2007 Accord trans I have used nothing but Aisin since. 8000+ miles on a used ~60k trans. No problems.

No worries on the extra few jugs of Maxlife I have in the garage. It meets the ‘LV’ spec for my 240k miles Ford C-Max hybrid’s cvt trans and I have been using that since the warranty ended 200k+ mi ago. Works in it.

Back to Honda/Acura, yes, they are sensitive beasts. Use Idemitsu, or Aisin, who make Japan OEM oils for Honda, and Toyota, etc. They bottle it for the OEMs and sell it themselves. Ever been to a Japanese service station? You’ll not see OEM brand, but you’ll see Idemitsu, Aisin, Eneos.

Oils are funny. Everyone has opinions, like me. Stick with the grade called for - all the time. Keep in mind specific OEMs add modifiers (packages) to a spec for specific purposes. Your selection of brand must reflect what the OEM requires. For DW-1, that can be I, A or E, as any one of them makes the same stuff in an Acura/Honda, Toyota, etc bottle…without the jacked up $.

To the OP: if your rebuilder only offers a guarantee if you use his pricy imported stuff, well if the guarantee means a lot to you, then you likely have to use it. When it comes time for YOU to drain and fill, use whatever I, A or E you can get that meets your budget and availability. They look the same, smell the same, and for all practical purposes are the same.

 

Unfortunately, the OP has not posted since 25 Dec 22, with that said, he may have been eventually mobilized with Putin's 21 Sep 22 order to fight in Ukraine?
Maybe the OP will surprise us with a response, .

 

True; I saw the original date, but maybe this assists others in free thinking the ATF quandary.

Aisin DW-1 is $6/qt at RockAuto. Idemitsu H+ is also $6. Of course, bundle this with anything else to make the shipping palatable. YMMV.

Hopefully he will surprise us all.

 

You might also just be lucky enough to have a local Honda parts department who may be able to sell you some for 6-7$ a qt. That's what I ended up doing and it ended up being cheaper than shipping the fluid from RA.


Plus, it's got the Honda sticker on it so you know it's legit

 

Yeah. Not so much up here. Locals want $10.90/qt and with tax an even $12 per. That's Renton Honda. Acura charges more for the same syrup.