Hey All,


Don't shoot the messenger but I have 107k miles on my 2009 Auto TSX and I've never done a transmission fluid change. Not even PS, Brake or Radiator change. Yes it's true. Laugh freely as I know it's warranted. Luckily I have had zero issues (and I will buy my 3rd acura next year for this reason).


So I'm ordering the Honda ATF-DW1 and off to change the transmission fluids and I have searched the forums about this whole 3x3 thing and I have some most likely, incredibly simple questions for ya.


1) First, is the 3x3 necessary on my 2009 Auto TSX? I read comments saying that it's not needed on the newer years like mine. If it's not needed what do you guys recommend I do instead??
2) How many quarts total do I need to buy?
3) If the 3x3 is still needed for my model year, is that drain 3 QUARTS out and fill 3qts back in each time or something else like ounces?
4) Can someone please explain the procedure a little better for me on the driving for 5min between the sets?
I read stuff on drive for 5min upshifting through the 5 gears but that sounds like for a stick, not auto. Another said something about moving it between P / R / N / D etc.


Totally lost, a noob to my own maintenance and feeling sore about waiting so long on the change so I really appreciate the feedback. Thank you all!

 

Eh, I'm only vaguely familiar with this since it'll be a while before I need to do it. But's here's the gist:

You drain and fill 3 times because after the third, you'll have effectively replaced something like 97% of the old fluid. It's simple ratios based on total volume and how much partial volume is left since you can't drain 100% of the fluid out.

I'd say it's a good idea on any Auto tranny that is due for a change; regardless of year.

The whole deal with driving it between drain/fills is to get adequate mixing of the new and remaining old fluid.

Someone can probably get more detailed, but that's the high level.

 

Good reading here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/diy-faq...n-fill-794451/

 

You rock, and thanks for taking the time to read the post and give me some info! Looks like the post you linked has some good detailed steps to follow.
Do you have any idea how many quarts I'm draining in and refilling? It sounds like just 3 quarts each time but I'm seeing different totals for how many quarts, one of which is 6.8 quarts.
You think 9 quarts is enough?

 

*** I meant do you think buying 9 quarts is enough to do the full 3x3?

 

Actually, I think I do. Now that I remembered the manual!

Looks like total tranny volume is 6.5 quarts and the drainable volume is around 2.6 quarts.

So 9 qts should do ya!

 

Hmm. I was thinking more about the 3x3... I remember seeing someone explain the maths but I can't find it now. I just did some back of the envelope calcs and if you remove 2.6 of 6.5 qts each time, that leaves you with a 60% "old" fluid mixture each time.

After 3x drain/fills you'd have 0.6*0.6*0.6 = 21.6% old or only 78.4% new fluid.

It would take another two fill/drains to get to 92% new fluid.

Hopefully a wicked smaht nerd will chime in and confirm or correct that.

Is there a reason to stop at the 3x flush? Diminishing returns? A sound technical reason?

 

That's sort of what's confusing me too. The 6.5qt total and 2.5qt change (thank you for finding that in the manual) wouldn't make total sense if you do the math you mentioned in the previous post. My thought process was that maybe people disregard the 2.5qt change and the 3x3 is actually 3qts drained then filled back in.

If you did the math again doing a full 3qt drain fill cycle 3x that should net you over a 90% need fluid mark in the tranny... Right?? Then again I don't claim to be even close to wicked smaht nerd nor good a math.

After all, I did wait 107k for some fluid changes! Like you mentioned, any seasoned vets in here able to shine a little more light on the numbers game?

 

More important than the tranny flush is the brake flush. Brake fluid attracts moisture and moisture kills the braking system. You really want to flush that every three years (time based, never mileage based). There is no power steering fluid and the anti-freeze should still be mostly OK.


When does the tranny fluid change normally happen on the TSX? IIRC (no manual handy) correctly it is the "3" service. At 45k, I've only seen the As, Bs and the 1s and 2s.

 

That's good to know. I haven't looked at any videos on brake fluid change/flush, is it hard to do? I read one on here where a guy recommended something similar to the 3x3 but using a turkey baster to suck out most of the brake fluid from the well and then add new fluid, then drive and repeat two more times. Thoughts?

any idea how many bottles I need to buy for something like that? Acura manual says Honda Heavy Duty Dot 3 fluid and I saw a pic of the HD and regular floating around the internet but haven't seen any Honda HD Dot 3 for sale.

 

Brake flush is pretty easy. Turkey baster most of the fluid out of the reservoir, top it off, then grab a buddy to pump your brake pedal for you, crack open bleeder valve, close, repeat and rinse until you see clean brake fluid come thru. Lots of easy to follow videos on Youtube. Make sure you don't ever let the reservoir go dry or you'll have to start over at square 1. I usually do 3-4 "bleeds" then go top off. I usually go thru 2 bottles of fluid each time, but I also use the excess to flush the clutch. Check storage of brake fluid as opened bottles don't last too long.

Believe the bleeder valve is a 8mm. I also use a hose and pop bottle to help contain the fluid as it gets pumped out. Be careful not to strip or round off your bleeder valves, and don't loose the rubber cap that goes on it.

I went RF, RR, LR, LF pattern.

If you're bleeding your brakes, its also a good time to service them (lube pins, slides, contact points). It only adds a few more minutes if everything goes well.

 

I correct myself. The pattern should be LF then clockwise like the 1st gens.

 

Great, I plan on doing this over the weekend. Any suggestions for how to drain the transmission fluid out in the correct intervals and without making a huge mess?

 

Mine's a manual, not sure where the drain/fill is at on the auto's.


Always crack open the fill first to make sure you can get fluid back in, but I think you will be filling through the dipstick so should be fine. Measure what you get out, and put the same amount back in, given you haven't been leaking fluid and short to begin with. As others have stated, the reason behind the 3x3 is because you won't be getting all the fluid out doing a gravity drain. Some will do all 3x3 in one day, other's space them out. Really, its up to you on what you want to do and have time to do.


All I can say is learn from the first drain/fill so the last 2 will be easier.

 

Makes perfect sense and noted! I think I'll use a coke bottle or something and measure out ahead of time the amount to drain and mark it on the bottle. Then I can use the bottle as the ref for the drain/fill process.

 

I'm pretty sure draining just involves pulling the drain plug and letting the liquid out. I'm not sure you can modulate how much comes out.

My guess is ~2.6 qts, per the scan above.

You'll be measuring quantity after the draining and not before. Although you could probably just ballpark how much goes in - erring on the low side. Then measure with the dipstick and add small amounts to bring it back up to the right level.

 

Why? Ever since hydraulic brakes appeared the flushing sequence has been to start farthest away from the reservoir and then work toward the reservoir. This works the longest brake line first, allowing to flush more out with the first flush and add more clean fluid with the first flush. Generally, this means RR, LR, RF and LF.

Even your corrected version, starting LF, is backwards.

 

The guys who wrote the service manual must be wrong then. I'll let him know.

 

Hey guys, wanted to bump this and hopefully get some more info.

I'm basically in the same situation as TampaHoosier. I just hit 90k miles and have never drained/flushed the transmission fluid.

I'm getting mixed opinions on changing the fluid. Some say it could blow the trans up doing it this late, others say it will be no problem.

Can anyone offer some insight? TampaHoosier, how did your drain/flush go?

Should I be worried about changing the fluid with this many miles? If not, is it safe to do a full flush, or should I only do a drain and fill?

Thanks in advance.

 

^you should ALWAYS ALWAYS change the tranny fluid!
fluid wears over time. it loses its properties to protect stuff.

Honda transmissions are never stout to begin with, and they need all the help they can get with FRESH FLUID!
if you're doing it yourself, drain and fill is fine!

 

Thanks justnspace. That's pretty much what I got from my friend's dad who is a long time mechanic.

Trust me, I want to change it. I don't slack on any other maintenance but for some reason I never got around to this. I've been hesitating because some friends were saying that changing the trans fluid for the first time with high miles can lead to tolerances in the trans changing which can cause the trans to blow up.

I have the fluid so I'm going to do a drain and fill as soon as possible. Then probably wait a few thousand miles and do it again.

 

Interesting timing of this thread, as I have 71K miles on my '09 and it was noticed that my fluid is starting to get a little mucky. I am thinking about getting another car in the next 6 months to a year, though, so not sure if I will bother with this expense.

I just checked my '09 manual and the only figure I saw for the auto tranny was for continuous low speeds, mountainous and towing and that is at 60K and then every 30K after that.

That is probably coming from the old adage that older fluid creates false seals and when you dump that old fluid in a high mileage auto tranny the false seals are no longer there.

For our manual tranny friends if you ever get into a bind you can use 10W-30 or 40 engine oil until you can get the right fluid.

 

^^^

Re: the old "don't flush it" adage...

That's not really for still working well trannies. When it may apply is when things start going a bit pear-shaped like the tranny is on the way out already. It's not unheard of for people to think "well, maybe a flush will help that noise/slipping/xxx" but then completely kill it with the flush.

If everything seems alright and you're just over recommend interval, you should be okay to do the flush. If there is a bit more of an underlying problem, you might want to hold off on the flush, but also start saving for the tranny repair/replacement.

 

Thanks cu2wagon. That makes sense though, they were probably seeing it happen in cases where the tranny was already having problems; then the fluid drain was the last straw that kills the tranny.

I have not noticed any issues with my tranny. Everything is working properly as far as I can tell so I think I'm good to do a drain/fill.